Yeah, he was a lot harder in the beta. No matter how well you did, you could count on being knocked down into the downed state within the first several seconds when he does that swoop-around.
And I always thought that was the point—it was a tutorial for the downed state. That’s why Eir says “Don’t forget about the little ones—they’re dangerous, too!” or something. The smaller wurms have low HP, and were thus supposed to teach you how to get out of the downed state on your own.
I played a Norn for every BWE, and was saddened to see how easy it was at launch.