Destroyed at Irithyll of the Boreal Valley

[Antoine]

I played Dark Souls 1 and really enjoyed it, so I got the 3rd game (skipped 2). So far I've beaten Yhorm the Giant and got confused as to where to go, and the nice internet people said I needed to find Pontiff Sulyvahn. I went exploring where the paintings are near the Distant Manor bonfire. I have trouble with the Silver Knight there, then I got up the stairs and get assaulted by the dogs and magic users. It seems I'm stunlocked forever and they take 3 hits to kill. I'm using the Irithyll Straight sword on a STR build, I find the gratswords are really slow and I have the Fallen Knight set from the Crucifixion Forest. I don't know if I'm doing really bad or that part is super hard. Also my stats are:
Vigor: 20
Attunement: 6
Endurance: 19
Vitality: 12
Strength: 38
Dexterity: 21 (from the Milkring)
Intelligence: 8
Faith: 9
Luck: 11
I wanted to ask if I could look at new weapons or armor sets or shields, anything really, that can help me out through the rest of the game. Thanks :)

[drnmontemayor]

Ok

1) The ISS is a DEX weapon with no chance of infusion. You can either go to Rosaria and respec those misplaced STR points, or switch to a STR weapon like the Butcher's Knife if you want it to be fast. This sounds like a bad thing to say, but you are literally playing it wrong. If you had a STR weapon, you'd be insanely powerful with those stats and at that level and area. If you want to use a SS that badly, go for a Heavy Infusion and play around with the numbers, your STR is high enough.
2) You could use some health.
3) Use Alluring Skulls and a good stability shield for the dogs and mages after the Silver Knights. If you have Black Knight's use it. Or Lothric Knight Shield. Take it slow, or really, really fast. I recommend going slow.

[Vinyltavia]

Ahh starting warrior.
Strength builds need strength weapons.
I'd use a greataxe as my tool of choice but your endurance might only be able to get two swings down before you can act again.
Alternatively a heavy Basty Sword (sold at greirat) is good for weight management and the damage is acceptable for a greatsword moveset strength scaling weapon.
I do however, question the amount of dexterity and why so much for a "Strength"build.

[OntologicalWeevil]

DS2 sins has the best mechanics, but the worst bosses.

You should pick it up when it goes on sale.

[drnmontemayor]

Originally posted by Zaareish:

DS2 sins has the best mechanics, but the worst bosses.

You should pick it up when it goes on sale.

Look at this amazingly irrelevant comment.

[Vinyltavia]

Originally posted by drnmontemayor:

Originally posted by Zaareish:

DS2 sins has the best mechanics, but the worst bosses.

You should pick it up when it goes on sale.

Look at this amazingly irrelevant comment.

Originally posted by Zaareish:

Look this illiterate imbecile unable to read the OP's post when he stated that he skipped DS2 for DS3.

oh i should grab popcorn...

[Jendex]

Originally posted by Zaareish:

DS2 sins has the best mechanics, but the worst bosses.

You should pick it up when it goes on sale.

To Zaareish: DS2 had both the worst mechanics and the worst bosses, and I have many, many opinions on my side with that. However, your comment is indeed irrelevant because it has nothing to do with what the OP is asking.

To the OP: some general tips:
While you may dislike strength weapons because they're slow, you should try them out! Getting their animations off at the right time will allow you to poise through some stunlocking attacks (meaning you won't get knocked out of them as much). However, if you prefer the faster weapons, as people above mentioned you should focus on your Dexterity stat rather than Strength. Also, some might disagree with this but you might want to try picking up a shield. However, use it sparingly rather than trying to block everything. It could help you not get stunlocked by blocking an initial hit.
One last tip, try using a fire weapon or other elemental infusion/buff! Dogs and other enemies will take extra damage from it and be rendered unable to attack for a short time. Elemental weaponry can certainly help you with your first time in Irithyll.

[C03]

other people are saying is correct, if you have high STR it makes no sense to use Irithyill Straight Sword

If you want to use Irithryll weapon badly, you should see Rosaria at the Cathedral of the Deep. If you have pale tongues, you can use it to re-allocate your stats. (note that you can allocate your stats only 5 times per play) I'd recommend to raise DEX and Endurance, instead of STR.

If you want to have STR weapon, I'd recommend seeing Greirat and buy Zweihander.

[Antoine]

Alright, thanks everyone. I do have the butcher's knife, Ill try it out. The only reason i used the irithyll straight sword is because it had C scaling in strength, and did super damage to the lothric knights, so I stuck to it. I'll try that out, and maybe check out a greataxe, I'll buff my endurance and health. Are there any good farming locations at this point in the game?

[Antoine]

Wow, ok. I have Yhorm's Great Machete, and it rocks! I played around with it killing pontiff knights, and it destroys them. I doesnt feel too slow either. From what I can guess, the STR gameplay goes like this: Block with your shield (Maybe greatshield?) and when you see an opening just destroy. It seems a bit risky though because some enemies can stunlock you as the weapons attack slower. It's pretty nice :) I'll upgrade the machete. Are there any good weapons too that I should look out for later in the game?

[wollem]

Originally posted by Mr. Kitty Kitten:

I played Dark Souls 1 and really enjoyed it, so I got the 3rd game (skipped 2). So far I've beaten Yhorm the Giant and got confused as to where to go, and the nice internet people said I needed to find Pontiff Sulyvahn. I went exploring where the paintings are near the Distant Manor bonfire. I have trouble with the Silver Knight there, then I got up the stairs and get assaulted by the dogs and magic users. It seems I'm stunlocked forever and they take 3 hits to kill. I'm using the Irithyll Straight sword on a STR build, I find the gratswords are really slow and I have the Fallen Knight set from the Crucifixion Forest. I don't know if I'm doing really bad or that part is super hard. Also my stats are:
Vigor: 20
Attunement: 6
Endurance: 19
Vitality: 12
Strength: 38
Dexterity: 21 (from the Milkring)
Intelligence: 8
Faith: 9
Luck: 11
I wanted to ask if I could look at new weapons or armor sets or shields, anything really, that can help me out through the rest of the game. Thanks :)

Don't feel bad I've gone through the game 22 or so times and I can recall a run where those dogs killed me literally 6 times in a row. I was beyond tilted. If you have a shield it makes that part 1000% easier as the dogs get stunned for a second when they hit your shield. As for irithyll sword I wouldnt use that unless you plan on leveling dex and strength equally as It cannot be infused for just strength. If you like straight swords I would look into the sunlight straight sword. Its pretty dam good on a 40/40 strength dex build and also has a buff.

[C03]

Originally posted by Mr. Kitty Kitten:

Wow, ok. I have Yhorm's Great Machete, and it rocks! I played around with it killing pontiff knights, and it destroys them. I doesnt feel too slow either. From what I can guess, the STR gameplay goes like this: Block with your shield (Maybe greatshield?) and when you see an opening just destroy. It seems a bit risky though because some enemies can stunlock you as the weapons attack slower. It's pretty nice :) I'll upgrade the machete. Are there any good weapons too that I should look out for later in the game?

yes patience is the key, I feel that only knife/dagger weapon can basically spam it safely.