pot chugging for curing/healing/stam, i've got a secondary chef character for smoke bombs, and the only reason i go out of wolf form is to cast SW spells.(health bonus+movement is what i like :d).
So yeah, when my health does get under 50% i slap on a pot, smoke bomb and hide out at the little ogre encampment to the south, then when they've got the aggro from the ogre's from casting wither to get me out, i usually try to stick em in their backs.
i rely on deathstrike and ki attack for most of my dmg output, and yeah you're probably right about the cure pots people carry, i got in a bout that took me about 15 mins before the other party stopped swiping it off.
thx for the skill info, although i'm going to keep stealth up, i need every step i can get to move away when they start aoeing the area, i recently got my hands on a 120 fencing(from a tamer at coon champ no less

) so that's been taken care of.
i've also started working together with another person of my level who runs an archer with magery, which has boosted my survivability by a ton.