This game is kicking my ass, Bloodborne was way easier for me.
I went with the Kusarigama as my main and dual sword as my 2nd weapon, focusing on Dexterity and Skill, light armor, around Lv15 now at the 2nd boss (bat/bird lady).
Now I read spear is pretty much easy mode. I want to switch but my stats aren't really built for spear. If I buy the respec book from the blacksmith, I can completely respec everything, right? No real need to start over from scratch?
Any general tips would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.
Yes she's pretty difficult, at first. First things first, always let her engage first with you punishing her afterwards. If she attacks you with a 3hit combo, either where she uses her umbrella or her fists and feet. This is when you can punish her. I personally would not engage her if she just uses her 2 hit variants.
After she finishes whirling around is also a time you can punish her. Best way of avoiding this move is running away, don't dodge out of it. In my experience she always hit me when i tried that for this move. Maybe because I was to close to her. As a rule you should always stay min 5 or more feet away from her so you aren't hit with a move that you can't react to. Anyway afterwards you can punish her.
Dodge her para!yzing blast. She always makes a sound before using it, that is your give away to dodge. You have to get the timing right. Trust your ears more than your eyes in this case. She uses this move while standing as well when she's flying. You could also just keep running sideways to avoid it. But remember you have to be running in anticipation of her using it. Otherwise you won't be fast enough to avoid it imo.
While she is airborne, she has three attacks. The paralyzing blast which we already discussed. Her second attack is her throwing knives at you, dodge them. In her third attack she launches towards you. Dodge this one. Afterwards it is punishment time.
She can also launch towards you while on the ground. Just dodge and punish afterwards.
I would only punish her with a 2 or 3 hit combo, don't get greedy.
You could also try to use talismans that give you resistances against paralyzing effects. But you have to invest skill points in order to use them.
You will become familiar with her patterns after a few tries and it becomes much easier.
Finished the game this evening. Was a very enjoyable experience. Most humanoid bosses were amazing. The more monster like ones, not so much. Looking forward to the sequel, if there is one.
P.S. I rocked the red demon set in the end. I looked stylish as fuck. I come from fashion Souls, so looking good is always a priority to anything else :P