The game has taught you many times that fighting an enemy on uneven terrain is a losing battle. Whether you think the game should address this or not, insisting on fighting while ignoring this rule in the Mistlands is a poor choice.

As has been said, this game is about preparation. What this means is you *have* to know your surrounding terrain *before* you get in a fight. When I hear the tell of a Gjall or Seeker, and the sound is coming from the direction I want to go, I back track / explore laterally until I find a decent fighting area, then I start pickaxing terrain / stone to draw them to me. If there's no reasonable terrain near me, I hide until stam is maxed and I get as close as I can without aggroing. Once I'm as close as I can get, I rest for full stam, then book it.

You can't play the Mistlands the way *you* want to play it. You have to play the Mistlands in the way it requires you to play IF you don't want to suffer massive XP loss. I *tried* to use Fenris in Mistlands but the terrain is too disadvantageous to a mobility build for me (at the time), so I opt for Fenris when scouting, Carapace / Etir Weave(Blood) when fighting in Mistlands.