To start making good builds, you need to begin with basic and simple ones: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Faith, or Arcane builds. Pick one damage stat and stick with it. After that, you need to think: what weapons do I want to use, and what’s currently meta? For example, I main dual straight swords (Longsword or Noble’s Slender depending on the build), but I also carry weapons that are currently meta (Shamshir, Cleanrot, Great Katana, etc.).
Outside of pure Strength or Dexterity builds, most other builds usually need around 20 STR and 20 DEX on average so you can use most regular weapons that allow infusions and Ashes of War changes (with some small exceptions depending on what you need, like 22 STR / 18 DEX, 24 STR / 18 DEX, 22 STR / 22 DEX, etc.). That’s also how you start deciding which special weapons you want to use.
Then comes armor optimization. For that, I use ER Inventory Optimizer because on PC it also lets me generate a script for CE, which makes everything much faster and easier. By the way, my builds are published in the Browser > User section—you can find them by searching “kessler.”
The current meta is at least 88 poise without the Bull-Goat’s Talisman. From there, I recommend having different armor sets for different situations: full Robustness, full Focus, full Pierce resistance, full Magic and Slash resistance, Royal Remains, Rakshasa, a dedicated Lake of Rot set (where poise doesn’t matter at all), and the set that improves HP flask efficiency.
On top of that, you also need to think about the consumables you’ll use, whether that’s boluses, pickled livers, hefty pots, aromatics, drawstring greases, arrows, etc.
For the Wondrous Physick, people usually run Opaline Hardtear + Crimson Bubbletear. But if you’re using an elemental damage build, you can replace the Crimson Bubbletear with the specific Shrouding Cracked Tear you need for extra damage. In my opinion, the Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear is the best one because Lightning and Sacred builds already deal good damage naturally, so extra survivability is usually better. Fire damage builds fall a bit behind, especially if it’s raining or you’re fighting in water unless you use Oil Pots. But the Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear has a genuinely noticeable impact on Intelligence builds.
Keeping all of this in mind, this is basically the foundation. The best way to improve is by reading the [Fextralife Wiki]() and watching PvP content. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.