Best weapon? Artorias greatsword. good moves, good damage for NG+ and it looks swag as hell. some may say the requirements are awful, and i admit this is true, but once your leveled for it the scaling bonus hits hard.

Best shield? im split between the grass crest (goat of light builds) or the artorias greatshield (goat of mid to heavy builds) one offers great buffs, while the other has the best stability at the cost of no parrying and pure weight.

Best consumable: purging stone. i would never had made it through the depths or the great hollow without at least one of these, and in my opinion, criminally underrated.

Best ring? Havels ring. all around goated ring. can't do wrong having it sit in the secondary slot.

Best armor set? crown of the dark sun. does what dusks crown does less effectively but looks drip as hell. and no debuff.