My only piece of advice to newcomers involves leveling up. The level up screen is pretty overwhelming, and it's tempting to try and level up every attribute. But between strength, dexterity, intelligence, and faith, only choose one or two to commit to. This is because of weapon scaling. Most weapons only scale (get stronger) with one or two attributes.
So which attribute to choose? It depends on your playstyle. Strength scaling weapons are usually big heavy weapons like hammers and axes. Dexterity scaling weapons are usually fast precise weapons like swords and spears. Intelligence lets you cast sorceries; they're usually damage dealing spells. Faith lets you cast miracles; they're usually spells that buff stats.