Cav build

[Mustikki]

My current cavalry build:

Strength   27   
Agility   12   

One Handed   111


Ironflesh   2   
Power Strike   9   
Shield   4   
Athletics   4   
Riding   4   

[Reinhardt]

STR: 18
AGI: 18
Converted: 2
IF: 0
PS: 6
Shield: 5
Athletics: 6
Riding: 6
WM: 6

1h Prof: 100 something (like 105)
2h Prof: 100
Pole Prof: 100


Personally, I like diversity and the ability to chose from a variety. That's why people play cRPG right? Well, this build is great with a Balance Knightly Arming sword with Knightly heater, Poking around on horseback, being infantry, shielding, two-hand mallet spamming, polearm swinging. Great build, fits me just right.

[Phazey]

STR: 18
AGI: 18
Converted: 2
IF: 0
PS: 6
Shield: 5
Athletics: 6
Riding: 6
WM: 6

Yep, this is also my favorite cavalry build. Only difference, i choose to restrict myself to 1h weapons, allowing me to swing nice and fast. But jep, less options.

'Cookie cutter' cav build would be 130-140ish in 1h and 100-ish in polearm, making you good with the lances and still very good with a sword when on foot.

[IG_Saint]

How does wpf work with lances exactly, does it increase damage and speed? What about couch time or couch reset time? Is putting something like 60 points in it worth it or should I just focus on my 2 main wpfs?

[Phazey]

I'm pretty sure even 60 points in polearm wpf makes a significant difference when lancing. Not sure about couching, but stabbing is so much easier with higher proficiency.

I think couching cooldown also improves, but i'm not 100% sure. Can someone else confirm?

[Mustikki]

if i recall correct, the weapon proficiency is linear, adds 17.5% dmg per 100 wpf and makes swinging faster (think there are somewhere a test thread).
Couching speed doesn't get affected by wpf.
But i might have mistaken.

[TomMyyY]

Attributes
Available points: 0
Strength   18   
Agility   18


Skills
Available points: 0
Ironflesh   0   
Power Strike   6   
Shield   4   
Athletics   6   
Riding   6   
Horse Archery   0   
Power Draw   0   
Power Throw   1   
Weapon master *   6   

My super secret cav build with 1 (one) PT, and I never use throwing (this gen).

(click to show/hide)

I might have just.. hit the button by accident

[kongxinga]

How are you guys surviving cav duels with such low riding? A pure anti-cav cav can go with 10 riding and thus dictate the terms of the fight. He can ride faster and make tighter turns, and my bets would be on the ride 10 guy to win the lance duel. I see a lot of ride 4-5-6 guys with good infantry support cav builds, but how do you guys deal with the pure cav duelists with those stats? Or do you pray for the city/archer box/ claustrophobic maps that negates cav duels?

[TomMyyY]

Do you know people who go pretty much pure riding+PS and claim to be anti-cav?

It would require a lot of converting if you still want to be able to use a heavy lance.

I really don't think 10 riding would make up for only having 3/4 PS and almost no other skills.

It's nice to be a bit more versatile and also have some athletics to be useful as infantry, since every horse below the destrier can die in 1 arrow/bolt or random throwing weapon.

Really if there are builds like this around I don't think they are that effective, since the cav players I have most problems with myself (Ujin, Oberyn) don't have builds with 10 riding AFAIK.

[kongxinga]

The kicker is that 10 ride character doesn't need PS, as long as he can build up speed for the speed bonus. This is basically the build that goes 10 ride, convert for enough strength to wield heavy lance, any points left goes to WM for polearms. No athletics, nothing. Athletics on cav just shows you have not made up your mind about being cav anyways.

These guys are what I fear as a HA, since 10 ride can out ride most horse archers, leaving little room for mistakes, especially if 2 are working together as a team to pincer you. You either shoot him down in those few seconds, or very likey get dehorsed to die. When HA screen is down they then go own infantry support cav. After letting their team get complete cavalry superiority, they can just hang back giving enemy pedestrian duelers another thing to worry about, and back stab any that are not paying attention.

Obviously the map has to be one of the semi plausible ones that allow cav jousts and duels to be a factor, otherwise infantry support cav rules.

The build is not very good at killing crunchies, but is very good in cav fights, since speed and turning is everything. Low PS is not really a problem, especially with speed bonus since everyone rides a light horse, and most hits land on the unarmoured horse. There are a few Euro/ Russian clanners who have this build, but I am not sure whether the famous solo hotshots like oberyn uses it. 

This build was not so hot pre big patch, since the  infantry support cav on armoured horses (but most likely wearing lighter armour due to low strength) could exchange lance hits with light horses and still come out on top. Plus heavy (as in heavy horse) cav often had way more ride too, negating most of the speed advantage. Post patch it seems to have a surge in popularity.

[Oberyn]

Never had more than 7 riding on the newest patch, haven't had any problems with cav duels. TomMyyY is imo a better cav duelist than I am, and not to toot my own horn but there aren't many. Just on that basis alone 10 riding isn't a prerequisite for good cav vs cav action. I don't think I've ran into many people with 10 riding tbh.
3/4 PS just isn't enough, even for cav duels. A cav duel isn't just riding at each other full tilt and killing in one blow, though it can often be that way. Most of the time there's quite a lot of maneuvering involved and I guarantee you won't be at "full speed" for most of the strikes you do land. Not to mention how utterly useless one becomes once dehorsed.
Every cav build I've ever done has been a cav/inf hybrid, and I chortle heartily at the suggestion that I avoid cav duels with "pure" horsemen.

[EliteDragon]

In my experience as a HA, those with 10 riding are the ones I go for first. They are pretty deadly, but when de-horsed they're vegetables. Since my Steppe Horse has much more maneuvering, I use that to my advantage and just make really sharp turns when they close in and aim for the horse's head.

[kongxinga]

Thanks for the tips. I am no good player, and yes, low speed maneuvers are a big factor in cav duels, especially in maps that don't allow high speeds, but 10 ride is going to make him more maneuverable as well in low speed turning fights, but the advantage is a lot less, and PS matters a lot more then.

I keep mentioning the high speed duels because the low speed close range turning fights often ends with both participants becoming couch/lance fodder for passing cav, or pin cushions as archers take potshots at the easier and bigger targets. But PS matters a lot in those fights without much of a speed bonus.

I also try to target the ride 10s. Once you dismount them, you don't even really have to shoot them as infantry support cav will clean them up soon. In my experience you can ride on parity even if you are at a 2 ride advantage. As I have 7 ride, the ones out riding me are the pure ride 10s.

[Vibe]

STR: 18
AGI: 18
Converted: 2
IF: 5
PS: 6
Shield: 0
Athletics: 6
Riding: 6
WM: 6

Pole Prof: Max

This is my build. All wpf to pole, no shield, instead some IF. Fantastic on a courser, fast as lightning, easy to catch infantry off-guard. Also nice on foot.

[AgentQ]

As a Cav with 2.5 KD ratio, I say go with 21/15 Over 18/18.

You can get more Strength or Agi past lvl 31.

7 PS
5 riding