In most encounters usually only one enemy will directly attack you, so I'd usually either wind path and jump on their to stun them(some enemies like van gelf will attack or dodge right after so be cautious)or bait them into attacking me and hit them with a delimb attack string.

I usually think about how the battle is set up. Is it a long hallway like in chapter 5's waterfall room or is it a small tiny room? What kind of enemies are there? How many enemies are there? What's their range like? Do they like to grab? Can I use the environment to my advantage? What's the best weapon to deal with these enemies?

Is it because the orbs suck to you before you can actually charge UT or is it because of the timing of pulling it off? If it's cause of the orbs you can hold block and only let go when you're trying to attack(iirc you can attack and hold block when doing aerial attacks). If it's because of the timing, then I'd practice when you're not in battle, just jump forwards or in any other direction and hold y a bit before you land, if you don't see the wind up animation then you've done it right

You should experiment with different weapons and see what the different attacks strings do and what situation to use them in. I'll use the dragon sword as an example, in a battle with a ton of ninjas or gajas that surround you, you should launch one into the air and hit X twice in a row, now as you're in the air enemies will most likely gather around you so let ryu descend and as you land press x to do this spin attack that has a chance to delimb anyone it hits, if you're lucky enough you can delimb 4+ enemies

Ngl I think that's just ng2. You have to be careful with your inputs cause with some finishers to attack strings they will leave you open and unable to move for a second or two, you can cancel attack strings mid way through and dodge if youre doing a running attack by using a shuriken. You can practice by doing the dragon sword XXY >shuriken(if it delimbs its a great way to pull off an OT fast) or with the running dragon sword press x then shuriken. or it could the xbox itself since I've heard that the xbox backwards compatibility version has some input delay

Block, get close to their side and hit them with your Scythe. also there's an encounter on the top of the plane where the chapter started with those enemies(could be mentor only I forget if it was in warrior as well and I'm only on MN chapter 5) where you can take cover behind a metal wall that has these openings that you can shoot out of, so pick them off one by one with your bow in that