When you block a heavy attack, your character slightly stumbles backwards.

When you parry, you completely stumble the enemy, and get a free attack or GB in.
This makes the turtle meta a problem, as players will simply parry your attacks for free damage, and they won't attack to avoid damage.

So, to counter this, I think an adjustment to parrying is needed. I know they the devs are thinking of one, but I have another idea.

Why not make both characters slightly stumble when they parry? It makes more sense, as they both clash blades. Then both characters would slightly stumble backwards. The attacker would not be able to continue a combo, and the defender gets no full attack advantage.

I think the defender should recover 100ms faster than the attacker, if they 'parry'. They can initiate the next attack first, so the attacker can't just keep swinging and get parried over and over again.

This would mean sending out heavies will be much safer, since no parry means no counter damage. A 'parry' would stop a combo.

This would also mean sending out lights will safer, but no more dangerous than before, as blocking would work the same as before. A parry would be similar to a block in this situation.

I think this would make fights more dynamic. When players feel that sending out attacks are more safe, they will do so.