[GUIDE] Toffi's cavalry guide (big update)

[Toffi]

Toffi's cavalry guide

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This is a guide which helps you playing as 1h cavalry, 2h cavalry or lancer.

Updated end of June 2012. Carefull, pictures and videos inside 

Build

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Guess what skill is most important for playing cavalry? Yes, it's riding. Riding gives your horse more maneuver and speed. You can dodge arrows and hits easier with & becuase of more speed your attacks will be more powerful. Also, riding skill is a requirement for riding certain horses.

On level 30, your final build should be done, cause you can retire on level 31 and will play most of your time on level 30.

I suggest using one of these builds:

Strength    21   18   15
Agility        18    21   24

Go for the last build if you are not satisfied handling your horse. Go for the first build for doing most damage.

To reach these skill points you need to convert a lot of skill points to attribute, but it's worth it.

You should always make sure to maximise Powerstrike and Riding.

Powerstrike: maximum
Riding: maximum

After maximising that, you have 10 free skillpoints.

You should at least put 3 points in weaponmaster and assign it into polearm or onehandedweapons. I recommend using 4. As Cavalry, you don't really need more, because on level 30 you've got 138 wpf.

After that you skill have some skill points left which you can put on Ironflesh (more healthpoints), Athletics (in case you dismount), or Shield (I do not recommend using a shield on horse because of the slot system, if you are good enough you can dodge arrows on horse and block swings with your weapon, for further information check the equipment thread)

My current build as lancer on lvl 30:
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Leed suggested this build on level 31:

Strength: 18
Agility: 18

Polearm: max. wpf

Ironflesh: 6
Powerstrike: 6
Athletics: 6
Riding: 6
Weapon master: 6

Assarhaddon suggested to increase Athletics instead of Ironflesh:
Do note that there are many maps where cav is hard to play or down right useless.
So how will your build get along in those maps? That athletics starts to look a lot better now.
Few HP points will not keep you alive on horse back. But if you take those points for those inf maps or when dehorsed well thats up to you.

Torben is saying:
More athletic and ironflesh instead of those extra 3 str/agi points can be well worth it : )

Equipment

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Being a horsemen is very expensive. Once you bought everything, you can earn little money with it. it is probably the most expensive class in cRPG.
Assarhaddon on that: This just cant be over emphasised. Make your money now cos you will not be making any after been cav.

weapons

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Lances

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My favourite weapons from horseback, great for fighting other cavalry and infantry which is aware of you.
If you have a look at the weapons take care of the 4 slots you've got.
These are the different lances you can use:

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The practice lance, jousting lance and great lance are couching only, which means you can joust with them at high speed, not simply left click and attack an enemy.
I like them a lot, but only use them for the first attack cause these attacks are unstoppable and often instantly kill your target.
But the 'cooldown' time for this ability is too high, you can just use it every ~ 10 seconds
A small point next to your lance-symbol will signalize you when to use it (grey means you can use it, red not).
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Once you got some speed on your horse, press the button, the lance will go down for about 5 seconds.
Another disadvantage is that you don't stab with that weapon, so a player with a heavy lance still outreaches the player with a jousting lance, because if you stab you got like + 60 reach.
So fighting enemy cavalry isn't really an option, only if you aim for the horse.

Here are 2 videos using the jousting lance:

http://youtu.be/HPSJ3rb4098

http://youtu.be/LfcGJS_QL1s

Let's have a look at the other lances:

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To find the right lance for you you need to know what you want to do with the lance. I made these experiences:

Heavy lance: Perfect for horse vs. horse fights, couching and in general if you have some time aiming for your target, cause it's the slowest weapon ingame. Leed also suggested using the heavy lance, together with a nice Polearm like elegant,great long axe or spam weapons like long hafted blade
Lance: Allrounder lance. Heavy lance outreaches you, so try to aim for the head of the enemy horse. Fast enough to do multiple kills in a few seconds, meaning it's good for killing infantry.
Light lance: Fast lance, great for backstabbing people, avoid horse fights, good if you want to kill archers because of it's speed and high damage. But too short for nice couching.
Double-sided-lance: Too short.

Side weapon: You already spent wpf-points on polearm, so why not using a polearm weapon of your choice to use it when dismounted..

1h weapons

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The longer, the better again. If you go for a 1h weapon you will be able to kill a lot of footmen and archers, also a shield is a good choice, but you can't do much in horsefights with lancers, so avoid them.
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My favourite 1h weapons for cavalry:
Morningstar: very powerful weapon, high pierce damage, but a bit short and veeery slow with a shield, you will need 2h skill for that
Arabian Cavalry Sword: best 1h weapon in my opinion, also good with a shield, best reach (105), not too expensive, damage is fine, if you go for that weapon put some more wpf in 1h
Scimitars: Very fast weapons, but reach isn't that good, very usefull with a shield, but low damage

Shields

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I was using a shield before the big patch, after that I played without a shield cause of the waste of skill points, the increased upkeep and the slot system.
Assarhaddon agrees on that:
Dont use em anymore neither. But purely for arrow stopping i've used the Nordic Shield its little large than Elite cav shield and i put it away anyway when fighting on ground. It is cheap and will stop arrows no problem. But inf vs inf you need something more durable.

If you play 1h I would still recommend you taking a shield:

You'll need a shield which covers big areas of you, your feet and your horse. It shouldn't be too expensive for upkeep, must be usable on horse, of course, and should be fast.

Therefore I recommend using the Knightly Heater Shield,
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cause it's large, has a good speed rating and isn't too expensive.

If you like the Knightly Kite Shield
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or Elite Cavalry Shield
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cause of it's appearance, go for that, stats are nearly the same, but they are both a bit smaller. Basically the shield's armour rating is very important.

armour

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Don't use too expensive armour, it won't help you much, cause the speed bonus you get on horse will also help your enemies killing you, also the upkeep costs are high already because of your horse, so don't waste too much money on it. Anyway some armour is necessary. I recommend going with:
- body armour of max. 4-5k with a lot of leg armour rating cause this part will often get attacked
- buy some nice boots, minimum should be leather boots
- your head armour isn't that important, no melee weapon should reach your head on horse and if somebody does shoot you, the speed bonus and headshot damage will kill you anyway
- wear at least the Leather Gloves for a bit more body armour, cause they are not expensive.

horses

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Sumpter
Useless, cause it doesn't do much charge damage anymore. Also it's the slowest horse ingame. Better save up your money for other horses.
Assarhaddon on that:I've said it before and i say it again: "Sumpter is a 4-legged death trap!" (Well i guess you could use it as expensive transport, it is still faster than running. Like in the beginning of the round, getting into some building before the enemy does. But as a cav: Avoid like the plague!)

Rouncey
I actually like that horse because it's the 2nd cheapest and has better body armour/ hit points in comparison than the Palfrey, Steppe, Desert & Arabian Horse. Not too slow either. Nice horse for beginners.

Palfrey
Only a bit faster than Rouncey and more maneuver, but not worth the higher upkeep, in my opinion.

Steppe Horse
Nice Horse for HA and maybe also 1h, because of it's nice maneuver, but useless for lancing because waaaaay tooo slooow. Also very cheap.

Desert Horse
Same goes for that, a bit faster, great for HA.

Courser
A lancer's favourite, cause of it's high speed, resulting in more damage. I recommend using it with at least riding 6. My horse of choice, got a champion. Good hit points in comparison to the difficulty 3 horses.

Arabian Warhorse
Also one of the best horses for lancers, and has more maneuver, but way less speed. Templar_Tommmy loves it, but also weaker and more expensive than courser. Best horse for HA.

Destrier
Horse of choice for people who wannt to play as 1h and bump a lot of people, cause it has nice hp and nice charge damage.

War Horse
Cheapest armoured horse. Fastest armoured horse (together with the cataphract horse).

Large Warhorse
Useless, do not buy it! War Horse has better stats and is cheaper!

Cataphract Horse
In my opinion the best armoured horse there is, stats are better than stats of the warhorse, but also more expensive. Nice maneuver.

Charger
Awesome health & armour, nice charge, but slow.

Mamluk
Awesome health & armour, nice charge, but slow, still faster than the plated charger

Plated Charger
OMG OMG... no, to be serious, some people say its usefull.... most say it's useless. It is indeed, but I've seen some good players with it in full armour, steel shield, bumping poor archers to death. As an archer it's truly a nightmare coming true, but luckily enough there are not many "elephants" around.

Tactics/gameplay as cavalry

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Individual skills:

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Get some speed on your horse

Dodge everything

Avoid pikes
Assarhaddon's advice: even 2h if timed right will out reach your lance and connect with your horse before you can hit them.

Always have your enemy on your right hand side (more reach)

Sometimes use jump

Never crash into a fence, wall or tree
Assarhaddon likes to add:
Sooo very important! Its your speed that makes you special! If you stop you are just an infantry standing little higher so its easier for ranged to spot you and "actual" cav to hit you. (irony ends)
Well this is not actually beginner stuff but i write it allready so.. Some cav players use this as an tactic aswell. (mostly the Arabian users) When cav rides behind trying to score a hit, making a sharp turn will crash the horse behind resulting a rear animation and full stop while the first rider continues in full gallop allowing neither quick get away or retaliate. How ever timing is everything and the one that gets it right wins.

Bump your enemys so someone else close to you can finish them off

Use couched lancing to splash shields/ if enemy downblocks

Downblock to defend vs. enemy cavalry

Assarhaddon's pro-tip:
The most opportune time for cav to hit is when inf is distracted. Fighting someone else.
But this is the time when you can do the most harm to your own team mates aswell.
Be carefull not to block or bump you team mate.
But circle the enemy like looking for opening in he's defence so he is forced to keep on eye at you and allow your team mate to take the opportunity in he's split awareness.
When riding fast decisions what to do happen in split of a second.
"Do i try to attack that enemy?" "Can i turn in time between those fighters?"
"Where the hell did that come from?! "
Yes, it happens to even the best cav players. We bump team mates or even hit em.
So learn to say "sorry"!

How to deal with horse archers
They are your worst enemys because they can shoot your horse down in pieces. Try to dodge theyr arrows, and try to be on his right side, so he can't shoot you. Try to manouver him into a wall/ corner, not on the open field. If you have a slower horse than him, flee. But don't worry: If you are in a team of 2 or even 3 horsemen, you should be able to kill him.

Merc_Cris's pro-tip:
You should add - "Do not chase a HA if you don't have a shield"
I kill a lot of new cav that try to follow me, they get speed bonus agaist me and die fast (compared to other people, still takes a few arrows )

The last section is not finished right now, will add some stuff later + some pics. If you've got some more advices for new players feel free to post them here, I'll add them.

Credits: big thanks goes out to Assarhaddon, Leed, Torben & Merc_Chris for helping me, their advices appear in blue colour

If you are curious how cool jousting can be, check out this thread: http://forum.c-rpg.net/index.php/topic,2440.0.html

[Casimir]

The 24:12 Cav Build

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Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 24
Agility: 12
Hit points: 71
Skills to attributes: 2
Ironflesh: 6
Power Strike: 8
Shield: 3
Athletics: 4
Riding: 4
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 4
One Handed: 1
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 139
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 1

For real killing power when your on the floor or for the discerning cavalier who likes to wear plate and survive, this setup allows you high HP, the ability to use the most popular horses (Courser, Arabian and Destrier) as well as shield skill.

A wonderful build that performs really well on both the horse and on the ground, if you know how to handle your horse you can lance with the big boys and come out on top, and when your down you'll still 1hit a lot of players.

You can remove the shield skill and max iron flesh if your not interested in a shield and then you can really tank other players!

[Toffi]

The 24:12 Cav Build

(click to show/hide)

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

Strength: 24
Agility: 12
Hit points: 71
Skills to attributes: 2
Ironflesh: 6
Power Strike: 8
Shield: 3
Athletics: 4
Riding: 4
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 4
One Handed: 1
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 139
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 1

For real killing power when your on the floor or for the discerning cavalier who likes to wear plate and survive, this setup allows you high HP, the ability to use the most popular horses (Courser, Arabian and Destrier) as well as shield skill.

A wonderful build that performs really well on both the horse and on the ground, if you know how to handle your horse you can lance with the big boys and come out on top, and when your down you'll still 1hit a lot of players.

You can remove the shield skill and max iron flesh if your not interested in a shield and then you can really tank other players!

okay that seems interesting, but not really for beginners I think, because 1. they can't afford to ride on a horse and wear plate, 2. they usually don't know how to handle the horse from the first day on. But for some experienced players I agree

[marco1391]

Very nice guide, If you accept some suggestion if I were you I would have added something more about general tipes of enemies, for exemple how to deal with a 2h/bow/pole users alone
A few raw information that I would write about are: spinning left and right when charging an archer that is ready to shot at you(w+a and d alternately)so that he most likely won't get an headshot on your horse, outreaching pole players using your lance on the maximum possible right to exploit the leight of the heavy lance(same with 2h users, being unreachable), always charging the shot before the hit to gain the 50% to 20% bonus on damage(especially if you don't have a shield)and also a paragraph about 1v1 cav, especially on dehorsing enemy cav
Moreover I'd add the 21/15 build that imo is one of the best possible along with the 21/18(or the 18/21 with an heirloomed hlance)

 

[BlackMilk]

Nice guide!

[Digglez]

your use of colors along with bold are pretty straining on the eyes and annoying.

if you go for a 1h weapon you will be able to kill a lot of footmen and archer, also a shield is a good choice, but you can't do much in horsefights with lancers, so avoid them

Looks like your post needs some updating to reflect the changes to lances recently.  1h Cav are actually much better vs other cav than they are against infantry without support.

As long as you arent dumb enough to go head on vs a lancer, 1h has quite an advantage over lancers.  Lancers typically use poor maneuvering horses and are easy prey for a 1h sword.

And I would archers too lancers who can lolracecar backstab them better than a 1h can sneak up on them.

[Toffi]

your use of colors along with bold are pretty straining on the eyes and annoying.

Looks like your post needs some updating to reflect the changes to lances recently.  1h Cav are actually much better vs other cav than they are against infantry without support.

As long as you arent dumb enough to go head on vs a lancer, 1h has quite an advantage over lancers.  Lancers typically use poor maneuvering horses and are easy prey for a 1h sword.

And I would archers too lancers who can lolracecar backstab them better than a 1h can sneak up on them.

Use of coulours--- to have more overviewalong with the spoilers I made.

I don't think in 1h vs. lancer fights the 1h has really got a chance, unless the lancer is a retard.

Of course its easier for lancers to kill archers, but 1h should still go for it cause archers mean little harm for 1h cavalry, since you are able to block their arrows.

[BADPLAYERold]

It depends what horse the lancer has and what horse the 1hander has.
For example if the lancer has a courser and the 1hander an arabian it's best if the lancer just runs away because it would be difficult beating the 1hander (assuming you aren't given the chance to engage him head on).

[Kenji]

They should try out my exotic build

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    Level: 30
    Strength: 16
    Agility: 21
    Hit points: 61

    Skills to attributes: 4

    Ironflesh: 5
    Power Strike: 5
    Shield: 6
    Athletics: 4
    Riding: 7

    Polearm: 112

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If there are any more new players asking for a beginner's cavalry guide, this is definitely the place I'll link 'em to.

[ToxicKilla]

This guide sounds pretty good, although, my build is 18/18, I don't go for the longest one handers, I target lancers when using my winged mace or arming sword and don't die because the new lancing radius makes them unable to ever hit me.

[Toffi]

Guide is up to date again. Enjoy!

[Cris]

How to deal with horse archers
They are your worst enemys because they can shoot your horse down in pieces. Try to dodge theyr arrows, and try to be on his right side, so he can't shoot you. Try to manouver him into a wall/ corner, not on the open field. If you have a slower horse than him, flee. But don't worry: If you are in a team of 2 or even 3 horsemen, you should be able to kill him.

You should add - "Do not chase a HA if you don't have a shield"

I kill a lot of new cav that try to follow me, they get speed bonus agaist me and die fast (compared to other people, still takes a few arrows )

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Other HAs will hate me XD

[Toffi]

You should add - "Do not chase a HA if you don't have a shield"

I kill a lot of new cav that try to follow me, they get speed bonus agaist me and die fast (compared to other people, still takes a few arrows )

(click to show/hide)

Other HAs will hate me XD

Okay thanks, you are right, beginners don't stand a chance against good HA's so I added it ;-)

[CrazyCracka420]

This is my preferred level 30 build (but I'm a shielder):

Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)

    Strength: 18
    Agility: 18
    Hit points: 57

    Skills to attributes: 2

    Ironflesh: 2
    Power Strike: 6
    Shield: 4
    Athletics: 5
    Riding: 6
    Horse Archery: 0
    Power Draw: 0
    Power Throw: 0
    Weapon Master: 6

[Cris]

Okay thanks, you are right, beginners don't stand a chance against good HA's so I added it ;-)

hehe i dont need the credit for the tip thx anyway...just one thing, my name has no "H", its Merc_Cris ;)