1. Prepare to die a lot. But don't give up and don't lose heart.
The Souls series has always been about conquering tough enemies and even tougher bosses. No matter your experience with the prior Souls titles, you will die many, many times, perhaps unfairly so, but most of the time you'll die because you made a mistake. Almost every enemy is monstrous and powerful enough to end you in a few hits, but is slow enough that you can read its attack patterns.
Sometimes it's best just to wait for the opponent to show its hand and block with a shield to see where there's an opening. Usually, the best place to counter is right after the enemy performs an attack string and needs to recover before resetting to its default stance. Remember that even if your attack lands, it will make you vulnerable to their attacks as well while you recover, and you'll likely deal less damage than your opponents. So stay on guard, don't get greedy, watch for telegraphs, and nail the timing.
2. Lock on and circle strafe close.
If you're having trouble with a boss or giant grunt with a ridiculously long melee weapon, usually the best option is to lock on to the enemy and then strafe around the enemy. Sometimes the best strategy is to play keep away and dodge back or to the side if the enemy lunges forward.
But don't forget that, though it seems like the worst idea ever, you can move in and circle strafe close. Most bosses have a blind spot near their legs, so dodging forward or getting close to an enemy can open up areas for attack very easily. Just remember to keep your shield up just in case, and to look at your weapon load and make sure that it's under 70% so that you can move fast or at least under 100% to make sure you're not overcumbered. Sometimes having too much armor will work against you, and your maneuverability and dodging will be too slow.
3. Pull enemies one by one if possible.
There's nothing worse in Dark Souls II than being surrounded and overwhelmed. Taking out a bunch of grunts is usually a battle of attrition that you can muster, but getting ganged up by four hulking warriors wielding greatswords and dual-whips is no bueno. So of course, being able to pick off enemies one by one as much as possible is key.
Most of the time the game is quite generous with spacing between enemies, but there are few groups that will attack all at once. Separating them means being patient and pulling one at a time, not far from aggro control in an MMO, either with an arrow shot or a soul arrow from a staff. So long as you've cleared the area behind you, use the open space to your advantage and pull enemies into it.
4. Keep your human effigies for as long as you can.
If you don't know already, dying in Dark Souls II turns your character hollow and your maximum HP reduces by 5%. It doesn't matter whether you can retrieve your soul and regain your lost souls; that 5% loss in HP remains. And it can stack up to a total loss of 50%. The only way to restore this condition to use a human effigy, so don't be so eager to use one if you think you can get through with the HP penalty.
That said, you'll need to be a human in order to summon NPCs, which may be pivotal for boss fights. Either way, it's in your best interest to save your human effigies and not use them unless you absolutely must, as the number of effigies in limited in supply. If you're running out, you can purchase five from the vendor in the middle of the forest area (right next to the second bonfire) or you can farm for effigies through loot drops but they're random at best.
5. Don't feel bad for grinding near bonfires.
Certainly, learning the core fundamentals of combat is far more beneficial than grinding, but sometimes you have no choice but to accumulate some souls to increase some attributes, if just to equip weapons and armor than require a certain amount of strength and dexterity. The same goes for spells, hexes, and miracles that need a minimum of intuition and faith. Of course, increasing vigor never hurts as well for pure HP points.
Whenever you use a bonfire, enemies respawn in the area so sticking close to a bonfire is a good idea for grinding out enough souls so that you can level up by talking to the woman known as the Emerald Herald close to the bonfire in Majula. It doesn't take that many souls to level up either, so certainly take the time to hack on a handful of grunts and giants at your leisure. Just be aware that if you kill a particular enemy about fifteen times, it will stop respwaning.
6. Trade smooth and silky stones to the crows in the tutorial level.
Since the opening area is a skippable tutorial level, you might have missed this section, but there's a nest at the top of the long ladder in the middle of the Things Betwixt area. Or if you did reach this nest, you might be confused as to what the strange voices want from you, literally crowing about something smooth and something silky. What they're referring to are literally "smooth and silky stones" which look like eggs and are strewn throughout the kingdom of Drangleic.
The first one you can find is actually in the starting area near the waterfall before you meet the Fire Keeper old ladies. You can jump down to the platform if you want, but there's actually a path close by that will let you reach the corpse with the smooth and silky stone. If you select the Petrified Something as your gift in the character creation, you can also use this for another special reward. By dropping either of these items in the nest (go into the inventory and select "leave"), you'll get various items in return for crafting and souls.
7. Remember to talk to everyone until their last sentence.
The game doesn't tell you this at all, but you need to finish talking to NPCs before they actually reward you with anything and open up to their actual function. You need to finish the conversation with the Emerald Herald in Majula to level up and upgrade estus flasks (and earn one estus flask for free!). You need to finish the conversation with the blue knight also in Majula near the monument to join his covenant. The same applies to most NPCs so always make sure that you exhaust all of the prompts for conversation or you'll miss out on important and powerful items.
8. Check out all the free items in Majula.
Once you step out of the tutorial area and into the light of the setting sun of Majula, there are plenty of items to loot. The first is along the right edge of the cliff near the entrance to the area where there's a place where you can drop off to a platform. Jump off that platform once more to find a dirt path running along the lower level of the cliff that hides a morning star, a chime that allows you to cast miracles, and binoculars (which purportedly allows you to free-aim spells).
In the town of Majula itself, don't fall down the pit; you can't get the items there until later. Instead, check the well just a bit away from the house with the talking cat. On the rim of the well is a stone that you can actually knock over to gain an Estus Flask Shard. This will allow you to increase the amount of Estus Flasks, healing items that regenerate at a bonfire, by one when you speak with the Emerald Herald. Then of course just search the area for corpses for more free items.
By the way, the key that the Blacksmith loses can be purchased from a vendor in the opening forest level of the game. She is an old hag sitting next to the second bonfire in the area. Once you open the door to the Blacksmith's house using the key, he will allow you to upgrade your weapon and armor at the cost of a few hundred souls so long as you have the proper crafting items.
9. Get the Drangleic armor set after defeating the Pursuer boss.
After you conquer the Pursuer boss which is arguably the first real boss in the game (beware of its three-hit combo, and avoid the ballistas), make sure to check the gaping hole in the area right after. Don't check the nest unless you wish to advance to the next area.
Slightly below the gaping hole is a precarious series of walkways that if followed will lead you to a set of Drangelic armor, which is among the best armor you will receive for the beginning parts of the game. Again, make sure your equip load is high enough so that wearing it doesn't effect you too much.
10. Don't be afraid to run away.
This is a piece of advice that I myself should follow more diligently. Don't be afraid to run. Like Forrest. Like the wind. Like the dickens. Like your life depends on it (because it probably will). If you find yourself in a situation where you're outnumbered or cornered by an enemy, raise your shield and try to find an opening to run away and fight another day. Other times, you may just want to run anyway to pick off enemies one by one. Leaping across gaps to another platform and going through narrow hallways can funnel enemies and confuse them.
Better yet, make sure you equip Homeward Bones. You can't run away from bosses after you enter their domain through the fog, but Homeward Bones can get you out of a jam if you need to. You don't want to waste souls, so dying in a boss room will make it difficult to retrieve any lost souls (and distract you somewhat during the subsequent attempt at defeating the boss anyway.
