PC specs? This sounds like a performance issue.

My old machine benchmarked around 3500 minimum settings... I couldn't dodge anything without pre-emptive reaction time.

My new machine benchmarks around 8000 maximum settings DX 11... I feel like i have time to go get a sandwich and come back to dodge the mechanic.

If it was lag you'd get a different effect. You wouldn't see enemy casting... you wouldn't see other characters moving. Everything would be stopped momentarily and only your character would be making actions. Then you'd get a fast forward effect to catch everything back up.