chart build advice - I know what I like but don't know how to get it!

Hi all! Dark Souls newbie here. If anyone could help me start my character I'd be very grateful.

In Elder Scrolls games I'm usually a Mage/Archer. In Borderlands type games I'm usually a Sniper.

With this game though the combat looks much more immersive and complex, so I'd like to try a Light Armour build that can utilise a good Shield and fast one handed Sword, as well as throw a couple of Fireballs in a pinch and retreat to use a healing miracle if pushed. Does this kind of build exist?

In general I like high dexterity characters who are light on defence but go for critical hits etc, but that looks way too tough in this game. Id just like to be able to get stuck in and enjoy the combat, but have some options using magic and spells if the situation turns sour.

This will be almost entirely for PvE.
Thanks for any/all help!

First off, welcome to the forums. If you want a build for PVE specifically, then pretty much anything is possible. Since the build is going for PVE you shouldn't care for stopping at a certain level, so i won't post a build unless you truly want me to, however, i will post below when stats become less useful:

Vitality - 50
Attunement - 34(i believe this is where it takes too much to get yet another slot)
Endurance - 40(after 40 you get no more stamina, just equip load. Since you want light armor that should be no problem)
Strength - 40
Dexterity - 40(45 if you want the highest spell casting speed)
Resistance - NOTHING! EVER!
Intelligence - 40(possibly 50, depending on the equipment and sorceries)
Faith - 40(same as above, but depending on the equipment and miracles)

If you're not aware of this site, i suggest you use it to make a build:

http://mugenmonkey.com/darksouls/

If you can't seem to make one, i will post one. But until then, i hope this helped you out. Good luck.

Hi there , again welcome. The build you described is very possible and pretty effective. First question you have to answer is , what do you want first , healing or fireballs. You can acquire both , but can only start with one or the other. If you want fireballs , choose Pyromancer to start. If you want healing first pick Cleric.

You level pretty quickly in the begining , so if I were going for the build you descibed above I would do the following. Boost your Vit , Dex and Fth to start and probably in that order as far as priorities. Just do End as needed to stay below 50 % equipment load. Which after you get Havels ring , will not require much End at all. By the way the can get the ring fairly early with a little skill. Related to this , choose Thief ring as your gift , huge help.

Almost all Dex weapons are fast and allow for the build you descibed. As for critcal hits , daggers have the highest crit rating but ....... well as you play the game you will see what weapons work well for you and what does not.

I have a build very much like the one you descibed , if you have any questions or want something explained further just PM me or post here

one of my builds is dex. i love the speed of the katana's. They might be something you should look into. I havent toyed around with my other dex weapon though. If your on xbox and ever need any help feel free to msg/add me. GT in sig.

EDIT:
light armor isn't really a bad thing. Fast rolling is an amazing thing to have. I have a hard time adapting to slower rolls in heavy armor.

Hello, try:

Vit: 40-50
Att: 16
End: 40
Str: 16
Dex: 40-45
Res: Base
Int: Base
Faith: Base or 12 if you absolutely want healing capabilities for pvp. If you want to use other miracles the best breakpoints are 30 and 40. If you want it just for a stronger version of heal, great heal requires 24.

Best fireball-type pyromancies are great fireball, great chaos fireball.
I have a lot of experience with dex(piercing type weapons) and Pyromancies.
If you ever have any questions about them, just ask me :-)

Hi all,

Thanks for your responses! Geez, what a game. This is crazy. I jumped in the deep end before I had to time to properly comprehend the advice, so now that I've played a bit (SL: 56) I'm planning to restart so I can hone my character a little better and waste fewer points.

I'll make a new post with the build I'm planning but thanks very much for your help here - this game is so deep and there's so much you can do, so even tiny bits of info can be really important. Cheers!!