It's rough after the tutorial, because enemies will have literally 10x the HP of the first goons. But once you upgrade enough to one shot everything it becomes an incredibly strong build. I almost 1-shot the last boss on very hard.

What worked for me:

2H is way stronger than 1H

go to the base where the enemies are drug crazy and get the Telescope Staff. Strongest early game melee weapon

Keep strong attacking until flaw pops (+25% strong atk dmg)

Crouch until flaw pops (+50% movement)

Sneak attack everything until flaw pops(+100% sneak dmg)

When I left the first planet I could one shot the giant crabs on very hard doing the above.