For someone 100% new to the Souls series avoid the caster classes, which are the Astrologer, Confessor, Prisoner and Prophet. The Bandit is best avoided as well for a new time player since it's ideal for gimmicky builds. For the five remaining classes it's all about what kind of playstyle you prefer:
- Vagabond is for someone who wants access to all the various toys the game has to offer and is pretty tough right out of the box. Level up both your Strength and Dexterity to rapidly allow you access to a fair chunk of the weapons you find in the game. Also comes with the Longsword, an exceptionally balanced weapon that when wielded along with a second one you can buy early on in the game will greatly improve your damage output for very little investment.
- Hero is for someone who wants to wielde a big hefty sword, axe or hammer. Go full-in on Strength, pick a nice weapon and bonk your way through the game.
- Samurai is for weebs. Katanas are one of the most powerful weapon types currently in the game. You start with one, and by picking up the various you encounter lets you become pretty strong. Invest heavily into Dexterity, level Strength when you need it and you'll be on your way nicely.
- Warrior has the issue that it lags behind Samurai when it comes to Dexterity builds due to its stats, so if you want a Dexterity build without katanas (like using curved swords, or you want to LARP as Darth Maul and pick up a twinblade) just go with the Samurai instead.
- Wretch is for people who like the idea of being thrust into the world with next to nothing to their name and want to build themselves up from 0. The Wretch has balanced stats and as a result can go in any direction, but this comes at the cost of lagging behind more dedicated builds.
The whole points per class thing works as follows: each class has their level + 79 points in attribute points. So if you were to crunch the numbers you'd see that the Wretch has 80 points total and the Vagabond has 88. All classes have the same number of total points if you'd level them up to have equal stats (this was not always the case in previous games), but classes that have lower stats in certain attributes will reach certain levels earlier. So if you'd level the Wretch to have th same Vigor, Endurance, Strength and Dexterity as the Vagabond, it'd be five levels higher than the base Vagabond on account of it having lower Intelligence, Faith and Arcane.
For a new time player I'd suggest with going with the Vagabond, unless one of the other options above really appeals to you. You have an excellent kit from the start and can upgrade in any direction you want. Level up your Strength and Dexterity to gain access to many different weapons, and your good Vigor, Endurance and armor will keep you alive early on. Make sure to level up your Vigor to at least 20 ASAP and steadily climb to 40 as you proceed. Endurance increases both your carry weight and your stamina. It's best to only equip the weapons you're actually using unless you can afford the weight of the best armor you have access to. New armor sets are slim pickings in the early game, but later on you unlock some pretty nice stuff. Note that two-handing your weapon increases you Strength to 150% for purposes of stat requirements and damage output, so if you wanted to wield the Greatsword with two hands having 21 Strength is enough compared to the 31 that is listed.
Also don't sell any weapons or armor unless they were dropped from a fodder enemy. The game is very stingy of what you can buy and once sold you won't be able to get it back.
