The locking up issue is probably a device issue. I've played this on both web and Steam, and haven't had issues (school Chromebook on web btw). I feel a lot of the most BS attacks are countered by swinging the scythe. You may take damage, but she takes much more. Most of her attacks are usually hard hitting or large, and rarely both. In my experience, more of my damage comes from reflecting those big, hard hitting attacks. Invuln frames in games like Hollow Knight are made so you don't get hit by the same attack 60 times per second and instantly die. When you get hit by a projectile in this game, it disappears and cant hit you again. Most of these powerful attacks are many different projectiles that deal damage individually. The Steam version does have a custom reticle that is much clearer against the background. Basically everything else in your comment I agree with, but in the end, this is a bullet hell, boss rush game, and mechanics like on-hit invulnerability and and decreasing damage would take away from that.