i brute force it all the time ; i think they only counter 1/3 of the time. stick edgar in the back row, give him a stout spear and full set of iron armour (including a shield) and he's fine. noiseblaster works too and is probably safer. my only complaint with it is that it seems to take much longer.
i would also like to see cover improved. fwiw i never buy the knight cape.
edit: 3 dragonflys,
one uses !special on locke, berserks him and triggers locke's counter, which triggers a gale cut counter.
another casts gale cut
locke gets his turn, and attacks the third, who counters with gale cut.
i hate these things so much.