No solution for defending against pirates

I used defile twice but still was down to 2 health by turn 4 because of sword fish weapon.
Is there any defense or do you have to make a pirate rogue to keep moving up?
Or is there something that can kilt people in 2 or 3 turns that is more powerful than pirates? Should I skip pirates and move to the next more powerful? I don’t know what it is though.