one hit kills kills the fun

[Bryggan]

I'm  a first gen lvl 3o with a crappy build.  Still, if I'm not on my game I make one mistake and I get killed in one hit.  I'm 18/18, with a kuyak and novogorad helm, mail mittens and splinted leather boots.  I do okay, as in equal K/D rate in small (25-) battles, but die damned quick in bigger battles.  One hit with a good 2 hander or pole arm kills me.  While I realize my build is not optimal, and I don't have crazy skills, I should be able to withstand one hit.  I may be a little cranky cuz I tend to find myself stuck between two two hander tin cans right at the begining of every battle (it seems).  They dance around me and one takes me in the back of the skull and I'm down.  Realistic I suppose, but not fun.  Waiting four minutes between deaths with zero kills due to a single misjudgement hurts.  I'm not saying nerf anything, just perhaps lower the damage all around.  After all, we all play to hit each other and more game play all around may be a good thing.

[Joseph]

Go for an Iron Flesh build until you are good enough to go back to an agility build.

[Bryggan]

I admit I skipped the iron flesh, having only played single player before CRPG.  I guess its a lot better than I surmised.

[MountedRhader]

Yeah Ironflesh actually really helps

[Paul]

One reason for possible 1hits is the high randomisation in the damage vs. armor calculation. The armor takes a randomised value between 50% and 100% of its showed value. So if you are unlucky, you will only "roll" 50% armor. Actually their are 2 dice rolls - one for armor soak and one for armor reduce. So if you are very unlucky you get the 50% roll twice, resulting in massive damage. The (raw) damage before the armor calculation is randomised too but only between 90%-100%.

Once we can use WSE, I'd like to lower the randomisation and maybe reduce the armor roll to a value between 80%-90%. This would be an effective armor buff because now the average is about 75% armor and it would make hits less luck dependant. I think all the different damage influencing parameters like speed bonus, sweetspot position, holding the weapon in ready position, etc. makes the damage diverse enough. No need for a high randomisation due dice roll.

For now my suggested change to soak and reduce will lower high damage a bit with the reduce buff. It is not a big change but it will especially cut the maximum damage by a couple of points, resulting on average in less 1 or 2 hit deaths for heavily armored players.

[Tzar]

Get some iron flesh 

[Bulzur]

Hits in/on the head really hurts.
It happens. But with an 18/18 build and such armor, if you die to 1 hit it's to a 7-9 PS monster who slashed you in the face.

On big battles, if you find yourself dying too quickly, don't stay with the main group. Try usefull flanking, or delayed attacks. If you wait long enough, it will be a 30 vs 25 battle soon enough for you to join (30 for your opponents since you weren't here for the first 25 kills and they maybe missed you).

[Digglez]

moving into someones swing = more dmg taken. backpedaling will lessen the dmg

[Duke]

moving into someones swing = more dmg taken. backpedaling will lessen the dmg

Unless it's a long reach weapon like a polearm, then face-hugging might be the way to go.

@ OP
Point is, there's lots of little things you could try to adjust.

[zagibu]

The best suggestion has not yet been posted: don't play battle mode.

[zagibu]

Yeah, strange things happen from time to time. I think it might have to do with some wonky calculations of the speed bonus. For me it usually happens in unusual movement situations, like when one is jumping, or there are height differences, etc.

I don't think it's a cRPG problem, though.

[Mala]

Yeah, i hade this sometimes in native singleplayer, too.
I used my breath and butter attack with the perfect range and wham -80% speed bonus.

[Tavuk_Bey]

one hit kills are the fun, try to block

[Diomedes]

I use 15k worth of gear and generally don't die till later in a round.  I found, after many hours of dying suddenly and without warning, that the trick is to not get into extended fights.  Once you start the tick-tack-tick-tack of close combat you lose the broader senses of where enemy are around you.  This allows other players to sneak up behind you and get solid smashing hits which, even when they don't kill you, they open up your defensive stance for their friends to prey upon.  Now my general strategy is to decline combat until I've some sort of tactical advantage.  This could be a hill, a momentary distraction, or a even teammate (of either side) which can add a little x-factor into the mix. 

It's an odd thing to imagine but I generally do best when fighting 4-6 enemy at once.  Most groups, even if there are one or two exceptionally skilled players in the mix, trip over one another's weapons and find their footwork significantly hampered by their allies. 

TL;DR: stay out of combat till you've got an edge like surprise, terrain, or good company.

[Kenouse]

First of all - the lance do pierce damage....
Second ironflesh helps alot, no reason not to take it imo.
rangers dont need it, melee does