Tips on Upgrade Paths for NG+?

Hello everybody.

I'm about to finish my first playthrough with a Lightning Uchigatana +5. I also went with Pyromancy, and I've got a +15/+5 Pyro Glove (plus all the direct damage spells).
Since I've got to retrieve the Embers again when I start a NG+, I'm asking for tips on the Upgrade Path I should go next, which I plan to follow on another weapon before beating Gwyn.
I still got to defeat Seath, Priscilla, Gwyndolin and Gwyn.

My character's stats so far are:

VIT 40
ATT 12
END 40
STR 20
DEX 18
RES 11
INT 9
FTH 9

I'm currently using an almost maxed out Paladin Set, and kind of deciding between a Black Knight Shield or a Balder Shield (already got the first to +4, and the latter to +13)

P.S: Can I still co-op with people who aren't on a NG+ if I am on a NG+?

Yup, you can co-op with people on any NG# no matter which one you're on.

As for the upgrade path, you should start thinking about going Regular as soon as possible. When you start getting far in the +s, elemental doesn't really cut it anymore. Start putting points into scaling stats, Str or Dex, and then think about getting a Int of Fth buffing spell.

Alright. I'm planning to stop at SL150; should I raise Vit to 51? I'm putting all my points from now on to STR/DEX.

I'd pick one or the other for now. Personally, between the two I'd go with Strength. I get the sense that you'll need the damage from those high strength weapons in NG+ and beyond. I can't tell you how many NG+ hosts I run into that just can't damage the 4 Kings fast enough, and I pump the fist whenever I get summoned by a heavy weapon user.

@Azran ha, 51 vit is ridiculously high, the most I ever put into vit is 30.
leave it at 40 and put the rest into Str (until 40-50) then the remainder into dex.

Alright, already starting pumping STR up (it's 24 now).

I've got a truckload of titanite, so I started upgrading a Longsword up to +14; haven't found a titanite Slab yet (Those Darkwraiths don't want to part with it, even if I'm farming with the Icon of Avarice, Golden Serpent Ring and 2 soft humanity). So, you'd recommend swapping that Longsword for a Claymore? What about a BKGS?

I always farm Darkwraiths with the gold serpent ring and 10 soft humanity. I've gotten 3 slabs so far.

- Make that 4 slabs as of 2 minutes ago.

I try to farm those SOB's and havn't gotten one slab over 4 playthroughs

Gave up on the Darkwraiths (seriously, they even dropped 2 titanite Chunks at once; ALL OF THEM, but not a single slab. Or Dark Hand for that matter ) so I just went into NG+ for the Stray Demon slab. Also, just in case, I got a BKGS +5 ready. Would that be enough, or should I go with a +15 Claymore/Zweihander?

Azran wrote:Gave up on the Darkwraiths (seriously, they even dropped 2 titanite Chunks at once; ALL OF THEM, but not a single slab. Or Dark Hand for that matter ) so I just went into NG+ for the Stray Demon slab. Also, just in case, I got a BKGS +5 ready. Would that be enough, or should I go with a +15 Claymore/Zweihander?

The drops are random, also the Symbol of Avarice and the Golden Serpent ring don't stack, either use one or the other coupled with ten humanity for a 410 item discovery rate.

The BKGS +5 would be good in NG+ once you get there, and on my first character I didn't have too many problems just using my +5 lightning winged spear for most of the playthrough. Though I did switch it out for the MLGS eventually and that fared even better. Find a weapon you like a lot, moveset and stat parameters that match your style of play and work with it from there.

When I first bought the game I figured there were weapon tiers just like other traditional RPGs and the best weapon was at the top of the tier, I never realized about upgrading weapons and really didn't fully understand it until I almost finished my first playthrough. (I used the drakesword up until I hit the 4k, and I could not beat them using it.) Then I hopped on the wiki and searched up the embers and felt like a huge moron, not realizing that each individual weapon could be upgraded along different paths and damn near all of them still perform well in late game.

Before you go further, keep diminishing returns in mind. Basically stat scaling caps at 40 and you only want to go beyond that if you intend of using a weapon or spell that has a very high stat requirement.

I can't really get into the Ultra Greatsword mentality, to be honest. I prefer Spears and/or Longswords, though I think I will give the Claymore a chance. Entered into NG+ with my trusty Lightning Uchigatana +5, and I managed to beat Sif, the Gargoyles, the Cats, the Hydra and a titanite Demon in 30 minutes. Go me. I'm almost about to reach 40 STR (just a pair of levels), and since I will also go with Dex, I think a sword will do fine I guess.
Epic fail at trying to stack the SoA and the Ring

Thanks everyone for the tips!