I usually don't spend levels on two defensive or offensive stats at the same time. My run with Ludwig's holy blade went OP as expected by only leveling str at first, I'd advise investing in defense until you softcap both and before you start caring about dex.
You can also start a new char afterwards and go arcane with a fire/lightning ludwig's (or both) once you get better, because you'll need to run trough Chalices for the sweet gems.








