So do you just enjoy futility
It didn't feel futile. I could beat most of the enemies being thrown at me! It just takes a long time, and accumulates error, and I think I need a better way to permakill skeletons than kicking them off a cliff.
There is no better way to do anything than that
Granted. However, I think I'd better not ignore what the game is telling me here. There are still plenty of souls to dark elsewhere.