You can be a jack of all trades and finish the game normally. Specialization is already powergaming. And there is enough soul awards ingame that you don't have to farm or grind at all and still are able to finish the game with a high Soul Level.
Archery works fine alone. You can defeat everything with bows even bosses, but that requires good evading skills for some.
And NO, help when you start is not recommended. NOt even with classes. You CANNOT screw up! All you have to do i read the ****ing manual, and read item description, pay attention to what NPCs say and you can play fine and have much more fun while playing.