Well I'm no weapons expert, but I'd say the short spear is good for tight spaces, and the broad sword for multiple enemies. Soldier is supposed to be one of those well-balanced classes, but I'd suggest focusing on the strength stat since the class is actually a bit more melee based.

There are upgrade paths...the most basic uses hardstone and sharpstone which can go up to plus10, but those don't really yield any bonuses to your stats. But depending on what level you reach, (say for example, Short Spear plus4), the other upgrade paths start to unlock by blacksmith ed. Some examples are Sharp, Quality, Crushing. I'd recommend Crushing for a soldier class, which I think starts at plus3 or something. It gives a bonus to Strength.

To be honest there are too many weapons in the game for me personally to know what's best for you...I'd suggest you check out Wiki for information on all the weapons...and upgrades.

Aha, you mean weapon upgrade paths. I thought it was character related somehow.

I like the fact that the spear alows to attack from a bit of distance and that it penetrates armour. I can also attack multiple enemyes with it, as long as they are lined up. Not so good for fighting in the middle of a crowd at all. Plus you can attack while holding up the shield, so the window for a counter is smaller.

Anyways, I'm at the verry beginnin as I didn't find many weapon or shield types yet. My initial feeling was that there aren't that many, so you have to upgrade to make a normall weapon a great one. I want a katana :P.

Q: Can one sell equipment or recycle it somehow?

nope. any item you find, you either store it or forget about it.

Yea, like Packie said, you either use it, store it, or throw it away. Oh, and you'll have to wait 'till stage 4 to find any katanas..

I beat the game tonight...it tooke me little over 18 hours for it.

I skipped the credits after the ending and i returned to nexus but something went wrong. all other archsotnes besieds 1st one are closedd and i had to complete 1-1 all over again. Lost of glitches happend there too. Normally it took me 1 normal hit to kill a drengling, but this time it took me 4-5, and i lost A LOT more energy per hit then i did before i completed the game. The 1-1 boss was a LOT tougher even though i used my strongest magic and spells on him, he wouldnt go down. He was a lot easier to defeat when i was soul level 13 and now im soul lvl 84 and im actually weaker!!! Whats wrong? Dont tell me the game gets harder/you get weaker after every time you complete the game...

Welcome to New game plus!

Yes. the game gets harder everytime you beat but it doesn't affect your abilities at all.

Here's a detailed page explaining how every playthrough's difficulty differs from one another:

http://demonssouls.wikidot.com/newgame-plus

Oh...this makes me wanna do another playtrought, but with no fuck ups or cheating this time.

18 hours only? I am taking things slowly, being careful with each step (I don't mind, it's one of my styles) and still die now and again. By the looks of it, it will take me way longer for the first play trough only. Like last night....

.....It was a creepy day like always in Boletaria. I decided to check out the third realm, this tower that they called Latrina. And sure enough it stank. Filled with these pore creatures imprisoned, that I kindheartedly freed from their cages. Ooo, how they cheered for me, followed me everywhere like grateful dogs. The bell ringing cousins of medusa that were guarding the hallways were not a threat, if I back stabbed them or caught them off guard with quick and powerful thrusts from my mighty spear, while the occasionally crazy prisoners attacked me with their poisonous daggers and I dealt with them quickly to ease their suffering. Things were going great, I gathered some seven thousand souls and was moving around quite comfortably through this prison of doom. Then, feeling cocky in my judgement, I saw that there was a crack in the floor on one of the balconies that served as the prisons hallways, and thought that I would better jump down, for there on the lower balcony surely great treasure awaited. And jumped down I did, only to miss the landing and down into the pit of blackness my soul went. Well, but as you know, in this place of torture that is also a paradise, my soul is always brought back so that I can continue...forever. Of course, my immediate purpose was to go and get back the sweet souls that I gathered and lost when I miscalculated my leap moments before. My pore soulless worshipers surrounded me again, like hungry puppies, and I only rarely raised mine hand upon their frail and rotten bodies, so that they not block mine way in my hurry. There he was, one of the bell ringing, lightning wielding guardians, and here I was, hiding behind a column so as to bravely attack him by surprise, when the time was right and he was moving away from me. Alas, my stupid companions were all around me, I moved and the witch saw me, I focused and attacked and the dead corpse of one of the rotten prison rats fell down stricken by my flawless blow, I tried run but the scumbag of the earth and hell were blocking my way like cretin zombies of apocalypse. The wizard just rang its bell and froze me with the lightning ball like a scarecrow on a pole, lifted me up like an over sized iron doll, killed me while I was still trying to figure out why on the demon's heart I had to be kind to those crawling caricatures of a human being that were the only reason of my defeat, the only cause of me loosing those sweet sweet souls that...any one needs to...not...be like them...for all time.

Ive just played the NA version I bought in 2009 and wow - online is full of life! Its good to see that this game is still so popular. Will we ever see a DLC?

Well, Atlus and From Software haven't confirmed any DLC support but honestly I would love to see an expansion pack.