Personally my first (and second and third time through, considering that the first two times I either had PS3 failure or stopped playing just near the end) time playing through I was under the impression that shields weren't very good because most attacks look like they should go right through them but they don't. So, I wore chain armor and used a bastard sword 2-handed the whole way through, and the winged spear when facing the quicker enemies (I actually beat the famous DLC boss fought in the arena area, not to spoil too much, using the winged spear two-handed.). Third time through I actually used the zweihander two-handed. Each time I had at least 40 Str and I think 40 End (In DS1 I think End is the stat that benefits absolutely every build as it increases both weight capacity and stamina if I remember right). and built up dexterity over time with a bit of vitality thrown in there. If you become super pro at dodging everything like I did playing this way then it's not a bad idea, as far as I know two-handing with 40 Str counts as having 80 Str for the purposes of strength scaling weapons for even more damage. Of course, if you use a shield you're probably better off doing what Mini suggested.
If you want to be a true master of parry you will wield your weapon two handed without the grass crest shield on your back, then when you want to parry empty your left hand and parry barehanded =D
The reason pyromancer is suggested is because he starts at a lower level than the other classes so he has more room for improvement on the build you want to make, and you start out with a Pyromancy Flame which is a weapon that allows you to cast pyromancies which are basically spells that aren't really effected by stats, so any build can benefit from them. If you plan on using pyromancies, spells, magic, or hexes you might want to bump Attunement up to get more spell slots. In order to see how much attunement you need to get a new spell slot look at this.
Attn - Slots
10 - 1
12 - 2
14 - 3
16 - 4
19 - 5
23 - 6
28 - 7
34 - 8
41 - 9
50+ - 10
Also keep in mind certain spells will take up multiple slots, mainly the more powerful ones.