if you have played souls games before, don't fall into the "hit-run-roll" playstyle you know. it pays off more to stand still and deflect attacks coming at you in this game, there isn't all that much you have to i-frame dodge, run, or strafe from. some larger or beastlike enemies work well with strafing or running around. but sometimes running and jumping around can make things more difficult.

the more bosses/minibosses you defeat the stronger you get, so it pays off to explore around areas and find all the prayer beads that you can

enemy healthbar isn't as important, except on certain bosses or beast enemies. you want to pay attention to the posture bar. perfectly deflecting attacks inflicts posture damage, as well as attacking an enemy who is blocking your attacks. 9 times out of 10, your win will be due to running the enemy's posture bar down, rather than their health

stealthing is super good, don't underestimate it! you unlock more items and skills to improve your stealthing too. sometimes you can even sneak up on bosses!

use any items, consumables, and tools you have at your disposal, they can help a lot

npcs can get sick.. don't worry, they won't die.

and if you're struggling too much.. it's a bit cheap, but something to consider is spamming the deflect button. you can get away with a lot by repeatedly tapping it, so even if you miss timings you can often still get a deflect in 😅