They Cripple. Stunlock even when you’re in the middle of a combo. And they can’t be interupted in their combos.
When an NPC has other type of weapons like axes and maces they don’t do this much stunlocking. Even the spear ones aren’t this bad.
Since the Devs removed poise it doesn’t matter what armor you use a sword attack seems to send you flopping to the ground. Then you have to get back up while the sword NPC just has free hits on you since they are fast attacks yet all knockdowns.