New player build

[Korden]

Was hoping to get some input from folks about their favorite builds starting from scratch. I've been looking through Fextralife's build list and am still unsure on how I want to proceed. I like the samurai setup for it's versatility, but simplicity is high on my priority list.

I am trying to use as little cheese as possible and follow an "intended" path.

[Clail]

Wretch club only no leveling

[psheue]

You can't go wrong pumping VGR until it hits 60.

As for the other stats, don't be afraid to experiment, you get many respecs per run. Upgrade materials are a little on the scarce side during the early game, tho, so there's not as much room for experimenting.

[bigbiggaboo]

Go with a dex build

[Ataraxia ♥]

60 vigor, then go dex,str, or int based on what weapons feel best to you. Its really up to personal preference

[Toad]

1. At the very beginning, put all your points into Vigor till at least 20. Aim for 40 once you have completely explored the starting areas and are moving further north. By end game you'll want 60.

2. If you want to try out loads of different weapons, having 20 points in Strength and Dexterity will allow you to wield most in the game. Try swinging around a few different ones and see what moveset you like. Most of your damage will come from upgrading your weapon until you hit mid-late game.

3. Decide if you want to use magic. A great build for variety is making a spellblade or paladin type build. Spellblades favour dexterity builds, and Paladins favour Strength builds. Put around 40-50 points into either Intelligence or Faith, and the rest into your main damage stat. Use your magic to buff your weapon and your body to dish out a variety of damage. Very versatile.

4. If you change your mind about any of this when you're dozens of hours into the game, don't panic. There is a way to reallocate your stats after beating one of the earlier major bosses. It requires limited resources to use, so make sure you're still confident into what you want to change into.

[Cannibinor]

Samurai is a good starting class for a pure dex build. Someone can correct me if im wrong, but i think it's the most optimized from a min/max perspective.

[Xengre]

I'd like to echo the Vigor sentiments. Aim for 60. 40 Vigor is technically fine, but vigor is simply far more valuable than a few extra AR, and believe me those other stats are not boosting your melee/magic as much as oh so many players think.

It is even worse, early, because it isn't until you start getting higher weapon upgrade (+10, +20, etc.) that the scaling on your weapon even begins to go anywhere other than garbage-tier. This reinforces the great vigor rush. Otherwise, investing in any stat other than the absolute minimal for wielding/casting necessary spell for a few extra ar (and I mean a few, no joke) is basically the equivalent of burning a winning lottery ticket. It's that bad.

Faith is versatile so getting up to 15 or even 20 (or 20 with a talisman, so u can stop at 15 if you want) isn't a bad idea at some point as well. A lot of the buffs are faith based. You don't need insane faith stats for them, either, as they almost never scale. You simply need the ability to cast them to begin with.

Stamina, to some degree, and a bit of extra mind might not be bad to accrue at one point, as well. Still, go for vigor asap. The difference of rushing vigor might be 300 HP vs 2000+ HP while doing the same for Str or Dex early might garner you 30-50 AR... lol

As psheue mentioned, not too far into the game you can reset your stats and you get quite a few of the item you exchange for stat reset. They're technically finite but you get enough that I highly doubt you will screw yourself over so fret not.

Your main curiosity will be what kind of weapons or caster you want to be and if you want to fit a specific style such as miracle based paladin, shield brute, colossal weapon wielder, bleed, etc.

If you want to avoid the most absurd cheeses avoid Seppuku (which is a fairly late game bleed based ash of war, obscenely overpowered) and BHS (aka Bloodhound Step, aka never get hit you are the One, Neo). It doesn't take much explanation but while using rot and actively engaging is one thing it is also a strong cheese to rot and then simply run... while the DoT decimates bosses. Avoid using Dragonbreath attacks on this first run as well (notably the rot ones, because even tho the rot is strong the dmg from the breath itself is absurd as well). They're intense nukes that crowd out even casters, Azur Comet abuser aside. I'd recommend avoid excessively reliance on Barricade/Scholar Shield, too, so when using shields they're strong but not oppressively godmode strong. You would have to use them tactically and manage stamina/when to block. Of course, this is just advice of some of the common super cheeses. What you opt to do will be up to you, ultimately.

[Twisty]

For simplicity you can't do much better than "oongaboonga" strength. It makes the game easier when you can just poisebreak pretty much everything you hit.
For versatility if you mean having a bow, you can buy one pretty much right off the bat from a merchant on the beach.