Don't get me wrong, everything was hard on that first playthrough haha, but I did Amelia first so I struggled waaaay more.
You see, first time I did not unlock the real shortcut to BSB even though I did enter the building :') so, I was running back almost all of old Yharnam everytime and I also was fighting everything on the way (sorry Djura).I hadn't fully grasped the way the game was meant to be played ....I honestly don't know how I didn't drop it all together (but I can be obsessive like that). so I just said: fuck it, turned arround and came back later, and by that time I had a much better idea as to what I was doing so the moveset didn't feel that bad, (l did struggle with the poison a bit.) Cut to me having a breakdown on my second playthrough when I found the shortcut door.
As to the boomhammer, I guess I'm about to find out :P but since the dlc is rectifying some of the inexplicable decisions made on the base game, my hunch I that I maaay actually get to play with it. We'll see.
I'm planning to do a (probably long) thought dump post on the game when I finish the dlc and another, a little more involved piece of fan art I'm making. well .. I'll try to be consice :D