Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.
Saber bypass def but has slow attack swing, be wary againt fast attacking enemy and group. Dagger is nice for bonus damage and backstab, but you're left defenseless without shield (not that much compared to before since shields got nerfed), remember to hotkey blue potions.
I only remember using shields on my 1st playthrough, I think they make every attack against you do 1 hp and 1 stamina damage when you're blocking? Dunno if the DEF bonus from equipping them is notable enough for it to matter
after all, stamina is more important than your actual health, and theres very few enemies that do enough damage to kill you before they exhaust you
for instance orcs do pitiful health damage but tons of stamina which makes them very difficult to face head-on
ALSO to counter-act the saber's generally slower swing speed, there's the secondary attack which uses the dagger. So if you start getting hit by an enemy that can swing faster than your saber, just do that and your saber follow-up wont be cancelled.
edit: my hotkeys are already used up by the lantern and sickle haha, I gather a lot of food to make good soup (survival is really worth spending skill points on, practically nullifies the need to buy food at all plus spending time in the wild is really cozy in this game) . I dont really mind having to pause to consume items.
