I'm currently doing my first "no leveling-up" run of Dark Souls (1); I chose the Bandit class as a starting class (and the Master Key as a gift), and just noticed that I wouldn't be able to attune any pyromancy due to my low attunement level. Up until now (I just reached Anor Londo) things went surprisingly smoothly, the only boss that gave me a little trouble was Queelag, whom killed me twive, but I dread taking on the Four Kings without Power within and even O&S might prove to be a challenge. Do you have any tips on how to defeat these bosses, the four kings in particular, with a low level melee character that has no magic or pyromancy capabilities? Or is it easier than I imagine?
EDIT I am now facing the Four Kings and my concerns were justified. I don't think I can dish out enough damage fast enough, several attempts failed as the second king killed me before I could even kill the first. What are my options? I'm wielding a +5 Fire Battle Axe, and I can't upgrade it to a +10 now as I want to join the Darkwraith Covenant and thus can't deposit the Lordvessel.
I'm aware of the possibility of using the Red Tear Stone Ring, but that would mean breaking the Ring of Favour and Protection which I'm not too keen on…
EDIT 2 I was mistake about the embers being unaccessible before killing the Four Kings. My new plan is to upgrade my Battleaxe to +10. Furthermore, I upgraded a Giant's set. I came close to killing the Four Kings twice today, and I feel I could take them down with this equipment.
Best Answer
There are many reasons no-level runs are done with the Pyromancy class. A no-level run is a challenge run. Its a challenge run with only one goal, to never level up. Everything else goes.
People choose pyromancy for an no-level run because Pyromancy levels up with souls, not stats. It can be pretty liberating to never have to worry about character spec and instead putting all of your souls into upgrades. A +5 Ascended Pyromancy glove is 100% the highest damage output of any no-level available weapon. Pyromancy also gives you status effects, such as iron flesh and Power Within. Power Within adds +40% to all damage output.
To answer your direct question. If you choose to proceed...
4 Kings are weak to fire, so your +5 fire Battle Axe will be golden. Your battle axe in general will be your weapon of choice going forward (and probably has been up until this point anyway). You can RTSR if you feel you have their attacks down, but you will absolutely have to be under 25% equip load so you can fast roll, which also means you will have to dodge every attack as every attack will one shot you.
The biggest factor in the 4 kings is stamina management. You are at base stamina to start out with so Green Blossom or Grass Crest Shield is your friend (or both). Always be on the lookout for the AoE as it is an insta-death if you don't have the stamina to double roll backwards.
The 4 Kings are about one thing, Damage Per Second. You absolutely have to be able to take down each king before the next one spawns. There is simply no way to face 2-3 of them with that little stamina while still outputting damage. Their health pool is the largest in the game, at nearly 10K HP(2.3K/King).
This being said, I would urge you to think tothe future. You have Nito, Seath, and BoC to go before Gwen, Fire will be useful for Nito, but almost useless for Seath. If you beat 4 Kings, I would head to Nito next, and then turn your axe to Lightning, as this will make the rest of the bosses easier.
Good Luck. That's adventurous to say the least.