Weapon ascension, auxillary effects, and parameter bonuses explained!

Hey everyone, since I started playing Dark Souls I've been trying to figure out exactly what all the auxiliary effects and parameter bonuses actually mean for weapons and armour and I thought it would be useful for me to post them here in a list format in case there are things people don't fully understand yet.
There are three main categories to explain, which are listed below:

1. Weapon ascension:
In order to ascend weapons you need to visit a blacksmith with the correct materials, have an applicable weapon, and make sure the blacksmith has the correct ember. For enchanting advanced weapons such as occult weaponry, you will need to ascend an ordinary weapon to +5 in it's respective element and then you will be able to ascend it to +0 of the weapon you are attempting to make. For example: If you want an occult weapon you must first ascend an ordinary weapon to +5 divine, then visit the blacksmith near the Undead Chapel after giving him the dark ember. He will be able to create an occult weapon which can be progressed to +5.
You can also recycle weapons at any blacksmith, for example if you have a fire longsword, you will be able to transfer it to its previous state, i.e. longsword +5 or +10 or whatever it was on before you ascended it. Beware that although sometimes weapons appear to increase in damage when you recycle them it can actually make them weaker in the long-run, as they may not have yet been upgraded to their full potential with that given element.

Note: some sets of armour cannot be upgraded such as Havel's armour or other sets of armour forged using boss souls. This is usually because they come fully upgraded and already have very good stats, therefore upgrading it any more would cause an unbalance in the game.

Whilst upgrading shields to +1, +2 etc. may not actually increase the physical reduction % etc. it DOES increase the stability stat - this is particularly important as the higher your stability stat is, the less your stamina you will lose when you are hit with your shield raised. If you have a powerful shield AND a high stability stat you will be able to receive a huge amount of hits before being staggered. This can be a viable tactic for replacing stamina regenerating items such as green blossom/grass crest shield explained earlier in this blog.

2. Auxiliary effects:
i. bleed: bleeding is represented by the brown splotch mark in the bottom left of the auxiliary effects box. This increases your damage with some weapons after a certain amount of blows. I.e. By using the bandit's knife (300 bleeding effect), on your third successive strike it will deal significantly more damage than the first two. Other weapons which have a higher bleed effect may not require as many hits to deal bonus damage, i.e. the lifehunt scythe.

ii. poison/toxic: poison comes attached to some weapons, however you can also purchase poison throwing knives and arrows from the witch merchant in the aqueduct near Firelink Shrine (in the passage towards the depths behind some bars). Poison inflicts damage over an extended period once inflicted and will ultimately kill the infected opponent. However it won't always work after only a couple of hits so you may need to strike them a few more times to actually poison them. It's particularly useful when trying to kill strong enemies from a distance by using poison arrows (see the 'how to defeat two black knight archers in Anor Londo' guide).

iii. divine: divine basically puts down the skeletons in the catacombs for good - they won't restructure themselves once you've killed them with a divine weapon.

iv. occult: as far as i can tell occult deals more damage to some covenant members, i.e. the princess's guard; although many people have different opinions on this. The main thing to note about occult weapons is once they have been upgraded to +5 the physical damage will be greater than that of a +5 divine weapon, so if you're going for pure strength then occult is not a bad way to go.

3. Parameter bonuses:
Parameter bonuses are the most significant thing mentioned here. Every weapon and shield in the game has a parameter bonus rank which is graded below the attack information in the item screen. These vary from '-' (which is nothing) to S rank. Most weapons will have Cs and Ds, however you will come across the odd weapon or two with an A/S rank - don't underestimate these weapons as they can become far more powerful than weapons with '-' in the parameter box. The drake sword for example has '-' across all boxes, this means that although it is a powerful from near the beginning of the game when your stats are low, you don't receive any increase in damage when leveling up like you would with other weapons which have grades. Therefore, eventually a weapon with a C rank in strength would outmatch the drake sword.

There are four sub-categories to the parameter bonuses: strength, dexterity, intelligence and faith. If a weapon has an A rank in dexterity for example, when you level up at a bonfire you will see that by putting a skill point into dexterity it will increase your attack damage by around 3 or 4 with that weapon. This is why increasing your intelligence increases your sorcery damage whilst using a catalyst too; as you will be able to see the sorcerer's catalyst has an A rank in intelligence. I tested an S rank weapon at the bonfire recently, and each time I put a skill point into dexterity the attack damage was increasing by 3/4 alternatively.

Find a favourite weapon and start putting skill points into it in order to increase your attack damage whilst using it, but don't be under the impression that putting skill points into strength always increases your attack damage - it doesn't!!