This guide is not very up to date. The tactics still apply, but for the character build, note this: Weapon Master skill is currently not that important, if you choose one of the faster weapons. This means you can either go for a 21/18 build and wear a bit more armor, or stick with the 24/15 build and put some or all of the points into Iron Flesh instead of Weapon Master.
Also, a new build has become very popular that is more agi focused, better armored and uses the fast, short weapons with high damage, like the steel pick. Note that it's currently mostly experienced players with already triple loomed weapons, who use those builds, but feel free to give one of the following a try: 15/21, 15/24, 12/24, 12/27.We already have an excellent defensive shielder guide. Now, I've rolled 1h + shield after having played 2h or pole for a long time, so I thought I'd write down my impressions. This, with the help of other 1h + shield players, shall become an offensive shielder guide.
First of all,
don't get frustrated if you can't get an even K/D before level 25. Maybe it was my inexperience with sword and board or the fact I was using heavier armor at first, but I was pretty much useless before that level. As a 2h, I can usually "break even" at levels 12 - 15, so it's not just because I'm a bad player.
CHARACTERNow,
for 1h and shield, it is important to have enough speed, both movement and swing speed. You don't want to get circled by 2h/pole, you have to keep up with backpedaling agi spammers and you obviously need the swing speed to get a hit or two in from time to time, or your shield will break, and you will be reduced to a handicapped 2h build (manual blocking with shorter reach, lighter weapon and lower damage).
I recommend
15 AGI with 5 Shield, 5 Athletics and 5 Weaponmaster. Now this might sound a bit low, considering I just talked about how important speed is. The reason why these values still make you fast enough is because I also recommend fighting with light gear, not more than 15-16kg (including shield and weapon).
Don't rely on armor, your shield is your armor. If you want to wear the same armor as 2h or pole players, you need more AGI than them, because the extra weight of your shield slows you down. I think this is the most important thing for 1h and shield characters.
15 AGI also means you can go rather high in strength. I use 24 STR and 8 Powerstrike. This adds enough extra HP without IF that I usually don't die in 1 hit. It also means my own hits will hurt quite a lot.
It's important to have high damage on an offensive character. With 8 PS I can 2-hit kill most anyone with backhand blows to the head, and often I only need 1 hit. It also reduces the chance of glancing blows, which are a death sentence otherwise.
Character build
Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)
Strength: 24
Agility: 15
Hit points: 59
Skills to attributes: 8
Ironflesh: 0
Power Strike: 8
Shield: 5
Athletics: 5
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 5
One Handed: 146
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 1
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 1Variation build by Aemaelius and firmitas
Level 30 (4 420 577 xp)
Strength: 21
Agility: 15
Hit points: 70
Skills to attributes: 2
Ironflesh: 7
Power Strike: 7
Shield: 5
Athletics: 5
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 0
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 5
One Handed: 146
Two Handed: 1
Polearm: 1
Archery: 1
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 1This build should help you survive a bit, while sacrificing a little offensive power. You have 70 HP instead of 59, which means you probably won't ever be killed in one blow (except from headshots, of course). The decreased strength also means
you can carry less, though, so you must tweak your equipment further to find the new sweetspot. Personally I don't like this build so much, as in my opinion, the increased HP doesn't help in a lot of situations, because if you get hit once, you are probably already in a situation where they will kill you anyway (because someone surprised you, or they circled you). It might help a bit against archers who got on your side, though. Or against friendly fire. In general,
your shield should take all the damage, and you, none.
EQUIPMENTI already wrote about the light armor I use. It consists of a Skullcap, Padded Jack, Leather Gloves and Leather Boots. I also have a set of slightly heavier armor consisting of Mail Coif, White Tunic Over Mail, Mail Mittens and Mail Chausses, but it already slows me down considerably. I rarely use it.
As a shield, I use a
Heavy Heater Shield. This is mostly because I think it looks cool. You could actually go with a lighter shield like the
Knightly Kite,
Knightly Heater or
Elite Cavalry Shield. Or you could use a
Huscarl's Shield for the better coverage.
Norman shields also have quite good stats, if you can live with the look. I find that all those shields last long enough against non-axe weapons. If an axer heads your way, you have to put your shield on your back anyway, unless you use the Steel or Heavy Board Shield with more than 5 Shield skill. But then you'd better read the defensive shielder guide.
Now for weapons I use either a Knightly Arming Sword or a Military Pick.
There are many good swords, some actually better than my choice, but I prefer European-style swords. Some less obvious choices include the
Military Cleaver,
Shashka and
Arabian Cavalry Sword. Some of those swords do not have stabs, which can be a pro or a con, depending on how good you are at controlling your swings. You see, an accidental stab when you are close to someone will probably kill you, because the stab takes a long time to recover from, if you bounce on their armor. And you will bounce with stab close on almost every time, unless you know what you're doing. That's why some players fight exclusively with stab-less weapons like the
Scimitar and Elite Scimitar.As for non-sword weapons, I can recommed the
Military Pick, the
(Broad) One Handed Battle Axe and the
Military Hammer. The pick has very good damage against armored targets, the axe is excellent at destroying shields and the hammer has knockdown, which can get you a free follow-up hit. If you feel the Military Hammer is too slow for you, use an
Iberian Mace. Of course, since 1h weapons are only 1 slot, you can carry multiple, e.g. an axe with high cut and bonus against shield and a hammer with good armor penetration. Just play around with different loadouts and see what weight still works for you.
I know a lot of 1h players use the
Steel Pick or
Warhammer. In my opininon,
these weapons are too short. It means you either miss swings (which will kill you), or you will have to constantly push into your enemy (which reduces your battle awareness). Another disadvantage of short weapons is the fact that against fast opponents, even if you constantly try to facehug them, they will evade far enough to strike twice, before you are in reach again, which means your shield will take more hits and break faster.
I tried to use them for extended periods of time, but I was simply not as effective as with longer weapons. It is worth to try them, though, since your mileage might vary, and they do a lot of damage, especially if loomed. For me,
70cm was the absolutely shortest length I could be effective with (wait for incoming
penis jokes).
Heirlooming is pretty important for all 1h weapons, because their damage levels are located around the 2-hit falloff. A MW might make the difference between 3-hitting or 2-hitting most enemies. Check it in the cRPG damage calculator, 24 str, 8 PS, 140 WPF, 30-37 cut against 40-45 armor. It varies around 50-65 damage in two hits on average (for cut damage):
http://infinitum.dyndns.org/crpg/calc.htmAs a side arm, you can consider a
crossbow with steel bolts. They can still be fairly useful, especially on siege, even with no WPF invested. I recommend against sacrificing 1h WPF, though, because if you go much below 130, katana spammers might start to get a hit in before your return strike after you blocked.
Another helpful sidearm, especially for cav maps, is a
pike or other form of spear. If you use the pike or similarly long spears, note that they can't be sheathed, so your character will drop them, when you switch to the shield + 1h weapon.
Any sidearm means additional weight, which slows you down. Either drop it before heading into melee, or adjust your equipment to the point you still feel fast enough with it on your back.
Equipment
Armor: Anything below 7-10 kg (all 4 armor pieces), go for style, not protection
Shield: Knightly Kite/Heater, Heavy Kite/Heater, Elite Cavalry, Huscarl's or the (Heavy) Norman Shields
Sword: Knightly Arming, Nordic Champion's, Elite Scimitar, Scimitar, Arabian Cavalry, Military Cleaver, Shashka, many more choices
Other Weapons: Military Pick, (Broad) One Handed Battle Axe, Military Hammer or Iberian Mace
TACTICSNow, some tactics for shielders:
- Remember, you have an autoblock: use it. Push into enemy formations like a battering ram, run circles among them and let your allies strike their confused backsides. You might die in the process, but this tactic actually wins battles. You can also protect other team mates, e.g. when they are hacking a door down. Remember to jump, when the archer is located on higher ground, or you won't catch the arrow.
- Keep moving. Especially in tight situations, if you keep moving, those guys in the second row doing overheads with their long weapons will not be able to hit you, if you move around. Change direction abruptly and frequently, don't run regular circles, or they will predict your position.
- Bump those pesky ranged. If you run into ranged opponents with your shield up, you will bump them and they will stagger, unable to shoot. Don't try to hit them before the bump, or they might get a shot off, straight in your face.
- Don't fall for feints. Good 2h/pole players will try to get you into rythm, then break it by feinting. Before you have learnt to abort your own swings midair, only swing back when you hear the hit on your shield.
- Don't get circled. Even in 1 vs 1 situations, 2h/pole and other shielders will try to circle you. If you don't use a Huscarl's Shield, your sides will not be well protected, and if you don't pay attention, they will simply strike past your shield.
- Be wary of the kick. Expert players will try to kickslash you. You can avoid this by always strafing a little. Even if you run up to someone, just before you reach him, start moving to either side a little. Not only will you be able to avoid the kick, you might even get enough to one side to get a hit in.
- Backpedal and sidestep. Against aggressive players, especially steel pick users, at first backpedal. Then suddenly start moving forward and also strafe to one side. You will often be able to get on their side enough so their shield doesn't protect them anymore. It's like Judo, turn their force to their disadvantage.
- Always attack the unaware player in the second row. If two or more players attack you, backpedal. They will try to circle you, but since you are fast enough, you can evade them by sidestepping while backpedaling. If you do so, one player will continue to hit your shield, while the other will be out of reach for a while. Wait for a hit on your shield, then start pushing forward through the gap between them and strike at the player who was previously out of reach. This works 90% of the time and you will even be able to do it multiple times against the same set of enemies. Immediately after having struck at the farther opponent, turn around and restart the backpedaling.
- Vary your swings. Be patient. Even expert blockers will miss a block eventually, if you vary your swings. Of course, this only works in 1 vs 1 against non-axers. If you do get a hit in, try a follow-up hit immediately. It works more often than not, especially if you follow up with a different swing.
- Use feints yourself. Especially against other shielders. The block-swing-block rythm can lull your opponents. Try to break it with your own feints. Against non-shielders, backhand feint -> overhead works very well. In general, most players can't block overheads as well as side swings. Another good feint/move is to strike at thin air on purpose and follow it up with a second swing immediately. Many players are ready to block your first swing, then are surprised that you missed and will try a delayed return swing. It's a bit risky though, especially against spammers who never block anyway. They will just mow you down.
- Keep the pressure up. If you are outnumbering your opponents, constantly push into your enemy with your shield. Don't strike. Focus on blocking the attacks of your enemy, while your allies circle him. After the first one of your allies has hit home, spam your opponent into the ground.
- Never let your allies down. Non-shielders rely on you. If you are engaged with an enemy, they will count on you continuing to block his swings and will let their guard down in order to gain more offensive power (also called spam). Don't stop blocking your enemy until he is down. If you retreat only for a sec, he will take the chance to slash at your allies. They will hate you for it.
- Know your different swings. The backhand slash has the shortest reach, but a high chance to hit the head. It also almost hits immediately, if you strafe your opponent on the right. The overhead slash obviously has the highest chance to hit the head. Use it against opponents without helmet, and you will be able to kill them in one blow. The side swing has a surprising reach, but it's kind of slow and has a high chance to bounce, if it is not perfectly aimed. If you use one of the longer swords, you might be able to surprise the shorter 2h users with its reach. The stab has an own section below.
- If you wield a sword with stab, make use of it. The stab can be a good duel starter. Most 2h/pole will expect you to block their first swing, so with good timing, you can get a stab in. You can also try to get even more reach by jumping before the stab. This way you might also hit their head more easily, which often results in a 1-hit kill. A stab in general is a risky move, though, because if not properly timed, it has a high chance of glancing off. Close on, you have to start the stab looking away from the enemy 90° to either side, then turn and guide the stab into their body. It works like when some piker stabs you at face distance, which means guiding the stab into their feet will lower the chance of glancing further.
- Don't unlearn your manual block. If you are in a duel against a mediocre player, it can be good training to put the shield on your back. You must be able to manual block, even as a shielder. Your shield will not help against axers, and even against regular 2h/pole, it will break eventually, so you better be able to block manually.
- Cav is your weakness. You only have short weapons, and you wear light armor. On a cav map, try to group up with spearmen. You can actually play the blind fool and attract them, then when they get close, turn around and run past the spearman, so they will impale themselves on his long stick. But if you are alone, or with other fellows of the same build, you will die. Even their bumps will hurt you. You can try to carry a light spear, but yeah, it's additional weight. Or you could carry a pike and drop it before you go into melee against infantry. You can drop lighter spears, too, of course.
So, that's it for me. I'm sure more veteran shield players have different opinions and more tips for offensive shielders, so I'm looking forward to hearing of them. As a conclusion, I want to repeat the most important thing I learnt as a shielder:
Your shield is your armor. And don't forget that it's also a weapon. There is nothing more pathetic than timid shielders.Thanks to Camaris for mentioning the Scimitars, I always forget them, because I don't like the look of them.
Thanks to Fluffy_Muffin for noticing the mixup of WPF.
Thanks to Aemaelius and firmitas for the suggestion of the 21/15 build.
Thanks to Spawny for mentioning the weakness against cav.
Thanks to Mala for mentioning the possibility of carrying a spear against cav.
Thanks to Aemaelius for mentioning the crossbow possibility as sidearm.
Thanks to rustyspoon and Trikipum for various helpful contributions.
Thanks to Rhygar666 for mentioning another disadvantage of short weapons.
Thanks to SgtTeeth for formatting advice.
Thanks to dangah for mentioning how bumpalicious shields are.
