Im a new 3d modeler (started only 3 or 4 months ago), and Im absolutely in love with blender. Like many, the texturing side of things is my weak point, so I do prefer to do this part of the workflow within blender (well, to be honest, Im still experimenting with some things), and like you the shader/node editor was very intimidating when I started watching all those youtube tutorials, however being now at a point where I can make simple textures just using nodes and mixing them, I can tell you that its definitely something you should try and explore. Its as satisfying as popping bubble wrap.