With the WNL completed we've decided to release some of our information on the exact way stuns work since its been a bit unclear so far. To explain briefly the only factors that matter for stuns are the weight and type of the weapon being used to stun, the weight of the shield being stunned and the length of the hold used to stun. Stunning a shield means it will not block incoming strikes for the period it is stunned so is extremely useful in dealing with opponents quickly or those who are turtling.
So first its important to know how holds work, the damage dealt by a blow which is a hold increases for 0.5 seconds after you start holding an attack, after 0.6 seconds it starts reducing again to level off at a damage amount that is still higher than a regular swing. So there is a plateau of maximum damage between 0.5 and 0.6 seconds after starting the hold. If you want to use stuns, you need to learn to hit this timing reliably since it is required for some stuns.
The way weights work on weapons vary on the weapon and damage types, I will only deal with polearms here since they are the most effective stunning weapons because of their range. Each weapon has a maximum stunning weight for shields. For instance a bamboo spear can only stun shields up to weight 3.5, this means it is effectively useless against rhodoks and nords since the top 2 shields for both factions are equal or higher than weight 4.
Key
LH - A Long Hold, a bad hold lasting several seconds and is beyond the 0.6 second mark.
SH - A Short Hold, close enough to the 0.5-0.6 second point for the damage still to be high, but possibly a tenth of a second out or so.
PH - A Perfect Hold, hitting between the 0.5-0.6 second plateau.
X - Cannot stun no matter the hold timing.
For each faction shield weights reduce by 0.5 each level, for rhodoks their top shield (Heavy Board) starts at 5.0, for nords its 4.5 (Huscarl) and for the other three factions its 3.5.
Lances (Heavy and Light too) weigh the same as a war spear and have the same stunning properties.
Additional weapons that can stun are spiked staffs (1H or 2H), quite a few of the heavy 2H weapons like bardiches and also the top two vaegir 1H maces.
The best way to learn to do the perfect timing is to try using a war spear to stun a heavy board shield. If you can do that one and then always use that timing, you can stun anything that's possible to be stunned. While the timing might sound finicky, it actually doesn't take long to learn. Coordination with a partner to lock down the individual being stunned is also important, make sure you are using holds to lock them down and then exploit the stun when it lands.
So first its important to know how holds work, the damage dealt by a blow which is a hold increases for 0.5 seconds after you start holding an attack, after 0.6 seconds it starts reducing again to level off at a damage amount that is still higher than a regular swing. So there is a plateau of maximum damage between 0.5 and 0.6 seconds after starting the hold. If you want to use stuns, you need to learn to hit this timing reliably since it is required for some stuns.
The way weights work on weapons vary on the weapon and damage types, I will only deal with polearms here since they are the most effective stunning weapons because of their range. Each weapon has a maximum stunning weight for shields. For instance a bamboo spear can only stun shields up to weight 3.5, this means it is effectively useless against rhodoks and nords since the top 2 shields for both factions are equal or higher than weight 4.
Key
LH - A Long Hold, a bad hold lasting several seconds and is beyond the 0.6 second mark.
SH - A Short Hold, close enough to the 0.5-0.6 second point for the damage still to be high, but possibly a tenth of a second out or so.
PH - A Perfect Hold, hitting between the 0.5-0.6 second plateau.
X - Cannot stun no matter the hold timing.
| Shield Weights -> | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Pike (3.0) | SH | SH | SH | LH | LH |
| War Spear (2.5) | PH | SH | SH | SH | LH |
| Long Awlpike (2.3) | X | X | SH | SH | SH |
| Bamboo Spear (2.0) | X | X | X | SH | SH |
For each faction shield weights reduce by 0.5 each level, for rhodoks their top shield (Heavy Board) starts at 5.0, for nords its 4.5 (Huscarl) and for the other three factions its 3.5.
Lances (Heavy and Light too) weigh the same as a war spear and have the same stunning properties.
Additional weapons that can stun are spiked staffs (1H or 2H), quite a few of the heavy 2H weapons like bardiches and also the top two vaegir 1H maces.
The best way to learn to do the perfect timing is to try using a war spear to stun a heavy board shield. If you can do that one and then always use that timing, you can stun anything that's possible to be stunned. While the timing might sound finicky, it actually doesn't take long to learn. Coordination with a partner to lock down the individual being stunned is also important, make sure you are using holds to lock them down and then exploit the stun when it lands.
