Spears and lances are more effective against cavalry when you use the overhead attack, Ultimately I find the hit detection in this game is superior and thus more rewarding in general.
My very first experience with collision mesh detection in Bannerlord came from the tutorial, which I decided to follow all the way through. Even repeated certain elements several times so I could get the hang of the new mechanics.
Like the melee riding course. In prior versions of M&B, the sweeping backhand during a ride-by used to be my specialty. I could time it to the point where I could swerve and avoid a spear strike while taking my opponent across the face and ending the fight with one shot... but now I just couldn't hit that bloody clay jug, no matter how often I tried it, unless I was
right beside it, and essentially hammering it with the bottom 1/3 of the blade. Basically a horribly inefficient strike that should be doing minimal damage, rather than being the only hit that works. The tip of the blade never seemed to connect, no matter what angle I used.
Finally, out of frustration, I said 'screw it' to the time, and parked my horse right beside that damned clay jug and started taking backhanded swings at it, examining it from every angle. The bloody top 1/3 of the blade was passing through. Only when I rode up and used that crap swing again, did it connect.
Hit registration feels wonky for some because it *is* wonky. And inconsistent. Perhaps that varies depending on the target, the weapon, or some other bug that we don't know about yet. But the fact remains that the sword passed through the target. It's now, against all logic, easier to use short weapons from horseback rather than the long ones that are supposed to be designed for cavalry. A 70-80 length axe will take infantry in the head as you ride by, no problem. Use a 105-115 length sword designed for that purpose, and it will whiff unless you time it so that you're swinging when they're at your horse's nose; logic would dictate that if you swing a little later, that more of the weight of the blade will land on the target, and drag the edge along them as you ride by -- but that's not how this works. Instead, despite having the same swing arc and same placement of bodies in relation to each other on a medial axis, the weapon now whiffs entirely. Not even reduced damage from a (debatable) less efficient swing, but a miss entirely.
Combat functions well enough to work in general. I suspect there are several tweaks yet to come, however -- both to actual combat, and to the way the AI uses weapons. Or perhaps the reason why even the AI struggles with spears and longer swords, but does just fine with shorter weapons and missile weapons, is the same reason some players seem to. Time will tell.
(Edit: All that said; I'll definitely try the overhand attack with cavalry, and see if that makes a difference. Given the angle of the spear and how it points down, it seemed like it would be more efficient to use that on infantry. I'll try the reverse.)
