Board Thread:Dark Souls II/@comment-76.101.215.2-20140208181213/@comment-25950924-20150425213430

I think for a beginner player, Sorcerer or Cleric is would be best. Cleric is because you have very few Estus at the beginning and Sorcerer because they can take enemies out at a distance.

The downside would be lack of flexibility (which is why Knight or Explorer is better in that regard), but I'm guessing a lot of people quit Dark Souls because it's too hard so I would recommend Sorcerer or cleric to give people a good head start.

I guess warrior is a decent beginner class due to them being able to use the majority of weapons they find. But only if they're sure they want a melee type character. Knight might be better though for a melee character.

Another advantge a knight has is a starting set with good poise and resistances. They have reasonable good adaptability which can help too. Same goes for Explorer who has the highest starting adaptability.