@epicurean
The best way to influantiate the WT's is in offline mode. Online mode the entire WT for the world that you're playing is being balanced out by other player's WT.
Here's a list on how certain events of certain worlds affect the WT (http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/world-tendency and search for How Can I Change It?) but my main tip is always stay in Soul form, because if you die in Physical form, the WT descend into black, if you die in Soul form, the WT stays the same.
I love PvP, most of the times I get the other player off-guard because they think that I'm encumbered by my heavy armour, and that I can only swing the Meat Cleaver once, but with my ring setup and my very high Vitality allows me to be swift as a Rapier and Light Armour user xD
Current PC Build
CPU - i7 8700K 3.7 GHz (4.7 GHz turbo) 6 cores OC'd to 5.2 GHz with Watercooling (Hydro Series H110i) | MB - Gigabyte Z370 HD3P ATX | Gigabyte GTX 1080ti Gaming OC BLACK 11G (1657 MHz Boost Core / 11010 MHz Memory) | RAM - Corsair DIMM 32GB DDR4, 2400 MHz | PSU - Corsair CX650M (80+ Bronze) 650W | Audio - Asus Essence STX II 7.1 | Monitor - Samsung U28E590D 4K UHD, Freesync, 1 ms, 60 Hz, 28"
