New to the mod, how do I not suck?

[Varadin]

Join Grey Order , and i will teach you a secret way to be best like me   

[Verore]

Except I'm from NA . EU servers give me ~120 ping which gives noticeable delays

[Qoray]

get a 2h and 24/15 build with flamberge and longsword and u'll be fine

[Hydro]

In my experience fastest way to improve is the following:
First start of practicing on the native client on a duel server vs. bots. This is the fastest way to get the blocking and attacking down. Just stand still and try to block all the hits of the bots. When you can do this, start moving while doing it. Then start swinging back.
Once you can do this, go on the duelling server and start practicing vs. real players, it will be hard but if you keep at it you'll improve fast.

[Penitent]

In my experience fastest way to improve is the following:
First start of practicing on the native client on a duel server vs. bots. This is the fastest way to get the blocking and attacking down. Just stand still and try to block all the hits of the bots. When you can do this, start moving while doing it. Then start swinging back.
Once you can do this, go on the duelling server and start practicing vs. real players, it will be hard but if you keep at it you'll improve fast.

I forgot about this.  This actually helped me the most when I first began playing.

[Sandersson Jankins]

As I always say on these threads, if you're playing NA_1 or EU_1, after you die, try to restrain yourself from going and actually having fun watching silly shit on youtube, pleasuring yourself, or enjoying some social network. Watch an experienced player that you think kicks ass, and imitate them. Pretend you ARE them. I didn't go on any sort of native server or do anything like that. I made friends with good players and imitated them; perhaps sometimes dueling with them to improve. I'm not saying that is the superior method of improving, but it is what I did. I feel that it worked well for me. I don't dig fighting AI/bots so much, so I took another route.

Just consider it.

[Patoson]

If by "after 30 hours of single player" you mean you bought the game before that, then it's natural. The game is a bit hard to learn and takes some time, but don't worry; you'll get there, just like we all have.

My suggestion is never touch the Respec button and, even if you don't like your build, just keep going until level 31 and then retire. This mod is all about heirloomed items and levelling up, and, the higher your generation (it's 1 when you start), the faster you will level up. So, at the beginning, it's better to wait until retirement and then you can change your build since you start from level 1 all over again, while getting generation and heirloom points.

You should play DTV (Defend The Virgin), since it's coop (players vs bots), and it's generally easier than fighting other players (because the majority here are "veterans"), and fun too!

[Life]

Here ya go, buddy! 
http://forum.melee.org/general-discussion/h0w-to-b3-g00d-w1th-free-downl0ad/

[Screaming Idiot]

Go for one of the bastard weapons (Bastard Sword, Heavy Bastard Sword, and Longsword) for your first gen. These swords are extremely versatile, reliable, and efficient regarding most situations. Fast but strong, long but not too much. Don't listen too much to other vets raging about them ('cause at this point they've seen enough of it) as you can greatly improve all aspects of your abilities (footwork, feinting, dueling, team support, etc) with the bastard weapons as they shine on every one of said aspects.

Singleplayer Native isn't very good for learning the ropes of the complex combat systems of cRPG due to the fact that your character can become OP very easily and that usually there are a few hundred troops and one or two OP shields/super fast horses/masterwork armor/low damage settings protecting you from any significant harm (or at all).
Also, look at some of the build threads so you know how to min/max your stats.

Two things stand in your path to success: The obstacles before you, or your will to fight. Which one will fall first?

[Penitent]

Oooo, I forgot about another great tip that helped me when I first started.  I can't find the original post, but it was quite long.

Basically, combat kind of goes in "turns."  If someone attacks you, you block.  Then it's your "turn" to strike.  If you attack and they block you, it's their turn, so prepare to block.  If you hit them, you can swing again.

HOWEVER, if you have good footwork, a very fast/slow weapon, a very long/short weapon, use kicks or nudges -- you can "skip" a "turn" and either strike again or be struck.

As a most basic principle though, thinking of it this way helped my combat skills a lot.  I can start thinking like:
"Ok, I blocked his attack, it's pretty safe to swing now." or "He blocked me, but I moved around to the side of him so I can attack again and spam him."

Good luck!

[Teeth]

Lvl 17, 13/9 hoplite day on EU1 or 2 without any looms or clan banner. You may not level up during this day (well you cant stop lvling, but you cant spend any wpf, skill or attribute points beyond level 17) and must take screens of your position on the scoreboard after every round with approximate time.

I'm sure someone will have the patience to review this and then inform us if you have passed your challenge.

I just rolled STF and just picked the same build for convenience. Played two full consecutive maps on siege this afternoon and took a screen of every round, mostly only after the round ended to the teams have gotten switched around usually. Terrible session circumstances wise, but relative to my teammates I think I did alright. On the defending team it is easy as pie, against a stack where most of the players have 65+ body armour it's pretty hard.

Build

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Gear, all unloomed

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First map

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Round 1. Defending team

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Round 2. Defending team with Grey stack

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Round 3. Attacking team, turns out you literally can't do anything against Great Mauls. Varadin and JokeeQ both had one and stood at the doors.

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Second map

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Round 1. Defending team, lost very quickly

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Round 2. Attacking against Grey stack

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Round 3. Attacking

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Round 4. Attacking team, so I ended up second, teams got shuffled around before I could take the screen.

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[Teeth]

Taking you at your word that nothing changed between map 1 and map 2 consider me impressed. Map 2 was more the sorts of results i was expecting, if map 1 was the same build and gear i am very impressed by that K/D. Now do it on EU1

Tssk K/D, map 2 is a better performance than map 1. Support polearming is all about the points. It's just that attacking sucks as a hoplite, even if you are level 35. Defending team allows you to play careful and nearly always surrounded by teammates, attacking means you have to charge through doors or up ladders with 4 defenders on the other side. Playing Siege as a level 17 hoplite is fun, but playing battle is fairly masochistic, can't keep up with all the circling.

[Penitent]

Playing Siege as a level 17 hoplite is fun, but playing battle is fairly masochistic

This is a general Crpg truism for all to know.

OH SNAP I JUST WENT THERE

[Verore]

Doing pretty well now. I just have to remember to stick with my team more .

@Screaming Idiot : I can't PM yet, I assume I need some more posts before that. Do you have skype, ts3 or something so we can coordinate times?

[Screaming Idiot]

Doing pretty well now. I just have to remember to stick with my team more .

@Screaming Idiot : I can't PM yet, I assume I need some more posts before that. Do you have skype, ts3 or something so we can coordinate times?

Contact me through Steam.