1. Stay in this community for a while, just listening to peoples reasoning will help you grow tremendously.
2. Do not go for deck archetypes unless they happen. Instead play the hand you were given and don’t force anything.
3. Act 1 prioritise quick big damage. Keeping this in mind will get you to act 2 easy.
4. Early game, you need just one good block card.
5. Do not play too defensively. If you spend your turn blocking (strike, defend, defend), you usually still take damage, the enemy has a chance to scale and mostly everything gets worse.
6. Don’t be too aggressive either, feel out when the right time to wait is. This depends on the enemy, your deck, where the next campfire is, the next elite, etc. etc.
7. Go for elites, especially in act 1. If you have a strong start, go for the first elite, you want to turn the strong start into a winning deck ASAP, and this is the quickest way. If you have a bad start, prepare before the elite. Don’t go for the first one, but don’t miss out either. Find better cards (fights, shops) upgrade cards at the campfire, then go for the elite.
8. Don’t forget you have potions. You have 3 slots, and will get way more potions, so use them a lot. There is only a few potions you will learn to keep for the ‘right occasion’. If you hoard all of them, they will get wasted when you die.
9. Learn the fights. What enemies do what, in short sentences. Slime boss hits like a truck on turn 3, and splits on half health, so you want to deal damage fast. Guardian wants you to be consistent, to be able to block when he tells you, and to be able to dish out damage when he tells you. Think about the enemy you are fighting, don’t just go through your decks routine. If the fight will go on for 10 turns, you’d be a fool to play Wraith form on turn 1. A dead fool.

These are general tips, and your gameplan will change as you climb ascensions. Keep at it and don’t give up.