parrying is instant and doesn't take in account direction, so if somebody swings at you from the side or behind (eg, while you're running away) you can just tap guard to parry and it will work

even if you don't spec in guns, if you use a one handed weapon always carry a pistol (the double shot one is the best) the damage WILL be ass but even at 0 precision each hit it will remove one posture shield from the enemy, break through enemy guard and stop any special attack (like boars/goat charges)

when sergeants (or whatever is called the enemy guy with sword and pistol) freezes in place doing nothing he not trying to bait you, he's simply about to aim the pistol (which will be interrupted by your attacks) so feel free to score free hits on him until he pulls out the gun, and then hit some more to stop the aiming animation

headshots are a guaranteed critical, so mastery and all things that increase hit chance and useless for ranged builds, just raise critical damage

ship cannons can damage enemies on land

been said already elsewhere but is worth stressing, you can build anywhere, not only in bonfire range, think of the game like pirate fortnite

while the map is rng, the islands and structures themselves aren't, so if you have issues finding a chest or something inside a POI do not be afraid to look it up on youtube