I don’t know if this is a PC vs. console thing, or keyboard vs. controller thing, but I’m not having trouble moving around.

I’m mainly using medium (mostly for the stat boosts from the Skelos Master outfit, rather than the minor increase in damage reduction over epic light), and stamina is manageable. It comes down to understanding when to perform full combos and against what, and when to poke and roll. Ie. playing smart.

Even Conan resorted to this when the odds were against him.

On this, we agree. Greatswords, for example, should be better at crowd control. Weapon designs in general seem to be based on some abstract philosophy of “game balance” (and largely failing even that) rather than making sense.

What I don’t agree with is the OP’s proposed solution. I would rather not see combat devolve into stationary button-mashing with lucky breaks for those who manage to get themselves overwhelmed by numbers.

Unfortunately dodge is more or less the only defensive manoeuver we have in the game. But that’s what we’ve got. Using it saves your life. Not using it gets you killed. If I could choose, I’d rather have more defensive options than try and remove the need for the one we have.