In my opinion I think the most important thing is to figure out what kind of weapon you want to use. Whenever I play a Souls game I gravitate towards the biggest sword I can get (which is great for Elden Ring because you can get the best massive sword in the base game right at the start if you know where to go, without killing a single enemy). Lots of beginners tend towards dexterity weapons such as katanas. Rivers of blood and moonveil used to be the meta builds, but even after several nerfs they’re still very good. Magic can be ridiculously overpowered but I find it to be the least fun, at least for me.

Increasing HP early on is very important. Level up enough to have minimum stats for whatever gear you want, then level vigor exclusively until at least 30. Even then, continue to level it up occasionally. I think 60 is the soft cap where after that the levels have diminishing returns, so end goal should be 60 vigor.

I’ve got lots of hours in the game and got all achievements on multiple accounts so feel free to ask any more questions you have.

When i first started playing Dark Souls i always equipped my characters with shields. I played all 3 games several times through with shields. One playthrough I decided to challenge myself and not use shields, only relying on dodging attacks. Doing so also opened up my offhand for using a staff or talisman (the equivalent of seals in Elden Ring). I have never used a shield in any Dark Souls game or Elden Ring since.

Dark Souls 2 introduced a feature called power stance. I wont go into go into great detail about it here, but tnere are many guides online that explain how it works. The short version is that it allows you to dual wield weapons from of the same category. You equip them in each hand, level up your character with the correct stats, then you open character up to unique move sets and really high damage.

Power stance wasn't included in Dark Souls 3, but it was reintroduced in Elden Ring and is very fun to use. Some of my favorite weapons to power stance with are: daggers, twinblades, reapers, rapiers, and even heavy rapiers. I wouldn't say power stancing is the equivalent to playing on easy mode. The movesets are unique and take some practice to use effectively. There are also some cons, like not having a shield or magic casting weapon in either hand. There is no way to do a jumping heavy attack using both weapons. Also stamina depletes much quicker. One of the greatest pros though, is that each weapon can be equipped with different status effects like bleed/poison or holy/frost.

If you look up or are suggested specific builds, be open to tweaking them to your liking. Higher numbers for damage output are obviously good, but are only so useful if the weapon you are using is right for you. Keep trying different weapon types until something sticks. Also, level up several different weapon types because different enemies have different resistances and weaknesses. Slashing weapons aren't as effective against rock enemies as hammers are. Sometimes these resistances aren't obvious so dont be afraid to use online wikis to look up some info.

Lastly, dont neglect summon pools! Some people will try to convince you that summon pools are for noobs, and it only counts as a win if you solo a boss. That's not true in the slightest. Every item/feature in the game was added with the intention that players will use them. Same goes for spirit ashes. Each spirit ash is very different from the next. Some will follow you around, some will sit in one spot, some regenerate health, some inflict status effects on enemies, etc. If you or anyone else is on PC feel free to shoot me a DM and we can set up a coop session!