This comment makes me really happy, your feedback is super appreciated!
The two hearts hit is not a bug is intentional, if you are more near to the enemy more damage you will take, is to remember the player to have some distance during a sword fight! Also yes i'm thinking about speeding Merian a bit too
The "poise" like idea to break the shield is a great idea i will evaluate it after the coming updates which should include an outdoor zone, a lot bigger dungeon, some NPC with dialogue and a boss!
(for the red knight passing through object i made their collission a bit smaller they actually pass through the opening between the little columns not through the object itself, i did this because i didn't got enough time to level design a proper dungeon for this smaller demo, and the aggro code is really basic at this moment so i made this possibile so they don't just run at the wall ahahah)