Manual Block - How do I become a jedi master?

[Patricia]

To earlier question re why cant you counter - I got told by native clan that its because vs held attack/hvy weapon you need to block twice - theres a kind of stun effect after first block. If you try to counter immediately you just get hit again. I seem to find it works as long as I remember and dont arse the blocks up.

Attacks from a weapon with a higher weight can cause block stun, though it's not 100% and I find it only noticeable on 2hander/polearm against 1handers

[MountedRhader]

Use... The force... 

[Thomek]

I dunno.. even with all this advice check your ping.

I'm gimped and useless above 70-80. It becomes very hard to block and return a swing. It's a world of difference down to 45 where I can duel almost perfectly. I don't even know how smooth someon with 20 or less play lol.

Ping is extremely important for a fast 2 hander.

The solution is either:
Cav
Archer
Shielder
Polearm/2h mad spamming and strength build.

So if you can't get under 100 ping anywhere, I'd suggest you change class and forget about dueling.

[Trippin]

I dunno.. even with all this advice check your ping.

I'm gimped and useless above 70-80. It becomes very hard to block and return a swing. It's a world of difference down to 45 where I can duel almost perfectly. I don't even know how smooth someon with 20 or less play lol.

Ping is extremely important for a fast 2 hander.

The solution is either:
Cav
Archer
Shielder
Polearm/2h mad spamming and strength build.

So if you can't get under 100 ping anywhere, I'd suggest you change class and forget about dueling.

No offense, but it's not the ping. It's you.

I play cRPG at a 120 ping average and I still manage to perform far above the average player. Given that on a Native server, where I have ~40 ping, I do much better, it's still not that difficult to block or counter attack. It's just much harder and the game is much different.

[Xant]

Are you US? I get the feeling there's much more chambering on the US servers than EU. I only know a handfull of people on EU that can chamber decently and even then they don't use it that much in battle.

He's probably from the Wonderland. Chambering is usually too risky for the reward. Especially for most people who can't pull back from a chamber that isn't gonna work and turn it into a block.

[Vibe]

Tbh these days my ping on EU cRPG servers has been around 100 (from 95 min to 110 max) and I can block just fine. I can't chamber though, no matter how skilled I am at it.

[[ptx]]

At 80+ ping you can block normal attacks from normal people. GL against anyone faster or simply good, though.

[Sphinxer]

I played M&B SP since the first beta and it's very easy to block with movement direction BUT , bot won't bother looking which way you,re going to attack , they'll just randomly attack you one side and then attack you randomly with an other attack...

In cRPG , if you,re facing a good opponent and he sees you strafing, he'll know you're using movement direction and will just attack the opposite way you're trying in vain to block.

I had to switch to Mouse Movement (and I still suck , still haven't got used to it) and the best way to practice at first (just to get used to the whole thing) is bots. But after 5-10 minutes you should switch right away to Duel Servers and pick someone who is "okay". Drop everything and just use a sword/polearm and block everything he throws at you. It's gonna be good practice for him to work on his feinting / tactics and for you it's a good way to practice your blocking.

When he's not much of a challenge for your new blocking skills, pick on a better guy. One day you'll face Dan, Cyranule or Mori on a public server and that, my friend, is the real challenge

But the most important thing .. don't give up. Practice , Practice , Practice.

[Thomek]

Of course you can play with high ping, its just very very different.

But if you go on a duel server with high ping, you are definitely set with a big disadvantage.. Aggressive play is rewarded as the opponent also sees weirdly fast strikes. In battle the rules are different again, as many more factors are involved and people are not so aware, and generally of lower skill than in duel servers. Player toosexy comes to mind, he used to play with 350+ ping, swinging a huge halberd in max armor. He teamkilled a lot, but usually ended up on top of the scoreboard. Trying to get in range to kill him was a chance game, as his hits would usually pass through all blocks..

The classic scenario is a high ping shielder with a fast sword coming at you with sword raised, as to common practice I charge towards him in order to hit him before he can react, only to get struck down very suddenly. He obviously releases the sword still thinking im standing still, and the netcode does the rest..

High Ping is not all bad, it has its advantages, but the rules change, and overall It's a handicap.

[Braeden]

The key to learning to fight, in my opinion, is to find someone better than you and learn from them.  Whether it is intentional or unintentional teaching.  I owe a great amount of my (and I admit it is limited) ability to fight in melee to dueling significantly superior foes on the duel server.  My duel kill death ratio is probably over the life of my playing somewhere around 1 to 10.  However, the increase in my skill is definitely present.  I learned the vast majority of my 2-h skill from fighting Ujin and Shagrath on EU_3 way back in the day.  I still need to learn how to kill shielders reliably, and I work on that by fighting very good people on the duel servers.  Fighting bad people simply teaches you laziness and poor habits, fighting the excellent can be applied to both good and bad opponents in battle.

Oh, and duel in peasant armor with a weapon that won't 1-hit your opponent.  Armor and one-hitting are great for battle, but they won't help you learn.  Learn to not make mistakes by not wearing armor and learn consistency by taking a while to win.

High ping is a huge disadvantage to dueling.  If you suffer from high ping, I would find someone who is skilled at dueling despite it and learn specifically from them, like Apsalar.  It is possible, but a whole different ball game.

[Phazey]

I still need to learn how to kill shielders reliably, and I work on that by fighting very good people on the duel servers. 

The way i see it, there are four methods of killing a shielder:

1) Use a very fast weapon and 'outspam' him. With that i mean: swing -> get blocked -> swing again (turn a bit into the swing to make it connect a bit earlier) and hope he also swings but is too slow.

2) Feint. Start a swing, cancel it (by pressing rightmouse) and quickly swing again. Hope the player isn't listening to block sounds or not paying attention. If a single feint fails, sometimes a double feint does the trick. However, keep in mind that feinting is very risky. You expose yourself to spam-style counterattacks.

3) Try to outmaneuver him and hit him from the side or back. This only works with high athletics, light or medium armor and even then it should be pretty easy for the shielder to keep facing you. Again, this relies on a mistake by your opponent.

4) Or, if the above tricks fail: Use a shield destroying weapon like an axe. Two handed swords also seem to destroy shields pretty damn fast.
Those throwing axes are also really bad for us shielders.

Als most of you know, 1) is my preferred method. 

Another tip: In battle, i often ignore 'alert' shielders, switch targets and get back to that shielder when he's engaged with someone else. If all else fails, i keep smacking (spamming) that shield with my sword. Eventually, it will break.     (with the (heirloomed) steel shield being the exception)

I know i'm stating the obvious for you Braeden, but i felt like writing down some tips. I hope it helps someone. 

[Xant]

Oh, and duel in peasant armor with a weapon that won't 1-hit your opponent.  Armor and one-hitting are great for battle, but they won't help you learn.  Learn to not make mistakes by not wearing armor and learn consistency by taking a while to win.

I'd say that depends. If you don't have a real main or plan on changing your build greatly, sure. But if you have a clear main and a heirloomed weapon and stuff, I'd suggest dueling in your battle-gear. Why? Because that's the gear you're gonna be using, so might as well practice with it instead of getting used to moving faster and attacking with a different weapon.