Is health more important early on? Or stamina?

[Fried Noodles]

I started my second playthrough last night as a Pyromancer.

My previous playthrough was some 7 or 8 months ago, and I was a lightning tossing DEX/FTH character.

I want to play something different this time so I am leaning towards high strength.

I was considering INT and Sorceries, but I may stick with melee stats and just try out Pyromancies on the side.

I ended last night before the Gargoyles at Lv.16 and brought my DEX up to 12, then dumped everything else into STR, so I have 24. Enough to one-hand my Zweihander if I want.

I may want more STR later... but I've neglected my BARS.
I'm unable to get very many swings of my Zwei... and I also get rocked by enemies if they manage to get a hit in.

Which do you suppose is the more pressing concern?

[Obsolete Slayer]

If you can swing 2 times and roll afterwards u have enough stamina for now. HP should be the first stat u upgrade in every souls game since at the beginning u receive a lot of health for a few points.

[Kthulhu]

I'd say stamina Although these days I usually boost up my damage stats to their soft caps before I even touch anything else.

[ULTRA]

END is the single most important stat in the game. Don't forget that the ability to fast roll in heavier armor is comparatively important to your survival as just having higher health, and you get more offensive capability at the same time.

[PublicEnemy#DontBelieveTheHype]

I have to say, in my first run I noticed very quickly that END is a more important value in DS1 than in DS2/3 and ER. But a little more HP can't hurt either. In my second run, I'm aiming for a good balance between HP/END/STR (STR build). But in the early game you probably don't even need to increase it to 20, I think 15 is enough. You should instead rely more on END and your DMG stats (STR/DEX). That makes content a lot easier than just having a large HP pool. I think DMG and the ability to use it (through enough stamina) are more important in DS1. The enemies and bosses are actually pretty easy until you reach the DLC content and the only thing that might hold you back is not making enough DMG ;-)

[Deathjester]

Stamina, you need it to swing your weapon, it also increases your equipment load, allowing you to wear better armor and weapons, health is less important though it should not be ignored either.

[Ghoul Hunter]

Health. Endurance can be ignored on many builds. I do challenge runs, and I increase my endurance last (if ever).

Dodging? Dodging is very economical in terms of stamina. You don't need more stamina, if you're doing it successfully. This will remain the same the entire game. If you want more stamina for whatever reason, equip a chloranthy ring, and that will give you higher regen rate (which is better than a higher max). If you want stronger armor, equip Havel's ring. You don't always need to be armored up, and the ring accommodates that.

Shield-bearing? Don't increase your endurance. Increase the stability on your shield.
Stability lowers the cost of blocking, so you won't expend your stamina blocking stuff. If you want to go straight to the big guns, farm the stone knights in the forest. They drop a great shield that is almost as good as Havel's shield. You'll need 38 strength to use it, but it's one of the best shields in the game, in terms of raw blocking power.

[CB]

it's health. you can still get damage by upgrading your weapons and there are other paths to more stamina.

it doesn't matter how much stamina you have or damage you can deal if i just one-shot you.

[6h0$t942]

They are both important. You should probably have 20 hp and 20 stamina at least for any character.
If you're using heavy weapons, yea you're going to have fewer strikes, so being careful when you attack becomes much more important. But you will also find yourself able to flatten or at least stagger many enemies. Also consider getting the drake sword if you havent already. If something is proving too fast its a good swap from your main hand. It is heavy though.
There are a lot of fun strength weapons, you dont have to be boring with zweihander forever. Like the other dragon weapons, or the great axe in the depths, or the golem axe.

[CB]

They are both important. You should probably have 20 hp and 20 stamina at least for any character.

i wouldn't recommend less than 30 vit. 20 vit (with no bonus HP from rings) is just 793 HP, and that's an easy one-shot for me.

[6h0$t942]

Originally posted by CB:

They are both important. You should probably have 20 hp and 20 stamina at least for any character.

i wouldn't recommend less than 30 vit. 20 vit (with no bonus HP from rings) is just 793 HP, and that's an easy one-shot for me.

I dont pvp, But yes, my Fighters tend to have at least 30 in each, if not more. Thats general, for casters included.
Also this is for like level 75-90, not for 180 ninja flipping giant zweibros with power within and red ring.

[CB]

I dont pvp, But yes, my Fighters tend to have at least 30 in each, if not more. Thats general, for casters included.

well, going online and human puts you in the way of people who can one-shot you if you don't. i'd be lying about that if i recommended something that didn't serve as a counter.

30 vit + rofap gives you enough health to usually be in emergency status against your typical sl50 meanie. and that's not the worst place to be, i mean you could be dead.

i have a somewhat optimized build and i think i should just say it and explain it. warrior, 50 vit, 22 end, 10 att. everything else unchanged; sl55. elemental damage gives me enough output to beat the entire game as well as every player.

yes, chaos/lightning + hornet ring is that good.

i never leveled str or dex.

[darinbob]

Do This! Do That! Ask a question and you get no agreement :-)

For me, I kind of kept them balanced, VIT, END, and whatever is the prime damage dealing stat (str/dex/int/fth). Though once you get in a ways you get upgrade your weapon damage faster with upgrades than the you stats will match. And a few points here and there for attunement or to meet weapon requirements, for whatever build type you're going for.

But ALL the builds really want VIT and END to some degree, unless you've played through a few times and want to do something new.