After playing this game for a few months primarily as a 2h/polearm I find two main things
holding me back from improving beyond where I am:
- Wrong blocks. I find it very difficult to block correctly consistently when you have to
turn and use a lot of footwork. Good shielders that facehug and encircle well get me almost
every time, as the combination of having to turn, block the correct direction and most
importantly see the way the strike is coming is too much for me. I also end up leftblocking
when I try to upblock, a lot. This comes with more practice I'm sure but it's frustrating
right now.
- Although I believe I have pretty decent footwork, my offensive capabilities are limited
and need to be more diverse. I don't feint enough, much at all really and this is a problem
against someone who can block well. Also my most important offensive problem is also due to
mouse control (ugh) is that after a successful block I won't return the strike from the same
direction I blocked in, but rather the opposite direction, which slows down your attack
phase enough that someone spamming can get another strike in. Again more practice but
frustrating. I also need to use more overhead attacks because upblocking seems to be a
problem for most the playerbase.
And then there are a few minor things such as:
- Running at someone with a chambered attack when their weapon is much longer than your own,
or has a thrust chambered. Sometimes I do this because I'm just not paying attention well
enough.
- Trying to engage an enemy who is currently in a stack of friendlies from the front.
Running in to engage with a chambered attack from the front is almost always suicide against
anyone good. By the time you wait for a clear shot they've already cleaved your teammate and
the next swing will be for you, and unless you were clairevoyant and released your attack
before he even killed your teammate, he will most likely hit you first.
And now a noob tip from myself:
- Here is a common situation: a player that you know doesn't block much is running at you
with a chambered attack (but not a thrust, this is important) with a weapon either shorter
or not much longer than your own. Run at them yourself with a right attack chambered and as
you're about to step into melee range stafe/turn to your left (going to his right) as you
release the attack. The speed bonus on this hit is massive as you're both running at each
other full speed. But since you released the strike from your right as you're moving to the
left, your strike will hit him incredibly fast, sometimes it will be so fast the enemy won't
have even released his chamber by the time he's hit. You will also hit him with the money
part of your weapon arc, and this drops most non-tincans with a STR build.
