Thanks you so much for your valuable feedback, it goes a long way for us!
For now, with the current amount of ennemies/wave and the way the attack on the sword works, it is indeed the best strategy to hid it around the barrel in order to sort of "glitch" the ennemies into them, earning precious seconds when they reach it.
The game difficulty is mostly centered around player teleport and distance grab, which can be quit hard to learn at first, and very challenging if using neither.
Taking into account your feedback, we may implemente some "no teleport" mode, with a more adapted difficulty in futur update, cheer :)