Notes from author
For the most part, I made this build to learn the Murakumo. As with many builds I make, there is a mix of fashion souls and practicality, so min/maxed this is not.
The relatively low poise in combination with a slow main weapon means you should ideally be good at zoning out your opponent as well as be comfortable with first-hit toggle escapes. For example, I find many people try to punish the Kumo's slow attacks with WoG, but a toggle into rapier backstab generally trades well for you. You can also switch off to Wolf Ring with a mid-roll (or just use higher poise armor) in a pinch.
The Kumo has incredible range and dead angling potential, so be sure to use that to your advantage. Once you've gotten someone into a stunned state, you can really rack up the damage: basically if they can't toggle, they're screwed. As with many high poise damage weapons, the stun into backstab technique is very strong, but another (perhaps more fun) combo is to use R2 -> R2 -> Jumping attack. This works either 1 or 2-handed and does massive damage if you can pull it off. It's not a true combo in the sense that the opponent can roll out before the jumping attack, but if you can guess their rolling direction correctly, the timing is usually such that you'll catch them out of the roll. Also, the WD 1hR1 is extremely useful as an initiator, fairly quick, and can dead angle as well. To my knowledge, it cannot be parried either, but be careful not to be predictable and get roll BSed with it.
The rapier secondary is nice for pokes and crits, naturally. You can also swap it out for any number of light, quick weapons. I'm particularly fond of the Longsword, but a Gold Tracer fits here as well and can be good for getting people out of your face if they try to rush you down. As for the bow, I tend to use it as a lure for parries/BSes by canceling out the shot.
Being a quality build, feel free to swap out weapons as you see fit. That is a major strength of such builds, after all.
