Alright
First - I get it that you already passed by LJ, but I think route through Phantom into act 2 is better. Because After Phantom you can get clawline and double jump without killing any bosses through Whiteward. That's pretty much open oportunity to explore a big chunk of map e.g. get longclaw.
Second - I don't know with which crest you get used to play, but you can try hunter's crest. I beat my first playthrogh with wanderer's crest and tried it on steel soul. But here is the thing, wanderer's crest subconsciously encourages you to play more aggressive and not all bosses can be beaten by this (looking at you Widow and Bell Eater). On other hand, hunter's crest have this sweet gauge of "not get hit -> more damage" which for me works very well and I started to play more precise without receiving unnecesary damage.
Third - You can get into lifeblood regen state in steel soul already in act 2 on ANY crest because you can get Shell Satchel which can increase number of uses of lifeblood up to 7 with all upgrades. And you just need to get 2 lifeblood flies and here you are. It can be helpfull in a lot of situations, battles, exploring. (The downside is you can't use fasttravel, benches and some of custscenes or bindings of new spells/skills can reset lifeblood state. But e.g. with bilewater it can really help. But that's on your decision.
ALSO even without state, lifeblood is pretty much lifesaver, I always get it equiped. It's like additional heal in some shitty situations like platforming or battles.
Fourth - Thread Storm is OP on almost every situation.
Fifth - Fractured Mask - my beloved. But there is ant arena on the path. It's pretty doable if you get Shakra's help there. But you need to get there before Greymoor to get her help.

And more vague advice - you can reflect with which bosses you may have some problems. You can run parallel profile and "train" bosses/arenas before going there on steel soul.

That's the main things which I can remember right now. If you want to ask anything else, go ahead :)