I agree with most of what you said (especially since you can't pussy behind your shield after ver 2.11 where the careful attack stopped allowing you to keep in defensive stance) , and I do have a thing I believe would be a good idea which I'd like to propose to Majalis :
Making the supposedly post-win game overs (such as heated werewolf and lamia) be checking for additional stats check ups (such as a PER and/or AGI test for the "guaranteed" rape of the werewolf , or a high level PER test for the lamia , because getting buttfucked at lv 23 by a starting werewolf though I had 8 PER because "you lose track of her" is kinda ...Underwhelming ?
Oh , and , btw , for the magic combos : Do the hypnosis technique , focus energy and , dépending on your MAG level , either buff yourself with weakening curse+titan strength , or go for a hypnosis-focus-focus-combat fire chain to avoid them getting back to you.
See y'all !