MANUAL COMBAT GUIDE FOR NEW PLAYERS
Written & Presented by Elindor
If a player is new to manual melee combat systems, it can be quite daunting. However, once that player learns the basics and gets a taste of the potential control and skill that one can achieve - they often become hooked and from there are able to push themselves to learn the more advanced aspects.
WHAT THIS GUIDE IS FOR:
- Explaining the basic aspects of manual melee combat in cRPG
- Explaining the basic skills, attributes, etc that effect how one's character will behave
- Helping new players approach the manual melee combat system and begin to gain proficiency in its systems
WHAT THIS GUIDE IS NOT FOR:
- This guide is not meant to help players past a basic proficiency with manual melee combat...once players are proficient they will learn on their own or from other players
- This guide will focus on MELEE ground combat, and will not in any depth cover ranged or cavalry combat tactics.
WHAT IS MANUAL MELEE COMBAT?
THIS VIDEO WILL VISUALIZE MOST OF THE BASICS I WILL COVER IN THIS GUIDE : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9jHcZjWw9U
Manual combat in cRPG is a system where you the player control your character's actions in a very precise and controlled manner through the use of your keyboard and mouse. A manual system means there is no "TAB targeting" and you must aim properly for your swings or shots to land blows. It is a system that is "easy to learn, and almost impossible to master"
SECTION 1 - Basic Controls
- DIRECTIONAL MOVEMENT : On the keyboard this uses "WASD" to control your characters directional movement - forward, backwards, right and left, and combinations of those directions.
- ATTACKING AND BLOCKING : On the mouse, the controls are as simple as:
- LEFT CLICK = Prepare held attack
- RELEASE LEFT CLICK = Execute held attack
- RIGHT CLICK = Block
- MOUSE MOVEMENT = Gives directional input to the above actions
NOTE : In cRPG, you can either use attack and block directions controlled by "mouse movement" or by "inverted mouse movement". By "mouse movement" means your mouse movement will correlate to the direction of your PREPARED ATTACK, and by "inverted mouse movement" means your mouse movement will correlate to the actual RELEASED ATTACK.
It may seem initially that because of this, inverted makes more sense - however because of more advanced mechanics like parrying, feinting, and chambering, some skilled cRPG players would suggest learning in MOUSE MOVEMENT mode if you are not familiar with either. Really either is fine and it's up to the player, whichever feels more fluid and responsive....but I would suggest trying BOTH to some degree before getting too comfortable with either.
SECTION 2 - The Four Elements of Combat
There are 4 primary elements of combat in a manual melee combat system that will help you go from running around getting utterly destroyed and not being sure why, to actually being a combatant. Getting a handle of these will not necessarily make you an elite fighter, but they will make you a viable part of your team.
----------------------------------------------------------
1 TIMING & DISTANCE : This is, in my opinion, the most important thing to learn and to learn FIRST. This is because without a proper gauge of timing, NONE of the rest of this guide will be of any use. Unfortunately, this fact is why a ping to your primary servers of over ~80 is almost unplayable in melee by most people.
Timing is not a mechanical thing, so there isn't much concrete to say about it....except that it is something a new player must WATCH and INTERPRET. During your play, get a sense of how fast people can move in on you, or how quickly swings come, and from what kind of distances they are lethal at.
That brings up the factor of DISTANCE. It is imperative in cRPG to pay attention to and learn to adjust for the lethal distance of different weapons - INCLUDING your own. Use that maximum distance you can, and be aware of the maximum distance of others...or they will catch you off guard.
----------------------------------------------------------
2 FOOTWORK : As you get a sense of TIMING & DISTANCE, you can start using good footwork to put yourself in better situations in combat. Using WASD on your keyboard, get used to maneuvering your characters directional movement through different combinations of those controls. Things to get proficient at with this are:
- Circling an opponent
- Gaining "movement bonus" to your attacks by always moving with your attack in a forward motion
- Strafing or Side Stepping (can help dodge certain attacks)
- "Weaving" through a group of opponents by switching directions as you move forward
- Using A and S in good timing to get into attack range at the right times, or get OUT of attack range at the right times
* TIP * Circling and Tracking : Much of melee combat comes down to positioning, and trying to gain a footwork advantage over your opponent - to "get their backs". This is especially helpful when fighting against shield users. Circling your opponent during combat can confused them and make them lose track of you, giving you back shots. Most opponents will do it to you as well, so learning to TRACK your opponent and stay locked on them is a key skill.
----------------------------------------------------------
3 DIRECTIONAL ATTACKS : Once you have a grasp of the first three principles, this is where DIRECTIONAL ATTACKS will start to pay off for you. In the manual melee combat system in cRPG you have control over your attack directions through FOUR PRIMARY ATTACKS (on most weapons):
- Right Swing : Character preps to the right, and swing releases right to left. Slightly more reach for 1h.
- Left Swing : Character preps to the left, and swing releases left to right. Slightly more reach for 2h
- Overhead : Character preps by bringing weapon over its head, then releases downward. A powerful but sometimes compromising attack.
- Stab : Character preps by pull back weapon, and releases in a stabbing motion straight ahead. Good for additional distance or surprise, but can be compromising.
- Using the right attack at the right moment is of PARAMOUNT importance , not only in defeating your opponent, but also in avoiding wounding teammates. In a group fight, learn to overhead or stab, or to use the correct side swing in order to not strike your teammates.
- In a more 1v1 type situation, learn to vary up your attacks as to not be predictable. "Spamming" (repeating the same attack over and over regardless of situation) is easily read and most good players will quickly dispose of you if you're spamming.
* TIP * "Turn through your attacks": Try not to simply release your attacks while standing still. Try to follow through with your characters body by rotating your mouse and character's body with the swing, as you would in real life if striking a baseball with a bat, etc. This will make your strike connect with the enemy sooner than if you had just stood still, and also add movement bonus dmg to your swings.
----------------------------------------------------------
4 DIRECTIONAL BLOCKING or PARRYING : If you have become decent at directional attacks, you might gain some kills - but if you are dead most of the round, you will find yourself in spectator mode most of the time and unable to assist your team. In order to stay alive in a manual combat system, the player must combine the awareness of TIMING, DISTANCE, and FOOTWORK with BLOCKING or PARRYING.
Shield Blocking : This refers to using a SHIELD to stop incoming attacks. The use of a shield is often suggested to new players because of its relative ease of use. To block incoming attacks with a shield, simply press and hold the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON at the right time, while facing in the direction of the attack. While you have your RMB held, the shield will be held up, and attacks from whatever direction you are facing will be blocked until your shield breaks. There is much more to it than this, but this is the basics of it.
Parrying : This is executed similarly to attacking, except you use the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON instead of the left. It is an important, and somewhat difficult skill to get proficient with - and mastering it is something else entirely. However, when a player is able to get to a certain level with this skill, their potential impact is greatly improved.
Parrying is blocking an incoming attack with your weapon, instead of using a shield. Unlike blocking with a shield, a successful parry is only made when you match the direction of the incoming attack with your parry : right, left, overhead, or stab. If you're weapon intercepts the incoming weapon - you parry. You can hold a parry for as long as you like, just like shield blocking.
SECTION 3 - Next Steps
The following are some more advanced aspects of combat that a player can add to their fighting maneuvers once they have gotten a grip on the more foundational aspects.
----------------------------------------------------------
HOLDING : Holding is probably the simplest "advanced aspect" of combat at least from a mechanical standpoint. Holding is most simply put - a "game of chicken" where you hold your attack prepped and your enemy has to try to decipher when you are going to release that attack. One way this can be used is if you prep an attack and your opponent preps the appropriate block, you hold and wait for the split second when they decide to drop their block and attack instead. At this moment is when you release.
Holds can be used in lots of ways, but the gist of it is again "playing chicken" or "bluffing" someone. It is almost entirely about TIMING.
----------------------------------------------------------
FEINTING : Feinting is the act of switching up your attack directions rapidly to confuse your enemy and throw off their defenses.
Feinting is basically prepping one attack, and then releasing just like you would in a normal attack, but right after releasing you then hit the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON to block which cancels your attack, and then you quickly prep another attack from the same direction (pump fake) or from another direction.
When this is done quickly and smoothly, it can be quite hard for many opponents to follow and block appropriately since they will not know which one will be the real attack and WHEN it will be released. Be careful though - good players may often see through your feinting especially if you are "over feinting" and execute a swift attack on you instead of trying to read your feints.
----------------------------------------------------------
HILT SLASHING : Every weapon when released has a sweet spot during the swing animation where it does maximum damage. The first part of the swing and the last part of the swing do partial damage and the middle of the swing does the most. Much of the time, if the first part of the swing collides with someone, it may "GLANCE" if it does not create enough dmg to get past their armor.
To get past this, many players employ a tactic called HILT SLASHING that allows them to hit opponents at tight quarters for large damage even using the first part of their swing. This is done by abruptly swinging your character around in the motion of the swing, augmenting its base damage with movement bonus, and therefore creating enough damage output to overcome their armor value and landing a significant blow.
This can be useful in tight spaces, or when in a fight with someone where you and he/she are circling each other a lot.
----------------------------------------------------------
CHAMBERING : Chambering is the act of intercepting an incoming attack with your own attack at the RIGHT TIME (most crucial part). For instance, if an opponent is opposite you and preps and releases a left attack on you, if you prep and release a right attack on them just after theirs - you will chamber their attack as long as the timing is right.
It works like this:
- A left attack chambers an incoming right attack
- A right attack chambers an incoming left attack
- An overhead attack chambers an incoming overhead attack
- A stab attack chambers an incoming stab
(The video I posted makes this more clear).
Chambering is a rather hard skill to MASTER - in fact really only the skilled duelists can chamber reliably on command I would say.
But this leads to WHY parrying and chambering are profitable to attempt rather than just shield blocking.
----------------------------------------------------------
MANUAL BLOCKING : RISK VS REWARD :
There are three types of blocking in cRPG's manual combat system - SHIELD BLOCKING, PARRYING, and CHAMBERING.
Each is more difficult than the other, and there's a reason why.
SHIELD BLOCKING - Least RISK, least REWARD
Because blocking with a shield is easier relative to parrying or chambering, it has its drawbacks that lower its reward. When you block with a shield, you incur a small "delay" before you can then initiate an attack of your own (this is effected by shield speed and other factors - many suggest faster shields such as ones at or around 100 shield speed). In addition, when using a shield, you will be using a one handed weapon, which generally have lower damage outputs than two handed or polearm weapons. Also, shields break.
** HOWEVER ** - a shields ability to reliably defend against multiple incoming attacks is invaluable and in the hands of good players, a 1h and shield can be even more deadly than a 2h weapon or polearm.
PARRYING - Moderate RISK, Moderate REWARD
Parrying is more difficult in many situations than shield blocking but it has some benefits that shield blocking does not have. For starters, the delay time after successfully parrying an incoming attack is not as much as the one incurred from blocking with a shield, therefore you can retaliate more quickly after parrying than a shield user can after blocking. Additionally, using a 2h or polearm weapon increases both dmg output and weapon reach over a 1h weapon.
CHAMBERING - High Risk, High REWARD
Chambering is somewhat risky and rather unreliable for most players - and takes a LOT of practice and skill to reliably execute in combat situations. The reward for this is that when you chamber an incoming attack with your attack, your attack goes through to your enemy, and unless they are very quick with the parry - it will strike them. Usually the player that "gets chambered" is unable to defend against the incoming attack quickly enough and is struck, especially because most players are not expecting to be chambered unless they are dueling someone they know can chamber proficiently.
SECTION 4 - The Effect of Stats on Gameplay
In this section I will go over the basic stats and attributes of your character and the items but only as a summary of pertinent info.
For more detailed information on these subjects go to this thread : http://forum.meleegaming.com/beginner's-help-and-guides/game-mechanic-megathread!/
(Be warned, it's like calculus in there)
:arrow: Use this builder to test out builds : http://alpha-lider19.ru/MB/
You can also use that builder to see your EFFECTIVE WPF with your armor on, see your HP, and see your melee and ranged damage, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------
CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES & STATS :
STRENGTH: Unlocks STR based stats, grants small damage bonus, grants 1 HP per point. Allows the use of many weapons/armor.
AGILITY: Unlocks AGI based stats, grants small movement speed bonus
IRONFLESH: STR based. Grants 2HP per point.
POWERSTRIKE: STR based. Grants significant damage bonus to melee attacks per point
ATHLETICS: AGI based. Grants significant bonus to movement speed
SHIELD SKILL: AGI baed. Allows the use of different shields, grants better use of the shield in multiple ways.
WEAPON MASTER (WM): AGI based. Grants extra points to be used in Weapon Proficiency
WEAPON PROFICIENCY (wpf): Putting points into a weapon proficiency has a variety of effects when using weapons in that type including minor dmg bonus, minor speed increase, less upkeep costs, etc.
----------------------------------------------------------
WEAPON MASTER & WEAPON PROFICIENCY :
Currently many players would say these are not of the highest importance because of their relatively small effect on speed when those points could be used in other stats to create more damage. However, investing in SOME is suggested by most players.
- As a rule of thumb, I suggest 3-5 WEAPON MASTER as that will allow you to put enough points in ONE WEAPON SKILL (avoid splitting wpf points between multiple skills unless you know what you're doing) to avoid losing effectiveness by going under 100 in EFFECTIVE WPF. The more WPF you put into a specific weapon skill, the more points it takes to further increase that skill (soft cap). For that reason also, it can be viewed as a waste of points to put too much into WM/Wpf
- EFFECTIVE WPF is a term that describes the amount of weapon proficiency your character has AFTER the negative effects of worn armor, etc are taken into account. The heavier an item, the more effect it has on your effective wpf. This reduction in wpf will slow you down a bit and having an effective wpf of under 100 in a weapon type will lower the potential dmg output with that weapon type.
:arrow: There is much more to know about this, but best rule of thumb is this :
Get enough speed stats (agi/ath/wm/wpf) to "feel fast enough" (this will vary from person to person) and put the rest into DAMAGE and SURVIVAL stats (str/ps/if).
----------------------------------------------------------
IRONFLESH & ARMOR VALUE
Raising your strength and ironflesh will yield you more Hit Points (which you can see by the builder I linked), but HP is only so important without armor.
It is the combination between HP AND ARMOR VALUE that creates SURVIVABILITY
HP = LIFE
ARMOR = MITIGATION
Think of HP as an empty bucket and ARMOR VALUE as a valve you can tighten or loosen to adjust how much water is getting into that bucket.
Now imagine that that bucket being EMPTY = full health, and that bucket being FULL = DEAD
- If you have a big bucket but the valve is wide open and water is gushing in...it won't take long before the bucket is FULL
- If your valve is mostly shut but your bucket is tiny, the little bit of water getting in will quickly make the small bucket FULL
- It is the combo between a decent sized bucket (HP) and a controlled amount of water coming in (ARMOR VALUE) that creates SURVIVABILITY.
** THE BALANCE OF ARMOR VALUE **
The CON to armor is the speed and effective wpf hit one takes from wearing it, as armor with higher defenses has higher weight as well (not to mention higher upkeep costs). Finding the armor that works for you and your playstyle is part of learning cRPG. It is always a balance between protection and speed.
Many go with MEDIUM armors for this reason (around the 12-18 weight region for body).
This is something to play with over time, and find out what is right for you - just understand that higher armor value has its cost.
----------------------------------------------------------
CHOOSING A WEAPON
When choosing a weapon, there are basically 3 FACTORS to consider : Damage, Speed, and Reach.
Usually the weapons will be balanced by the above factors plus things like COST and EFFECTS such as :
KNOCKDOWN - on most blunt weapons. Gives a chance to knock your opponent down based on damage and weapon weight.
CRUSHTHROUGH - on the heaviest of blunt weapons. Overhead attacks from these weapons cannot be parried or shield blocked.
IMBALANCED - Many weapons that carry the other tags carry this tag, which basically means once you start swinging these weapons you cannot stop them.
BONUS TO SHIELDS - Certain weapons carry this tag, which means they do extra damage to shields (and doors).
The rule of thumb is that the heavier a weapon is, the harder it will hit and the harder it will be to defend against, but the slower it will be.
The lighter a weapon is, the faster it will be to maneuver but it will have a harder time inflicting high damage.
----------------------------------------------------------
DAMAGE TYPES
In cRPG there are 3 DIFFERENT DAMAGE TYPES that can drastically influence the damage you do to targets of varying ARMOR VALUES.
The three DAMAGE TYPES are CUT, PIERCE, and BLUNT.
The basic principle is that against a low armored opponent, all damage types are equal. As the opponent's armor increases, the DAMAGE TYPE matters more and more.
Against low armor : all roughly equal
Against medium to high armor : blunt and pierce both better than cut
Against very high armor : pierce best, then blunt, cut falls off harshly
- Against a very low armored target, all that matters is the DAMAGE NUMBER (31 Cut, 25 blunt, etc). The higher the number the better in this case.
- As armor value increases, the DAMAGE TYPE becomes much more important because the damage of CUT falls off rather drastically against higher levels of armor.
- At the very highest armor values, PIERCE does the most damage, especially if the attacker has decent strength.
- Blunt is a good option for combatants that do not have high strength, because blunt is able to create damage with low strength output and is less apt to GLANCE. It also is usually accompanied by the EFFECTS such as Knockdown and sometimes Chrushthrough.
SECTION 5 - Teamwork
(Credit to Zanze for some of the following suggestions)
Teamwork in cRPG is paramount. A player must learn the individual skills ultimately to become a strong player, but even if they master those and do not learn to work as a team and evaluate situations, they will only be so effective.
Following is a list of suggestions on how to be a good team player, and how to effectively evaluate combat situations.
- Be combat aware : always be looking around you, where is your team, where are the enemies? Look out for cav, archers, etc.
- Do not crowd or vie with teamates for kills : work together always, and sometimes that will mean playing off your teammate and not being the hero.
- Letting Axe's / Mauls have the right of way when fighting a shielder
- If you outnumber your enemy, work off each other to flank the enemy instead of all trying to crowd his front.
- Stepping back when you have friendly cav circling and then resuming your attack once your opponent has been knocked down.
- Staying to the left of spearmen and not dancing around so they can properly set you up with a free kill.
- Being near stationary when fighting someone good at footwork so that they cannot maneuver properly.
- Sticking to high ground.
- Choosing their fights and not charging into 1v5s or so.
- Protecting Archers.
- Bringing a siege shield or wooden stakes if the slots are available.
- Be mindful of the flag on siege, do not just blindly defend the tops of ladders, etc
- Be cordial and make allies, not enemies.
//// IN PROGRESS ////
If there are suggestions for revisions or additions, please let me know...
//////// IN PROGRESS //////
the OCD is killing me from inside