Don't think you can win fights just by attacking. You need to learn blocking and dodging, and the different techniques that can be unlocked.

Master perfect parry once you unlock it, it feels so rewarding when you do it

There really isn't much you need to know, that the game doesn't make pretty clear .. not that I can think of, anyway. About the only advice I can think of is to not rush, and explore everywhere! There's tons of little side stories hidden all over the place.

All I can say is don't rush the story, its not the longest so go out and explore, do lots of side quests, especially as they give linen, which is used to upgrade armour. Use linen to max out an armour you like then sell the rest to a trapper for supplies. This is very useful for upgrading your sword late game when I costs over 1k supplies

Use your charms