Hello

Take a look here for the full explanation. https://soulsspeedruns.com/livesplit/#troubleshooting Also you can read at the end "It is not recommended to completely disable windows defender, or to exclude all of livesplit."

Hello

You don't need to install something at all. Just run the program along with DSR and the job will be done. More precisely, after killing the black knight, if the weapon doesn't drop naturally (no "black knight halberd" message on screen), the BKH will still appear in your inventory. Also, you won't get banned on steam. Just make your sure the game is offline (anyway, for a valid run, the game has to be offline). Steam doesn't to be offline. For the discord, I think you have the link to the former one. Here is the link to the new one : https://discord.gg/6v5Z63zEQv

Hello. For any%, It is possible to skip those bosses to access firelink altar but in this case you need Kaathe, and in this case, you need to beat the 4 kings, and therefore Sif. But it's slower than beating Gargoyles and Queelag and ring both bells. You can't access the kiln without Kaathe or Fampt being awaken.