New Player Adjusting to M&B Melee Physics

[Aranarth]

So now that I have played for a few days and figured out the basics of the little nonintuitive quirks that M&B physics have, I have a few questions about how to effectively aim/control a character that I haven't quite been able to figure out myself yet.

Mainly, I am having problems judging where my lance is going to hit. I'll get a kill now and then, but frequently I'll just stab the air as I ride past, or ride seemingly right through someone with my spear but only hit them with the horse and stop dead, doing no damage.

What sort of reference do you all use for aiming the lance, and what settings do you use? Is it easier in first person, or is first person a mistake? Is there some reference point on your character/horse model that you use to help you know where the spear or lance is going to strike when released?


Secondly, I am wondering about regular sword and shield melee again. Bear with me a little bit as the question is fairly specific and requires a bit of explaination to set it up so that the question makes sense. Please take the time to read the following if you plan to answer.

I have realized now that swings do full damage even from the very point of release. I have seen an improvement in my effectiveness by turning my shoulder so that the side I plan to swing from is against my target and I seem to understand how that works now.

With that knowledge I am starting to question how to most effectively set up my melee controls to make my swings as quick to release as possible. It seems like all of the options that allow you to choose the direction from which you will swing also in some way affect how your character itself is moving, and it feels clumsy to me still.

I am currently using "by mouse movement" swings, but I don't like having to move my mouse to prepare a swing because it moves your character's facing and I then need to reposition my character properly before I release it.

I tried using the "by movement keys" option, but this is even worse as it hinders footwork. 

Do most of you use the mouse movement option, and does anyone have any tips on how to make the process of choosing a swing direction more efficient and interfere less with your character's movement? I am assuming that the only real answer to this is to just keep working with the "by mouse movement" option until muscle memory takes over and it becomes less of a problem, but I welcome any ideas.

 

[Foffy123]

Are you talking about lance couching (where you hit the X key and you guide your lance straight into a target) or just plain attacking with the lance?

If you mean couching, I do that in first person on the manual (Hard) setting. I would use automatic but I like to practice for Multi-player.

If you mean attacking normally, I do that in third person. Try to make sure you release the lance before your common sense dictates it is going to hit. I used to always release it just before and that stops you from hitting your target. Just try to vision where the point will hit. If you find it hard, turn on cheat mode when you start up the game and hit Ctrl+F9 in game to slow it the game down. That can help you immensely.

In response to the shield melee question, leave it on mouse movement. Note that when attacking you barely have to move the mouse in that direction so it doesn't change your character's facing usually. Eventually you will get used to it and be able to pull of a swing in any direction without having to think about which way to move your mouse.

Most people definitely use the mouse movement for directional swings.

I am assuming that the only real answer to this is to just keep working with the "by mouse movement" option until muscle memory takes over and it becomes less of a problem

Yes.

 

[superhit1000]

When you use "by mouse movement" you don't actually have to move your mouse very far, just a few cm would be enough to change direction.

 

[Aranarth]

I am talking about both types of uses of the lance, and in multiplayer.

I don't know what the difference between the settings is, and I don't know where I should expect the lance to hit when couched.

When just normally stabbing, I try to let the lance go and run through someone with it just after it reaches its full extension. Sometimes this actually hits the person and sometimes it does not. I haven't found some solid reference to let me judge yet. Often it appears to me that the lance has struck its target but nothing happens. My ping is usually in the 40-50 ms range.

When you use "by mouse movement" you don't actually have to move your mouse very far, just a few cm would be enough to change direction.

I think maybe having the arrows that show the current direction are doing more harm than good for me. It seems like I have to move quite a bit for the arrow indicator to update, and even then I sometimes don't get the result I am expecting. For example, if I move the mouse to the left and the indicator shows that it will be a left swing, I will sometimes not get a left swing anyway. I think this has caused me to start making exaggeratedly long movements to make sure that the arrow is indicating left before and after I press left click.

 

[robbyg]

I havent used those arrow indicator thingies so cant help you there.

I've seen some players use first person (via youtbue) for lancing but for me it's just about timing.

For melee if im going to turn into a strike i turn after i release. It's rare i strike at the same time as another person tho - the only real reason i might want to turn into a strike so mine lands first.

I prefer blocking/feinting.

O and i use attack by mouse/block by mouse.