Thanks for sticking with me! <3
I still think, I can offer some improvements ...
Here's a small hint, though: a cracked Weapon doesn't do any less damage, just like a cracked Shield still offers full protection, it's just an indicator, that it'll break soon. Will probably include another Tutorial teaching about this, but won't pop up until something breaks (don't wanna frontload too much information):
If an Item cracks, depends on how much Damage Potential it dishes out (for Weapons), or how much Damage Potential it receives (for Shields). So Ghouls, who have really high Damage Potential even when they have just 1 HP left and therefore aren't much of a threat to you, still maintain their Damage Potential, so a hit from them is still more likely to crack a Shield, than from, say a full Health Deep One, who have high Health, but very low Damage Potential.
So dropping Items midfight to avoid unneccessary hits, and finishing hurt enemies off with the Whip, is a legit tactic. It's a bit of a gamble, though, because the farther you advance in the game, the more likely Enemies are apt to "catch you off guard" when you drop an Item, so you gotta be sure, that you can take that Hit, and still have enough HP left to finish them off.