Strategy

This is the strategy section of the wiki. It explains the different gameplay mechanics and how they can be used. At the bottom we have a section for individual player styles and tactics, how they view the game mechanics and play the game. Learn from others and adapt your own style.

Honor:

Here are some guidelines on how you can be a man and play the game. The previous edit on this page was written by someone who obviously doesnt play the game, or at least, understand the community. Instead of Roleplaying and wasting time, play the objective and get some sweet kills doing so.

Modified Original Post: Do not attack other players while taunting (just let them stand there?). Do not attack roleplayers (Out of a 64 player battle, you WILL NOT see roleplayers farting around). Bow to the other player before initiating combat with them (They will not bow, they will charge you, cut you down, and anyone behind you). DO NOT group up on an enemy while they are fighting, even if they or your teammates are doing so (this is for safety and to win, not to be polite). Spamming dodge or feint, kicking, and using throwables likes axes, knives, or fire pots are classified as "cheap attacks", so use them in a last ditch effort to save yourself, or to level the playing field against a superior player. (Do what wins, understand the mechanics and use them, spamming any one attack will never work) Spamming the laugh taunt after killing someone is rude, especially if the player is new to the game; instead use the "Respect" callout after a fight (if you have time to do this after every fight, you aren't playing the same game, nobody will get upset if you tell them to eat your shorts, they will kill you later :D ). Respect your fellow players, and most importantly have fun, and don't stop others from having it to!

Whoever wrote the original needs to LARP somewhere else, The reason you dont gang up on an enemy is because you are going to get yourself and your team killed. Most players enjoy being outnumbered and get more kills when they are. An enemy can swing through you and a friendly, friendly can't swing through you. You attack a block at the wrong time, that guy is going to parry kill you and your team. Original post said "Bow to a player"... uh bro, there is an objective, we need to get this shit done. You will be more respected if you are 50-30-10 (takedowns, kills, deaths). Why are 90% of the taunts rude/crude? Maybe people want to compete and throw hands. Want to show respect? commend someone when they kill you with F. They will see a commend, and it gives them a little bragging score, people are listening for footsteps and parries more than what ANYONE is saying. Convey a praise of good play in the text chat, people will read it and respond.

Feint:

By pressing Q (Default key) while your weapon is cocked back during a wind up, you can cancel out the attack, potentially tricking the enemy into parrying or blocking early, thus giving you a chance to get a hit in. Feinting can be best countered by not blocking an attack still being wound up, but instead after the attack is swinging, which can sometimes take a while to master. If you find someone who consistently starts battle with a feint, the easiest way to deal with them is to just attack straight though it.

Parry:

By right-clicking you can perform a parry, which can deflect an attack. The blocking weapon must make contact with the attacking weapon, thus the best method of performing a parry is to aim directly for the tip of the enemy weapon.

Footwork:

Footwork plays a vital part in the combat system, to have good footwork technique means that you know how to keep yourself out of the opponent's range when he is most likely to strike, and close in for a counter. Using footwork, you can strafe around keeping your eye on the opponent, then suddenly move in with a rapid blow before he manages to perform his next move.

Timing:

One of the key elements of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare combat is timing. Waiting for an opponent to swing, or make a mistake before attacking may just give you the edge. When an opponent swings at you and the attack misses or is parried, there is a brief period of time where he will be defenseless - this is the best opportunity to strike.

Combo Attacking:

With normal melee weapons, you can combo your attacks by attacking then start another attack before the first one is finished. This will combo your attacks and remove the recovery time, allowing you to immediately begin the next attack. You can combo every attack, except thrusts.

Combo Feinting:

Another element of timing is combo feinting. Using the feinting mechanics, you can really throw off your opponent by landing a successful hit, preparing a second combo strike, feinting it and striking your opponent after his parry.

Varying your feints will increase the chance of a successful feint (need considerable amounts of luck to defend against).

Combo block "Counterattack"

You can also combo a block and an attack (block -> combo + attack) this gives you the same function as normal combo attacks, but here you will remove the recovery time of the block and start the windup of the attack much faster. If your opponent tries to follow-up his blocked attack, you will most likely hit him during his windup phase.

On most weapons it's faster to use stab when "Counterattacking" as you can more easily accelerate the attack even further with attack speed manipulation, and the enemy is likely still in front of you, having been blocked. This does of course depend on the weapon you are using. If you combine both of these two moves your attack will become significantly faster.

Note: You cannot cancel the attack with feint if you use this move.

This move is ble while using shields.

Kicks/Shield bash:

No matter what melee weapon you are using, you will have access to a kick or shield bash. When playing without a shield, pressing F will kick the enemy. However, when playing with a shield, F will shield bash the enemy. Both will break any block or parry, opening your opponent up for further attacks!

Dynamic Upper body movement:

Running "Crouched"

Similar to the double crouch. By looking downwards you will bend forwards and have a "crouched" position. Run like normal, despite the poor visibility as you look to your feet. It has a good practical use to dodge incoming arrows.

Ducking/crouching and Double Crouch:

While only occasionally useful and frequently risky, you can duck by pressing Control. This can be useful to duck under the all-too-frequent horizontal swings seen in Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Beware, however: if your opponent hits you while you're crouched, it's very likely he will hit your head and instakill you!

You can do an even lower crouch by looking downwards. Moving your view straight down to the floor will make you bend slightly forward, and while crouched you will become a very small target. It is a good way to duck incoming attacks. Use this too much and you will end up having your opponent aiming low, rendering your evades useless.

Backwards Bend:

Similar to the double crouch, but rather than looking down you high up. This will make your character bend his upper body backwards into a weird matrix like position. It is less effective than Double crouch but you can dodge some strikes aimed at your head.

Attack speed manipulation:

Performed slash, downwards slash, and stab attacks can be manipulated to either strike sooner or later. These manipulations can be used to gain an edge over your opponent if they are used with great timing. Most players know swing manipulation can be performed as an overhead swing while looking down, that will make you hit your opponent with the first "Swing trace" on your weapon, but you will sacrifice range, accuracy, and sight for the instant hit. If you reverse the style, by looking up instead of down, you will be able to gain more range, accuracy, and sight at the cost of slower attacks.

Note that delaying the attack speed is not very effective with shorter weapons/fast ones. If you try to manipulate them it will not be slow enough for it to be effective. You could delay a slash from a broadsword and the enemy would most likely block it anyway, because you could only slow it down a few tenths of a second.

Accelerating or delaying Slash

There are two basic names for these moves: Accelerating or delaying swings. This can also be used with slash attacks. Accelerations are made by aiming the opponent closer to the edge of the right screen where the slash begins, delaying by aiming at the left side, where the swing ends. This is a powerful counter against people who attempt to slip in a combo-breaker, although this technique can be countered in various ways.

Accelerating or delaying stabs

It is possible to accelerate stab attacks with every weapon by standing close to the enemy before the stab attack reaches it's final length of release. Depending on the weapon you are using it will use around a second to stab forewards. The stab attack starts from close to your body, if you get very close to the enemy you can hit him without waiting for the full release. Similarly you can "delay" it by letting it fully release and hit with just the very tip of the weapon. Though it doesn't provide much of a delay, it's practical for getting the longest possible stab length.

Accelerating downwards slashes

As said in the start of the section you can delay or accelerate the downwards slash attack by looking up or down. You can also additionally accelerate the attack by crouching and looking down. This will speed up the attack considerably, but you will also lose alot of the range of the weapon you use. For instance, the poleaxe would feel almost as short as a broadsword, maybe shorter.

Attacking over Shields

It's sometimes possible to attack over an enemy shield by timing a jump in conjunction with your overhead swing. If your weapon is long enough and/or they don't guard high enough, the tip of the weapon will land and do damage.

Attack phases:

The different stages when you initiate an attack are as follows:

• Windup: Preparing to attack; Lifting up your weapon to attack or pulling backwards to stab. This phase will be be canceled if you use feints or if you receive damage during the windup.
• Combo: Bypasses recovery phase by starting combo windup. The combo phase time is most often slower than the windup phase, but it is faster waiting for recovery then starting a normal windup.
• Release: Windup is completed and attack starts, weapon is moving forwards and does damage when it hits the enemy.
• Recovery: Release is finished and the weapon is brought up to starting position. The recovery time is further increased if you miss your target and hit the air with stabbing attacks.

Stamina:

Regen:

Stamina will regenerate when you walk or stand still. Running or any action that require the use of stamina will stop the regen, for a short while.

Actions that use Stamina:

-Running (Stops regen but doesn't use it.)

-Holding up shield, (Will stop regen and Drain stamina slowly.)

-Feints, Normal attacks, Jumping, Combos, Blocking, Blocking with shield, Dodge abillity (man at arms only), and Vanguard sprint charge.

No stamina left:

If you use all your stamina you will be unable to do special actions that require extra stamina, such as: Feints, Combos, jumping, etc But you can still attack normally, and block though you will get stunned.

Chase Mechanic:

You will often find yourself chasing after fleeing enemies. When playing a slower class, your enemy should theoretically be able to run away from you forever. To hinder that kind of gameplay, the devs added the chase mechanic.

If you look at an enemy within a few meters' distance, your crosshair will turn from white to red. This not only indicates that you are aiming at a enemy but also that you're in range to activate the sprint boost. If you run for a few seconds while aiming at the enemy with a red crosshair, the chase mechanic will give you a sprint boost so significant that even a Knight can catch up to a Man-at-Arms running away. whenever you are trying to outrun your enemies, you are going to really have a bad time.

Knockback/Stun:

If you block a Vanguard charge, you will get stunned and pushed back a few feet, leaving you open for enemy attacks. You will be stunned if you get hit while you have no stamina, after blocking multiple hits you will lose health even if you block the strikes.

If you try to block a considerably bigger weapon than your own, you may incur a stun knockback. Like trying to block a maul with a dagger. Also some weapons have more force behind them when they attack, giving them pushback, such as the Halberd stab attack can push you back.

Health system (Resistance)

The different classes all have the same amount of health, which is a 100 points. What the different classes have which makes them take more damage is their resistance to damage. They each have their unique values of resistance to different attacks. (To see the individual stats see the Classes section) The current types of attack are as follows:

Pierce: Stab attacks with sharp weapons

Swing: Swing attack with sharp weapons

Blunt: Attacks with blunt weapons

Some weapons also combine different attack types. The morning star which has spikes on it has PierceBlunt damage. It does 50% Pierce damage and 50% blunt damage in this case. Depending on the class resistance, types of attacks will do X% less damage. Example: Knights have 50% pierce resistance. Knights hit in the chest with a normal stab attack will only do 25 damage instead of 50.

Player Tactic guides

Section for those who want to post their own tactics and can't be put in this wiki as general uses for classes, weapons, etc. 

Strength in numbers

As is stated in other parts of this wiki, sticking with your teammates is a good plan. However, do not let this lead you into a false sense of security. First common mistake is not doing objective together, but just kill enemies instead, while the whole enemy team completes the objective at the same time. Second is not knowing about your "weakness in numbers" -- while in a blob, you are very vulnerable to Fire Pots, Vanguard greatswords charge attack, very likely to be hit with an arrow. Third mistake is neglecting the block because of believing you will anyways win -- if everyone believes he will not be hit, lots of you are going to die trading your lives just for one enemy.

Become the Wing-man

A good tactic I've come across for TO, TDM, LTS etc... , is to find a player on your team, and become their loosely coherent backup buddy.  

All too often players, especially ambitious novices fresh off of new-player servers, jump on to a Team based game and Lone Wolf into battle with the notion that they are going to grease it and get all the kills.  

This notion is also, in most cases, battered in the face with a grand-mace. (I should know) 

The less teammates working alone the better, plus by stapling yourself to one other player you give yourself something smaller and easier to focus on, saving you some confusion and a lot of team damage in the process. 

If your team is somehow coordinating effectively via large groups then by all means just stick with your clan lad.  

But if you find that your team is a bit unorganized, using this wing-man mentality could help you and your faction win the day.  

Anti-Siege Archer

So you have the archers that focus mostly on enemy infantry. 

Then you have the archers that draw most of their joy from sticking pointy things into other archers. 

But when I play archer I have to admit: It feels good watching some unsuspecting camper drop off of a Ballista. 

On a more serious note it would do one well to remember the power behind the Siege weapons scattered throughout any given TO map. 

If you play archer remember that you are the ultimate support class in TO, the strength of your faction's defense or the strength of said faction's advance can be greatly affected by your attentiveness to specific targets. 

I feel that this is the very reason many players who main archer seem to focus on a specific enemy target.  

I personally think it is a good idea to make one target group enemy siege points. 

By focusing on enemy siege weaponry you are benefiting your team greatly in their advance, also this strategy is great for newer archers (I myself not exactly being the best) because many maps boast enemy siege weaponry in places where one can easily snipe at from cover. 

It is also beneficial to new archers due to the fact that operators of weapons such as catapults and ballistas, are stuck in a very static position during the time of operation; hence, making them really easy targets. 

All in all I think it would be safe to say that assigning yourself as the "anti-siege" specialist on certain maps can be an excellent way to benefit your faction.    

Shield Wall

In many situations, you will be facing archers. Each archer is different, some will charge with their sword because. they are clueless about what's going on, some will try to snipe out enemies by themselves, and some will do different tatics. In this case, you will be up against a larger group of archers. Sometimes, it's not enough to dodge every arrow or to run fast enough so they don't know how to shoot you. This is where a wall of shields comes in.

1. Have 1 Man-at-Arms armed with a shield, (A Heater Shield would probably be this best, but a Buckler is fine,) for every 2 people.
2. Have the Men-at-Arms stand shoulder to shoulder, leaving little space for an arrow or crossbow bolt to fly in.
3. Have 1 to 2 players line up behind each Man-at-Arms. (If there are any Archers in the group, send them to the back so they could possibly shoot any enemies charging the Men-at-Arms.)
4. Make sure the Men-at-Arms put their shields into a Block Mode and have everyone, (Including the Men-at-Arms,) crouch.
5. Slowly move up and make sure any archers in the group attempt to shoot enemy archers.

This strategy helped me win multiple games of Team Objective while attacking. I hope this strategy works for you.

Man-at-Arms 1v1 techniques (updated Dec 21, 2014)

Because the Man-at-Arms is quick, yet low health, it requires a unique and skillful play style, below are several tips helpful when playing the Man-at-Arms class in duels or 1v1, I put in brackets how "hard" each of the tips is to full off. For the record, I'm rank 46, play Man-at-Arms 90% of the time (duel mode) and regularly win 10 - 0 even against Vq., gamma and epsilon players.

1. Weapons and settings:
   1. I use the norse sword, mainly for its long stab range.
   2. Sometimes If I'm fighting a player who is good at parrying and doesn't move much, a 50+ ranked knight for example, then I use the dagger since it's extremely quick and most people can't react fast enough. Unfortunately, it's low range makes it difficult to land a hit.
   3. I play mostly in 1st person. I find 1st person easier to parry, however, when playing opponents who don't parry or move around a lot (ie other Man-at-Arms) I use 3rd person. I use 3rd person to see my way around, especially when dodging or dragging. I also use 3rd person when using fists, or fighting opponents that use the dagger (archers).
2. The Man-at-Arms is very weak, one mistake can easily kill you! Because of this, learn to play defensively and don't miss. It's always safe to let your opponent attack first, just watch out for 180-back-overheads (just dodge away if they play that card).
3. Attacking first: As I mentioned, this can be risky, however, there are circumstances in which it's better to attack first.
   1. Try dodging in quickly and stabbing; they will most likely parry. Nevertheless, after doing this once or twice, dodge in and wait a fraction of a second. Your opponent will parry thinking you are going to stab them, however, by waiting you can avoid the parry.
   2. If your opponent is sprinting at you and you're backing up then it's better to attack first if you're close enough, the simple act of switching directions, sprinting at them and stabbing gives you almost double the range, the higher ping they have the more range you get.
   3. [med] Learn FTP (feint to parry). If you're attacking first and you notice that the other player is attacking, double right click to cancel your hit and parry.
4. Allowing them to attack first:
   1. [hard] If the attack is far enough away, back up so that you don't get hit, then, right after the hit is about over, sprint and stab your opponent (aim for the head if you can) for a free hit. If they're skilled and feint to parry, simply get close, wait a fraction of a second, then attack:
   2. [easy] If the hit is close then parry.
      1. [med] If you're really close and you think you can get a hit in; immediately ripose by roll back you're mouse wheel for an overheard while leaning forward. This is how I kill low level opponents (>20) quickly. I wouldn't recommend doing this too much on high ranked opponents since inadvertently you are giving them the "right of way," however, occasionally you can get a hit in if they aren't expecting it and it helps mix things up especially if you delay your attacks a lot (see #2 below).
      2. [easy-hard] Don't immediately ripose!I get probably 50% of my hits doing this. Delaying your attack is the easiest way to beat moderately ranked players (25-45), for most players, it is automatic to think you will ripose and so they will automatically parry. For higher ranked players, try using a dagger and try your best to randomize you attacks. When attacking high ranking vanguards (40+) a lot of the time they will run off to the side making them hard to hit; using the norse sword, use a wide slashing attack. Overall, this technique works wonders on players with higher ping (>60 ping), however, above 120 ping you have to use a completely different strategy (see high ping bullet). To get your opponent to panic parry, try the following:
         1. [easy] Try face-hugging them; sprint at them moving side to side. If you use the dagger, you can quickly kill an unskilled player using this technique: waiting until they parry, then attack, wait, attack twice, wait etc.
         2. [easy] Simply jumping in the air is usually enough of a movement that you can trick them into parrying.
         3. [easy] Lean forward and backwards quickly
         4. [hard] On high ranked players who don't fall for any of these tricks try doing a 180-back-overheard with the norse, the turn will make them think you're trying to trick them, with they're defenses down the hit will connect.
         5. [easy] Feint. It is nearly impossible not to be tricked by a norse-feint and so it's a free hit. However, there are three side affects you'll get from feinting.
            1. People will hate you. Seriously, don't be a faggot.
            2. Feinting exhausts stamina; which is just as precious as health for Man-at-Arms.
            3. Feinting takes up a considerable amount of time, many times when you're opponent is aggressive you can risk trading hits.
5. Against shield users:
   1. [easy] Try spam stab-ripose, if the norse sword is too slow and you can get close, try stab-ripose with the dagger. Slashing and overheads are generally slower attacks so use the stab attack.
   2. [hard] If this doesn't work, try dodging to the right of the player and then stabbing+dragging around the shield to hit them in the back.
   3. [hard] Bait them by walking close to them, then, right when you see them attack back up so they're attack is just perfectly out of range, then quickly sprint in with the norse and stab them (aim for the head). This move takes perfect timing, make sure you know the range of your opponent's weapon. If your opponent has a high ping, don't do this: your timing will be completely off.
   4. Long kicks if done right allow for a free hit: Jump+long kick to stagger them then immediately overhead for a high damage attack.
6. Against Archers
   1. Use 3rd person
   2. Run towards them using the heater shield only when they're bow is about ready.
   3. When close:
      1. Don't underestimate an archer's melee. Stay out of dagger range.
      2. Quickly run up, make them attack, back up, when the attack is over sprint at them and use an overhead attack if close enough.
      3. If they have a shield see part #3 above "Against shield users."
7. If they have high ping, >100:
   1. Use heater shield, get close, then just spam RMB.
   2. Be aggressive, sometimes simply spamming with a dagger works.
   3. If none of these techniques seem to work, switch to the vanguard class and pick a big sword, run back and forth stabbing the air, eventually the lagger will run into your attacks and die.
8. For feinters. Tips to counter:
   1. If your opponent has a small sword, parrying can be extremely troublesome; so don't parry, just dodge away, then, quickly sprint in and stab them before they can parry.
   2. If your opponent has a longer/slower weapon, you'll just have to deal with the feints; pay close attention to the arm extension.
9. If possible, avoid attacking if you know it will be parried. If they parry your attack then essentially your giving them the "right of way" and allowing them to attack. However, if they DO parry your attack:
   1. [easy] If your opponents weapon is small, don't bother parrying riposes, just dodge away after clashing swords. This is the beauty of the Man-at-Arms class. High ranking knights (50+) usually learn to start each attack as a combo then feint to parry immediately after every hit to avoid this, this wastes stamina and can easily backfire.
   2. If the weapon is too big, dodging won't get you out of the way and you will just have to parry the attack. Luckily most large weapons have slower riposes and conventional parrying should work. Watch out for the claymore though.

Archers

New to the Class

Before deciding to play an Archer, make sure you are at least a passable MAA meleer and have a good sense of distance and timing. Be sure you can also land hits with throwing axes as a Knight/Vanguard before transitioning to a bow. The trajectory of the axes are generally more challenging than a bow at medium ranges and the additional health and weapon resistances will keep you alive longer and help you learn to lead targets better.

Be sure to pick your shots and realize that it’s often times better to not fire than to shoot into groups of players (particularly 2v1 scenarios) with friendlies in hopes of snagging a kill. Ideal times to fire are when the combat "breaks" and the meleers pull away from each other after a hit. TKs will occasionally happen so make sure to immediately apologize in the team chat. Keep in mind that in general, Archers are frowned upon and an inaccurate ones with greater than 20% team damage are liable to be vote kicked from the server. Don’t expect people to cut you a break.

Team damage will often occur when shooting at too far of a range. Strive to minimize your arrow’s travel time and maximize your accuracy by being at staying at medium range. This will make you a more viable target than at long range so it will be important to stay mobile and mindful of where your teammates are for support.

Being caught in a melee fight with a bow equipped will usually result in death and is a typical new player mistake. Learn to judge distance in terms of the amount of seconds it takes for someone to enter melee range with you. Learn the ranges of commonly used weapons (Great Swords, Zweihanders, norse swords, messers, etc) and note the run speed differences between the classes. Be ready to draw your secondary at around two seconds for Knights and MAAs and slightly earlier for sprinting Vanguards.

Vanguards with their innate charge ability are capable of one-shotting archers and are a particular threat to unaware players. Draw your secondary weapon early and make sure to parry the attack. Typical Vanguards want an easy kill on people who aren’t looking and some aren’t interested in fighting a stubborn player.

Archers don't have armor to depend on but their range of weapons and high foot speed allow them to be extremely effective offensively in melee combat. Use your MAA skills in the melee fight and be aware that time is mostly on your side. Standard accelerated ripostes will be effective against most low to moderately skilled players but simply stalling and waiting for help is often a viable tactic. Players will frequently tunnel-vision on killing an archer and typically make themselves quite vulnerable in the process. If a teammate has come to assist, use your judgement as to continue in melee combat or disengage to your ranged.

Simple Reconnassance as an Archer

At first, the ArrowCam may just appear to be a small, unimportant gimmick that only exists to emulate similar mechanics from other games. However, if you are looking for your enemies, with no idea where they are (and ammo to spare), you could fire/throw an arrow/sling/javelin in the general direction of where you think they could be, and give it enough power to reach that area. As it is flying, if you use ArrowCam, you can use this projectile as a camera to try and see where they are, which can help you (and your team, if you communicate) to amnush your enemies. This tactic also has the advantage of potentially killing an enemy (if you are lucky enough), however, it may cause some friendly fire (if you are really unlucky).

Tricking Other Players

Besides the ways mentioned above (dragging, feinting, etc.) there are a few other ways that can trick other players.

The False Retreat

One way to get a free strike on an enemy player and to confuse them is by pretending to run away, run behind an object that obscures your follower's sight (wall, rock, etc.) and then quickly turn around and attack your enemy, while they still think you are retreating and don't expect you to stab them. This can be used to land a free hit, and can also disorientate enemies, allowing you to combo and kill them.

Tips while doing techniques

• Before you retreat, make sure that your soon-to-be chaser is not too close. This is because you do not want the player to catch up to you using the chaser mechanic (stated above) and attack you in the back before you can find cover and turn around and kill them
• Just as you want your chaser to be at some distance, you do not want them to be too far. This is because of 2 reasons. If they are too far, they may give up on chasing you. Another reason to make sure they are not too far is that they may not be in range when you turn around and attack them and you may miss, essentially giving them an opening to attack.
• Be ready to block, as sometimes, the attackers suspect that you are hiding just behind some cover and may windup a stab (which will be released just as they turn the corner of a wall/rock/cover). Those who suspect this may be people who you have done this tactic before, and more experienced players (who have experienced, seen, or have done this tactic as well)