It's not an L2P issue, the sets dictate whether you win or lose. He should be mopping the floor with most players in cyro, or IC...
but this game... you NEED the sets....you can't just use your brains...
However, I will it is probably because we all know roll dodge and break free are unreliable.
I had a build that had a good amount of stam recov and would never fall below 90%. I thought I could roll dodge and break free my way to success...Every time I smashed the spacebar button, or roll dodge and I was still sitting on my knees... or dodging far after my death....
So what did the top pvp people do? they wen't heavy armor and drank immove pots...
Heavy armor allows more wiggle room in pvp...
Fury became the go to at the time because...well.. you gonna be stuck standing there anyways.. might as well get that damage...
Clever alchemest became the go to.. because ..I am going to pop an immove pot.. might as well get extra damage...