Dark Souls is a broad and varied action RPG with a large array of stats and equipment that makes the build variety quite high. However, Dark Souls has no way to re-specialize characters, so players who want to change tactics halfway through the game are usually out of luck.
This is why coming into the game prepared can come in handy, especially for more experienced players who have already experienced the magical mystery of Dark Souls and are ready to play through again with a more optimized build. Although plenty of guides already exist on how to build the perfect Dark Souls character, this list aims to instead give players general build ideas without ruining the fun of building out a character. Furthermore, it's worth reiterating that these builds are aimed at players wanting to replay Dark Souls, more specifically at players trying to beat it, and not at players trying to excel at the game's PvP, which would require a different focus.
5 The Black Knight
All this build requires is the Black Knight Halberd, a weapon notorious among speed-runners of Dark Souls. Unfortunately, there's only a small chance of it dropping after players defeat a Black Knight wielding one (there's one in Darkroot Basin and another in the Tomb of Giants). Getting the Black Knight Halberd at Darkroot Basin can be a massive advantage early on due to the Halberd's high base damage, and although it doesn't scale as well as some other halberds, the weapon deals 20% extra damage to demons, and can easily carry players through to the late game with the right build.
Building around the Halberd is relatively easy, as it scales with just Strength and Dexterity, though players may want to boost their Endurance alongside it in order to increase their stamina, due to the Halberd being a relatively heavy weapon. Players that want to go for the Black Knight Halberd will need 32 Strength and 18 Dexterity in order to use it, so it's best to aim for those stats as early as possible. Building Strength and Dexterity also means players can pivot off of this strategy quite easily should they not manage to get the Halberd drop, as there are plenty of weapons that scale with the same stats.
4 Full Havel
This build focuses on creating a highly defensive, heavily armored character who is also able to wield a large shield and an Ultra Greatsword. It takes a little while to be able to achieve this build, so it unfortunately doesn't make the early game much easier, but by the time players reach Anor Londo, this build should be well on its way to being extremely powerful.
Players will want to focus on items that increase their Equip Load such as the Ring of Favor and Protection (which they can get from defeating Lautrec), Havel's Ring (which they can get from defeating Havel, but players will need the Master Key or the Watchtower Basement Key in order to do that), or even the Mask of the Father. Of course, players could also take advantage of all three of these items, but the Mask of the Father doesn't provide much defense and this does use up two ring slots, so it might not be the most optimized build - but it is fun.
This build requires players to level up Strength and Endurance, with options to specialize in some other stats such as Dexterity and Vitality, but it's highly recommended to get Strength above 40 as soon as possible. Players should also focus on acquiring and upgrading an Ultra Greatsword, such as the Zweihander, as well as a Greatshield, such as the Greatshield of Artorias. Finally, to complete the build, players will want to get a hold of Havel's armor, located in Anor Londo. To find it, players must head to the basement of the main building. On the path to Gwynevere on the main floor of the building, players should find a suspicious looking fireplace in one of the rooms; behind it, there's an illusory wall that leads to the basement. Down there, players will find several chests, one of which contains the full set of Havel's armor, and one that may or may not be a Mimic.
3 Ninja
This build focuses heavily on Dexterity, aiming for a few specific items that can be acquired relatively early and really help players dish out plenty of damage into the late-game. It's integral that players get to the Darkroot Garden as soon as possible, so that they can join the Forest Hunter Covenant and meet Shiva of the East before killing them for the Murakumo.
Players wanting to go for this build will need to get to 21 Strength just to be able to wield the Murakumo two-handed, any more stat points on Strength would be wasted, as the weapon doesn't really scale with Strength. After reaching 21 Strength, players can pretty much focus solely on leveling Dexterity. Other useful items for this build include Havel's Ring to help offset the heaviness of the Murakumo, and the Dark Wood Grain Ring, which boosts the player's dodge roll significantly and can further offset the heaviness of the Murakumo and make up for the lack of a shield.
2 Lightning Zealot
For players that love classic sword-and-board gameplay and are also fans of high damage spells, this build is perfect. For this build, players will want to take the Master Key so that they can reach the Valley of Drakes early on and acquire Astora's Straight Sword; picking up this sword wakes the Undead Dragon, so players should be careful not to die, and if possible players should try to grab the Dragon Crest Shield on their way out. Players should pick the Cleric class and focus almost completely on the Faith stat, with a little Dexterity early on to be able to wield Astora's Straight Sword (it requires 14 Faith and 10 Dexterity). Players will need 20 Faith to wield the Lightning Spear, which is the second part to this strong early strategy, and can be acquired by joining the Warrior of Sunlight Covenant (players must pray at the Broken Altar beside the Sunlight Altar bonfire in the Undead Parish), which requires 25 Faith to join.
One thing this build requires that can be difficult to obtain is the Twinkling Titanite required to upgrade Astora's Straight Sword, making this build a little more tedious to optimize. The icing on the cake for this build is the Crown of Dusk, which is found in Darkroot Basin and requires the player to first defeat the Hydra, reload the game (or leave the area and return) to spawn the Golden Crystal Golem, and defeat it, which should prove easy with the Lightning Spear. Defeating the Golem will spawn Dusk of Oolacile, players should say yes to her and summon her immediately. After she's been summoned, players can return to where the Golden Crystal Golem was, where the Crown of Dusk (and the rest of the armor set) should be.
1 Pyro Swordsman
There is arguably nothing stronger in Dark Souls than pyromancy, especially in the original game, as the Pyromancy Flame and spells are powerful in almost all stages of the game and their power only wanes against fire-resistant enemies. Players will want to pick the Pyromancer class and take the Master Key, and make sure to grab the Claymore on the bridge that the Red Drake guards, which will be the secondary weapon for the build, with the Pyromancy Flame being the primary, which players will start with when they choose the Pyromancer Class.
Players will want to level Strength and Dexterity enough to be able to wield the Claymore, and make sure to purchase the Residence Key from the Undead Merchant, so they can free the merchant and head into the Depths to free Laurentius of the Great Swamp. After that, players will want to follow the steps from the previous entry to acquire the Crown of Dusk (kill the Hydra, Golden Crystal Golem, and summon Dusk of Oolacile). The rest of this build relies on farming a heap of Souls to purchase the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring and level up the Pyromancy Flame as much as possible. After players have reached +10 on their Pyromancy Flame, they'll want to visit Quelana of Izalith in Blighttown, where Quelana can upgrade the Pyromancy Flame to +15. While in Blighttown, players can defeat Qualaag and ring the Bell, dropping into the room below and knocking down an illusory wall to speak with her Sister and join the Chaos Servant Covenant, which grants the player the Great Chaos Fireball. After this, players can remain in Blighttown and farm the green slugs for Green Titanite Shards, which will enable them to upgrade their Claymore into a Fire Claymore, hopefully to +5, at Blacksmith Vamos in the Catacombs.
Dark Souls is currently available for Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, and PC.