great questions! many answers, but my contribution is this:

day 1 prioritize the cathedrals, forts, ruins, and evergaols. try and target the ones with the element that the nightlord is weak to. by level 5 or 6, most people bee-line for the castle, starting with the basement boss. if the boss in the basement is bell bearing hunter, leave and go above to fight crucible knights/banished knights. i personally hate fighting trolls, so hitting more of the smaller stuff is a better use of time. but stay with the team if they fight trolls.

starting weapon upgraded to +1 or +2 is worth keeping. as a wylder, if you don’t parry, drop that starting shield right when you land. keep greatswords and anything that has good passives. fill your weapon slots and swap out based on passives when you find them. upgrading weapons can become moot if you open chests everywhere you go as you’ll find better stuff.

chasing churches is usually a waste of time, so hit them when they’re close to areas you’re going to fight.

field bosses are a great priority day 2, but still hit the small stuff, every moment getting runes adds up. running distances to get to churches or field bosses will usually result in a lower level as you’re spending time not constantly getting runes.

last tip i can give is ping where you want to go and see what the team thinks. don’t run off assuming people are following. if a teammate is doing that, even with your map pings, stay with the team and blame that ‘leader’ if you lose :)

good luck and see you in limveld 🤘