So just like demons souls and dark soups, I get caught in the hype and bought this game, and I can barely kill even the first few trash mobs. Anyone have tips for someone who's mostly used to mouse/keyboard (rarely console player) games?
Take it slow. Use your pistol to pull those initial groups of 4 that path around that long road to the big bonfire with the group of dudes surrounding it apart. You can do the same with the guys in the big group at the bonfire too, if you stand back and pull one at a time.
Start by pulling 1 guy or 2, and practice learning their routines. They will usually attack one, two or three times as they get near you. Dodge out of the way. Wait for an opening. Hit 1 - 2 times, preserving enough stamina to dodge out of the of way as they counter attack. Don't try to pull off big combos and blow all your stamina. Manage your stamina. If you die and lose some souls: DO NOT LET IT FRUSTRATE YOU. Get all fucking Zen and shit, like Buddha under a tree in a garden.
The key is learn their attack patterns, never overextend your stamina gauge unless you are certain for a kill by the end of it, always leave room and stamina to dodge, split as many groups up as you can. Take it slow.
Try to get to the first boss and die to him. You will lose the souls you've acquired. ITS NO BIG DEAL. Unlike Dark Souls 2, mobs do not stop respawning after you die or return to Hunter's Dream if you kill them enough. What this means is that losing souls is effectively MEANINGLESS (its one of the reasons I really LIKED the DS2 mechanic of being able to grind mobs in a zone prior to a boss down to nothing after 10-15 kills). The disadvantage of this is that you have to kill them all each time you clear through the area. SO WHAT? That just means you get more souls.
Once you've died to that first boss, you can level up. So grind for a bit. Get Vitality and Endurance (stamina is what I call it but whatever) to 20. That will give you more health and more stamina, which will make the entire first area pretty much a cake walk.
For the big dudes in the first area with the large bricks and shit that attack you. Move up, when they start attack animation, dodge backwards, get to know their movement routine for a bit, when you start to see where the openings are, lunge in and take no more than two swings before dodging back out from their counter attacks.
This is pretty much how ALL these games work. You memorize attack patterns, dodge away from attacks, and exploit openings to counter attack.