Chapter 2 is brutal

I don't know what I'm doing wrong but Chapter 2 is ridiculously difficult and I haven't raged this much since Sekiro a few years back. I've finished a bunch of FS and soulslike games so a veteran of the genre but this game is ridiculous at times.

I'm about 25 hours in, 30+ Sparks and have good armor and a bunch of upgrades. Most of that time is struggling with bosses.I don't feel underpowered at all yet I'm doing little damage bosses most of the time and have had alot of trouble. I'm currently stuck on Black Loong; just spent 3 straight hours always getting him to about 25% health before he catches me with some bullshit and I die. The AOE attack is just stupid especially since he can break the rocks needed to avoid it. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but honestly the frustration is outweighing the fun I was having in Chapter 1 so not sure I want to carry on. Does it get worse after this? Any tips for what I can do to git gud(der)?

EDIT - I beat him on my 3rd try just now after leveling up a bit and respecing a few sparks. Thanks to everyone for the advice.