This DLC is amazing and tbh everyone criticising it purely for its difficulty just need to grow up its a souls game it is MENT to be hard. The base game was already easier than many of the other souls games so this DLC was a huge relief as I actually was pushed to use other items in the game without feeling like I made it too easy for myself. At the end of the day if you are finding it too hard there is many different ways of getting around it with summons, magic, craftables, lower playthrough number ect. Even though I will admit sometimes the reused bosses in some areas from the base game were a bit disappointing that was my only annoyance for the whole game. Please give it another go on using some of these changes as it is a really great DLC in my opinion and don't feel the need to not use stuff that's in the game for a pride reason if you are really struggling.