I'd like to learn to chamber reliably, but when you have 1 life it just seems too risky especially with a polearm. Your attacks come from behind you and gets caught on things randomly (players or anything really) and they generally attack slower than 2 or 1 hand. I'd rather just hold my block until I stun the guy and get my own opening, eventhough i'm probably quite predictable
It is actually really easy to chamber once you understand your weapon's
timing window. I use mostly pole arm, and I could chamber holds reliably as long as my ping was 70 or lower. However, 1h Definitely has the advantage with chambering. the chambering portion of the 1h animation happens earlier in the sequence than the other weapons, by a noticeable margin.
I spent 3 days at my other house, first time playing melee with actual ping in months. Didn't ever both using a real weapon that could block, instead just picked up chambers again. Problem with 1h? I always reacted too quickly to attacks. It is so flawlessly fast that I was over-reacting to HELD attacks half the time. Wish i could play with real ping more often...visitors can't see pics , please register or login
The REAL trick is
completely disregarding when they start the attack. You start your attack (to chamber) when their weapon is going to HIT you. NOT when they start the attack. If you need time to react at first, that is normal, just try starting the attack later and later in their animation. As your muscle memory adapts to animation cues, you can get faster and faster at chambering (in other words, chambering later and later in their animation, as far as your reaction goes). Eventually you can chamber held attacks reliably.
Held overhead and thrust attacks are the only way to learn to chamber those IMO. As in, you should never chamber an overhead or thrust based on when it starts, they give you soooo much time to react after the point of holds being released, int he animation. Have somebody hold a thrust at you with a pike, and chamber it when they release it, then progress to faster weapons. It is super easy to pick it up that way.
other HUGE HUGE HUGE hint: Your footwork. As soon as you see them pulling their weapon back, let's say, to the left side --: begin stepping to the right. Not chambering yet. Not blocking or anything, just moving away from their attack, giving you more time to chamber. or, giving you time to properly position yourself, THEN chamber.
Moving with the direction they are swinging is the single handed most important thing to picking up chambers. Not doing it is the most common error among people learning. It can double the amount of time you have to react to their attack.