So I always play Soul Likes in medium armor and prefer dodging attacks to parry/block. Which is why I gravitate towards one handed weapons and ways to not run out of stamina.
I found a Cerulean Blade and it is Awesome. In addition to that I have 4% stamina on damage dealt and reduce stamina cost of attacks by 13% from a gem and 19% from a ring. My stamina is at 99. I also have health on damage dealt from Plagued Ring and 1% from the sword.
The result being is that as long as I can hit something I generate MORE stamina than I am using and can Always dodge out of the way as long as I am not mid swing. And Steal A lot of life.
I do not use focus mainly because I know that I will forget to use it and it will just go to waste.
All in all I think its really close to a regular ARPG for me this way, with a pinch of souls like danger.