Played around with New Game +
It had a strong start, but I got bored around No Man's Wharf since it was mostly the same thing. AI didn't seem too madly aggressive, and I sort of expected new enemies in every area. Does it get better? Like filling up spaces with enemies that were once empty and barren? Are there that many new enemies? If not, I'm just going to replay the game with a new character.
Speaking of… I'm thinking of trying a build that focuses solely on punishing and poise damage (also knockdown). I feel like the Large Club playthrough pretty much did most of that really well(it actually taught me to two-hand more and learn to avoid hiding lamely behind a shield), and if there's no options outside that... I might as well make a witch character. Magic looks neat. Especially Toxic spells.
A few more enemies here and there nothing too fancy. Some boss changes are really fun. If you want challenge you can try sinner ng+ solo and wharf boss solo.
I had a lot of fun getting ng+ exclusive items. There are some really cool armors and a fan favorite makes its return in ng+. I really liked my heide set but mad warrior + red eye ring is just so fun to look at. The way you feel with that one rushing at an opponent in pvp… :D
As for builds does anything else but really big weapons cause knockdown? I mean Ricardo poison rapiers are fun for stagger action and super fast poisoning (until you encounter someone wearing a certain ring). I do think dual wielding is a really fun playstyle. Resolving yourself to not use a shield makes you really be more aware of your surroundings. In a way that's probably another form of ng+ playing pure dualwield.
I also think that ng+ is where pvp is at due not having soul memory constraints. Currently trying to figure out how to do a whip build that doesn't suck.