[quote name='Jodou']Lol, no wonder you can't block the dragon's flame buffet. Your endurance caps at 160 once you have 40 into it, so that's why I recommended getting it to at least that far. It makes a huge difference and is absolutely necessary if you're melee.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='salty tbone']This would be my answer to. Of course, I leveled up endurance and ignored vitality (with the strategy of not getting hit) and faith (once I reached a certain number of slots). I think if you plan on doing a lot of melee, endurance is key for the reasons Saint Noir mentioned.
Also, it's nice to be able to sprint nonstop across half the maps.

Once you hit level 40, though, the stamina boost stops.[/QUOTE]
I don't think I ever tried to block the fire with my shield, Jodou - I just assumed it wouldn't work since it seemed to go all around me when I did get hit. However, like I said before, running through that part was no problem at all.
I have been doing a lot of melee with the shield/spear combo and I just back away when my endurance runs down. I suppose, though, that if there is a cap at 40, I might as well go for it. Then maybe I can use some better armor as well.
It's funny, but the one attribute that was so critical early on, strength, has really not been something I've needed to touch for a long time. I guess I'll go with endurance for my next several levels, anyway.