I don't know why, but there seems to be some confusion about this, so I tested it just to make sure my math was right above, Even at only 100 health, with max iron armor, the wolf attack does, in fact, do only about 20 damage, with no chance of stagger:

https://youtu.be/W0clZPxMZeQ

Wolves do attack very fast. If you do, get staggered while being attacked by a wolf, you many not be able to recover, which may be what the OP is describing, but that's bad with any armor, and the question that hasn't been answered is what caused the stagger.

The bottom line is that there is no issue with armor progression, especially from swamp to mountain, which many (myself included) consider a step down from swamp, especially starting out.

The transition from black forest to swamp is a major step until you get iron armor, and from plains to mistlands is another major step, and carapace armor provides very little improvement, both due to the flattening of the armor progression curve and due to only having one upgrade currently.