Still can't believe I rage quit so early in the game
but I only quit for like 15 mins then came back like a poor whore to her pimps fist.
I eventually got some gear/levels and some sense of direction and it subsequently became alot easier, altho I did do ALOT of soul grinding in "flaming tower".
and yeah I'm now on "no man's wharf". I only beat 2 bosses, found 2 others but they seemed IMPOSSIBRU!
edit: couple of things that make it easier than ds1 that I didn't notice at first; regular bonfires, mobs do eventually stop spawning (lol)