The slower feel of IG specifically in the wilds beta was because red essence no longer increases attack speed. It’s a change I didn’t like personally so I hope it gets changed as well.

Hit stop is a small animation stall after an attack that tends to make hits feel more impactful. It generally makes combat feel a bit better and makes bigger attacks look and feel more impactful. The wilds beta had NO hit stop on any attacks which actually made the combat and animations faster compared to World which does have hit stop.