I don't quite understand the idea of Ascension but I've read on other forums that it turns a +5 reinforced weapon to a magical weapon that will only increase in damage if you increase your Faith. My character was not built for faith. Maybe for Intelligence, but not Faith. Now I'm deciding if I should kill the blacksmith because he holds the ultra expensive "Crest of Artorias" which opens the door in the forest. I remember killing him on my previous character and looted the crest off his corpse. Something else that I was told is that the area where the door blocks is an excellent place to grind.

Will I have any use for the blacksmith in the future? Should I kill the blacksmith?

Someone here (I think) posted a flowchart of all the different weapon ascension paths, I'm trying to find it now. Did anyone happen to save that? We're all in this together! :)

Still have no idea wtf I'm doing,

Craves

Found it:

Hopefully that answers part of your question.

Death is a learning experience,

Craves

Whoa that was a good find. So I guess I shouldn't kill the blacksmith? Can raw or fire weapons be more powerful than the Drake Sword?

That's what I'm trying to figure out now...

Fire and lightning weapons do a LOT of damage, they are probably the best weapons for the first playthrough, if you don't have huge stat bonuses. Way more than the drake sword, which is awesome in the start, but rubbish in the long term. I think fully upgraded elemental halberd does something like 600 damage.