I was a little confused the first time playing this game. The game itself is awesome once you get the hang of the mechanics.
A few tips for any new dungeon explorer.
You keep the stat increase and money, when you exit a dungeon and return to the hub area.
Death is not the end. You can get your money back. They won't despawn, should you die again before reaching them.
Farm stat points in the beginning. The biggest bottleneck is your lust, however, the first 10 stat points in strength and vit helps immensly.
You'll get the other weapons as you progress. The pipe is good enough in the start.
Avoid the bag heads. They take too long in the early game. Should they block a critical passageway, then consider your health a resource in leau of time.
Fuck the legs monster. I never got their parry time down. Use any gun, if you have spare bullets. Or else give them enough room for their attacks. Let them use their attack, back off, then attack them. Rinse and repeat till dead.
Abuse the entry and exit like hell. The boss spawns from the exit. Should the timer reach zero. You'll get another 30 secs and pause the timer. If you go through the entry to the level and back again. Going through the exit to the deeper level. Can have you take a few hits from the boss projection, as you are likely to cross paths.
Leaving you enough time to defeat 2-3 (maybe more) of the weak enemies or 1 bag head (in the start of the game with only a metal pipe). That way you also get enough time to explore the dungeon and get the loot.
Don't be afraid to use consumables and guns you get in the dungeon. See it as a quality of life feature instead of a necessity. Try not to waste too much money buying them in the shop. You need everything you get for the stats in the start.
Getting lost in the dungeon with all the levels? Don't try to remember the entire layout. Just remember the direction to and from the exit and entry. Like lvl 5 could be: right, right, straight, left, straight. Assign numbers to these directions to make it even easier to remember. 1 left, 2 straight, and 3 right. 33,21,2. Thirty three, twenty one, and two. Reverse the order and switch 1 and 3's to get back. 2,32,11 to get back. Write it down on a paper for further ease if necessary.