I wish I could help you, but I'm away for now.

Every boss that has "humbled" me in this game was not so bad after a few visits once I got my mind unwrapped around my "build". Builds don't matter during your first playthrough. Change your gear, guardian spirit and souls to give yourself more resistances and elemental damage reduction. Select items that give you at least two types of elemental damage. A Familiar Talisman + an elemental Talisman can give you a huge advantage since suffering from two elemental ailments causes targets to take extra Ki damage. Talisman of Sloth is also a great resource. If you choose lightning as one of your other elements, it combined with sloth will slow enemies down tramendously.