It gets better, I promise!
One thing I recommend is you rebind "dodge" (initially left alt) to a mouse button - if you only have three buttons, bind it to scroll, which you don't really need. Then dodge, dodge, dodge through all your fights. It's almost always better than rolling, since it keeps you within attacking range (and the enemy you've dodged is now wide open).
Pick whatever branch you like - they're all fun and viable, and you don't have to limit yourself to a single branch, either. If you decide you don't like your build, later in the game you can buy (expensive) potions to reset your abilities, so experiment and have fun!
Remember that
And you can assign a single ability point to a skill that will boost this even further: cat school techniques (light armour), griffin (medium), or bear (heavy). For instance, wearing light armour + the cat skill = boosted critical hits.
You need to equip your skills after you assign ability points (K > select skill > SPACE). I didn't work this out until I was level 8.
Bombs don't do much damage, but status bombs - Dancing Star (fire) and Devil's Puffball (poison) - are always fun and handy. I especially like poisoning bandits, then Aarding them right back into the cloud of toxic gases. What can I say, I like their screams.
Oils in this game boost your damage against different types of enemies.
Potions: You'll definitely want swallow (healing), but after than that, go wild. Meditate to refill potions automatically. You'll need strong alcohol (like alcohest, red bottles), so loot it whenever you can.