What counters horse archery?

[Akavirius]

Hello.

I am wondering what builds can counter HA effectively. Because I'm having a hard time fighting those two guys on EU1. You know ;) Smurf_Niluk and ThatOtherPieceOfShit, literally   (I can't remember his name but it sounds similar). I know they are very skilled with a lot of experience (unlike me) and probably have masterwork-everything (unlike me).

What doesn't work:
 - Inf without shield can't do much, will take arrows until dead
 - Inf shielders (1h or polearm) : With shield up =>bump-stunned (lowers shield) then arrowed ; Trying to counter-attack =>arrow-stunned (stops attack) then bumped
 - Melee cav works i guess, but like inf, I usually take an arrow mid-swing.

What may work:
 - Foot archers, crossbows?
 - Another horse archer.
 - Thrower and shield.
 - Teamwork and formations.

This is not a Chamber-Of-Tear-nerf-everything-buff-2h thread. I'm not asking for a HA nerf. I would like your advice on the best way to defeat horse archers.

Thank you

[Macropus]

Basically - all ranged, shields, flags ("Master of the field"), and occasionaly melee cavalry.
As a shielder you should be glad if HA comes close e.nough to bump you. HAs can't shoot on their right side, so what you do is sidestep to your left and make right-to-left swing aiming at the horse's feet. It's not easy for HA to do this bumpshot thing if you counterattack while also dodging his horse.

[Teeth]

Just spec an horse archer and continously harrass other horse archers. Go full anti low armour build with Tatar Arrows and aim for the horse only if they use weaker ones. This will greatly diminish their effectiveness and piss them off. They are forced to shoot you first or get their horse killed, so in any case you diminish their ability to shoot your team and if you kill their horse, they are fucked. If you have little faith in your ability to win horse archer duels, then just stay at range as much as you can, but never stop harassing the cunts. Force him to pay constant attention to you.

I played some today and there were 25 players on EU 1 of which 3 were horse archers. After about 6 rounds of me doing this, they had left. You should only shoot horse ranged until they are dead, and then just bumpslash the enemy. You want to reduce the strain on the server of horse ranged, so if you go ahead and be horse ranged yourself, then you become the problem. If I play and horse archers come on, I am just gonna do this, it is quite satisfying to see their effectivity drop and watch them leave.

[Sandersson Jankins]

FIGHT CANCER WITH CANCER

nah but for real I always think the best way to eliminate HA is to have a +3 arbalest and hide in the back; you get 1-2 shots on the horse with decent speed bonus and he's rightfully fucked. Course, if he realizes what you're trying to do and focuses you without any teammates to help you out you're up dick creek without a condom or lube.

[Phew]

No firsthand experience, but I imagine throwing with 2 stacks of Throwing Lances and a buckler would do the job (you'd need high shield skill for the buckler to provide enough coverage, but as long as you were facing them, it would work fine). Throwing isn't very accurate, but just keep retrieving your lances and switch to melee mode if they try to bump you (melee throwing lance rears horses I believe).

Would be a fun STF at least, I might try it myself.

[Utrakil]

Sadly since they nerfed the speedbonus throwing isn't good for cavhunting anymore.
But hopefully the comming patch will solve the HA problem.

[Algarn]

I know who is TheOtherPieceofShit, won't give names. Actually, he's vulnerable to two things : ranged, and backstabbs. As he's lightly equipped, 2/3 ranged players can kill him easily, despite it will be hard.

[Phew]

Sadly since they nerfed the speedbonus throwing isn't good for cavhunting anymore.
But hopefully the comming patch will solve the HA problem.

Didn't throwing lances get "Bonus vs. Cavalry"?

[Sandersson Jankins]

Throwing lances are great for cavalry that is coming straight for you, or even close to you, but an HA that had you as his or her intended prey can just dance around outside of your range and pepper your ass with arrows. I'd certainly prefer a big ole' crossbow to blast their bitch-asses with from way far away.

[Phew]

Throwing lances are great for cavalry that is coming straight for you, or even close to you, but an HA that had you as his or her intended prey can just dance around outside of your range and pepper your ass with arrows. I'd certainly prefer a big ole' crossbow to blast their bitch-asses with from way far away.

Well, in that case the build I mentioned (throwing lances+buckler) would at worst be in a stalemate vs. a horse archer, because they couldn't hit you through the buckler if you were facing them, assuming 5+ shield skill.

If the HA attacks you head on or tries to bump, you win. If they stay at range, they can't hurt you. But they can't beat you directly unless you are preoccupied/unaware, but every class will beat any other class if they are unaware.

An arb is indeed more effective at horse killing, but you have to rely on terrain for defense. The lance thrower with a buckler can stand in an open field.

[Erzengel]

Bans for delaying counter them quite well. 

[Johammeth]

Dignity.

[Phew]

Dignity.

/thread

[WITCHCRAFT]

If you carry a crossbow and choose your position carefully, you can take down lots of cav (ranged or otherwise) with no danger to yourself. Good firing positions make all the difference. The HA will barely (if at all) notice you as they fire at targets out in the open.

With a crossbow +3 and bolts +3 (not arbalest or steel bolts) I have killed multiple horses per round and gotten valor because of it. Lower repair cost and less WPF investment is a plus too.

[Mallets]

0.4.0.0