Best combat builds for me have always avoided the stat-reducing items that people always seem to build off of. I just grab the +10STR day 1 followed by the +10DEX when you unlock your second slot. Your character will get a strong boost off the start making stat building easy. I intentionally keep AGI low until late game so if I get knocked down I can restore my stamina after all the dangerous enemies have already attacked.So speaking of the increased difficulty of 0.5 what does a decent build look like now? Go for agility and endurance to try and survive the ridiculous hits that sometimes get randomly thrown at you? Go all in on strength to take out the enemies before they get a chance to do much? Having levels limited by floor means you kind of need to zero in on a build right away and not having anyway to re-spec is pretty annoying.
This build is great for a virgin/combat run. Only downside is once you level up enough you're unstoppable so it can get boring.