Just some tips from my POV.
I forget the name, but I play, not the hardest, but the first difficulty that does not allow regen of life during meditation.
So starting off feeling fairly weak, I put points into my Fast and Strong attack. Once I got a better weapon, those perks then applied to a better weapon jumped my damage be a very noticeable amount.
Signs. I maxed the first 2 slots for the shield perk. First perk makes your shield explode and pushback/knock down enemies when the bubble pops. The second perk allows you to hold your bubble up, if it struck, you gain life. Max the 2nd allows for no stamina to drain as you hold the bubble up.
So far, with those 2 together...I can 1) slightly hold the bubble and release for a small AOE anytime I want. Also, given good timing or just fighting one enemy at a time, you can use the bubble for self healing. For example I was low on life, I just hold the bubble and walk toward the enemy. They swing, I heal. Repeat until full health. At level 12, I was letting level 3-5 bandits hit me and some of them were returning a 1/4-1/3 of my hp a hit. Also as you heal, you can let the bubble pop for a stagger and then kill them.
Big flying creature about to dive-bomb you or pounce...just charge the bubble and let them heal you.
So before I was hoarding/searching for food all the time to be safe, now I just mess around with an easy enemy to let him heal myself before killing and moving on.