I will not be talking about multiplayer in this guide. I have not played enough of it in neither coop nor pvp to say anything of value. I will however list all factions and what they do just so that you understand what to expect from them:

- Dawnlight Cooperators - invade other player's world to help them. Your end goal is to kill a mage or a boss. If you want to play proper coop with a friend, you should use password board in the hub instead.

- Oathbound Watchers – You get summoned into the world of another player who got invaded by PvPers, and your end goal is to help the host and slay the PvP guy.

- Shroud Alliance – Invade and slay the host of the world. You are that PvP guy now.

- Blueheart Runners – Arguably the most interesting fraction. You need to hunt creatures called Hazeburnt, that only spawn during mage hunts. Collecting their remains will spawn monsters. The more remains you collect, the greater monsters you will start spawning. Your end goal is to kill the host. You work with Shroud guys

- Sheriff Inquisitors – Your goal is to seek out and slay invading Blueheart Runners. You fail if host dies before that.

- Chaos Hunter – You're a wild card. Friendly fire is on for you, and you can either assist the host, or slay them. Do be prepared that most hosts will attack you on sight regardless, so this fraction kind of suffers because of the distrust that some members built over time

When you first start a new game, you are presented with a character creation screen. The only thing that changes between character classes is what you start with, and your choice does not matter in a long run, since all the items can be found later in the game. So pick whichever looks cooler and fits your playstyle the most.
I would recommend that you choose what build you want to commit to around this point. There are four important stats you should know about: Strength (weapons that are slow, but great single attack damage and stagger), dexterity (fast weapons with great dps), Arcana (Damage focused Magic) and Conviction (support focused magic). I will talk about magic in more detail later.
It's important to pick one for weapons and one for magic because trying to level up both of each is a waste of resources and your character will only come out weaker as the result. Other stats are important for any character, and it's only those 4 that are self-exclusive.

You should also prioritise weapons that benefit from your build the most. So if you chose strength, you should only pick weapons that scale with strength. First region has almost all weapon types, so you'll have an opportunity to test every weapon type before you commit to one. There's no "can't use this weapon" animations when you don't have enough stats, so you can also test weapon movesets of weapons you don't have stats for.
Weapons don't have any weight requirement, so you can use any weapon with no need to increase encumbrance for that. And since enemies have resistances (but not weaknesses), it's recommended to at least have two unique weapons

Skill tree may seem daunting at first due to its size, but it's actually quite simple once you look through it atleast once. Tree is littered with stat upgrade nodes (health up, stamina up, strength up etc.), and most importantly proficiency nodes.
Speaking of proficiency: without leveling up weapon proficiency first, you can't use any weapon/magic/armour of higher level. Higher tears of gear require higher proficiency levels (though, level 0 weapons are usable by anybody. Most starting weapons are level 0). So, for example, level 3 sword requires that you have level
If you're lost, you can zoom out, and look at the bigger picture. Each branch represents it's weapon/magic/armor, and a neat detail is that they actually looks like said gear.
Sometimes it may be worth to put points into weapons you're not using, because every proficiency node also gives stat boosts. Higher the price, the more stats you get. You can check what bonuses the node gives you in its description
But regardless you shouldn't be touching weapons that do not scale from your main stat. For example, if you level up strength, there's no reason to level up daggers, since they give no relevant stats to use. There are some weapons with unique scaling profile, like slow daggers that scale with strength, but there are very few weapons like that, and they are more of an exception.

First, to level up to begin with, you need Salt (resource you get by killing enemies), and the statue at the top of Pardoner's Vale (hub). Each new level slightly increases your max hp, and grants black starstone. Those are used to unlock those stat nodes. Sounds complicated, but is actually rather simple in practice.

Every 5 levels, however, you get a white starstone. Those are used to refund already unlocked nodes. The most interesting thing, is that if you refund a node earlier in the tree, you can still continue going further. So, for example, let's say you just unlocked daggers level 1. You can refund stamina node you unlocked earlier to get to daggers node, and put the black starstone into the next node to unclock daggers level 2. I would highly recommend doing that as much as you can, since when unlocking weapon type nodes, you still get stat boosts, while also unlocking the ability to use that weapon. You cannot refund your starting nodes (the ones that your class starts with. Green colour), though, so keep that in mind

Neat QoL feature, is that you can check if you have enough salt for level up, by looking at the grey bar at the bottom left of the screen, just below all the currencies. Once this bar is filled with grey, and turns white, it means you have enough Salt for a level up.

I recommend going back to level up very often, since you can get killed by something unexpected and lose your salt, potentially losing hours of progress. This game's locations are very interconnected, so you don't have to be afraid of losing progress, since once you unlock shortcuts, it's incredibly fast to get back to where you were.

There are two schools of magic: "Divine Glyphs" and "Forbidden Glyphs" (For simplicity, from now on I'll be calling them "Prayers" and "Arcane" respectively. "Magic" is for general).
Most of the weapons in the game use one of these schools, and have at least one spell. Those that do, also scale of a respective stat of those schools (conviction and arcana).
You can check what school weapon belongs to and what spells weapon has, by pressing trigger buttons (on controllers) while looking at the weapon's description.

Most heavy weapons work with Prayers, and most light weapons work with Arcane. Usually. There are plenty of exceptions to both rules, though

Stave weapons generally come with most spells per weapon out of all of them, so if you want pure ability spam, they're the best fit

Arcane spells usually focus on damage, while Prayers focus on buffs. Though, both of them can do their respective opposite. I've noticed that Arcane focuses on direct damage, meanwhile Prayers offer some kind of utility

To execute a spell, hold block button, and then press button shown near the weapon icon.

Generally speaking, it is preferable to also specialize in one magic type, unless you're specifically trying to go for melee only challenge, since you'll only will be at a disadvantage without it, with no positives

Mana:

There are two replenishable resources for spells: mana, and rage.

Mana is initially full, but requires haze decoctions to be refilled (those are unlocked by finding haze spiral, and bringing it to Trista at hub)

Rage on the other hand, is initially empty, but fills up on hits. So, technically, there is no limit to the amount of spells you can cast, but if you stay out of combat for too long, it will start going down

Different weapons use different systems. You should check weapon info to know which uses which

Ranged weapons are very helpful and are very powerful, and I recommend using them as often as possible. Using ranged weapons can be the perfect tool to turn an impossible situation into a victory. Enemies LOVE to stand near a ledge, blocking it so that you can't climb it. During those moments ranged weapons are very handy.
Since you have a dedicated slot and button for ranged weapons, there's no reason not to use them. The same suggestions that work for regular weapons also apply to ranged.

You can also restock your ammunition at any moment by holding B (or whatever your interact button is). This also restocks all your grenades and berries.
You can hold on yourself maximum of 30 irona ore (resource that is used to craft ammunition). If you use all of that, you'll either have to find more, or rest at the obelisk to pull more from your stash.

There are two types of armor. Light and Heavy. As with weapons, you don't have to level up high tiers, if you don't plan on using them. Armor proficiency may come in handy, though, since they also increase carry weight

If you plan to survive, you should absolutely upgrade your armor. The further you go into the game, the more you'll start to feel the damage. So upgrading armor is essential, unless you want to get one-shot (leveling up health is also important, especially so for light armor users)

Generally speaking, heavy armor is better than light, but it comes with massive detriment of requiring a lot of endurance for quick roll. On the other hand, you will be able to tank more hits, and you have better resistance against enemy knockback.

Poise is a weird mechanic in this game. It works like third stamina bar in a way: Taking damage decreases your overall amount of poise. If it reaches zero, you stagger. After few seconds of not being attacked, it recharges. You can see it live in your stat screen. It's incredibly helpful against all kind of enemies (but mostly if you're using slow weapons).

The most useful function of poise, however, is that it helps with decreasing on how much enemies can juggle you. With bigger poise amount, it will be harder for enemies to send you flying.

* Weight:

There are 5 types of rolls in this game. If you're unsure on what roll you are currently at, there is pouch icon near your weight stat. Its color changes based on your current roll type:

- fast (Green. 25% weight and less).
- normal (Yellow. 50% and less).
- medium (Orange. 75% and less).
- slow (Gray. 100% and less).
- And if you move above 100% threshold (red), you will move slower, and wouldn't be able to roll

Last two roll types are not worth it (orange, grey). You can make orange one work, but with how fast paced this game can get, it's recommended to try to stay at yellow roll as much as you possibly can.

This will be the longest section with general tips you should keep in mind when engaging in combat:

* Stamina:

Be mindful of your stamina. If you get stuck near an enemy with no stamina, you can die very fast. It's very easy to get comboed by two enemies if you get especially unlucky during stamina recovery. Especially, since you move very slowly, when recovering from exhausted stamina

I would recommend getting either the rings or dagger that increase your stamina amount, since the amount that you start with is rather poor. Starting stamina regeneration is rather good though, but stamina regeneration accessory can still be helpful.
(wasn't sure where else to put it, but the dagger that you get from water mage makes it so that your is stamina constantly recharging even during actions. Some people get confused by the description)

* Tactics

Use whatever tools this game gives you. If there's a big group of enemies before you, snipe them one by one with ranged weapon, magic, or consumables. If you can't and there's an enemy standing near a ledge, blocking the way, try to find a way around. Maps almost always have multiple paths.
Ranged options are also great if you can't close the distance between your target. Enemies in this game have a stagger bar that slowly decreases while they are not being attacked, so throwing something at enemy to prevent that is optimal (more about that later)

You can also use gravity to your advantage. Most weapons kick with their running attack, sending enemies flying. Running attacks are especially powerful because they have very high stagger

Many enemies can jump between platforms. You can use that to you advantage.You can jump to a different platform, wait for enemy to jump to you, and attack it before it has time to recover from its jump. This is also a great way to split big groups

Some enemies in this game also have friendly fire. Hazeburnt enemies (that spawn only during mage hunts) are aggressive towards anyone who isn't them. So are mages, but the difference is that mages are aggressive towards ANYONE, even other mages. Pretty much everyone is aggressive towards mages. If you ever meet two mages in a wild, attacking each other, it's pretty much free salt. You can wait until they kill each other and go after they're both weakened

* Blocking:

Blocking in this game is very risky, and shouldn't be relied upon. Since there are no shields as specific items, you always take chip damage, and most attacks will destroy your stamina. Blocking is fairly good against ranged attacks. Vanguard (sword and shield) weapons are a bit better at blocking than other weapons. You should still use block if you have no other way to stop incoming damage, all I'm saying is that it shouldn't be your main source of defence

Instead, there is another mechanic called perfect block (I will just call them deflects because that's what it really is, lol). If you played Sekiro, this game's deflect system is very similar. If you press block button right before enemy attack connects with you, you will deflect any incoming damage at no cost whatsoever. Deflects also deal great stagger damage. Multiple deflects in a row can stagger most enemies, allowing you to do a critical attack

I highly recommend practicing deflects, because as difficulty ramps up in later stages of the game, it will be very difficult to prevent damage without using deflects. There are also many situations where enemies will spam ranged attacks, so being able to negate them is also important

Bestiary and Resistances:

All enemies have resistances to different elements. If you deal elemental damage that enemy is resistant to, your damage will be halved. Some enemies are resistant to multiple elements. There are no weaknesses though, so you get no bonus damage for using certain elements against certain enemies/
Enemies resistances are written in the bestiary. You can also see what loot each enemy drops in there.
Though, you don't know what resistances enemy has unless you kill it first. Neat lifehack is that Mage minions always share elements of their masters, so if you kill a minion, you can look up it's resistances and continue your hunt with adjusted gear.

* Obelisks:

Obelisks are checkpoints of this game. Sitting near one restocks your tools, revives enemies, heals you, and bit ones allow for teleportation to other big obelisks

Please do remember, however, that obelisks are not like bonfires in dark souls. Sitting near one doesn't guarantee your immunity. They're more of a checkpoints, rather than safe rooms. While you are sitting near an obelisk, enemies can still walk to you, and can still kill you. Sitting near one doesn't reset enemies, it only respawns dead ones. So if there's an enemy following you, it won't go away by you resting. So there is, however, small window of invincibility when you restock. Use this to your advantage. Resting will also reset all health of damaged enemies, so keep that in mind when on the mage hunt.

* Inquisitor Tools:

There are many different tools that you can use to your advantage.

You can unlock grenades of all elements, that are restock-able like your ammo. You can unlock those by speaking with Verdantvoice Trista every time you find a new resource. Once you speak with her, she unlocks those items for free, and you can upgrade them at the table.

You also unlock grappling hook in the first location. The most interesting part, is that it can be used in combat against mages. When you stagger any mage, their head will start shining with particles. If you use you grappling hook on that point, your character will grapple themselves to the enemy, dealing moderate damage. This can be then followed by air attacks and a slam attack, to deal even more damage. You are invincible during this animation, so this can also be used defensively.

If you get sent flying, you can also try spamming your roll button. Many locations in this game are infested with grappling hook points, and you just may save your life by grappling to one, since you can still use it even when you were sent flying.

Speaking of slam attacks, they're also should not be underestimated. They deal great damage by themselves, and can also deal damage multiple times if an enemy you're fighting has big hitbox.

If you get chased by a group of enemies into a corner, try to use wall jumps to you advantage, since that give you more distance than if you were to simply roll.
Jumping over enemy's attacks at the right time allows you to gain enough room to get out of the corner.

Mage Hunts are a main mechanic of this game. They work in a similar way to how hunts work in Monster Hunter games.

To start a mage hunt, you first need to find a mage's remnant (usually a corpse with some remnants of magic), which will open quest screen. You don't have to accept those right away, since you'll be able to initiate those from the portal in Pardoner's Vale at any time, and they get saved to your portal even if you just interact with them.

There are 5 pages that are available at the portal, each corresponding to mage hunt type. You will unlock all of them as you progress in the game:

- First one is all the main locations you can teleport to
- Second one is named hunts. Those are the one that you find by interacting with corpses. They are not repeatable.
- Third one is nameless hunts. If you ever find altars bubbling with some kind of dark energy, those are them. They allow you to start a hunt against a specific nameless mage. However, compared to just finding those nameless mages on a level, those hunts offer quest reward and good mage themed helmet. Those altars can only be interacted with if you kill named mage of the same type.
- Next one is fated hunts, which are daily hunts basically. They refresh every day, and allow you to kill specific nameless mage once a day. You unlock those by exploring the world, and finding specific item
- Fifth one is reserved for multiplayer invasions and coop.

I recommend killing every named mage, because there are many doors, that will only open after you've killed specific amount of named mages.

Alright, now let's go over the differences between named and nameless mages:
Named mages are, literally, the ones that have a name, and I'm not talking about their titles, like "Firemancer". They usually have more conventional name like "Joel Le Vinny" or whatever. What makes them unique is that they can ONLY be fought once and only through mage hunt guests that you find by interacting with magical corpses.
Those are the types of mages that magic doors will ask you to kill. Other mages don't count towards that number. So killing most named mages is pretty much required to make progress, since those doors sometimes will have the only way forward.

All other mages are completely option. But, I mean, why would you play this game if you didn't like farming?

There are also roaming mages. Those can be found just by walking around in the world. The respawn overtime or if you teleport to hub and back.

Mages and their minions drop special resources, unique for each mage. Those can be used to craft new equipment near the blacksmith. They can also drop upgrade materials, that are used to upgrade all your gear. Those scale with your level, so it can be worth hunting early mages even if into the endgame.

Mages also drop artifacts, which go into bottom three slots. Those are randomly generated, with random bonuses. Their rarity affects how many bonuses they get. And they can be destroyed or upgraded by a specific NPC that you find in the first location.

There are two currencies in this game: Salt and Silver. Salt is used as replacement for XP bar, basically. When you die, you lose all your salt, but you can retrieve it by interacting with "puddle" thing that was left where you died. If you die again before you've retrieved your salt, you lose it forever

Silver on the other hand is used for all kinds of resources. If you die, you always lose half of your current silver, with no chance to reclaim it.
This may seem like a massive penalty, and it is, but there's not much you can spend your silver on, really. You can always buy silver bags from merchant, which allows you to store silver in a consumable item, if you want to hoard it.
I would recommend dumping all your silver into iron ore, because it's used for crafting ammunition. Herbs can also be good, because they are used to replenish your healing flasks, but they are fairly easy to farm, and based on your flask level, you will always restore some of them on death

Great way to farm salt is multiplayer activities or mage hunts.
Great way to farm silver is to farm mages, craft their accessories, and sell them. Trophies are the best for cost to profit ratio. They take very little resources to craft, and sell for 250 silver each.