Sounds fun shook it can be viable if you use it right for sure, altough parrying may just be more effective. But it all depends on how you play the game.

If you ever feel bad about your ds skill, and have about, uhh, 3-7 hours to spare, go watch This Is How You Dont Play Dark Souls (1, 2, 3 +dlc, your choice)

Hee, maybe i will! Although after pretty much blowing through the first few areas and bosses of the game with BRUNHILDE (fat club lady), it dawns upon me that i have actually gotten better. That, and boosting vigor early helps a lot. :U (also Vordt's greathammer is surprisingly powerful)

Also re: Gundyr, he and Pontiff are two bosses who can be pretty much trivialized by skilled parrying. Blocking is not terribly effective against Champion Gundyr though, because many of his attacks deal a shit ton of stamina damage, even against a shield with 78 stability, and as you know, he just KEEPS ATTACKING (and getting shield broken here will probably get you juggled to death in short order, but damn if they aren't some smooth moves). Most notably is the shoulder check, which comes out of nowhere, takes off like a third of my stamina bar and stuns me almost as long as an actual knockdown. It is also in cases like these where a slow weapon will get you wrecked. :v

Ds is fun in that way. It looks hella daunting from the start, but when you get used to it it becomes fun as heck

Yeah, both gundyr and pontiff become training dummies if you can parry. Champion gundyr is a,bitch to beat even after that tho. His first phase is pretty much just iudex over again, but if that fucker hits you with his charge or the combo that leads to the kick you better pray to find a window for healing. Not even gonna mention the bullshit antics of the floor shards that come from him smashing the ground hitting you.

Vigor is nice too, but after 40 diminishing returns becomes pretty visible, but 40 vigor is a whole lot. If you use a shield endurance is a bigun to focus on

Blocking can be effective though, you gotta learn dodging too. Everytime I used a shield I pretty much only blocked a second before a hit, then dodged or blocked again depending on the follow up.

Hope you have fun with big club hilda, try to get the dragon tooth too ;)

Blocking is a whole lot more effective here than in DS2 actually, since some enemies will take counter hit damage after recoiling, plus the Dragonslayer Shield has a GG-tier shield bash that knocks people the fuck down. It's amusing, to say the least. :U

also having acquired a full Evangelist set (including spiked mace with Heavy infusion) i can now say that BRUNHILDE has ascended to full fatty mode

I've never seen it cause bleed before the enemies die, but that just serves as a textbook example of why you should be wary of fatty. :v