Is there a trick to dodging?

In the tutorial, they said "hold L1 to dodge attacks" (I am using control-layout B). They make it sound like you're basically invincible while holding the button. However in actual battles I've noticed that while holding L1, I still get hit a lot. Why?

• Does holding the button stop dodging after a certain amount of time?
• Do I need to press the button within a certain amount of time prior to the attack?
• Do I need to be facing and/or locked-onto the enemy?
• Are some attacks just not dodgeable? (is there any way to tell?)
• Can I not dodge for a certain amount of time after attacking?
• Is there any way to tell if my dodge is 'active'? (in the HUD, or my character's posture, etc)
• Is there a cooldown between dodges?

Solution 1:

Okay going through the list here.

• No. Dodging will not stop if you keep holding the button.

• No. You can hold down the button to keep in dodge mode.

• No. You do not need to be locked on or facing the enemy to dodge.

• From what I can tell there aren't any undodgeable attacks (unsure on this fact)

• Depending on your weapon you may not be able to dodge for a short bit after attack. Larger weapons are prone to this such as the great swords.

• From what I have seen you can tell you are in dodge mode when your character walks around slower and seems to hunch over a little bit like if he was holding a shield.

I am pretty sure your problem is with larger groups of enemies, or enemies with large attack arcs. From my observation, while you are in dodge mode, you are not immune to being attacked. If enemies gang up on you while you are dodging other attacks you can still be hit. Same goes with enemies with larger attack arcs, you may get off the dodge, but an arc of an attack can still hit you. Your best bet for these situations is to simply dodge roll out of the area and not hold your dodge button.