This game is truly the business, but I'm only vaguely competent because I've played all the souls games. Christ knows how I'd get on if it was my first From game.
But there's nothing quite like the feeling of godlike power when you're bowling through enemies and bosses with dual-wield bleed godskin peelers in NG+. We'll see how the DLC enemies cope with dual-wield bleed peelers when it launches.
If you find combat difficult, respect to high arcane, enough str and dex for dual godskin peeler, make it bleed weapon and then jump R2 to OHKO almost everything.
These two links have been my absolute ball saver though so I had a vague clue what to do or where to go in my first few playthroughs.