Alright, not sure if this is a bug or feature.
In the combat sequence with Bishop Vick, I was able to use Trance (Level 1 Dominate) to stun him, then run up to him, swing wildly for about 3-5 seconds before he could react or begin to run or counter attack.
With Trance now costing zero blood and having a very quick cooldown, it can get pretty overpowered in combat if it doesn't break instantly with an attack.
Earlier in the playthrough, I one-shotted the Blood Guardian by trancing him, going behind, and stealth killing. At least I wasn't able to do that to Vick (trust me, I tried!
).
Now having said all of that, I was still pretty messed up during the battle (Even with Fort 3 and Blood buff). Celerity+Shotgun is just nasty and melee users do need some trick to stay alive.