No Islar. There isn't a percentage value of defence.
And I think corn isn't an option to be the price either, no-one ever will make it.
Menszu, a warrior with 3 defence points... clear counter to horses as well I think, even if he has only 3 hp. Atm they are already vulnerable to arrows, since they only have 2 defence, so they are just as good as scouts were before the shield patch (at withstanding arrow/bolt fire).
how about just giving him strength of a swordman when it comes to hiting
Warriors and Barbarians both have 75 attack power, swordfighters (and knights also) have 55, so that would be a nerf, not a buff. And I think they are already a counter to swordfighters (not a clear counter to knights tho), if you think about it, they have 4 hp, their chance of damaging a swordfighter (or a knight) by 1 strike is 25% (75/3=25). A swordfighter has 3 hp (a knight 4, obviously), his (and the knights' as well) chance of damaging the barb/warrior is 27,5% (55/2=27,5). But since the barb has more hp, he has a higher chance to regenerate health points (as he has "more to lose"), this way he wins against a swordfighter 1v1 with more than 50% chance. Barb/Warrior vs Knight is just random (a bit less than 50% for barbs I think), as you know after this little info I guess