\[T]/
Good job on the Gargoyles!
Don't feel bad about using Astoras sword. It's not very good, anyway. Weapons with more than one damage type have to roll against more than one armor type so pure physical damage tends to be better. The good thing about that sword is it's a Divine weapon so the skeletons in the catacombs won't get up again after you kill them with it. Decent weapon for a Faith build but most clerics prefer blunt weapons.
As you continue the journey, remember that you can only be invaded while human. This is when a glowing red guy appears and tries to kill you. These are usually human, but they can also be NPCs which appear when you walk through certain areas who drop special weapons and are worth large amounts of souls.
Also remember that most monsters loot table is the items they're using. One weapon I hoped to get around the gargoyles is the Balder sword. It's just a plain straight sword but its very light and easy to use with good Dex scaling. It's a good weapon for a sorcerer with a magic enchant. It has a very low chance to drop off a Balder Knight who's using it, but you can raise your item find by having 10+ humanity by farming humanity off of rats. Also, the Covetous Serpent rings raise item find, too, but none of the item find items stack with each-other.