Ah okay thanks for the feedback!
So points 1 and 2 are intentional. It's supposed to be a matter of "do I attack now and risk taking damage as I will be locked into an animation?" sort of thing.
Your third point sounds like an oversight though! I will have to look into it and the game is far from finished so I expect the balancing to be a bit off. but I still want it to feel natural at least!