Break down a lot of the useless stuff and the rare material I'll use to craft. Works way better that way and I have a nice 6 piece set that's paying off.

You're right about the stun locking. I learned last night after dying for almost 2 hours to a boss that sometimes it's better to dodge and instantly block for the almost unavoidable follow up. I normally do this in mid stance. I'm using the sword and spear. Spear really helped me with that fight last night. Some of these enemies really force you to switch up what you're used to. Sometimes I have to remind myself this is a really different game.

Are you using medium or light armor? I noticed with light every time I went for a block it took away a lot of my Ki. Medium feels perfect for me as long as my equipped weight was in green. Once I got into 70% or more I felt sluggish. That's the one thing stopping me from trying heavy.