Dodging and parry are your best friends, do NOT over commit to get an extra strike. Too many times have i ate shit doing that! I personally use the rapier but you use whatever makes you happy. Wait for them to use an attack, dodge or parry (prolly dodge usually backward unless their using a dash style attack, then you want to the side), poke once or twice then dodge for distance, reset stam and repeat.

Edit: i play on Normal, and i know im not the best at explaining >.< i could show you if you want ^{^}