How can a Below Average Player Fit In?

[Breidr]

I have two gens as a shielder under my belt, and it's alright.  I have my good maps and my bad maps.  I just play this for fun, so I don't worry myself with things like K/D and such, but I would like to look into things I can do differently.  Last gen I was 21/15, this gen I'm going to try 18/18.  Almost at 30 again and I find myself hitting a wall.

I'm currently using a fighting pick and doing my best to keep up blocks and take some shots, but when I fight two-handers, they seem lightning fast compared to me, than can just swing swing swing and there's not much that I can seem to do about it.  I'm half tempted to try one next, but I doubt I could get the same results.

My question is, what are my options here?

The way I see it, I could continue playing a shielder, and hope I'm not too dense to learn how to play, or try a two-handed weapon or polearm.  The only other experience I have with this type of game is Napoleonic Wars, but that doesn't have shields, or accurate ranged really, otherwise I would just embrace the polearm.  As it stands, NA 1 here is a whole different animal. but I'm not saying that's a bad thing.

I try and play this mod for fun and am not a very competitive individual.  I just hand out on TS and play battle until they yank me over to populate siege.  This is the only mod I have found the public servers entertaining on, and I'd like to continue playing, I guess I just need to figure out where I can fit into all this and not just be a statistic.  Right now I like my shield, and I will admit it might be a little bit of a crutch, having an auto-block is nice, and helps against the higher skilled players I'm encountering here.  You'd be surprised how often down spam works in NW. 

I guess I'll just keep accummulating gold and loom points until I figure out what I want to specialize in.  Two-Handed fighters seem to be harder and I could just see myself getting stomped even more than I am now.  I thought a shielder would be the most forgiving way to fight in this mod.  Is that true, or am I making it harder on myself?  I just want to have some fun and not get dominated too much.  I can only bide my time an accummulate resources for so long.  It's what's sustaining me right now even though I'm getting rolled a lot, and when I do land a kill, it's satisfying, which is what keeps me playing.  Eventually, however, I'd like to convert that wealth into something, but don't want to get deep into something I'm not good at., so I'm kind of stuck.

How does a below average player fit into public battles? Is there a recommended path to strive for?  I play exclusively on the NA public servers, and am not organized in any way really.  My equipment is mostly based on what I thought looked cool and it's one of the things I like about cRPG.  I'm just stuck in that "I suck" phase, and when you're me, it's hard to go from that to the "I don't suck that bad" phase, especially with my problems and reflexes.

[Thryn]

I'm sorry, I haven't read it all the way through, but if I were you, I'd find a nice guy to give you some pointers on how to get better. Take everything constructively, and go and practice what you learn.

You learn by identifying your mistakes and working to prevent them from reoccurring. A ton of practice has to go in order to rack up kills effectively, but the easy-to-learn yet hard-to-master combat system is the jewel of M&B (and is better than any other melee game).

Everything you put into getting better usually comes back out positively.

[Breidr]

Maybe you're right, I could always ditch the shield for a gen and see how things go, after trying things out on my STF character while I level this gen.  I could retire and try 2H next gen, maybe the change will do me good.

Where would you recommend a new 2H player start?  I've heard AG builds are better, but I don't know enough to back that up.  I also don't know how much more armor to put on now that I don't have my shield.  Let's face it, I don't know much at all. 

[Thryn]

24/15, you're too slow so it forces you to block, and you can take a ton of damage when you mess up.

[Breidr]

24/15, you're too slow so it forces you to block, and you can take a ton of damage when you mess up.

What gear would you recommend I pair with that.  Right now I'm wearing Heraldic Mail, and similar difficulty on my legs and head, as well as some mail mittens.  Should I up the armor a bit, and what weapons would you recommend?

[Thryn]

What gear would you recommend I pair with that.  Right now I'm wearing Heraldic Mail, and similar difficulty on my legs and head, as well as some mail mittens.  Should I up the armor a bit, and what weapons would you recommend?

I assume you're going full IF, so don't get ultra heavy gear (i'd say at most about 14.0 kg)

Annnnnnnnnnnnd any 2h, probably longsword or great sword or whatever tickles your fancy

[korppis]

How does a below average player fit into public battles? Is there a recommended path to strive for?  I play exclusively on the NA public servers, and am not organized in any way really.  My equipment is mostly based on what I thought looked cool and it's one of the things I like about cRPG.  I'm just stuck in that "I suck" phase, and when you're me, it's hard to go from that to the "I don't suck that bad" phase, especially with my problems and reflexes.

Go for backstabs. Stay near to friends and try to spot opportunities to sneak in sure hits while the enemy is concentrating on someone else. You can get good amount of kills if you pick your fights carefully.

For 1vs1 the duel server is pretty much only place to practice. Footwork might help against spammy 2h/poles if you have enough athletics. For low armor guys I'd suggest trying to keep the guy to your left and sneak in fast left swings with some fast sword, and heavier armor guys with blunt weapon or keep some distance and try poke a stab. Timing is important tho and takes a lot of practice. Also if you can block manually, see if it goes better 1 vs 1 without shield since those slow you down.

[Dergol]

As a shielder myself with a similar build I recommend a Long Arming Sword or Nordic Champion Sword.

2h spammers usually takes one step back whilst swinging, keep your distance and use the right swing. Be patient and let them come to you.

[Switchtense]

I personally would not try to avoid combat as Sin said.

I know it is very frustrating to keep dying to the veterans, but the only way to get better is to practice. A mentioned you can either do that on NA3 duelling people, or when you are on NA1 to fight somebody when you see them.

I came to cRPG not having played any Native at all, so literally the only thing I knew was that WASD makes you move, left click makes you attack and right click makes you block.
Getting good at footwork, getting swing timing right and blocking manually took a long time for me to learn. (I am still far from being good)

But the good thing is, you really notice how you are getting better. Today you get slaughtered, tomorrow you get one or two hits in before dying. And the next day you suddenly get a kill. That is, at least in my opinion, far more rewarding than constantly just trying to go the sneaky way backstabbing people.

But either way works, whichever you feel more comfortable with and eventually choose is completely up to you.

[no_rules_just_play]

I assume you're going full IF, so don't get ultra heavy gear (i'd say at most about 14.0 kg)

Annnnnnnnnnnnd any 2h, probably longsword or great sword or whatever tickles your fancy

Wut? IF is a waste if you don't go heavy gear!

[Teeth]

Since you seem to have already decided to stick around you should probably just bite the bullet and learn to do decent manual blocking. I think the best way to start with this is launching the Native tutorial and block the bots that are standing around somewhere there. Put combat speed to slowest in the options and start with the novice trainer. Move on to the next difficulty trainer when you can block 10 times without a single failure, when you pass the last difficulty trainer, put the combat speed to one higher and repeat. At least up unto normal speed, could go to faster and fastest though. Try to move around while blocking after a while, and try to attack back sometimes, but focus on your defense. If you go through this procedure you will most likely develop the muscle memory required for blocking in the space of 1-3 hours.

Learning to block as a shielder is still useful as your shield can break, but more importantly it helps you understand the combat, allowing you to be better at attacking manual blockers as well. From there on out getting better is all about analyzing why you died and trying to think of a way to prevent it next time. Also watch other shielders or players in general play and try to understand how they deal with the problems you encounter.

For some very first practical advice on your difficulty with twohanders, make sure you click attack right after you hear the blocking noise. The windows are small, you have an advantage because the other guy is stunned after he gets blocked, but wait like 100 ms and your advantage is well gone. I believe some players even attack slightly before the block, as shield blocking is slower and thus sticks a little, I do not recommend this to an average player. Make sure your weapon does not have to travel too far to hit, which severely slows your attack down and giving room for counterattacks. You should pick your attack based on your camera positioning. Look at how the left and the right attack work and use them accordingly. If you do a right swing and your enemy is to the left of the center of your screen, your attack needs to travel way too far. Lastly, the fast twohanders can often attack too fast to do an attack within due to footwork, so called hiltslashing, so sometimes you will have to block twice.

In case you don't want or cannot improve, the below average player should probably stick with people he recognized as capable players and fight with them. If you can't play well, you should at least play smart. Help out your team, they will surpress the ability of enemies to attack, making it easier to get hits in.

[Switchtense]

If you would like to, you could pop into the Frisian TS.

We usually have a group of bros hanging around that could give you some tips and pointers.

frisianfаggоts.typefrag.com Replace the two "K"s with "a"s, the forum censors that word to "bundle of sticks"

FTFY

But do not copy and paste this into your teamspeak IP field. Will not work. Just type it yourself.

[Grumbs]

Some good tips here. I'd definitely learn to play 2 hander or polearm so you know how to play against them with a shield. Go on the duel server and try to find people at your skill level or a little higher (look at their K/D on the scoreboard or say you're a newbie that wants to practice)

There are windows when you can make an attack with a 1 hander even if someone is spamming you. You just need to get the timing right, and position so your swing can hit faster than his. People often choose their attack direction based on your position to them or it might depend on which attack direction they did last if they're spamming. If you know someone will likely do a right swing then move to his left and do a left swing of your own - his swing will take longer to reach you and yours will hit faster.

As 2 hand or polearm, start with getting basic attacks in. Most of doing well comes down to defence imo - learn to block, keep an eye on your surroundings and don't get outnumbered (bind the look key to something easy to reach like a button near your thumb), learn when you don't have a usable attack window and need to block again. Oh and learn to hold the block. This is maybe the easiest way to get yourself killed as a newbie - don't get tricked by people holding attacks or switching direction. Just hold the correct block direction until you hear the clash, then make a simple attack of your own if you have time to. The fancy stuff can come later. Learning about attack windows and how to move to maximise them will help a lot

Reading about it might give some pointers but you really just need to practice and find out what doesn't work. Half the fun when you're a newbie is seeing were you went wrong then trying to do better next time

[Grumpy_Nic]

15/21 is nice as shielder vs 2h and polearms. In emergencies you can also escape.
What else is being great as shielder.... NUDGE! Omg its so great tossing people around, learn to use it in 1vs1 (timing!) and in group fights, great to drop an enemies block and have your teammates cut his head off. Or use nudge to throw people down from towers or whatever.

Provide cover vs ranged, protect your own ranged (good for multi).

[Turkhammer]

  Right now I like my shield, and I will admit it might be a little bit of a crutch, having an auto-block is nice, and helps against the higher skilled players I'm encountering here.  You'd be surprised how often down spam works in NW. 

Wut?