Pursuer was easy once I actually sat down and paid attention to him. Ballista? Pah. Dodge roll to the right, towards his shield side. That's how I beat him. Oh sure, he's got a 2 or 3 hit combo that will ruin your day if you catch more than 1 part of it, especially the one where he rolls over his shoulder to wind it up. But again, dodge roll to the right. With Heide's Sword +2, it took about 10 or 12 individual hits, maybe a few more. Compared to some DS1 bosses, he spends an eternity standing there doing nothing after his rush attack or sword impalement.
And if anyone is having problems with the Old Dragonrider, basically the same thing. Keep moving/rolling right towards his offhand, and stay very close. Other than a few whirling two or three hit combos that you have to block or get out the way of, most of his stuff can be rolled through and leave you enough time to get a hit in. He telegraphs his aoe for long enough it's easy to roll out of the way of, and all his big lunging attacks will never hit when you're in close and strafing, giving you lots of time to hit him back. I died about 4 or 5 times to that guy until I just got super pissed, walked up and stood in his grille, pimp slapping him with my sword. The AI kinda seemed confused, because it kept turning left and right as if trying to figure out what to do. Who'd have thought, the most effective way to fight a guy with a spear is to get in his face
Protip on pretty much EVERY enemy that has a weapon. Circle around them, shield up, in the direction of their shield - counter clockwise, aka "hold your move stick towards the right". Most weapon swing arcs don't cover their own shielded area, so you can move easily circle without getting hit, and then hit them from behind.
Also, Gyrm Greatshield has 100% Fire Resistance - any physical or fire attack will be completely ignored. This makes pvp somewhat more interesting!
She knows
But do be aware that almost anyone with a weapon will swing completely behind them with one of the multihit combos, just to catch the unwary napping. It's becoming such a regular pattern, the weak right side of most enemies, that I'm wondering if they're going to switch mid-game to something else. Like guys who fight left-handed. I know that enemies can in fact lock on to you and follow you with their wind up. So it's deliberate that several nasty enemies and bosses don't do it, or dodge rolling and circle strafing wouldn't be half as effective. Kinda makes me wonder if they're pulling punches in the first half of the game so people don't get discouraged and quit.