You don't need a perfect super optimized build to play on normal, you can do it following this:
1. Choose your main form of attack and upgrade your stats and skill to match it:
In your example you want a spear build, so you will need 7 or 8 strength as minimum to equip it and raise the melee skill.
(Melee skill is increased by both dexterity and strength, as spears already require high strength and dont benefit from the AP reduction from dexterity, I suggest to focus on strength).
2. Choose your kind of defense:
2.1 - Tanker: Wearing Heavy Armor(require 8 or 9 strength) or some Tactical Vest with heavy componets as ceramic plates (dont require strength but also have high armor penalty) and high constitution( at least 7).
So, you will need,8-9 strength to wear heavy armor and 7-10 constitution.
2.2 - Stealth: Require high agility(at least 6-7, more is better) and investiment in the stealth skill(having high evasion and/or dodging is good too).
2.3 - hybrid: It is possible to make a stealthy character with super steel and the right perks or having high constitution and medium armor but that's more min-maxing and I wont go into details.
3. Utilities:
Every single playstyle have difficulties againgst something either high number of enemies, stealthy enemies, high armored guys, robots, mines, etc.
You need to choose a certain skill to supplement you main attack weapon( usually it is grenades or psionics), giving you AOE damage, crowd control etc. For a spear user, grenades(throwing skill) looks like the simpler solution.
(on a certain way biology skill could be classified into this as it allows yo craft consumables that will help in different situations)
4. Skills:
4.1 - Melee/Guns/Crossbow: The main attack skills, choose your main weapon and upgrade the corresponding skill every level.
4.2 - Throwing/Traps: Utility Skills to support you main form of attack, personally I prefer throwing unless I'd be using a crossbow but there is people playing stealth characters doing a lot of fancy stuff with traps.
4.3 - Stealth/dodge/evasion:
Useless if you are the tanky guy(see step 2).
Stealth is essential if you are lightly armored but dont need to level it every time.
Dodge and evasion are all or nothing, max them or dont put anything into them. Between these 2, evasion is overall better because melee attack can be avoided with good positioning and evasion also reduce the damage of AOE attacks.
4.4. Crafting:
Crafting isn't really necessary but HIGHLY recomended, usually it is possible to craft stuff with higher quality than what is available in the shops and you can personalise the gear the way you want it. Only put points in crafting to match the needed for the components:
4..4.1 - Eletronics: The best overall crafting skll as it allows to make high quality energy shields(that are good/necessary for any character), the skills also allows to implement acessories to melee and ranged weapons.
4.4.2 - Mechanics: The skill is mainly to manufacture weapons(except leather gloves, all other weapons are made of metal) and is also essential to make heavy armor.
4.4.3 - Tailoring: Skill used to manufacture armors, to have a good quality armor you need high tailoring. (metal armor is made with mechanics but also need tailoring for the internal vest, though to a lesser degree)
4.4.4 - Biology: Not so necessary as the above skills but useful none-the-less. This skills is like the alchemy/potion crafting skill from fantasy/medieval rps, letting you make many different kinds of drugs that can help you. Look in the wiki, choose the drugs you'd like to be able to craft and invest exactly to that.
4.4.5 - Chemistry: Skills mainly to produce explosives. The less useful of all the crafting skills(except for chemical guns builds as this is their main crafting skill) but high level explosives cause a good amount of the and can save in some hard fights. Level it until you can craft Mk V or at least Mk IV grenades/mines. If you dont use dmg dealing grenades as part of your skillset let it at around 20-30 to gas grenades and some others utilities or dont level it at all.
(The crafting skills have others uses beside the ones metioned above but these require a low investiment)
4.5 - Psionics:
I won't go into further detail as psionics is more min-maxing and requiring a different approach if your character has psionics as his main skillset or uses psionics to support another playstyle. Usually metathermics and thought control works better as a main skill while psychokineses and temporal manipulation are more as support but there are exceptions.
4.6 - Others:
All others skills are unecessary but they help you collect more loot, have an easier time doing some quest, flavor your character, etc. Put point at those as you see fit.
5. Perks:
There are so many perks that would require an in depth guide to them, although having good perks are necessary to your character to work.
Try to analyse the possible strengths and weakness of your character and choose the ones that look like will help you most. You won't have the most perfect character but it will good enough to be viable on normal.
There are also many Quality of Life perks, while you can chose them and be perfectly fine, remember that chosing something that offers a QoL improvement over better combat perfomance is making your character weaker.
When creating your character go the perks page and type something like 'spear', 'shotgun', 'dexterity', etc. and search for the perks that fit in your combat style, then adjust your stats to them.
----- Following the above general guidelines is enough to make a viable character to finish the game, many times when someone is stuck at a certain part of the game, it not because their build is flawed but that part require thinking outside the box to your character, the game have a huge range of different challenges and every single build will seem to be stuck at some parts. ------
