Until u can have access to divine weapons I suggest u don't start forging yet. Which means waiting till new game plus. Throughout the game there maybe drops (very rare) on smithing texts allowing u to forge more weapons and armor.

Also no point soul matching now. Again wait until u access divine and new game plus.

At the current stage just continue killing and using the newer weapons u obtain.

Once u reach new game plus u can do the following (my opinion) :

1. Decide on which key weapon u want to use.
2. Look for the right lvl 150 weapon. Keep all green drops that are +1 to +10 (+6 and above are super rare). You will need this when u soul match to increase your main weapon to +10 (same applies to armor as well)
3. Use soul match to give the weapon u want to use to inherit its attributes. The weapon u want to aim for should have this basic attributes (close combat damage, killing strike / final blow dmg, change to attack (heart-sword, skill-dual, dex-Lisa, etc).
4. Use forging to try and get a lvl 160 weapon (max lvl) which u can soul match later.

FYI I never bothered upgrading or forging until new game plus. I spend most of my blacksmith points to add to sell as I want to maximize gold first coz as u may know now soul matching is bloody expensive.

Bro nice talking to you though was cut short abruptly. Just a few starter stuff since didn't know how new you were to Nioh when it comes to coop and some.

1. You need to collect this item called Ochoko cups before you can use the Summon Visitor option at the shrine (go to shrine, select Summon Visitor, then press circle / X to Make Offering, and wait - someone will pop up and if you use password and another person with same password or Secret Word as Nioh calls it, that person will pop up instead of a random).

2. Ochoko cup can be found as random drops or loots from either chests or on the ground. If I recall I would have about 4-5 from the first mission after Tower of London.

3. If you or your co-op partner die, the ochoko cup is wasted of course (and you restart at shrine if you die). If you reach the boss before anyone is summon, your ochoko cup is not wasted.

4. Some sub-missions you cannot summon help (very few) and they will come later (around 1-2 per region).

5. As for dropping loot, your summon partners cannot drop items  for you (even if they drop you won't see them) and neither can they trade to you. Only way is to kill their revenants which you can see as red graves on the ground that you can select them. When you kill them, they will randomly drop stuff they are carrying on when they die for you. This graves appear at places they die but since you are low level, chances are they will not be that much higher than you.

6. What I can help once u get ochoko cup, is you can summon revenants and I will kill them for you since I'm way OP for the stages you're in and you can grab the loot. You can see the level of the revenants on the grave so just select them. Also if you see their colors of equipment they are white = common, yellow = uncommon, blue = rare, purple = exotic, and green = divine (you'll only start seeing green after you complete the last mission of the game).

There are more stuff about the game you can learn along the way and though the learning curve is steep especially if you have not played similar games like this (demon souls, bloodborne, dark souls come to mind), it can be difficult compared to the FF-types stuff.

So once you get an ochoko cup, hit me up. I can take you through some missions, and further explain other mechanics.

U only get green drops when u finish the final boss at the final mission. Those r divine weapons / armor.

Since u sword and dual swords user just focus on heart and skill is enough.

U do want to get
Spirit - up to a minimum to get ur guardian spirit benefit. (Eg for mizuchi 15 spirit is enough for all benefits)

Stamina - up to a minimum to make sure ur agility rating (see ur status) is B or better. Which means ur carrying weight should be less than 70 percent.

Dexterity - enough for some ninjutsus. Good skills to have are quick change, power pill, suppa, catwalk, and make sure u must get the backstab skill. I ended up I think with 16 deals and now 20 (since I level 280 now thereabouts).

Body and strength - don't bother. Some ppl leave it at 5 lol. However u may want to get body up a bit as they gives the best life increases until about 20 if not mistaken.

Ur ID Hakka something right? Lol.

Anyway yeah u can respec. Buy a book of reincarnation from blacksmith. It's not too expensive.

Axe maybe more tough to master. But spear ok.

Check your weight percentage.

Below 30% = A (Blue)
Between 31% to 70% = B (Green)
Above 70% = C (Yellow)

Weight affects Ki consumption, rate of regen, how far you can dodge from side/backwards. You can however always dash no matter your weight and your swing speed is always affixed to the weapon type you are using.