...is that I seem to be the only one doing it.

I can never find suggestions for any part that doesn't assume I'm working with heavy armor and a giant sword. None of my spells have elemental damage so things like those drakes are still a pain. Seath hardly takes any damage from magic so I can't just slice through him in 10 seconds. I cannot just tank the Four Kings as I have a VIT of 8.

Anyone else experiencing this?

You sure have my respect for playing with a sorcerer build.

Aren't there some kind of shield sorceries you can apply before boss fights?

Also, you should probably pump a few points into vitality no matter what class you're playing. And do you have that light armor set from the Demon Ruins yet?

@TranceQuina: You can run past the drakes , and im not so sure but probably magic weapons gets a boost from the magic stat , as divine weapons gets a boost from faith stats increase , if I remember correctly

I'm playing a pure Sorcerer and have only put two points into VIT. The rest has gone into INT so that I have 53 now and Attunement to have 6 slots. I think you're farther than me, but you need Iron Skin and Magic Shield for defense as a magic class. The Stray Demon would have been impossible without Iron Flesh. Also, you need powerful spells such as Soul Spear and Homing Soul Mass for the more powerful enemies. With high INT, Soul Arrow will do just fine for the rest.

I have a sorcerer alt, but didn't get that far yet. I can totally see how some parts of the game will be tough as a glass cannon. I was thinking about putting at least some points into stuff that will make melee fighting at least somewhat managable (vit/end/...).

Do you have homing soul mass? that makes almost all bosses in the game trivial to beat. Seath is also very easy to beat even if you lack damage, just have to be patient and not get greedy.

@TranceQuina: maybe getting a pyromancer flame and upgrading that will help you out?

I beat Seath with only my pyromancy spells and they did decent damage. Also pyromancy doesnt scale with any stats, it all depends on your flame.

CRYSTAL HOMING SOUL MASS.

No. I don't play sorcerer. I kinda want to try magic at some point but I'm not sure if splitting skill trees is the best idea. I'm level 24 Wanderer, with points splitting between strength, endurance, and dexterity. Attunement of 8 and intelligence of 10 (they're the main sorcery stats right?) Any idea's or advice on including magic would be appreciated.

I don't know if this helps but you could make a crystal ring shield. I think the damage it does scales with intelligence.

I'm also playing a sorcerer (admittedly one with some melee tendencies) and I know what you're talking about.  Unfortunately it really seems like the game was built with melee in mind, but its still great having magic.  I took down quaalag by circling her casting soul arrow, made the fight super easy!
 
You really should get into the weapon upgrading. An elemental weapon does not scale with your stats so even a sorcerer will deal very high damage with one.  I've been using a lightning halberd as a sorcerer and it's fantastic.  Magic/Enchanted weapons should be the other path you pursue since they scale with intelligence.  A pure mage build will see huge bonuses on these weapons.
 
And get more vitality.  8 isn't gonna cut it.  And from what I've heard about NG+ vitality becomes even more necessary so it is a good long term stat investment.

My second character is a sorcerer. Level 109 at the moment I believe. Sorcerers become absolutely overpowered after you get Homing Crystal Soulmass and Crystal Soul Lance and pour into intelligence. Homing Crystal Soulmass hits between 1400-1800 per cast and Crystal Soul Lance for around 700-900.

Your vit is very low. I always need to have at least 800+ hp to feel comfortable. I usually level up vit early on just to give me the survivability then some endurance and allocate str and dex when i find a weapon upgrade requiring more of either. Once I'm past that point it's just a non-stop waterfall of points into intelligence.

Again, HOMING CRYSTAL SOULMASS. I cannot stress how fucking overpowered that spell is.

Others do it, but its not their first choice usually as it means you dont use much of anything but your spells. Reasons why pyromancy is so popular because it takes 0 stats to use.

...is that I seem to be the only one doing it. I can never find suggestions for any part that doesn't assume I'm working with heavy armor and a giant sword. None of my spells have elemental damage so things like those drakes are still a pain. Seath hardly takes any damage from magic so I can't just slice through him in 10 seconds. I cannot just tank the Four Kings as I have a VIT of 8. Anyone else experiencing this?

@Fribain: What is Homing Crystal Soul Mass? Are "Crystal" variation of sorceries a thing?

@FluxWaveZ: If you've been to Sen's Fortress and have (hopefully) saved Big Hat Logan, he will teach you the regular Homing Soulmass and Soul Lance at Firelink Shrine. Once you get to the Duke's Archives and save him for the second time, he will appear in the library section and begin selling you the upgraded versions of certain spells. These upgraded versions have the added 'crystal' name and visual effect. They seem to deal about double the damage of their regular counterparts and have the same number of uses and attunement requirements.

To give an example of just how powerful these spells are: at 50 intelligence Ornstein dies in three hits of Homing Crystal Soulmass on NG+. It makes bosses piss-easy.

TL;DR Crystal variations are simply upgraded versions of spells.

Are you doing a "build" for a reason? IMO unless you are trying for a challenge or roleplaying, everyone should max a Pyromancer's Flame. Circle strafe each king and spam Combustion, super easy fight -- soul level completely irrelevant. Equip Dusk Crown and the dragon ring that boosts sorcery for extra damage. Protip: pyromancy is "sorcery" too.

If you're already fighting Seath it may be too late to buy spells from Big Hat. Not certain though.

@bkbroiler: Nope, you can still backtrack and free him from his prison again, and get some super amazing spells

I tried playing sorcerer and I was having all kinds of problems. Switched to pyromancer and couldn't be happier. Playing pure magic in Dark Souls is much harder than in Demon's Souls which often made things pretty easy.

Are the later parts of the game going to be a bitch with a pure melee character build? I'm just entering blight town and haven't built any magic up.

I have no idea how the hell you would do 4 kings as a sorcerer

@OroJackson said:

@bkbroiler: Nope, you can still backtrack and free him from his prison again, and get some super amazing spells

Oh, weird. He disappeared from prison for me when I went back to free him after Seath.

@Phoenix778m: Not really, I did everything Melee with a Dex Build and long Range Melee Weapons (Halberds, Scythes, Spears even Chaos Blade). Best fun i ever had in any game. Plus you end up being skilled, in contrary to the pyromancers who dont know crap about how to fight and evade, fighting with melee and switching to sorcery is much easier than vice versa since you have to be much more carfeull about combos and evasion as melee. Plus if you're smart you are prepared for elemental or magic damage with various armors / shields / rings that you equip in an intelligent matter.

Anybody who says otherwise obviously isnt PvPing. *fog* cough *ring* cough.

I think you'll have a similar problem with any build that is specialized in one specific direction. I've played a sorcerer and it has its challenges, but playing a tank there is an equal amount of challenge since area-of-effect abilities and grabs become difficult to avoid. Ornstein and Smough for example were unreasonably hard for a heavy armored character (can't easily take advantage of openings and their electric area-of-effect attacks would get me every time).

There have been moments where the only way I was able to defeat an enemy my tank wasn't suited for, was to completely change my loadout to equipment I wouldn't normally use. You might have to occasionally don some upgraded light to medium armor just to get by.

Well-rounded builds might do a little less damage, but have the easiest time of things since they can adapt to all situations. But I do find that extreme builds are fun for the extra challenge.

@Phoenix778m said:

Are the later parts of the game going to be a bitch with a pure melee character build? I'm just entering blight town and haven't built any magic up.

Not really it's easier to tank your way through encounters rather than dodge or magic your way through them. Having high Vit and End certainly eases some bosses.

Thanks everyone that is a weight off my shoulders.

@TranceQuina: Sorry about the late reply. The only way you can get more than the base ten is to buy the spell again in NG+, bumping you up to 20.

@TranceQuina You should really consider dumping some points into vitality and picking up a few pyromancies so that you don't get completely hosed by resistances. Also, my sorc actually does use an enchanted greatsword and wears elite knight armor; its totally awesome.

My Only problem with Dark Souls is it's pretty much impossible to play as a pure mage. You're pretty much forced into the spellsword build until at least lv 80. Then your Int and Att get high enough you go weapon free for the most part. Having the bonfire system really nerfs the class. Although after a ton of soul farming you're pretty much unstoppable. You OHKO black knights and 2 shot bosses. I guess thats the payoff from dieing a million times getting there.

I know that this post is way old but maybe it will help someone. I found after getting my ars handed to me a number of times that you can't rely just on spells so I built a + 15 Great Scythe and other weapons and it's made the game more enjoyable but i do get wailed on often, just part of the game

Sophia has become a ridiculously scaled character. But I also admire you going Sorcerer, that probably will require intelligence. But vitality I think is one of those universal stats one should invest in. And do not neglect reinforcement and modify, in how they apply to you. I'm just now truly understanding weapon and equipment stats.

Ever since Ornstien and Smaugh, everything wilts in front of the Insane Sophia, for she leveled up insanely to meet the challenge. She has collected her second invader's ear yesterday as well as Nito's soul, thinking now her dark World and such acts the norm. The dragons are at least forcing her to find the balance between agility and weapon, at the moment. But it is not serious, a bit of tuning..

Only one of my seven or eight characters has heavy armor. I think most of the light armors look better and I much prefer 25% burden over 50. I also prefer the medium sized weapons because of the faster speeds and appearances. The MLGS and the cursed Greatsword are cool, though. I also like the Zweihander and the Bastard Sword in some situations. I do more than okay against much heavier players and AI.

I went with a sorcerer, and my spells got to do so much damage I tore through almost every boss in the game in no time. The best ones are the homing spheres, since you can cast them far away then block on the way in while they go do damage. I went pretty much all Int and Dex with a little End, had a upgraded magic spear for almost the entire first playthrough. The only change I made was while I was fighting the Magic resistant enemies in Seeth's area I used Queelag's fury and kept my Humanity at least 10. I never tried the weapon and shield spells since I figured they were just less effective versions of melee builds.

@trancequina: one good melee weapon for int builds if you can get it is the titanit carch pole it scales with str dex and int and deals mostly magic damage my ar with +5 catch pole and 36 int as well as 18 dex and 20 str is 511

When you fight Seath make sure to cut off his tail you`ll get the Moonlight Greatsword. It is one of if not the best Int weapon in the game. The rapier is good too I can`t remember what it was called I think it started with a V.

By Seath, I had killed every boss except for capra, gaping, sif, firesage, centipede, boc, four kings, kalameet and manus and I same vit as you and 50 int ish. I could just run forward a little bit, bait a crystal breath attack, and then when it was just about finished I ran forward and cast 1-2 soul spears / crystal soul spear then ran back again as he attacked. I had 8 spears, 4 crystal spears, 6 dark bead and finished him off with plenty to spare.