I don't think DEX is the beginner friendly build for ER, rather the opposite

Poise breaking is king here. STR will provide easier time. INT is also pretty easy and straightforward, most of sorceries are very easy to use and the character easy to upgrade


Pick Astrologer if you want a ranged caster or Vagabond if you want to Meele (remove the helm, so you can mid-roll instead of heavy-roll)

In both cases, don't follow the main story until you're at least level 30. Talk to Renna, she will give you the bell to invoke Ashes of War. Upgrade your weapons, collect simithing stones they are the most reliable way of increasing your damage output

If you pick Astrologer, level up Vigor and Mind up to 20 just then upgrade INT, look for a straight sword or other similar sword and learn how to infused it. Infusions will grant additional meele damage enough for Limgrave and your sorceries will make the bulk of damage. Look for Sorceress Sellen, she will teach some magic. You can find here in the undergrounds of a ruin, that one with a big flower protecting the ruin. There is a memory slot to equip additional magic in Weepping Peninsula. This is enough for Limgrave. In Liurnia you'll get better weapons and sorceries and the game will become much easier


If you pick Vagabond upgrade Vigor to 25 and just enough Mind to use ashes of war. After that upgrade stamina, enough to use a greatsword, Halberd, Axe or whatever big weapon you want to carry while still mid-rolling, only then start crunching Strength. Look for the green turtle talisman lying around a ruin where you can fight the dead (it's a boss fight) in northem Limgrave, it's one of the best talismans for meelee. If you wield your weapon with two hands your STR increases 50%, so I prefer to use STR weapons that way. Look for an Ashe of War that allows you to do AoE damage or ranged damage, to kill annoying mobs that either fly or are too far. There are an NPC in a forest in Northern Limgrave who can teach you, Bernarl his name I think, he wears a silver Armour. Remember poise break is king, so don't be afraid of using heavy attacks on bosses!

Perhaps you are right.  I always thought STG was more advanced because weapon move sets are slower, which makes boss windows tighter.  But for normal enemies, STG can be killer.  

Either way, I think the advice is starting class isn't as important as character build.  

I don't think DEX is the beginner friendly build for ER, rather the opposite

Poise breaking is king here. STR will provide easier time. INT is also pretty easy and straightforward, most of sorceries are very easy to use and the character easy to upgrade


Pick Astrologer if you want a ranged caster or Vagabond if you want to Meele (remove the helm, so you can mid-roll instead of heavy-roll)

In both cases, don't follow the main story until you're at least level 30. Talk to Renna, she will give you the bell to invoke Ashes of War. Upgrade your weapons, collect simithing stones they are the most reliable way of increasing your damage output

If you pick Astrologer, level up Vigor and Mind up to 20 just then upgrade INT, look for a straight sword or other similar sword and learn how to infused it. Infusions will grant additional meele damage enough for Limgrave and your sorceries will make the bulk of damage. Look for Sorceress Sellen, she will teach some magic. You can find here in the undergrounds of a ruin, that one with a big flower protecting the ruin. There is a memory slot to equip additional magic in Weepping Peninsula. This is enough for Limgrave. In Liurnia you'll get better weapons and sorceries and the game will become much easier


If you pick Vagabond upgrade Vigor to 25 and just enough Mind to use ashes of war. After that upgrade stamina, enough to use a greatsword, Halberd, Axe or whatever big weapon you want to carry while still mid-rolling, only then start crunching Strength. Look for the green turtle talisman lying around a ruin where you can fight the dead (it's a boss fight) in northem Limgrave, it's one of the best talismans for meelee. If you wield your weapon with two hands your STR increases 50%, so I prefer to use STR weapons that way. Look for an Ashe of War that allows you to do AoE damage or ranged damage, to kill annoying mobs that either fly or are too far. There are an NPC in a forest in Northern Limgrave who can teach you, Bernarl his name I think, he wears a silver Armour. Remember poise break is king, so don't be afraid of using heavy attacks on bosses!

A caster would actually be tough for a gamer new to souls cause they won't be able to learn the boss patterns as well and understand when to punish. I can't imagine it working out well, Great for souls players who know how the games work but not so to newbies but I agree STR is better for Newbies however in Elden ring fast moving builds are better as a blanket build for all encounters. Remember, he's new to souls in general not just Elden Ring. Not to mention a magic build and one two hit STR builds are less fun which might turn him off. 

It's the opposite. Ranged casters remove the pressure of learning about rolling windows and learning attack partners. We have summons to drawn aggro, a caster only needs to get distance and spam sorceries. Magic is the beginner friendly way to play Elden Ring 

I picked up INT builds because sorceries have better damage output and are more reliable when it comes to fighting compared to incantations (some incantations can be awkward to use, and have 3 different types of damage, etc)

The only difficult is to learn how to properly find Windows to recover FP and HP, but alas, nothing that 3 or 4 hours of game won't solve 

Maybe so. It's still rather less fun. I do know magic builds can zap enemies out of existence but there's nothing gained if it's how you say and you don't need to engage in combat. No fun. 

Fun is subjective. I've always found more fun to play as a caster than meelee 

And yes, Terra Magica + Cerulean Hidden Tear + Comete Azur can basically one-shot a third of bosses, and left others with way less than half of their HP

I don't think DEX is the beginner friendly build for ER, rather the opposite

Poise breaking is king here. STR will provide easier time. INT is also pretty easy and straightforward, most of sorceries are very easy to use and the character easy to upgrade


Pick Astrologer if you want a ranged caster or Vagabond if you want to Meele (remove the helm, so you can mid-roll instead of heavy-roll)

In both cases, don't follow the main story until you're at least level 30. Talk to Renna, she will give you the bell to invoke Ashes of War. Upgrade your weapons, collect simithing stones they are the most reliable way of increasing your damage output

If you pick Astrologer, level up Vigor and Mind up to 20 just then upgrade INT, look for a straight sword or other similar sword and learn how to infused it. Infusions will grant additional meele damage enough for Limgrave and your sorceries will make the bulk of damage. Look for Sorceress Sellen, she will teach some magic. You can find here in the undergrounds of a ruin, that one with a big flower protecting the ruin. There is a memory slot to equip additional magic in Weepping Peninsula. This is enough for Limgrave. In Liurnia you'll get better weapons and sorceries and the game will become much easier


If you pick Vagabond upgrade Vigor to 25 and just enough Mind to use ashes of war. After that upgrade stamina, enough to use a greatsword, Halberd, Axe or whatever big weapon you want to carry while still mid-rolling, only then start crunching Strength. Look for the green turtle talisman lying around a ruin where you can fight the dead (it's a boss fight) in northem Limgrave, it's one of the best talismans for meelee. If you wield your weapon with two hands your STR increases 50%, so I prefer to use STR weapons that way. Look for an Ashe of War that allows you to do AoE damage or ranged damage, to kill annoying mobs that either fly or are too far. There are an NPC in a forest in Northern Limgrave who can teach you, Bernarl his name I think, he wears a silver Armour. Remember poise break is king, so don't be afraid of using heavy attacks on bosses!