Flynn's Ring
Flynn's Ring grants a bonus to your physical attack, but the bonus is affected by your maximum equipment load. At SL1, your base maximum equipment load is 47.5 and it can increase to 49 if you equip the Handmaid's Ladle. As long as your maximum equipment load is less than 60, equipping Flynn's Ring would add 50 points to your physical attack. Use Flynn's Ring together with the Ring of Blades+1 to receive up to 85 points added to your physical damage output.
Grave of Saints
Ash Knuckle Ring and Sublime Bone Dust
Gilligan should be at Majula by now. Purchase the most expensive ladder from him and use the ladder to safely descend the Pit at Majula. You can also survive the fall down the Pit by equipping the Silvercat Ring and Jester's Tights. Drop down to the first rock ledge and light the Harval's Resting Place bonfire. Proceed to drop down to the second rock ledge and make your way to a Crystal Lizard. Kill the lizard if you want some extra Titanite Shards and Large Titanite Shard x 1. Collect the Ash Knuckle Ring from an iron chest. The ring will be useful against enemies that can build up your petrify metre, especially enemies in the Crown of the Sunken King DLC where Flynn's Ring is located. A Royal Guard stands in the way of an iron chest containing a Sublime Bone Dust. Defeat the knight and collect the item. The knight can be tough to fight. A safer option is to lure him as far away from the chest as possible and open the chest. Now navigate to The Gutter and light the Upper Gutter bonfire.
The Gutter
The Gutter: Fragrant Branch of Yore x 2, Estus Flask Shard, and Great Club
Equip Cale's Helm and the Dexterity Ring to allow your character to properly one-hand the Rapier. Hold the torch in the left hand while one-handing the Rapier and make your way to the Black Gulch. There is an Estus Flask Shard at The Gutter. Collect that Shard if you want or, in case you don't want to deal with the poison-spitting statues littered throughout The Gutter, proceed to the Black Gulch. Before you enter the Black Gulch, don't forget to grab a Fragrant Branch of Yore and the Great Club . The weapon will be useful during a fight in the Crown of the Ivory King DLC. You might also want to consider the Old Knight Hammer, which can be collected from a chest at Drangleic Castle. At the entrance of the Black Gulch is another Fragrant Branch of Yore.
Black Gulch
This area is littered with poison-spitting statues. Use a whip in your left hand to break the statues. Summon one or more NPC phantoms to help you deal with NPC red phantom invaders. Lucatiel is found inside a cave that can be accessed by dropping down from above. You have already gotten everything you need from her, i.e. the Ring of Steel Protection+1. No need to interact with Lucatiel at this location.
Farm Titanite Chunks at Black Gulch
Use a Fragrant Branch of Yore you picked up earlier to unpetrify a statue. Defeat the unpetrified enemy and light the Hidden Chamber bonfire. There isn't any notable loot in the area, except for the Pharros' Lockstone near the Hidden Chamber bonfire. The Coal Tars, aka Darksuckers, can be farmed for Titanite Chunks in case you need materials to upgrade various weapons to +9. Before farming the Coal Tars, ensure you have broken all poison-spitting statues and defeated all NPC red phantom invaders in the area, i.e. Woodland Child Victor and Woodland Child Gully. Rest at the Black Gulch Mouth bonfire to respawn the Coal Tars. Don't warp to a different bonfire or use a Homeward Bone, otherwise the poison-spitting statues would respawn.
How to get Forgotten Key, Dark Souls 2: SotFS
Drop down from above and defeat the two Elite Giants for the Forgotten Key. You need the key to access a room containing the Dragon Talon, an item required to enter the Crown of the Sunken King DLC. The Elite Giants also drop the Soul of a Giant, an item that reduces the defense of Vendrick. Use Poison Arrows and/or Poison Knives to poison one giant at a time. Shoot Iron Arrows at a poisoned giant. Rinse and repeat until both giants are defeated.
The Pit
Location of Dragon Talon, Dark Souls 2: SotFS
Use the longest ladder purchased from Gilligan to descend the Pit. Climb up a ladder and open a pair of stone doors. The doors are opened by the Forgotten Key, which you collected from the defeated Elite Giants at the Black Gulch. Enter the door and collect the Dragon Talon from a corpse.
Black Gulch
Before fighting The Rotten, ensure you have purchased all Brightbugs from Melentia.
The Rotten
SL1 The Rotten and 3 Brightbugs
Buff the Rapier+10 with Gold Pine Resin. The boss takes approximately 35% extra damage from thrust attacks and is weak against lightning. Try to break the boss' arm that wields a cleaver. The boss would be much easier with that arm broken.
Defeat the Rotten and enter the Crown of the Sunken King DLC. Light the Sanctum Walk bonfire. Warp back to Majula and have at least 54,000 souls to purchase Brightbug x 3 from Melentia.
Shulva, Sanctum City
Locate the Sanctum Mace near the Tower of Prayer bonfire. You don't have the equipment and stats to properly wield the weapon. However, the weapon has the passive effect of building up your poison metre with each attack. The poison build up is useful in conjunction with the Red Tearstone Ring. Equip the ring and use the Sanctum Mace to poison your character. Wait for the effect of the ring to activate and consume a Poison Moss. Apart from the Sanctum Mace, there is no other notable loots in the area. Collect the Dark Quartz Ring+3 and the Thunder Quartz Ring+3 if you need them. Run through the area straight to Dragon's Sanctum.
Dragon's Sanctum
Titanite Slab at Dragon's Sanctum
You will encounter the apparitions of Sanctum Knight x 2, in front of whom are two full Sanctum Knight armour sets carefully laid in a supine manner on what appears to be stone beds. Five iron chests surround the stone beds and one of the chests contains a Titanite Slab. Each armour set must be broken for the corresponding Sanctum Knight to take damage.
Collect the Puzzling Stone Sword. The weapon has a two-handed running R1 attack that is a horizontal slash, useful for crowd control such as during the Prowling Magus fight or the fight against the Skeleton Lords. The R2 is a 360 degrees slash, also useful as crowd control.
Location of Flynn's Ring, Dark Souls 2: SotFS
Collect Flynn's Ring, which is located above a room filled with Corrosive Egg Insects. The room is accessed by dropping down from above, then make your way up a flight of stairs to open an iron chest containing the ring.
Location of Eternal Sanctum Key and Dragon Stone, Dark Souls 2: SotFS
Light the Hidden Sanctum Chamber bonfire. The Eternal Sanctum Key is found in a room filled with a number of full armour sets of Sanctum Knight in a standing upright position. The room has three apparitions of Sanctum Knights and, if you have been running straight for the room, a few more Sanctum Knights would be tailing you. Run around the room, taking care not to fall over the edges to your doom. The knights would chase you around and occasionally fall to their death. You need the key to unlock a passage to one of the bosses. Near the Hidden Sanctum Chamber bonfire is the Dragon Stone, found inside a chest hidden behind a stone wall. The wall can only be removed by activating a nearby pressure plate.