A Giant, a Dancer, a King, and Working on a Familiar Champion

So either I've gotten good at Dark Souls or I've learned enough persistence that I manage not to get frustrated.

Having completed all of Siegward's quests, the Yhorm the Giant fight, which I suspect would be easy even solo (once you figure out how to use the Stormruler correctly,) was extremely silly as Siegward used his own Stormruler to blast the giant with its attacks, drawing Yhorm's attention while I was able to charge up my sword with impunity. I had one last toast with Siegward before I was drawn away to the entrance to Lothric Castle, but returned to find Siegward's Catarina armor and his sword (my understanding is that, duty fulfilled, he died.)

With three Lord of Cinder dead, I was able to fight the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, who I believe you can actually fight even before Vordt if you murder the old lady in that room (but that wouldn't be nice.) The Dancer is a really odd fight - at least at first she'll often seem to ignore you, and you might miss her not because she's dodging but because she's just walking away. But when she does attack, her swords come in at very unpredictable angles. Thankfully, I'd just gotten enough vitality to wear some decent armor and still be able to dodge, so I could dance with her, and after five or six attempts I got her down (I'm definitely hitting harder bosses, with Yhorm as an exception.)

From there, I went left into the Consumed King's Garden and faced down Oceiros. Ironically, the second phase of the fight is actually easier, as his attacks are easier to dodge (though he charges across the room so quickly that it's hard to keep up.) With him down, I was able to get into the Untended Graves area.

So now I'm working on Gundyr round 2 (or round 1, if your interpretation is that this is in the past. Alternatively, it might also be round 1 if this is an alternate universe.) I believe his moveset is an expansion of his phase 1 in the first fight. My best attempt (down to about 15%) involved using the Buckler to parry a lot, though it's hard to tell exactly which of his attacks can be parried.

With the Way of the Dragon gesture, I should be able to go to Archdragon Peak. I'm considering starting the Ashes of Ariandel DLC before I attempt the Nameless King, though.

I also decided to use my Titanite Slab on the Hollowslayer Greatsword, as it has worked very well for me over the course of the game. So with that fully upgraded, I'll look into what other weapons to upgrade. I'd love to use all boss weapons (the Dancer's twinswords are pretty appealing) but I don't know how many Titanite Scales I'll be able to find.

I've got the Black Eye Orb to fight Leonhard, but the couple times I've tried he's absolutely trounced me. I imagine this guy is kind of like the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst - the pinnacle of NPC duels. Oh well, it's not like I don't have a ton of stuff left even if the main game is getting into its final act.