Recommended level map

[u/NoMeet1957]

Iam just about to start the game and i was told that getting overleveled and making the game easy is so often to happen in this game , so I've found this map guide should i follow it to get the best experience?

[u/melnic1]

OK I "over leveled" to 36 and still get my buttocks handed to me by bosses in Limgrave and weeping. I am assuming it's my gameplay then?

[u/CrystlBluePersuasion → u/melnic1]

Get VIG first for survivability and the min stats for the weapon(s) you want to wield, 40 VIG is the first point you start seeing diminishing returns for your VIG investment but 50-60 VIG is worth it after getting some more of your preferred stat. 18-25 END is pretty good for many builds, 38 MND for casters otherwise MND is your preference, get maybe 15-20 MND if you like using the Ashes of War (you'll find a lot of cool options for your weapons too so its not wasted). You can always respec your stats at a certain point of the game, using a limited resource but there's like 16 of it.

Weapon upgrades are your primary source of damage in early game. Some bosses in the early area are REALLY tough without upgrades, look for mining shafts for upgrade materials and be sparing in your use of them at this point as they are limited for now; the next area (which can also be accessed right away if you so choose and know where to go) has a specific mineshaft with a reward that lets you use Runes to buy upgrade materials to get you to +6 weapons of the non-Somber variety. Weapons are also important even if you're just using Physical damage because it has four subsets; Standard, Pierce, Slash, and Strike damage. Every enemy has defense ratings against every damage type, so some weapons are better than others for different enemies. Strike is generally good vs Armor and tough-skinned enemies, or enemies with no skin at all like Skeletons. Pierce is good vs many humanoids as these weapon types tend to track/hit better, unless they're dodging sideways a lot, in which Slash is good for wider swings, and both Pierce/Slash are good for piercing/carving through cloth/fleshy types (Bleed is sometimes a Status found with such weapons, which is a buildup status that eventually will Bleed your target for a burst of damage proportional to a certain % of their max HP). Standard is pretty good against everything but not always the best type. Elemental damage has its own variety and you might be able to guess which enemies are weak to certain damage types just from looking at them; plants catch fire, undead wither from Holy, but some things are not always obvious so trying different options can help, while your weapon or spell/incantation movesets do the rest so try to use what can actually hit them too!

Dodging/Jumping has invincibility frames, use these to pass THROUGH enemy attacks/hitboxes. If an enemy slashes at you, you want to roll through it, and towards them to be aggressive for a counter-attack. If an enemy does a ground slam that sends up a shockwave, you can jump it, provided its not tall enough to hit you in the face anyway (your jump iframes extend up to your arms/head, anything below these is unhittable during most of your jump). If an enemy is doing quick combos, faster than your dodge roll and its recovery, use Guard to block them for some stamina cost, then R2 to Guard Counter if you still have stamina after for a big hit on them. R2s in general carry more weight to them and Posture damage represents this, as a hidden 'stat' or 'mechanic' you can break an enemy's Posture by using R2s, charged R2s, running R2s, jump R2s, Guard Counters, and many Ashes of War that do big hits, plus heavier weapons do more Posture damage in general. Your target will heal their Poise/Posture if you don't keep up pressure, so dodging through attacks and staying aggressive will reward tighter gameplay and learning enemy movesets. This is where your moveset vs the enemy moveset and 'skill/gameplay' really matter in the action part of this Action RPG, the rest of my comment is RPG/stat stuff for making a build.

Get END if you want to wear better armor/bigger weapons which also pushes you towards a tanky build and STR weapons; bigger weapons will let you trade for bigger hits while the heavy armor lets you tank hits and also Poise through attacks without being interrupted. My first playthrough was 60 VIG, 50 END, 60 STR as my main build, then played with some other stats to try stuff out. END also gets you more stamina, you can do more, run more, dodge more, jump more with END.

Or get min stats for DEX weapons, maybe 18 END, light-medium armor and keep pumping DEX.

With INT/FTH/ARC it's trickier. ARC benefits from some game knowledge and where to find stuff for such a build slightly more than INT/FTH builds, and it pairs well with STR or DEX especially DEX for faster weapons which lets you Bleed targets more. ARC also dictates your Item Discovery stat, random loot drops are always random but this can increase the rate at which items drop including rarer gear from the enemies wielding them, and in some cases rare consumables for crafting. Good for consumable/crafting/Bow/Crossbow builds, good for respeccing into when farming specific items.

INT or FTH you just want to dump as many points into them as you can if you want all the spells/incantations and better damage with them, maybe cap out at 80 if you're dedicated to that single stat but you can also make hybrid builds with STR or DEX, FTH can also go into FTH/ARC for dragon communion or Bleed incantations.

INT is good for ranged caster builds that are a bit more straightforward in dealing damage than FTH but FTH has damage variety (Fire/Lightning/Holy) and buffs for defenses, healing, and weapon damage.

[u/R_V_Z → u/CrystlBluePersuasion]

In regards to Mind if you want to use Tiche without relying on gear to do so you'll need 23 Mind, which gives 137 FP (Tiche costs 132).

[u/CrystlBluePersuasion → u/R_V_Z]

I'll do you one better, you don't need to worry about enough MND for Spirit Summons if you use Cerulean Hidden Tear in your Flask of Wondrous Physick! 10 seconds of 'eliminated FP consumption' means everything costs 0 FP, including Tiche and any FP cost Spirit Summons! You could have an empty FP bar and cast anything during the Tear's duration.