How do you fight in this? I feel like the melee tutorials are kinda wonky. All I gathered is that that swing direction is mouse based, spears can only thrust or overhead thrust, and there’s a shield bash/pommel strike that I don’t know the purpose of.
It takes a bit to get used to. Spears can thrust overhead or underhand if they're a lance or you have a shield, otherwise you can swing them. Block and weapon attacks are mouse based, so basically jerk your mouse in the direction you want your attacks to come from. The shield bash/pommel strike/kick can break guards and/or push your opponent back to give you a little breathing room. Enable the attack direction arrows while you're learning if they aren't already, and remember that you can't just spam attacks since the weapon has some weight.
Blocking
- a last second block micro-stuns the enemy for longer than an attack blocked in advance giving you a larger window to attack. A long held block allows the enemy to feint much more effictively
- chambering at the right time has a similar effect and if done perfectly allows you to swing on in advance
Attacking
- you will probably see the AI feinting, this is a pretty useful skill in multiple player and somewhat in single. You do by holding attack to one direction then jerking your mouse to another and tapping block
- I think a held attack does more damage than an attack that wasn't
- momentum increases/decreases damage
- try not to attack into a block as it will micro-stun you. Try leading with a shield bash instead (particularly in single player) and following up with a quick strike
- the point in your swing that you hit increases/decreases damage, usually somewhere towards the middle to 2/3 of the animation
- stabbing does a better job against armor than slashing unless you have a blunt weapon, so go for the head or a stab if they have heavy armor
- you can chain attacks in some directions if you time it right, particularly right to left
- crush-throughs will probably be added at some point
- AI is pretty aggressive most of the time. Picking the right time to attack is key
How interesting are the NPCs, quests, relationship building, and the like? I know writing isn't exactly the point of these games but not having much to do between battles and settlement management is what killed my interest in Warband after about a week.
You can tell they laid some groundwork for more relationship building especially with the laws, clans, and hero bios, but it's still very very barebones. For now, you are gonna have to headcannon a lot if you want a story like in the last game, and I can't imagine that aspect changing too too much without mods.
