Leyndell Knights in particular remain such a weird overtuned difficulty spike when considering how many of them there are and how hard they are to kill even compared to the surrounding bosses.
It feels like the intended progress route through the game is actually to just ignore most of Leyndell, run/sneak past the bullshit, and go kill Morgott, who doesn't know Lightning Spear and is therefore substantially less annoying to fight than one of his knights. The encounter difficulty in Leyndell seems tuned for when you come back much later in the game.