After putting 200+ hours into this game (easily, its probably at about 300 now) I finally made a dedicated Sorcerer. All that needs to be said is holy Batman this makes the game easy.

I've made pyromancers, which end up suffering later in the game and rely more on a weapon. I've mained a paladin for a long time, who is extremely fun but lacks true 'punch' short of Wrath of Gods. Now comes the turn of the Sorcerer, who allowed me to beat the game (collecting all items, clearing all areas/bosses) in 10 hours with a total of 6 deaths by my count, none of which were during a corpserun so I never actually lost any souls.

I killed Gwyn in 4 hits, destroyed invaders with 1 spell whilst laughing my ass off and generally had the most 'fun' with this game so far. Its not a challenge, its more a sense of the game finally giving you the power to do as you please.

So to all my fellow duders, if you have not yet made a pure Sorcerer, I beg you to try it. You won't have a decent weapon for a long time (Velka's Rapier is my choice) but you honestly don't need it when the most basic of spells 1 shot every enemy and you carry 60 of them from the start.

Also if you get invaded or invade MysteriousFawx...expect a homing crystal soulmass to destroy you, my highest hit on a player so far was 1200 and his health just vanished.

A pure intelligence build is easily the best build for PvE. However, you will get smoked in any serious PvP with a build like that and in my opinion, it isn't as fun or tense as getting up close and slicing dudes.

How does you paladin lack punch?

Get those lightning spells and smite everything in your path. My brother's paladin makes that game a joke.

And yeah I haven't played that game since the update and I've been meaning to get a witch going.

Best thing for PvE, useless for PvP. Pretty much was the same thing in Demon's Souls. In Demon's, I had a pure magic build and I did the same for Dark, but I decided to make a warrior build and, man, the game felt way different; almost more fun than being at a distance and waving a wand.

@Doctorchimp said:

How does you paladin lack punch?

Get those lightning spells and smite everything in your path. My brother's paladin makes that game a joke.

And yeah I haven't played that game since the update and I've been meaning to get a witch going.

My paladin can't hit for over 1.5k with 1 attack.....yet. When I compare the levels of the 2 characters and the time investment, the sorcerer is insane in comparison.

I made a 'pure' mage a while ago, or rather I tried to but ended up not being able to fully commit. I spread my stats around so that I could carry that hollow shield, picked up the crimson set basically before anything else and decided to carry a Balder Side Sword which I would enchant.

The Balder sword was pretty weak though even with a short lasting enchant, and I was so used to meleeing and circle strafing rather than dodging that I sometimes forgot or just didn't use my sorceries.

I ended up picking up the Lightning spear in Sen's Fortress and upgraded that a bit to have a good alternative in case I ran out of spells, I also got a Gargoyle helm in Anor londo which looked too cool not to use. And thus, I was on my way to eventually replacing the gloves with a Dingy part (to have something to upgrade a lot) and the legs with the Havel Boots (because they look so damn awesome.).

I have to say that I'm pretty happy with how this "Magic Knight" turned out in the end, and it does kill things quite a bit easier than some of my other dudes, however I think that if I had been able to commit more to the playstyle I may have not have died as much as I ended up doing. Part of that was surely because I always wanted to get close and that I often underestimated the frailty of my character. It also took a while before I really started investing in the INT stat.

@MysteriousFawx: What stats, if any, besides Int did you spend any significant souls on? I'd be curious to try a sorcerer, since I've played pure melee (besides some pyromancy) in both DS games. Also, good luck hitting anyone remotely competent in PvP with soulmass. It's pretty easy to dodge by simple strafing.

@MysteriousFawx: Any chance of posting your build? I'm thinking of another run in Dark Souls.

In terms of damage, yeah, sorcerers are pretty buff. It makes things trickier for the average player in PvP, however; anyone who relies too much on lock-on will probably only win fights through luck/just through standard melee rather than spells.

@Oni: Spent enough on dex/str to use crest shield and velkas rapier, then I spent souls to get my int to 50 before touching anything else. I got enough attunement for 8 slots (34) and finally after all that, I was safe to buff my health/endurance up. The build is unplayable if you don't have dodges totally nailed and you need to keep your rolls as fast as possible.

Also as for PvP, I have the rapier for a reason. Its forward R1 attack replaces the kick with a shield breaking thrust that also jumps you back and gives you a perfect chance to swap out to casting. I didn't begin PvP properly until NG+ and I've already come up against the famous Havel/Flip Ring combos and defeated them. It all comes down to locational awareness, smart dodging and faking out your opponent, I keep low level spells for a reason. If I throw out a couple of soul arrows to guage how they will typically dodge or react, saving the big guns for when I've got their playstyle down a lot more. Also the flipring users are prone to expecting locked on rolls, simply rolling away from them and quick turning gives homing arrows a far greater hit rate, even if its only 1 or 2 out of the full barrage.

@Oldirtybearon: Full build (not yet complete) as follows

Covenant - Gravelord (I still hope this will be fixed someday because its by far the most interesting in concept)

Vitality - 30

Attunement - 34

Endurance - 12

Strength - 10

Dexterity - 16

Resistance - 8

Intelligence - 50

Faith - 8

Right Equipment - Tin Crystallization Catalyst / Velka's Rapier

Left Equipment - Dragon Crest Shield

Armour - Crown of Dusk + Antiquated Set

Rings - Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring, Silver Serpent Ring (this is purely preference, should really be swapped out for something with utility)

Spells

Homing Soulmass x2 (or x1 with the other slot used for Chameleon)

Homing Crystal Soulmass x1

Soul Spear x2

Crystal Soul Spear x1

White Dragon Breath x1

Soul Arrow x1

With this set I am literally on the edge for the quickest rolls possible. I'm planning to spend future points in Dex oddly enough as it very slightly raises casting speed (youtube it, I was shocked too) and the rapier is one of the only weapons that keeps any form of dex scaling, as my int has now hit diminishing returns.

Hope this helps duder.

@MysteriousFawx: Very helpful, actually. Thanks for the build.

This post has made me want to go back and finish this game, or mess around with a Sorcerer build.

I honestly had trouble with a spell caster only.. Pure int builds just seem like to much fun is taken out and I get lazy which results in my death.. Also pvp usually results in a massacre of me.. all over the floor.. in pieces. Pyro may lose its awesomeness later in the game at like NG+3 and up but it is awesome for when you want to pvp.. Also, since my original character is like SL350, I get practically no dmg from spells and invaders are very far and few which results in me fighting alot of the same people.. PvE spell builds are great but so far for me, they are suicide in pvp.

@McShank: I think it mainly comes down to switching focus from learning solid blocking technique to mastering the dodge rolls and weapon arcs/ranges. It is really difficult to use in PvP effectively but thats what makes it so damn rewarding when that 1 spell does hit and just destroys them. You feel more like a boss challenge than anything else, every time you go to cast its like they're watching the gaping dragon just waiting to come crashing down on their head.

in related news: playing the game in different ways makes the game different for different people.

WHICH IS WHY THIS GAME IS SO FUCKING AWESOME.

I like Dark Souls, but I love Kubrick even more.

Sorcery is for little boys that can't get it up. The only spell you are allowed to use is Evacuate.

@Enigma777: Swinging around a dragons tooth is pretty big overcompensation to be honest though....

It's telling that in PvP, even most casters wear heavy gear. That's because without poise, you are totally fucked. Even a pure spellcasting build will need some End for PvP purposes. The few times I've come across a spellcaster wearing light armor, I have totally wrecked their shit because if I can hit them once, they're stunlocked until they're dead.

I created a Sorcery build and every pvp enounter I had turned in to disaster. They easily avoided anything I threw at them. Maybe I'm just not meant to be a mage.... But, for PVE, I smoked everything.

Weird, I find a pure sorcerer pretty hard to pull off. Some parts are indeed incredibly simple, but in tight areas where you don't have range the relatively long casting times really screw me up a lot (like the Capra demon). I also was expecting to do way more damage with my spells as a glass cannon. I recently got the homing soul mass thing which does help, but it's still my least favorite character.