Remove free hp, and there won't be enough health to live. I think IF should be made more important. HP +1 for every other strength and +3 HP for IF lowers hp by ~5-10, +4 HP for IF keeps things relatively the same. Surviving melee hits is a design decision by the devs for armor to mitigate more damage instead of high glance chance. At lower armor values, high HP guys still die pretty quickly.
Still, armor or not, most players can make too many errors before going down.
I don't really see a reason to change anything, I don't know any 30+ str player who is topping the score board at all. Maybe buff WM and increase amor penalty slightly so agibuilds get buffed a little.
Maybe not 30+, but 30+ agi players certainly don't (which is good btw). Besides, give a maul, plate and a 30 str build to virtually anyone and that person will do good.