Board Thread:Dark Souls II/@comment-76.101.215.2-20140208181213/@comment-5630380-20140305222607

Calling these choices "Classes" is inaccurate anyway. They are Builds, not classes. A class is a predetermined playstyle with specific skills and abilities. A Build is a playstyle shaped by the player. We just get predetermined builds, that we can choose to become somehting else.

So really, there is no point in picking anything other than Deprived, because you start at Level 1 with all stats being the lowest, allowing full customization, while the other ones have already certain stats increased that suits the playstyle.

There is one benefit to picking the other builds; for early access to certain things.