"speed is king"... No.
The speed isn't what makes speed strong, it is the ability to restore your health bar endlessly + speed.
The problem has always been damage not sticking. You fight someone, they run out of combat, then they're back to full. You should also be back to full.. The fight goes on forever, except, if you fuck up, you have no way to leave the fight. They do. That is why it feels unfair, but you do have the advantage in each encounter, they can just have as many turns as they want if they play it smart.
Veela versus Thursar? Thursars have the advantage if they stand toe to toe. But your current health bar isn't a true representation of your health, when you factor in self healing spam.
A game where the health bar is actually their health would be nice.. All healing being kept firmly out of combat.. But no. For some reason people find this acceptable, despite the glaring issues.
Speed would be a non-issue if when you hit someone, they couldn't just go back to full by running away and then back again. The whole community should be up in arms about the state of self healing in this game, but it is like people are completely unaware it is the root of most issues.