at level 72, 420ish ilevel, in a fight with 3 kolbolds I take about half my hps in damage. is that just how it is or maybe i’m missing something in rotation?
It’s your gear. Basically there is a gearing cliff between coming fresh out of Dragonflight and the opening levels of TWW, because it is tuned for players in gear around 500 give or take 10. This represents a MASSIVE change in primary stats; your stamina is probably less than half of what the game expects it to be.
Once you replace enough pieces with leveling rewards things will get much better.