So I'm brand new at this game, never played demon souls. I'm a pyromancer and have been using the Drake Sword up to now (which is near the bottom of Blighttown before I back tracked). I'm slowly figuring out that the Drake Sword isn't going to cut it for much longer, so what do the good folks of Giantbomb suggest I do? I have a drake scale and enough souls to make a Drake Soul + 1 but is it worth the cost to do this? As little damage as the Drake Sword is doing now all my other weapons do even less than that. Any tips?

I can't believe how many threads there are devoted to just this one question.

Oh Dark Souls, what have you done to us?

Well I would suggest sticking with the Drake Sword until Sen's Fortress, which you get access to after ringing the second bell, where you can find a lightning spear that serves as a good upgrade from the Drake Sword until you can start farming titanite chunks and choose a real weapon.

Also, don't upgrade the Drake Sword with the scale as it takes 10,000 souls to upgrade it also, instead spend the souls on upgrading your pyromancer flame and leveling up. By the way, there is a second pyromancer trainer to be found in the swamp that sells some kick-ass pyromancies also.

As the game is now, your other weapons will be better after upgrading to any special path (mostly lightning or fire). Might change with the patch, but I don't think there's been word on when or by how much, just that regular weapon scaling will be buffed. But yeah, stick with the Drake Sword and head for the Lightning Spear, if you want to make it easier for yourself.

Also, keep in mind the second pyromancer mentioned will only appear if you have a pyro+10, I believe.

Thanks for the non-sarcastic responses. I was also wondering about armour. I've been using Hard Leather Armour, so is it something I should be upgrading or, again, should I wait until later?

Don't know if I'm playing it right but so far I haven't upgraded my armour yet (just got the warpy thingy) but I've got Havel's Ring so I just choose the right armour for the job. Someone said on here somewhere that upgrading amour is somewhat of a waste and better spent on weapons early in the game. So I've taken that advice for the word of one is good enough for me! But yea I wouldn't worry too much about weapons other than getting the Lightning Spear from the drop in Sen's. After that you shouldn't have a problem until you meet the Giant Blacksmith towards the second/third (depending on the order you find them) bonfire in Anor Londo. At that point it's a good time to whip out any souls you have and do the necessary upgrades etc to get your weapon of choice. Oh and while you're in Blighttown it'd be a good idea to find the bonfire in the Great Hollow and farm the leeches which are close by. They give a bunch of the shards that you use for the 5+ to 10+ upgrades. With that you can do what I did today and upgrade a falchion to +10 and forge Quelaag's Furysword from the Giant Blacksmith.

Weapon. Upgrade things.. what do you want to use? long swords? Spears? Curved swords? Axes? I went pyro and am using a great axe which works for me as it will drop someone in pvp in 2-3 hits while i have my spells for fast casting. Armor, just use what you think you want. Heavy leather is good until you get the endurance for heavier armor. Getting hit is not something you usually want so armor can mean nothing unless you just cant get down the whole dodging thing / shielding. The lightning spear is what seems to be everyones choice once you hit sens fortress but honestly, i hate that weapon and I have never used it.. I went forest and farmed some which helped me get strong enough to take the asylum demon and get the ring to travel in the swamp without getting slowed and farmed the slugs down there to level my stuff. Lightning spear will be your best bet since it seems you are pretty new to the game and it is the most commonly used weapon.

Depending on how you want to play, there are a few options. If you are pumping points into DEX then you probably want the Furysword "like me", if you just want a powerful sidearm to complement your pyromancy, get a lightning weapon "the spear in Sen's or upgrade by the smith in Anor Londo". And lastly, if you are getting a lot of strength, you should just get the heaviest, most ridicoulous thing and upgrade the shit out of it.