1. BLOCKING- Directional blocking can sometimes reduce 95% of damage, when used correctly. When this happens, it's called a "Parry." The way you do this is by moving in the direction you want to block in. You will still mitigate a little damage if you do not perform a parry. Example: A person is swinging a weapon at you from the right, so you move to the right and block. A tap of the desired movement key should do. Remember, do not only block during a fight. The aggressor will wear you down, and you will lose. In the field, the first sign of an inexperienced combatant is pure defense.

 

2. SWINGING YOUR WEAPON- Like blocking, you can control the direction you swing your weapon in. The dynamics are identical to those of blocking. You can hold ALT to thrust your weapon. Certain armors deflect certain types of damage better than others. It'd be best to learn which these are. You can post in the thread if you have questions. Hold your weapon in place for 2-3 seconds before you swing. Any shorter/longer and you lose a damage bonus.

 

 

1. STAMINA REGENERATION- Stamina regeneration is very important during a fight. Without stamina, you won't be able to do anything, and you'll most certainly die. To do this in a larger battle, back off from the fight a little bit and stay in/behind your allies until your stamina is at a decent level. Block if you need to. Walking with your weapon drawn is one of the fastest ways to regen. your stamina levels. If you are fighting 1v1, play a little more defensively (but not completely; if you see an opening in their defenses, go for it!) and stop sprinting. In any fight, try to keep your stamina above 1/4 to 1/3. When traveling on foot, try to keep it at or above 3/4, and the same goes for traveling on horse. You never know when that stamina will save your life in a fight.

 

2. ARMOR WEIGHT- Armor weight is VERY crucial to being viable in a fight. If the weight of the armor you equip goes over 15, it will not only severely lower your movement speed, but also your stamina regeneration. You'll still be able to get very decent damage mitigation without going over 15 equipment weight. Note: Heavier fighters can use heavier armors, with some practice. Stamina plays a larger role for these fighters. The heavier armors generally provide better protection but inhibit your Stamina Regen abilities and movement speed, while lighter armor barely touches your regen abilities and your speed. Ask some people in-game if they'd be willing to talk about armor with you, or post in this thread! A lot of fighters keep their maximum equip weight (the maximum weight you can equip without becoming encumbered) at 16, so they can use the standard fighting set and their choice weapon. I like to keep mine at 20, so I can wear heavy armor if the need ever arises. The difference is only 40-50 skill points.

 

3. MOVEMENT- Movement in a fight can be the difference between life or death. The key is to dance around your opponent without wasting too much stamina. You'll be able to get around his perfect blocks, and the extra momentum will boost your damage. If you stay still during a fight, you'll go down really quickly. Personally, I always sprint during a fight, unless we're at a "stand off" and regenerating our stam/popping bandages (see below). Zig-zags, circles, and flanks are really effective movement techniques. Running in a straight line at your enemy(s) will put you at a disadvantage. Do not run in a straight line at your opponent, unless your leader is Kuthara. He's really good at that.

 

4. BANDAGES- Take note, boys. With maxed skills, minor bandages can heal you for up to 60. They can be used once every 11-30 seconds after they have healed you, and can only be used when your weapon is not being used. They can be bought at any Utility Vendor. A good method is to toss a bandage on and then charge into a fight (if you do this during a duel, you'll be hated.) If you're in a larger fight and low on health, try to back off and surround yourself with allies before you bandage. Also remember to ask your mages for heals if the time arises. However, using bandages in 1v1 is a bit trickier. This should only be done if you are 20 meters or more away from your target, or if you are fleeing the fight. Always carry at least 150 bandages on you. You'd be surprised how many you use in a day of fighting.

 

 

1. ARMOR MATERIALS- This subject is kind of controversial, and varies with what you want from a fighter character. High end materials that won't lower your stamina regeneration include Plate Scales (Popular and Effective, 15-16 eq. weight with a weapon), Incisium (Popular and Effective, 19-22 eq. weight with a weapon), Flakestone (Rare, Alfie and Gigamo liked to mix in some Draco when we would siege houses ), and maybe Jadeite if you're careful as well. Intermediate materials include Horned Scales and possibly Keeled Scales. Anything lower should only be used for skilling up or PvE. Heavier materials (like Steel, Tungsteel, Cronite) can be used for heavier fighters, if you practice a bit. Your stamina regeneration will be slow, but you'll be able to shrug off hard and fast hits. Learning to fight in heavy armor, and the lightest armor (used mostly by mages) takes quite a bit of practice. Learn how to fight in platescale, and then learn the ropes of everything else.

 

2. WEAPON TYPE- Here's where people can be okay using anything, with some practice of course. Great blades are relatively simple and are good for PvE as well as PvP. They're fairly common and a good material is Steel or Tungsteel (Cuprum for PvE). Poleswords aren't too much more complicated and require two primary skills instead of Great blades (which only take one). They have a longer reach, a little slower swing time, and a little higher damage than Great Blades. This is the PvP weapon of choice, as their "sweet spot" (the positioning of the weapon while swinging to hit for the highest damage) is the easiest to use out of all the melee weapons. Good materials are the same as those for Great Blades. Spears are difficult to master, as they require STR and DEX to use. They can attack very quickly and usually hit for decent damage, as they do piercing damage and a lot of armors do slightly less piercing protection than slashing. However, the best attack for them is the thrust, which is the easiest attack to block. Good materials are the same as Great Blades. Hammers aren't too common, as they require a lot of stamina to use, and the damage doesn't really trade off. Two handed Star Maces do decent damage, as most armors only do good slashing protection and okay piercing protection, and they do both blunt and piercing damage. They're not too much of a drain on stamina. If you choose poleswords, you will not be able to double your combat toon as a mounted archer, because they take two primary skills.

 

3. COUNTER ATTACKS- This is a pretty debated topic. Right after you successfully "Perfect Block" (you'll get a message in the chat window) you can immediately do a fast attack that does max-damage. However, this isn't particularly useful in practice, as most people will jump out of the way after you perfect block them, or they'll dodge/perfect block your counter attack (and you know what the latter means). Use counters at your own discretion. They do leave you open for a small amount of time during and after the quick attack. It also limits your movement while doing so. The most effective use is your enemy having the knowledge that you can counter attack, so they will naturally back off a little bit, or change their technique. The best way to learn how to use these is to get out there yourself and fight. Using/not using counter attacks is a matter of personal preference. I've gotten my ass kicked by guys who did both! If your enemy perfect blocks you, do whatever you can to make sure they can't counter. Just because it's hard to land a counter attack doesn't mean they can't hurt you!

 

 

PRACTICE! Find a buddy to spar with, find a guild to join that does casual PvP, find some friends and go player-hunting out in the wilderness, PRACTICE! Seriously, no amount of guide-reading will ever prepare you in the way practicing can. Practice, practice, practice!

 

I hope this guide helped you guys out a bit. If you have any questions, post in the original thread and either others or myself will help you out!