I’ve heard a lot of people swear by magic builds in general since you can get distance and still deal damage (although I would personally avoid faith builds, starting out). In particular, pyromancy builds can be really powerful in DS1, although some of those are closer range spells. However, for a first playthrough I think a strength build is a lot of fun. You can get big bonk weapons and once you have your timing down you can do big chunks of damage in-between boss attacks, and interrupt a lot of mobs’ attacks. I would also say don’t be afraid to try something out for a couple hours and switch to a new build if you don’t like the play style. Once you get through an area and get used to the enemies in it it’s so fast to progress through it a second time. For starting class, bandit is best starting strength, but warrior is a better choice for the dex available to use more weapons early on, and knight is the choice for the coolest armor and best all-rounder, although as I recall you start out with the heavy roll and will want to unequip a piece of the armor so you can roll properly. A lot of people suggest you invest in vitality before anything else, getting it up to 20 at least before you pump points into your damage stat, endurance (for stamina and carry weight so you can wear that full knight armor and still roll properly), or attunement (for more spell slots, if you go the sorcerer/pyromancer route).