How long till I can get the hang of this?

[basil otis]

D'L'd and installed this ater seeing various ravings at the totalwar.org site. Loads of people seem to love the game there at the Org, and here for that matter.

But, I've had a couple of cracks at it (like 3 hours so far now) and so far, I've managed to be killed by everything everywhere, including the "novice" enemies in the training hall. I did accidentally stick my lance into someone in the arena. But god, I'm going nuts, the game looks cool, a bit like Morrowind I s'pose but I just haven't got the hang of it.

Am I some kind of uncoordinated freak? Is my mouse faulty? So far I have found the combat utterly impossible to manage... I seem to parry then get hit again as I try to strike back, for the most part.

Someone please tell me there's a magic trick to make it easier to play. Please.

 

[Narcissus]

Welcome to the forums, Basil.

Yes ... the game gets easier once you become more familiar with it. It just takes time and practice.

In the meantime, might I suggest an easy solution? Go into the options and turn the AI to the lowest setting ... then turn down the damage you take to the 1/4th level.

As you get better and start having little trouble in fights ... then start turning these things up slowly.

Good luck,

Narcissus

 

[Skanky Burns]

Also, practice with the training until you are good at it. While you don't get practice with the bow there (quite a good weapon after your skill with it is above 60), the hand-to-hand practice you get there is well worth the patience.

 

[LetterAfterZ]

This sounds an awful lot like version .700 combat... Do you have the later version installed? If not you should, there's a bug in .700 where they strike again right after you block. I found this made combat random and kinda frustrating.

 

[pere]

Yep just keep practising and turn down AI level a bit.

A lot depends on the timing and how you are positioned to your enemy.

BTW the sophisticated fighting system is what makes the game interesting in the long run.. fighting never gets boring as it is much more than just 'face the enemy and press mouse button repeatedly'. Rather you have to find your rhythm and look for weaknesses in the opponents defense. It is critical to learn to use block effectively. Your movement is also important, as some hits are better dodged than blocked to allow for a quick counterattack. It surely takes some time though to feel familiar with the interface, but after that it is a very direct and intuitive fighting experience.

 

[Sahran]

Perre's right, one great novelty with M&B is that when you're level +10 or +20, a slipup or cocky attitude can still get you killed. Nothing more humbling and fustrating than getting a javelin in the back of the skull by some nubcake skirmisher while your an armored knight.

You'll learn some tricks as you get used to the game. There's a certain one the AI uses which I was able to pick up on (Though, forgot how to do it again). Basically, you prepare a blow in one direction - start to swing - then block - swing in another direction. It should have them be hit on the unprepared side. Nasty little NPC buggers often whupped me with this at the start until I turned it against them.

If your looking for a more simplistic character build to get used to the game with, I would suggest a hunter basis (not squire) and do Bow and sword with horse archery. This will let every bit of training in the Arena and Dueling benefit you, rather than have bowmanship be a waste of time. As a Cataphract-like character, you'll have use for training with swords (Dismounted, or ride bys), bow (Archery), and couched lance (Charges! or taking care of cavalry when dismounted).

 

[GhostThaxian]

javelin in the back of the skull by some nubcake skirmisher while your an armored knight.

Or an arrow making it's amazing way through the very small eye slit in your great healm.


I don't know if hunter is the easiest, really I think it depends on the person.
If you want to concentrate more on swordfighting then in my opinion it's better to go squire.
I got my arse kicked as a hunter, then I tried merchant, got owned there too, then finally went Squire and finally ended up doing some arse kicking myself.
I think it was the crossbow though >.>

 

[Slaists]

If your looking for a more simplistic character build to get used to the game with, I would suggest a hunter basis (not squire) and do Bow and sword with horse archery. This will let every bit of training in the Arena and Dueling benefit you, rather than have bowmanship be a waste of time. As a Cataphract-like character, you'll have use for training with swords (Dismounted, or ride bys), bow (Archery), and couched lance (Charges! or taking care of cavalry when dismounted).

the way it stands now, the hunter starting character has too many points wasted on non-combat stuff (tracking, etc.). i'd rather create a bowman out of a squire...

on another note: i'd suggest using one of those big-ball mice... the type where you move a ball rather than the mouse itself. makes targeting much more manageable.

 

[allthesedamnnamesaretaken]

arena isn't really the best place to hone your skills at low level because some of the fighters there (the ones you see in the tavern) are super high level with weapon proficiencies you'll likely never reach legitly. also, some of the matchups are really lopsided, and while every fight is winnable, they won't be if you're a noob

you should take your fight to the river pirates that spawn near zendar. beat them up for experience. they also have no sheilds so you can use them for target practice too

since you're on foot a lot in the arena, i wouldn't start competing there until i had some decent athletics

 

[Crazed Rabbit]

Hi there! Always good to see more Organs..ites..er..people from the Org.

Don't worry too much about it. When I started playing, I was terrible. The important thing to remember is how to block, attack, and move at the most basic level. If you just run up to enemies and try to click them to death, you'll die.
The trick is to attack them when their guard is down; usually when they are trying to attack you. It takes a while to get the timing right, so that they don't hit you first.
Defense requires hitting the defend button after they've begun their attack.
Movement is a crucial part of this-you can move back to dodge blows or move forward to strike quickly.

Don't despair, practice and you'll get it.

Crazed Rabbit

 

[basil otis]

Hi Folks Thanks for your welcome and replies. this crowd reminds me of the people at the Org and Paradox forums - nice people!! anyway, good to know I'm simply having Noob blues. I was running 0.7, was amazed to see how quickly a 0.702 came out - is this Agile development or what?!? Anyway, I'll D/L the new, and set the AI down considerably, and lock myself by the computer for the weekend so I can work on the timing of the parry and attack thingies, it's a bit different to the Diablo approach to combat (thankfully) - it'll be a long weekend, thank goodness I have a wife to feed me through my bouts of gaming addiction. Cheers B.Otis

 

[namster]

agile development?
Well, more like a steady trot.
it was a while below .700 came out and if you scroll down the forum you will see that this was quite a sore issue with some.

i think armagan made 0.702 extra tough so it will keep us occupied while he works on the program updates.

You got your wife feeding you during games? Dang mate... what's the potion you're using?

 

[basil otis]

The potion??? I'm her sugar daddy.... nah I wish... there are simply perks to being a living legend.

 

[Narcissus]

A living legend? How so?

 

[Kaine]

in my first game it took me 2 or 3 hours to complete the training hall
now after starting new in 0702 it was like 10 minutes or so (1/2 damage though, still too bad for full damage *G*)

just a matter of time and practice

but yeah, fighting with normal damage and being new to the game is quite challenging if not impossible

 

[Skanky Burns]

To be honest, at full damage even I am finding the training quite difficult.

 

[malenn]

Its great wen you can feal the thrill in a good Ridgy with your Great axe.
It sucks wen you the next second get a trving Ax in your back and passes out youst to find the blody sea raiders have taken your Spireted charger you had lookt allover for in Calandria and your Last Smoked Fish so your starving in the midle of nowere without Horse or food.

*-=?"#%%&/¤"/(
bloody Sea raiders may thay feal scurvy all the way home.

 

[mfberg]

In 7.2 a spirited charger is available just around the corner. Two were sitting in zendar the last time I went, one in wercheg, one in curaw.

mfberg

 

[basil otis]

A living legend? How so?

I figure if I say it enough it will come true

 

[Narcissus]

Niiiiiice!

If I weren't perfect, I would do the same.