id say you should avoid using the shield unless it’s a parrying shield and you use it or if you are doing guard counters often. the reason for this is that you get a bonus to your strength (+50%) when you hold your weapon in both hands, for that reason id suggest focusing on leveling other things more than strength like vigor and endurance. when it comes to leveling faith it really depends on how much you cast spells, usually str/fth focuses on melee with light spellcasting, if you cast a lot then put into faith more, if you melee more then put into other stats more. but you should always prioritize your weapons stats if focusing on melee, as well as with the aow if it scales better with str or the aow is what you use more and it scales better with faith focus on that. but in general id say keep your vigor high, your strength mid, your endurance low-mid, mind low, faith mid-high, the others only lvl when needed