The Sword and Spear Way - Hoplites Guide

[fdaslan]

Honestly, there is no much differance between 7 agi and 8 agi. I would go for STR with your low armor choice.

[//saxon]

another con should be :

- Only one attack direction.

[Johammeth]

Honestly, there is no much differance between 7 agi and 8 agi. I would go for STR with your low armor choice.

Excellent, that's what I was hoping to hear.

A little extra health will go a loonnng way in my sexy paper armor.

Thanks!

[Yaro]

Hi community! My first post...
So I've been playing a spearman for few weeks now. It is my first character and I'm currently level 31. What I've discovered is that I really like getting kills with a spear, however, I also enjoy going to my sidearm when there is a shield wall in front of me or in close quarters. Can anyone tell me if its viable to spread wpf between 1h and pole? is it possible to be effective at both? what would be a good build for such a character? I opted for 18/18 this generation and balanced all my stats pretty much equally(I even have riding, lol), however i don't think this is the best way to go for a role that i have in mind... would appreciate ya'lls advise.

[Lecram]

Really nice and helpful guide! 

Please make more guides like this! 

[Macropus]

Hi community! My first post...
Can anyone tell me if its viable to spread wpf between 1h and pole?

It is perfectly viable.
Example:

Code: (Spearman / Shielder) [Select]

Level:           30

Strength:        18
Agility:         18

Skill to attr:    2

Ironflash:        6
Power Strike:     6
Shield:           5
Athletics:        6
Weapon Master:    6

One Handed:     114
Polearm:        123
^{using cRPG NewGen calc}

[Ronin]

Updated the guide a bit,

(click to show/hide)

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Note that, now there is a new mechanic called dagger quick draw; which you can use with "N" key. This mechanic; If you have a dagger, allows you to equip it quickly by pressing the N key. If you are having timing difficulties when drawing your sidearm out, you can try using a dagger as a sidearm. Needless to say, all daggers are 0 slot and are quite capable in melee even without any wpf invested in one handed weapons. It can be a very good way to fight back when you are forced to do 1v1.


The good thing with upkeep is, even with 1 wpf; the chances for your sidearm to be broken is dependent on the highest wpf value in melee. Meaning that if you have 140 wpf in polearms but only 50 wpf in one handers, it will break as often as your spear; no worse.

If you are sure your attack is going to get blocked, don't bother attacking at all. Hold your attack by forcing him to defend or switch targets.

Tricks and tips to do 1v1
It is quite possible to do 1v1 as a hoplite, although it is generally a bit harder.

1-Unless you are using a very short and fast spear, you can get spammed. However by excellent footwork you can avoid being spammed even while using a comparatively bigger spear. There is a trick which helps against everyone. If they can not put you in the center of their screen, they can not attack you. So there's your chance, try to strafe to the sides all the way so they will have a difficult time putting you in the center of their screens. This will cause them a delay in their attacking, which is more than enough to give you the time required to attack them back. By using this method, you can even catch them off guard if they think they can just spam you. With this method, you can fight back against those pesky maulers. Their heavy weapon weight will be turned against them, as they will not be able to change their attack direction fast enough when you strafe to the sides. Dodging with this technique against a maul overhead is guarenteed! You can hit them easily that way!

2-Always avoid making them to get ultimately cose to you. They must not facehug you, or your attacks will get glanced early in the animation; which is even worse as it will cause you a stun for a long period of time, long enough for you to get hit. Using the above trick will automatically solve this problem, however you need to be careful still. If the enemy is just facehugging you, defending with your shield is your best option.

3-Kick can be your friend. If someone is at close range and you are sure of it's movement, then use kick. Can be pretty rewarding as you have the longest weapon probably, thus the enemy will be coming close to you most of the time. Use at your own risk though.

4-Learn how make your attacks hit early in the animation. This is even called lame by many people, but it is the only way you can fight back in 1v1 most of the time. This one is hard to tell really and requires some practice. To explain it in simple ways; you need to begin your attack in the right or left side, and then to turn it swiftly towards your opponent. This is the basic definition of it. Observing good hoplite players when they are doing it and trying to do the same thing is the best method of learning I can tell you of.

5-The nudge button. I am still not quite good at using it the way it is supposed to be used I think, but it certainly looks like a mechanism worth learning.
Defend+Nudge - Probably the nudge you will use most commonly. It can be good to push back opponents if you want to put some distance. It can be used with great effect in siege, to push back the enemy from the walls. Though it is very slow that you need to be sure that you will not get hit. I think it is best to use this nudge like you would use an attack, meaning that you better use it right after you block your opponent's blow (like you would do an attack)
Attack+Nudge - Very much the same with defend nudge, the only differense is it pushes your opponent to the left side and is a bit quicker.
Nudge - Can be good to interrupt your opponent, when your opponent is swarmed by your teammates. Can be better than a kick as you can use it while still moving. And it can be better versus other nudge types for a situation like this (your opponent being swarmed), as the other nudges tend to push your opponent way too much that your allies can not hit your opponent.

6-Using sidearms. Well I explained how to use sidearms already, you can either pull out a sword, axe, mace etc. with changing weapons; if you are confident that you will not get hit during the weapon changing process. Or you can quickly draw a dagger. It can be certainly useful to surprise your opponent.

7-Jump attacking can be an option sometimes. Jumping gives you some room for attacking. Can be good as a plan B.

*You must take weapon weight into account too. As your weapon is longer and heavier, it will be harder to turn it once you released your attack.*

[Sari]

This guide inspired me to make Athenian Levy Hoplite. You could guess what build I use for my hoplite.

Great guide, very helpful, and good luck in your next guide.

[Killer]

I am just about to retire from my first gen and I have just figured out that I am going to use the Athenian build thanks to this guide. Thank you for posting this guide it helped me greatly to decide what class to go for my second gen and probably beyond that  

[owens]

Never Forget the lvl 30 21/15 build

7,7,5,5,5

Quick with good damage. Plenty of health and enough wpf to get some 1H

[Achilles_Lakedaimon]

Thanks for you guide/tutorial, I will read all of it eagerly!

[Sari]

Never Forget the lvl 30 21/15 build

7,7,5,5,5

Quick with good damage. Plenty of health and enough wpf to get some 1H

Even with the new wpf calculator?

[owens]

^
no
Well yes but only around 80-90 1H wpf and 120 polearm

[Tovi]

Even with the new wpf calculator?

Where is the new wpf calculator ?

[Ronin]

You can use a skip the fun character. Just use respec and assign some weapon master as you like to see the values.