Remove the cooldown when initiating combat, at least for PvE.
The animals don't have it, why should the players?
Also the reason for initially implementing it (insta-chop when the other hadn't had time to setup any defenses) is long gone as the mechanic has been reversed (we start with full defense) since then. Quite a long while ago. Really long ago.
@Jorbtar: There isn't any need (nor any good argument) for this, remove this wart.