After being brutally owned in the first level and being killed in pvp before I even saw the person attack, I have come to the realization that my build sucks.

So, what class should I be, what stats should I raise, and what weapons should i own. (multiple builds are awesome too)

Post your suggested build!

In return, a slowpoke.

also- i know there's a thread around here somewhere dedicated to DS, but scanning through 1k posts is not fun

Oooh.

I say start with a knight, since they start with pretty nice armor.  First up your strength a few and luck 2-4 (so you get more grass from drops), then focus on Stamina while tossing a few points towards Strength and Vitality here and there.  Grab the Dragon Long Sword plus  2 (or it might be plus 1) in the caves in 2-1, and you should be good to go for the rest of the game.  Just upgrade that sword, maybe grab some new armor (I'm a fan of he Gloom Armor Yurt wears in 3-2), and focus on your stamina and vitality and you'll be set.  You can stick with the shield the knight starts with, but eventually you'll want to grab the Dark Cloud Shield in 2-1 and then trade that for the Dark Silver Shield in 5-3.

I'd also get your intelligence up so that you can equip Total Protection early on (I think it's called Warding in the NA version).  That spell essentially covers you in a strong magic armor for a little while, making hits do ~1/3rd their normal dmage.  Also get your magic up enough so that you can cast the spell twice before needing to use more magic.

As a Knight, you should be able to beat 1-1 relatively easily, then go on to beat 1-2 at around level 15-17.

Have fun with the game.  It's great.  It's right up here with LBP as my favorite ps3 game, and nothing else really comes close on the system.

Ah a knight. and adding points to vitality. My first run through was a hunter with like 40 luck <.< I was under the impression that I needed luck to get weapons from drops. I also consumed all the boss souls without knowing i could turn them into weapons <.< so many beginner traps

40 Luck??  My gosh.  I don't think i've ever even topped 15. 

Luck is defnitely a stat with diminishing returns, and 12-14 luck should be enough to get you plenty of grass and whatnot.  As far as rare drops go, most of the weapons dropped by enemies suck ass, and are only useful once heavily upgraded.  All the good weapons you'll either have to forge yourself or find at special locations and whatnot.  Enemies are crucial for finding some stones, however, so if you want that platinum I suppose high luck would help here, but you can always grind that stat later.

Though luck is crucial for plague resistance, but you only have to worry about that in 5-3, iirc.  Though I believe Black Phantoms can use a spell to cast plague, but you're kinda screwed either way with that one.  Higher plague resistance may give you an extra second to try and escape the cloud before catching it, but that's about it.

Now i really want to play Demon's Souls.  I'm one fight away from beating New Game Plus on the Asian version.

i suggest making a faith build.... since its the easiest build to use.

this are what your stats should be when you are at SL 120

Start with Templar Knight

Vitality : 50 (As this build only really pours points into two other stats, you'll find yourself with plenty to spare leading up to SL 120 )

Intelligence : 18 ( For 3 spell slots and Second Chance )

Endurance : 50 ( Max stamina )

Magic : 10 ( To learn spells from Sage Freke )

Faith : 50 ( For maximum damage )

Luck : 7 (Don't ever increase it )

Weapons

Left Hand : Talisman Of Beast/God ( For miracles and spells )

                   Adjudicator Shield 5 ( For health regen )

                   Dark Silver Shield ( Good fighting against mages )

Right Hand : All weapons that can be blessed 5

                    Blessed Mirdan Hammer 5 etc..

Armor : Ancient King's Set ( From King Doran )

Magic/Miracles : Warding and Second Chance

Higher HP than most SL 120 PvP Builds , Excellent Magic Defense due to high Faith

18HP/s regeneration with a 5 Blessed weapon , Regenerator's Ring and Adjudicator's Shield

Reasonably versatile in melee attack style , like a Dex build 

Damage is in part magical , so Warding is not much of a hindrance 

Can use Miracles, non-scaling Spells and Melee effectively , No reliance upon weapon buffs.

I'd recommend that you increase the stats roughly in a ratio to those above, with a lesser emphasis on Faith until you've obtained a decent blessed weapon.

Try to cap Endurance reasonably soon, Stamina is the most precious resource in DS and it never hurts to have more.

Also, getting the Int and Str to meet the weapon base requirements is a given.

Get the Blessed Mace at 5-1 and Cresent Falchion at 4-1 at your game should be a breeze.

Oh and don't forget to grab the Mirdan Hammer ASAP at 5-2.

How do you get Vitality, Stamina, and Faith all to level 50 when your Soul Level is only 120?  0_o

@arca_azure:  Gustave's build is also quite nice, but given his armor and shield selection, it'll be a much heavier and slower character than mine.  With mine, if you stick with more slender armor, a small shield, and max your stamina (so that everything you equip < half you max equippable weight) you'll have incredible speed while still retaining the armor and defense of a pretty strong character.  The 50% mark of your equippable weight is actually a very fine line in Demon's Souls.  If you can get under that line, your speed damn near doubles and you can roll around like Link in Zelda.  Actually, to best understand this, when you first create a new knight trying rolling around both with his armor equipped and unequipped.  That's basically the difference.

But really, it all depends on which direction you want to go.  Both are excellent melee characters, but his will be more tank-like while mine will have a better mix of offense and defense.  In PvP, however, I'd definitely say mobility is key.  The best PvP'ers actually wear little armor at all.  The best defense is a good offense is most definitely true in such situations.

Can you be a magician in DS?

I wanna start with creating a mage. Anyone got some advice for that?