Defensive Gameplay Theory

With an Action game, you need Defensive gameplay in the combat system. Since one of the major elements of the game is using a shield, this should be a given for our game. At the moment, i'm considering several methods of defensive combat.

Blocking:
Out of all the defensive methods, I think this is the most likely to get into the game. You block attacks with your shield. The question is how to balance that. Two ways I am thinking of are having blocking tied to a stamina bar, in the same vein as how attacking works. The more powerful the enemy attacks are, the more stamina that will be depleted. The other balance method is chip damage and staggering.  Chip Damage is where certain attacks will deal damage even if you are blocking, albeit reduced. Staggering means that more powerful attacks will force the character into a staggering animation where they are vulnerable to attack. The issue with these methods is if it would make blocking too undesirable for stronger enemies, when you could just try to dodge their attacks.

Radiant Burst:
This idea has basis in defensive techniques like the Royal Guard Style from Devil May Cry 3, or Parrying from Street Fighter III. It's a High Risk defensive technique. Basically, you hold down attack and block at the same time, which basically turns your magic bar into a timer that depletes in a short time (Exact times need to be sorted out), if an enemy hits your block while the timer is active, Lucia releases a burst of light around her, damaging and knocking back all surrounding enemies. Plus, the closer the timer is to depleting, the more powerful the burst will be However, the risk is that if you miss the timing, you will be left in a dangerous position, and with no way to retaliate. This move is intended to be an advanced tactic.

Dodge Rolling
This is as basic evasive tactic, used to roll out of the way of enemy attacks. The problem is if the existence of a dodge roll would make blocking useless. This is one of the methods I find least likely to get into the game, because of that reason. I feel more of a focus on the shield would be better.