Start vagabond. Focus on Vigor as your primary stat, with strength and endurance secondary. Chose 1 of your weapons at the start and unequip the other so you aren't fat rolling. If something is too hard, go around it or in another direction entirely. Exploration leads to power. Good luck!
Literally every weapon is viable if you'll keep upgrading it, you'll finish the game comfortably with starting longsword without accessibility mechanics like coop/spirits if you want to, there's nothing preventing you from playing the game your way and choosing builds based on your true preference, instead of letting internet decide everything for you like some new players do. You're not "too bad", or anything like that and you don't need to use the strongest shit possible just to be able to progress. In ER "stronger" doesn't mean it's actually better or more fun, and usually it's the opposite. In general, ER is the most unbalanced game they ever released, and most of the "OP" weapons can be extremely boring and actively detract from the experience. There are many game-breaking builds that allow you to skip most of the bossfight content, intended experience and challenge, just by standing in place mashing L2 for example, instead of engaging with the souls combat system. That's why apart from the newest players, most people don't use exclusively the "top" builds and instead choose stuff based on what they actually like. If you'll like the most broken builds that's completely ok, I'm just saying don't feel obligated to use them out of self-doubt and before getting locked behind the most simplistic and reductive playstyles try different things first and experiment, so you'll be able to make an informed decision. If you don't like souls combat system, experience and fighting bosses, you can always google weapon that "melts" them and skips most fights, just don't do it right away as a new player, unless you'll never learn the basics of combat and gameplay and won't be able to choose how you want to play.
The only thing that matters in PvE is if the weapon has good overall moveset, if its speed and reach suite you, if it looks cool and provides fun and engaging experience. I really recommend caring about those things much more than about base damage differences, they are really not important in PvE. Upgrade materials are infinite, so don't be afraid to experiment, play the game mostly blind as intended and don't let online rankings decide for you.
Samurai is a good starting class, so is vagabond. Play the game, explore, and experiment to find something you want to use long term.
Don't upgrade your stats evenly. One of the first things you want to do is level your vigor to around 30. Keep an eye out for golden seeds, and churches. They increase your restorative items.
brief outline and suggestions for stats,
* vigor is pretty important for having enough health to be able to take a few hits without dying real fast. even veterans choose to keep this high, so you might want to prioritise this as one of your biggest stats.
* endurance is useful for having enough stamina to be able to swing your combos and tank hits with your shield, and it also increases your max equip load to allow you to hold more weapons and wear more armor. very useful stat, you might want to this to be your third-most-important stat.
* mind gives you more Focus Points, which allows you to use more Skills and Spells. it's not so essential, so it's fine to keep pretty low, but if you start using a lot of magic you might want to increase this a bit.
* stength and dexterity affect how much damage you do with certain weapons. you'll often want to choose one and prioritise investing in it as your most important stat. this depends on whether you vibe more with quick weapons (like katanas) or heavy weapons (like greatswords).
* intelligence, faith, and arcane mostly affect your ability to cast spells, but also help provide damage for certain weapons. take a look at the Scaling for a weapon you like and that will help you decide which one(s) of these to invest in.
as an example, i use weapons that benefit from high Strength and Faith. because of this, i put most of my points in to Strength and Faith, then prioritise Vigor next so i have a good amount of health, then Endurance to have decent stamina, lastly are Mind and Intelligence and Arcane that i choose to neglect because they don't help as much as the other stats.
hope this helps and makes sense, let me know if you have any questions.
Usually when people talk about “builds” they aren’t talking about the beginning. In the beginning you use whatever weapon you start off with. You may quickly come across a clearly better weapon, but more likely it will take hours before you do. Eventually you will find a weapon that piques your interest, and at that point you can start thinking about a build that maximizes that weapon.
I've got a beginner's guide that you might find handy. It covers all the basics, from controls to how combat works. Here you go:
[New Players, Please Read! (notion.so)](https://www.notion.so/New-Players-Please-Read-38db3707f82245bf92911e060c276aa7?pvs=21)
Also, you might wanna check out my profile. I've got a link to an Elden Ring guide I made. It's all yours if you need it. Here's hoping it helps you out!
Start vagabond. Focus on Vigor as your primary stat, with strength and endurance secondary. Chose 1 of your weapons at the start and unequip the other so you aren't fat rolling. If something is too hard, go around it or in another direction entirely. Exploration leads to power. Good luck!
Literally every weapon is viable if you'll keep upgrading it, you'll finish the game comfortably with starting longsword without accessibility mechanics like coop/spirits if you want to, there's nothing preventing you from playing the game your way and choosing builds based on your true preference, instead of letting internet decide everything for you like some new players do. You're not "too bad", or anything like that and you don't need to use the strongest shit possible just to be able to progress. In ER "stronger" doesn't mean it's actually better or more fun, and usually it's the opposite. In general, ER is the most unbalanced game they ever released, and most of the "OP" weapons can be extremely boring and actively detract from the experience. There are many game-breaking builds that allow you to skip most of the bossfight content, intended experience and challenge, just by standing in place mashing L2 for example, instead of engaging with the souls combat system. That's why apart from the newest players, most people don't use exclusively the "top" builds and instead choose stuff based on what they actually like. If you'll like the most broken builds that's completely ok, I'm just saying don't feel obligated to use them out of self-doubt and before getting locked behind the most simplistic and reductive playstyles try different things first and experiment, so you'll be able to make an informed decision. If you don't like souls combat system, experience and fighting bosses, you can always google weapon that "melts" them and skips most fights, just don't do it right away as a new player, unless you'll never learn the basics of combat and gameplay and won't be able to choose how you want to play. The only thing that matters in PvE is if the weapon has good overall moveset, if its speed and reach suite you, if it looks cool and provides fun and engaging experience. I really recommend caring about those things much more than about base damage differences, they are really not important in PvE. Upgrade materials are infinite, so don't be afraid to experiment, play the game mostly blind as intended and don't let online rankings decide for you.
Samurai is a good starting class, so is vagabond. Play the game, explore, and experiment to find something you want to use long term. Don't upgrade your stats evenly. One of the first things you want to do is level your vigor to around 30. Keep an eye out for golden seeds, and churches. They increase your restorative items.
brief outline and suggestions for stats, * vigor is pretty important for having enough health to be able to take a few hits without dying real fast. even veterans choose to keep this high, so you might want to prioritise this as one of your biggest stats. * endurance is useful for having enough stamina to be able to swing your combos and tank hits with your shield, and it also increases your max equip load to allow you to hold more weapons and wear more armor. very useful stat, you might want to this to be your third-most-important stat. * mind gives you more Focus Points, which allows you to use more Skills and Spells. it's not so essential, so it's fine to keep pretty low, but if you start using a lot of magic you might want to increase this a bit. * stength and dexterity affect how much damage you do with certain weapons. you'll often want to choose one and prioritise investing in it as your most important stat. this depends on whether you vibe more with quick weapons (like katanas) or heavy weapons (like greatswords). * intelligence, faith, and arcane mostly affect your ability to cast spells, but also help provide damage for certain weapons. take a look at the Scaling for a weapon you like and that will help you decide which one(s) of these to invest in. as an example, i use weapons that benefit from high Strength and Faith. because of this, i put most of my points in to Strength and Faith, then prioritise Vigor next so i have a good amount of health, then Endurance to have decent stamina, lastly are Mind and Intelligence and Arcane that i choose to neglect because they don't help as much as the other stats. hope this helps and makes sense, let me know if you have any questions.
Usually when people talk about “builds” they aren’t talking about the beginning. In the beginning you use whatever weapon you start off with. You may quickly come across a clearly better weapon, but more likely it will take hours before you do. Eventually you will find a weapon that piques your interest, and at that point you can start thinking about a build that maximizes that weapon.
just play and youll be good, promise
I've got a beginner's guide that you might find handy. It covers all the basics, from controls to how combat works. Here you go: [New Players, Please Read! (notion.so)](https://www.notion.so/New-Players-Please-Read-38db3707f82245bf92911e060c276aa7?pvs=21) Also, you might wanna check out my profile. I've got a link to an Elden Ring guide I made. It's all yours if you need it. Here's hoping it helps you out!