Pretty much every replay I do is a female Temple Knight that beelines for the Meat Cleaver, so I go:
1-1 for Cling Ring, Thief Ring, Old Raggedy Set; kill Phalanx
Nexus to level up and suicide back to Spirit Form
2-1 to get the Great Club
4-1 use GClub 2-handed to clear, getting crescent falchion +1 & comp longbow, kill Adjudicator with CFalc
4-2 to buy arrows from Blige
Nexus to level STR to 15 to be able to use CLBow and suicide back to Spirit Form
2-1 use CFalc to clear, unlock Ed, killing Armored Spider with the CLBow
Nexus to level up and suicide back to Spirit Form
2-2 use CFalc to clear, getting club, kill Flame Lurker
Nexus to level up (need 18 STR, 16 DEX, 16 FAI at this point) and suicide back to Spirit Form
2-1 to upgrade club to Meat Cleaver, and CLBow to Lava Bow
after this, I can go wherever to finish the game, but I lean towards killing Dragon God in 2-3 to unlock travel from world to world