No, attack speed is based on weapon type

Yes, but it���s hardly noticeable. Don���t be afraid to use strength over dexterity when using magic.

I think going pure melee is fine but you’re gonna have a better time if you use a high damage weapon

But I wonder if you’re right

I did a quality build my first and it was pretty bad, but I could probably pick a hog damage weapon like I mentioned earlier

Once you get up in levels I bet it’s helpful to do what you mentioned

And at that point you can respec and decide which one you wanna go with

It’s a pretty cool part of the game it seems like

You can get any weapon, bell bearings, respeccing, and then starting NG+ instead of redoing your playthrough and getting golden seeds all over again, limited upgrade materials, etc.

There is no "25.5" strength, they're integer numbers. That said, two-handing an armament will increase your effective strength by 1.5x, so you would need 17.33 (aka 18) strength to use a 26 str requirement effectively two-handed.