Combat Tips

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Mr 47

Recruit
Post any interesting hints, strategies, or interesting things about fighting in here.

Parthian Shot
(Horse archers only)
Basicaly you ride toward the enemy, turn around when your JUST out of mellee weapon range, and ride away at walking speed. The enemy tailgaters get shot full of arrows and you can hardly miss because theyre only a few feet away.
Doesnt work well if the enemy has bows or throwing weapons.
I suggest keeping a mellee weapon as well, because you WILL run out of arrows in larger battles and running away to get more reduces your loot.
That and I hate having to run away from one half-naked river pirate.
Works with horses (dark riders) as well, but not quite as good because you cross the map too fast and if you run into anything, your either dead or badly wounded.

Run-N-Gun
(archers)
Like the Parthian Shot, but without the horse.
Walk away from your enemy, pull your bow back, once the reticle is at its smallest, stop, shoot.
Repeat until dead.

Speed is Everything
(horse people)
Speed is all important. If your on a horse and stop near an enemy, your screwed. Try to get going as fast as possible.
Its important for weapons as well, more speed=more damage and less chance of getting hit.

Dont get into an Archery match
Unless your REALLY good at the bow/crossbow.
The computer tends to hit things alot, in my experience. You will generaly lose a long range archer match with more than one guy.

More, maybe?
 
hehe been using all of these techniques for quite a while. Works great.

I also found out that spawning of enemies is static. For example just near Zendar when u follow the river to the sea, at the side of the town , there's a river pirates spawn , I just kill them all the time , take loot and prisoners , drop loot and prisoners in zendar , go back and another pirates party is waiting for you :wink:
 
Speed is Everything
(horse people)
Speed is all important. If your on a horse and stop near an enemy, your screwed. Try to get going as fast as possible.
Its important for weapons as well, more speed=more damage and less chance of getting hit.

Thats not true, if you stop in group of people yeah, one or two and a good player should be able to hold his own with a shield in hand
 
MOUNTED ARCHER TACTICS

Mounted archers often fight alone. My companions don't last too long because I can't support them very effectively with the following tactics - I'm too busy circling my enemy firing arrows, staying safe from enemy arrows, or luring small groups of soldiers to their deaths. I just took out 42 bandits single-handedly, so even though my tactics are slow, they are not bad. They're in fact very safe and will keep you alive for a long time!

Remember, if the battle seems to be going against you, retreat! The mounted archer is almost always faster than his enemies.

Weapons:

I prefer mounted archery combined with lance&shield: take a good bow, a bundle of arrows (and spare bundles in your baggage), a lance and a shield. You can also keep a spare weapon, preferably blunt for taking prisoners, in your baggage.

Armour:

A mounted archer needs a good hauberk and good leg armour - your head does not need as much protection as it does when you're a footman. Most close-combat strikes will hit your legs, body or horse.

Horse:

Pick the fastest horse you can find. This way you can run away from all footmen and most mounted men as well. Hunter and Courser are good horses and don't cost that much. In fact, the Courser is very fast and has a good manouverability. It's a definite low-risk favourite. In combat, keep your horse safe! If you lose your mount, you risk being caught, surrounded and killed. As long as you have a horse, you can choose the place where you wish to fight.

Tactics:

The key to effective mounted archery is a continuing variation of speed: spur to run away from the enemy or evade enemy arrows and slow your horse to maximise your changes when you're firing at the enemy. Don't waste your arrows firing while riding at full gallop. Always circle the enemy counter-clockwise so you can shoot at them at any time you wish.

When in combat, your priority targets are other mounted warriors. Once they are dead, you can concentrate on the footmen. Pick off their archers first if you can and then wipe out the sloggers.

If you have to fight hand to hand, it's often easier to do on foot - it's harder to use the shield while you're mounted and you may lose your horse quickly to mere footmen! Just remember to keep clear of multiple enemies. If you have to face many men, try to take them out quickly one at a time so that they can't gang up on you. Gallop where you want to make a stand, kill a few guys quickly, hop back on your horse before the main group arrows, split the enemy group by luring the flankers towards you, dismount to fight, break a few heads again, hop on your horse, rinse and repeat.

Mounted fighters:

If you are facing mounted men, lure them into a personal fight with you by running away from the enemy and fighting them well beyond the range of footmen. They're pretty easy to drop with arrows, and close combat should be avoided because Warrider bonuses can drop you quickly even if you're wearing good armour. If they're actively chasing you with fast horses, forget the idea of slowing down for a good shot. Just gallop away and fire at them from short range!

If you have to fight hand to hand with mounted warriors, make sure you're the one coming from the rear! You don't want to get caught from behind by a Warrider attack or lance charge.

Mounted archers:

These guys are usually pretty easy to fight against. Chase them with your lance&shield. They usually don't hit you, and if your enemy seems more keen-eyed than most of them, you can keep blocking arrows with your shield. Once you catch them, you can either drop them with one good charge or stab them down with a few pokes from your lance.

If you want to shoot them down, preferably do it from their right side - they can only shoot in front of them and to their left. Just remember that they are usually much less dangerous than foot archers, because they hit very rarely when they're riding fast.

Footmen:

Basic footmen are easy: pick them off with arrows or stick them with a lance if they have a shield. Just keep away from big groups of footmen - if your horse stops, you are in danger of being hit, perhaps even "killed". When choosing targets for missile fire, aim for big groups. For close combat, pick any stray men or those on the flanks: don't charge in the middle of big groups unless you want to impress somebody (like the army surgeon!).

Archers:

Archers and footmen with throwing weapons are a bit more difficult, and they can often defend themselves in hand to hand combat as well. I prefer charging at them with my lance&shield, often dropping my guard only on contact. Don't worry about lance charges - it's often overkill on archers. Stopping near them for a moment and poking them twice or thrice with a lance kills them pretty quickly, and this way you don't have to turn your back on them. Remember that ride-by attacks may result in an arrow in your back!

While standing still and firing at archers is suicide, you can outshoot enemy archers with a lot smaller risk as long as you evade their arrows. Let them fire first, and move laterally to the side (this is easier when you're mounted). Slow your horse for a split second to make the targeting reticule smaller and launch an arrow at them. If you hit, you can fire another one in a row. If you miss, spur your horse a bit and duck their arrow before firing your arrow.
 
I've tried standing in the path of the enemy riders (shield up) hoping that their horses would stop (like mine always do even if the enemy is remotely in front of me).

But every time, they just ride on by, while I get stunned from the impact. I mean, I've been directly in front of them, and I always just end up being pushed aside.

What gives?
 
Lord Blade said:
I've tried standing in the path of the enemy riders (shield up) hoping that their horses would stop (like mine always do even if the enemy is remotely in front of me).

But every time, they just ride on by, while I get stunned from the impact. I mean, I've been directly in front of them, and I always just end up being pushed aside.

What gives?

Dunno. That tactics always worked for me. Almost. I really don't know.
 
I've been trying again and again, and it doesn't work.

They come at me. I move right in front of them.
They run into me, and I shift aside, getting stunned for a second. At which point I stop blocking, so they hit me and ride off.
It's totally unfair. Cause if I ride towards them, and they're anywhere in front of me, I come to a halt.
 
Well, like it turned out, it all depends on horse charge stat.
Horses with high charge (hunters, warhorses, chargers...) will not mind pushing aside and trampling people, while saddle and sumpter horses will slow down and rear. Makes sence.
Warhorses and chargers are extra massive too.
In next versions, you'll (and enemies too) will take damage after being hit by a galloping horse.
 
My most favourite and cheapest tactic is this:
When a mounted unit charges directly at you when you have a missile weapon (Note: Only tried on bow) aim an arrow at their body. The moment before they hit you (They have their weapon pulled back) shoot them. It likely will do very little damage but the opponent will not have enough time to pull back his weapon again, leaving you unscathed. The most damage you will sustain is being knocked down by a horse. This even works with units with shields, as they put away their shields to use their weapons. Two mounted lancers on full horse/personal health against me, a foot archer, in the arena and I managed to win without getting hurt. Try to stay against a wall so they do not come up from your blind spot. As an added bonus, if it is pulled off correctly no mount damage will be sustained, and you have a free, full health mount. Hope that helps :grin:
 
Raider said:
My most favourite and cheapest tactic is this:
When a mounted unit charges directly at you when you have a missile weapon (Note: Only tried on bow) aim an arrow at their body. The moment before they hit you (They have their weapon pulled back) shoot them. It likely will do very little damage but the opponent will not have enough time to pull back his weapon again, leaving you unscathed. The most damage you will sustain is being knocked down by a horse. This even works with units with shields, as they put away their shields to use their weapons. Two mounted lancers on full horse/personal health against me, a foot archer, in the arena and I managed to win without getting hurt. Try to stay against a wall so they do not come up from your blind spot. As an added bonus, if it is pulled off correctly no mount damage will be sustained, and you have a free, full health mount. Hope that helps :grin:

I usually aim for the head, much more effective
 
may I add that when using a crossbow, there might be times when things get too tight around the maingroup. so try to find the highest ground close to the battle. from there you have a nice overall view and a clear shot. this is not necessary for bow-users, though it helps. I instinctly tell my men to hold their position when the battle begins, and find a nice hill, from where I can take out the toughest melee/archerunits. and when your party seems to be having a hard time theres nothing as cool as to gallop full speed down a steep hill (without clothes mind you) waving a big-ass axe and screaming warcries (and waking up your folks) and saving your army :razz:
oh, and if some of the enemyunits start paying attention to the lone archer in the hill, it is rather easy to defend yourself when your higher then your enemy.

one more thing.. if you are a crossbowfighter you dont necessarely use horses. i still advice you to buy one. it doesn't have to be anything fancy(sumpter,steppe,saddle). horses are often excellent protection from enemy archers. just unmount on a hill, step behind your horse, and start blasting some foos.
 
i'm not shure if this one has been mentioned

but a realy good tactic if your on horseback and facing somebody with a shield is to charge them with the horse, then right afterwards release your swing/stab to hit them while their shield is down (the horsecharge forces them to lower the shield)

you can also do this trick with the lance, just go tward THEIR left side, then as you approach them turn into them from the right, so that your horse hits right before the tip of the lance lines up, but realy with a lance it kills shields so easily by itself you dont need to do this

i usualy like to pick out all the enemies that dont have shields with a bow or another ranged weapon, then take out all the people with shields with my sword of war, i also try to dismount as many enemies as i can with my bow,

if your using swadian sharpshooters or another band of all unmounted ranged troops its best never to use the charge command, allways use the hold position command, and if your on horseback never use the follow command

when using ranged troops try to deploy them on the side of a hill by riding down/up the hill then telling them to hold position near the center of it, this will let your bowmen fire over eachother's heads

also, if your using ranged infantry, and you are mounted, start out the battle by telling them to hold position at the very start, and maybe if there is a nearby hill move them over onto it, then run out and scout so that you know witch direction the enemy is coming from, after that you can ride back near your own troops and deploy them on a good ambush hill

if you are using an all mounted band, allways give your band the follow me command, avoid using charge at all costs, it disperses your troops horribly especialy if you are against allot of mounted enemies, also if you tell them to follow you, they are less likely to slow down and get mobed by infantry

the only time i have seen a good way to use the charge command is when using a band of unranged infantry, while you yourself are on horseback, the best way to use this is to deploy the infantry in the same way you would deploy ranged infantry, and then when the enemy gets close to the hill your infantry is on, give them the charge command and your units will move at the enemy togather

if you are using a all infantry squad, and are up against a largly mounted enemy, do not use charge, i wouldnt even reccomend using the follow me command, if your in this situation up against some dark knights or something deploy your units NEAR the top of a medium sized hill (not on the very top, or else they might be able to couch lances into your mob(they cant couch while going up the hill, and its somewhat harder atleast to hit someone with a couched lance while going downhill then on the semi level land of the top of that hill), and it makes it easier for them to charge you over, if your on the side they can only charge you down from one side of the hill.

here's a simple one, while couching the lance ignore the crosshair, look at the tip of the lance, if neccicary tilt the camera to the side a little tiny bit to get a better view of its vertical level

when using a crossbow, you should only get headshots, and bodyshots should allways be by accident, unless shooting a mounted opponent

IMPORTANT TIP!, the double ended lance is worthless, get rid of it (hey maybe i'm wrong, maybe it has some magical ability i've never seen)

anyway hopefully this post was intelligable, maybe i'll think up some other crap later
 
Temujin said:
I usually aim for the head, much more effective

Hehe. I used to aim for the head, but now I have a character who does so much damage with throwing axes that it doesn't matter if I hit the leg, foot, head, or fingernails. I've done 130 damage to a knight with a body shot and I just barely broke 300 when I hit a river pirate in the head.

One of my favorite tactics against a mounted opponent with a shield is, instead of aiming for the rider, I hit the horse. This only works well if you have a character who does extremely high ranged damage (enough to consistently one shot horses), but it's better than being hit with a frozen frog.
 
heres a rather good strategy for fighting in the arena when ur unmounted and using a close combate weapon and fighing a mounted foe. justg walk to a corner after having gotten the attention of the rider and sidestep before he hits u. then hackn away :grin:

oh another thing dont shoot ur team mates when using a bow. i killed my guy usiong that and was left getting charged by a mounted dude and a guy with a two handed sword
 
Yeah, that's funny ironcrow, I usually don't fight in the arena but one time I was in there with a bow and it seemed like even if I carefully aimed at an opponent one of my team mates would leap in and get killed like they were protecting a president. Twice.
 
Something like that happened to me once. I was fighting a guy in the arena, I beat him down, and then my ally fired off an arrow which killed me. A waste of a perfectly good 200 denars.
 
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