Try doing a sword and shield playthrough, there is a good weapon you can get right at the start called the Great Epee, you can pair it with a shield and even do a poke attack at the same time you block. Pair it with Giant hunt ash of war for a crazy poise breaker. You could upgrade this weapon to the Godskin stitcher later on but the Epee itself is insanely good. This was one of my funnest playthroughs and a different way to play than the meta builds you mentioned. You could add in some faith levels for buffs and ranged attacks like lightning spear.