Notes from author
Vitality and Endurance are both at the soft cap. Dexterity is at the soft cap for weapon damage and 5 points short of maxing Pyromancy speed. Attunement is chosen for 6 slots to allow for a bit of redundancy and versatility in pyromancy choices.
Strength and Faith are honestly mistakes. Strength should only be 14 to wield the Silver Knight Shield effectively and Faith should not have been levelled up at all, but they were chosen to use the Drake Sword and Heal respectively. Being my first build, I had overvalued these when I was starting. 5 of the 6 points wasted here should be re-allocated to dexterity.
Given that my Dexterity should be high for Pyromancies, the Balder Side Sword could be one of many effective dex-based weapons and this had came down to personal preference. The high stability of the Silver Knight Shield had made it the most appealing.
The Black Iron Gear was my second choice behind the Giant Armor set, but to mid-roll in it would require Havel's Ring which can't really be justified past that. The Black Iron set with the Ring of Favor and Protection actually puts us right at the cap.
The Ring of Favor and Protection is chosen mostly for its Equip Load bonus, but its two other effects are what makes it worthwhile over Havel's Ring. The Wolf Ring is there to prevent staggering as to help resolve Pyromancies effectively. Most notably, Chaos Storm and its punishing AoE capability.
Black Flame was not chosen because I don't own the DLC, but it would be the optimal choice over a Great Fireball.
