I just got the PC version and have started my first character. I picked a warrior and have been building DEX mostly but the idea of shooting shiny death sounds kinda fun so I bought Soul Arrow and leveled INT to 10, then I realized I also have to level up ATT to get a slot. Is it worth it? I know I'm already pretty far down the path but I've only been playing for about 5 hours or so, should I restart if I've wasted too many souls or just finish up so I can use magic? Or am I thinking about this too much?

First, don't think about "rerolling" because of some leveling errors. You have items in the game you can use to completely reshape your build. Plus, as far as I know, magic (be it sorcery, miracles or hexes) are good for "warrior" builds. This is especially true since you have items that, given to the right NPC, allow you to lessen the intelligence or Faith needed to cast a spell.

So yeah, magic is good for anyone. In fact, only overspecialized builds won't use magic in the end.

You will absolutely have to make sacrifices in other areas in order to become competent with Sorcery. You will find or infuse weapons that will scale their damage based on your intelligence (on top of/instead of strength/dex), so you can still be dangerous when focusing on a melee strategy. You're more likely to suffer when it comes to your equipment load/armor.

I recommend testing your interest in spellcasting by using Pyromancies. These spells don't have any stat requirements, so you can cast fireball with 1 intellgence. Their power is still based on intellgence/faith, but they can do respectable damage without much investment in either stat. You can find a Pyromancy Flame (the catalyst for casting these particular spells) by playing through the No Man's Wharf area. If you find you enjoy playing this way, then start investing in intelligence/faith/attunement and incorporate Sorceries/Miracles/Hexes into your repetoire.

EDIT: Oh, and there are spells that can enhance your weapon's damage, or your resistances, which have obvious benefits for a warrior playstyle.

I'd say that while you wouldn't want to spread the categories of Stats you put points into too thin, splitting the focus on 2 (such as Dex + Int) should be no problem. You'll have to make a bit of a point investment to use decent stuff though, and you'll of course need Attunement slots. You get 1 slot at 10, 2 at 13, 3 at 16 and 4 at 20 Attunement. Two or three slots should be enough if it's not your focus, you can also find a ring that increases your slots.

You could also try a bit of Faith for a different flavor of magic. 22 points will let you use the lightning spear miracle or you could use Pyromancy that requires no stats, only slots.

If you're only interested in PvE get some faith. You'll get more bang for your soul buck with faith than int or faith AND int. Faith helps a lot for healing in the early game and the offensive miracles are super effective against the hardest enemies and bosses in the game. I blew through my first playthrough with a faith/str build and I recommend it.

Just finished my first playthrough as a Socerer on the PC and was not really a fan. I never found any spells that made me feel powerful. I kind of felt weak throughout the entire game. If I could stand and cast a spell on something and they didn't move, great. But if they started to move towards me, then I'd have to resort to my shitty melee combat. Maybe it's just not my play style.

I played a STR/ Faith character on 360 and really enjoyed that. Just the right amount of melee/ tanking and ranged magic/ passive buffs for me. Tempted to use a Soul Vessel for my Sorcerer and turn her into a STR/ Faith or maybe 40/40.

It's at the very least worth investing in attunement to allow one slot so you can eventually equip a pyromancy spell called Flame Swathe. It's an utterly superb spell that works wonders with any sort of build, given that its base damage is so damn powerful even without Int/faith scaling.

It's okay if you want to make a warlock, you shouldn't have a problem as long as you have enough souls for getting all your levels. There are some especially useful spells for people with weapons (Magic weapon and above) you should look after.

Sweet thanks for the help duders.

I think it's a decent enough idea to get up to ~14 int so you can use great soul arrow and magic weapon. Soul arrow is great for plonking away at people and pulling mobs and magic weapon is a pretty small buff but worth having around because it's basically a bit of free damage. Later on you get a few items you can use to drop the requirement spells, so great heavy soul arrow and great magic weapon are within reach without wasting more stats at 14. There's also a bunch of utility spells at 14 or 15 -- hush, hidden weapon, repair, cast light, chameleon, and fall control are all right around there. None of them are necessary (two of those are basically pvp only) but they can be nice to have around.

Yeah I like basic fireballs for my knight, there's a ring, I forget where but not too far along, that gives you an attunement slot. It's worth it if you rather not use a crossbow.

My playstyle (believe I started with a Warrior) was mostly melee focused, but I eventually had enough magic related stuff that I had a few spells that were good for some mid-range combat. So sure, why not? The game's not really hard enough that minor mistakes are going to completely ruin you or anything.

I'm SL 192, and I'm finding it hard to make a build that can utilize magic effectively without having to compromise a lot. I think it's better not to spread your upgrade points too thin early on, so Pyromancy is definitely your safest bet. Plus, it's upgraded with Fire Seeds, which are used solely to upgrade Pyromancy Flames. Also, the items that lower the stat requirements of spells are fairly limited; don't use them on low-tier spells.

Having enough Faith and Attunenment to equip a Heal or two can be super useful for melee builds, as is Magic Barrier. I wouldn't go any farther than a few buffs if you want to keep bopping things with swords, though. The stat requirements on spells get real high, fast.

Pure builds are totally gimp in comparison to hybrids. As far as I can tell, you're supposed to mix and match. All the highest-end weapons and spells don't really perform better than the mid-tier stuff, and ever-increasing diminishing returns to attribute gain past 20 points make high investment loadouts quite nonsensical.

Then again, I love dualwielding Greatswords, but that's just a silly thing you'll do with totally overleveled characters.

Yes yes yes! Getting great magic weapon, and having soul arrows makes your warrior WAY more adaptable. For both PvP and PvE. The extra intelligence is great for weapon scaling too.

Spells are great to use at a distance, to pull enemies, or for when you are facing more then one hard enemy at a time.