I also think it’s fine to just go full strength if you want something powerful and dead simple.

Carry a colossal sword in each hand, wear the beefiest set of armor you can without going into heavy load, and then just bonk things to death while tanking a lot of hits that would otherwise instantly kill squishier characters.

And don’t be afraid to use Spirit Ashes. There’s this weird machismo thing among players who think that real players don’t need summons, but they’re there for a reason and the game was designed around them.