Shiva/Ninja cosplay

Hey guys,

A friend of mine and I cosplay occasionally and am looking for ideas. We've done Havel and Iron Tarkus (SL:65), Ornstein and Smough (still in progress, aiming for SL120, DSS sucks), and now I think Shiva/Ninja would be good.

The idea is to be as close to the character as possible, with the best build. Some flexibility is allowed. Example: Havel could use Grant because Havel is a bishop, and Grant is a Way of White holy weapon. Obviously he'd have his trusty dragon's tooth.

So, first, before builds, what weapons/items would Shiva and the Ninja have?

I'm thinking Shiva is straight up vit/end/str/dex. No magic. Weapons... just about anything. Shiva deals and is interested in all kinds of weapons and shields. Also rings.
Ninja I'm thinking might have a bit of Pyromancy or potentially up to a 15 Int to cast helpful spells like hidden body/chameleon/hush. Weapons... light weapons. Daggers, no rapiers, heavy use of poison. What weapon has the highest Crit damage in the game? Bandit's Knife? Will likely use that. Iaito as well.

I see neither of them having Faith.

Suggestions?

Sorry for the bump. Is this in the wrong spot, or already discussed to death?

Shiva's Weapon = Any western weapon. Katanas, Claws etc.
Shiva's Shield = Probably a round type of shield, no Kite types since western style dosen't really have so much history on those types.

Ninja's Weapon = Katanas, CLAWS or any type of dagger.
Ninja's Shield = Small shield since Ninjas were masters at fighting whit a dagger and a Sword but if shield is needed. Small round shield.

Shiva and The Ninja should NOT use magic or faith...It just dosen't fit.

(If you want to the Ninja should also use a bow whit POISON arrows and MAYBE you could use magic/Pyro but only types that dosen't to Pychical damage) (Every stealth spell and Poison could is ok)

Ninja's had all kinds of tricks up their sleeves. Since there's no non-magical tricks, I was thinking actual magical ones. As in no, Ninja's could not turn into pots, but representing that pot as an advanced form of hiding?

They coulda adjust thier clothes to fith into the area thier targets were in so yea... (If their target was in a wooden area they WOULD have some kinda of ''paint'' that looked like a tree,wall etc)

So what I've got so far is:

Weapons:
Bandit Knife, Mail Breaker, Parrying Dagger, Iaito

Shield:
Did ninja's use shields? Only a small shield then.

Rings:
Fog Ring & DWGR

Armour:
Ninja gear.

Stats:
Heavy Dex, some vit/end/str, maybe Int of 15 to cast utility spells.

Spells:
Hidden Body, hush, cameleon, mist spells (toxic and poison).

Gear:
Unsure. Poison Resin, Poison throwing knives, firebombs/black firebombs...

Any suggestions for Weapons, spells, rings or gear? I was debating Hornet's ring, but I think the other rings are more appropriate.