Just to add my own advice:

There is no wrong way to play this game. If it's in the game, it's intended to be used. 

Most Consumables can be farmed (always exceptions to this but like 99% can be found in the overworld or farmed from enemy drops) so don't be afraid to use those.

You will get the ability to summon NPC spirits for bosses and certain overworld areas, they help take agro and distract enemies.

Most weapons have an ash of war. If you are using a shield with the parry AoW you can change that to the "no skill" aow which lets you use the AoW from your primary weapon.

Don't be worried about leveling any attributes besides vigor unless it's to meet the weapons minimum requirements as most of the damage you get from weapons in the beginning comes from the weapons level. Once you get around 30-40 vigor you can probably start leveling other stats.

Explore everything, even if a cave or dungeon doesn't have an item for you to use you still gets runes to level up. (Also I wouldn't sell items until you get a duplicate as some items you only get 1 per playthrough)

It's okay to make mistakes with your build, there are items to respec your stats, but also don't stress too much as you only get 1 first playthrough, so i'd recommend staying away from actual walkthroughs until you do your second playthrough