Notes from author
Rundown:
Covenant - Darkwraith with Red Eye Orb in inventory for quick invasions.
Rings - Hornet Ring (Extreme critical damage from both ripostes and backstabs - staples of the Fence-Archer class)
Seance Ring (2 attunement slots)
Weapons - Bow - Compound Bow for imo the best balance. This can be easily swapped for Great Bow (if you need to be extreme), or Short Bow (if you want quicker shots). The Longbow (scales with strength) or BBoP (scales with dex) can be used depending on whether you want to level this build up to 50 or further.
Weapons - Melee Weapon - Rapier for roleplay and high critical damage. Do not use piercing alternative, Rapier is best. For weapon class alternatives turn to the Reinforced Club for bleed, as well as high poise and hp damage. All manner of daggers also work well.
Casts - Pyromancy - Ascended +5 Flame for best MagAdjusts. Chaos Fire Whip for a lingering, high damaging spell with a wide cone of effectiveness. Can kill low level builds in 1 shot, especially with the lingering lava effect which is left on any surface you shoot it at. Chaos Fireball is also useful for its large aoe and ranged attack. You should be wearing a Seance ring. Provided you are, you may wish to use your 2 attunement slots for two spells instead of one. In this case, I would suggest a pairing of Poison Mist (blinds and poisons) with either Great Combustion (8 casts and high close range damage) or Regular Fire Whip (same deceptive, high damaging move, minus the lingering lava effect).
Shield - Buckler for rp and increased chance of landing a parry (with its greater parry frames). Parrying Dagger also works smashingly for rp as a main gauche. Its only downside is its inability to block effectively. Think of it as the pro version of the build. As an alternative to these smaller blocking implements, one could also employ a heavier shield - at the expense of fast roll (not recommended, but perfectly viable).
Keep armor light.
