Okay, uh... a few things.
-I usually don't recommend grinding in this game, but level 77 is extremely low for the DLC. Even more so if you're pumping Capacity. Maybe run through the remaining chapters of the base game just for the sake of getting more Ergo? You really need a significant amount of health to deal with the DLC effectively.

-I would rethink your build and approach as well. Nameless One's is extremely mediocre, to be honest. I would definitely swap it out as soon as possible. Blue Guardianship is another one that basically you can slap on a build if you have no idea what else to use; there are better choices. If you have Extreme Modification, it's very powerful. Even Patience and Iron Wall are pretty good. As for your weapon, I'd recommend sticking to one of the old reliables from the base game like Seven-Coil Spring Sword, Trident of the Covenant, or Bone-Cutting Saw. The DLC weapons aren't really any better than equipment in the base game on the whole. I haven't used the Lorenzini Bolt much yet, but I got the impression that it was pretty mediocre.

-Link dodge is not the game changer you think it is. It's good for repositioning... and that's pretty much it.

Thanks for the advice!
I was wondering if I was underleveled. I specifically avoided any ergo upgrades and amulets because I was afraid of being overleveled. I could redo some chapters of the base game.

Rethinking amulets is a good idea. It's about time the Nameless amulet got put away. Seven-Coil Spring Sword has been the only really effective base game weapon so far. It got me through the Tyrannical Predator fight, but none of my weapons melt through standard enemies faster than the Bolt Blade.

Okay cool. It still seems like cheating to me in the base game, but perhaps I should change my point of view for the DLC, especially when dealing with multiple enemies at once.

The DLC is crazy hard at points, the 1st boss is a challenge and then the next boss is borderline unfair. I’m level 113 and getting 2 shotted by bosses.

I was level 120-130 entering after my first playthrough blind without grinding.

how on earth did you reach it at level 77

Without any P-Organ upgrades to boost Ergo gains, and using the Hunter’s Amulet as soon as I acquired it, I also entered the DLC at around Lv70. This was after exhaustively clearing each chapter preceding it and entering at Ch9, its original starting point.

It’s possible that those P-Organ effects have a significant effect, especially because leveling costs are fairly linear for the first couple hundred levels. The next time I replay, I’ll start from a fresh file and not neglect those quartz upgrades to see if it makes a substantial difference, especially postpatch.

I do think the payout for most of the DLC’s normal enemies, including some minibosses, is very low for their degree of difficulty.

Originally posted by ShockedHearts:

I was level 120-130 entering after my first playthrough blind without grinding.

how on earth did you reach it at level 77

It called skill my friend ,, i'm in DLC at level 58 , and because of difficulty sliders is unfair anyway i will not take the bait to switch from Legendary Stalker , i never played in my life on very easy or easy ,, its a bland difficulty no fun , no learning nothing

This game is unbalanced in special in DLC because they cattered to casuals and they want to all switch to easy , i better quit the game than to switch to easy

I think the nameless one amulet is useless in DLC.

Originally posted by Necromanu Lord of Souls Games:

Originally posted by ShockedHearts:

I was level 120-130 entering after my first playthrough blind without grinding.

how on earth did you reach it at level 77

It called skill my friend ,, i'm in DLC at level 58 , and because of difficulty sliders is unfair anyway i will not take the bait to switch from Legendary Stalker , i never played in my life on very easy or easy ,, its a bland difficulty no fun , no learning nothing

This game is unbalanced in special in DLC because they cattered to casuals and they want to all switch to easy , i better quit the game than to switch to easy

sounds to me like you ran past enemies... sooo not very skilled. I killed everything on my way to bosses. then killed the bosses.

Originally posted by ShockedHearts:

I was level 120-130 entering after my first playthrough blind without grinding.

how on earth did you reach it at level 77

On this playthrough, I was carefree with ergo and tried to avoid leveling up too much to keep the base game challenging. I completed the entirety at level 77 and then started the DLC.