@SquirrelLilly been using a longsword so we have access to the One stab attack it has

the broadsword doesn't have any thrust attacks does it?

we've taken to carrying around a spear in addition to the sword but would rather not have to deal with that extra weight
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@Felthry Overhead swings generally serve the same purpose as stabs, with better stun but with the disadvantage of dropping your shield. You might try something VERY light like a dagger or rapier, which often have stabs, horizontal and vertical slashes, and are very fast, at the cost of stunning power.
Your actual weapon doesn't matter nearly as much as how you approach combat though.

@SquirrelLilly also here's that screenshot
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@SquirrelLilly I do have one of the respec item thingies so i can fix the fact that the stats are probably hugely unbalanced and bad
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@Felthry First thing you want to do is start increasing AGI via ADP and ATN. Once you hit 105 AGI you'll find your rolls are much more effective - Every few points gives you an additional frame or two, which makes a surprisingly enormous difference. Then you'll want to figure out what weapon type you want to use long-term and increase the stats associated with its damage.
Of course keep your equip load below 70%, which you've done admirably.
HP will always rise slowly, so it should be of secondary concern to stamina, which is much more likely to save you.
My best tip in all games of this style: Circle clockwise, shield up. Every enemy is right-handed and this will make nearly every attack either graze your shield or miss outright.
Ignore mechanics as presented wherever you can. If you can back out of an attack instead of rolling, or stand juuuust outside of a hitbox, do so, because things will often not work as expected when you follow the rules. Fight back.
Learn when a death was your fault and when it was the game being silly, it will cut down a LOT on frustration.
And if you find a bug in an AI, which there are a LOT of, be proud of abusing it.
Remember that the whole series is kind of a mess, mechanically, and roll with that. DS2 is much slower and more methodical, and I think it's a much better place to learn than the others. It also has less points where you can just, push an boss through a geometry seam for an instant kill though.

Do not give the fan community the satisfaction. 'Git gud' was supposed to be ironic. The games are big and beautiful and cry-worthy, and very very broken. Once you figure out how to harness the broken-ness, they become very easy.

@SquirrelLilly we generally tend towards blocking over dodging, is that a bad idea?
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@Felthry Oh no dodging is nonsense, different hitboxes react differently (Less in DS2 than the others but still), shield is much more reliable. Just remember to drop it to regain stamina, and back out as needed.

@SquirrelLilly when you say i should have higher agi, do you mean i should respec and trade out some points, or do you mean i should focus the next few levels there?
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@Felthry You're probably safe on this build unless you settle on a weapon that doesn't need Dex or Str, in which case remove the one you don't need.
You will be dodging sometimes, so AGI is important even on a heavy Block build.

Hell even in my Juggernaut builds I push to 105 AGI.

@SquirrelLilly alright, thank you for the help!

i guess we might end up sticking with this longswrod at least a little longer since we've already got it to +8...
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@Felthry Most weapons can get pretty fierce at high levels! But don't be afraid to trade it out if you find something you like better, basically everything is disposable.