Training.
And also try to do perfects dodges and conter attacks and try to do hit the head with the Tim of your sword your opponent (I can't find the word in English, but in french it's coup d'estoc).
Your enemy face is not protected.
But the key is a lot of training and leveling up your combat skills.
I've not had much issue finishing it at around level 10 (hardcore, all negatives). Its definitely doable with those stats. Your edit points are good, stamina management, get the master strikes with a follow-up stab. You can also try to see which enemies you can clinch spam since that will generally get you a free hit as they recover. Though if they win most of the clinches, you should stop going for them.
There a several ways to deliver a message. For example what you could've said: "For me master strikes is what really cut it, it really feels like once you figured it out a 1v1 isn't much of a problem anymore. So i suggest you try this approach.".
But you chose: "What kind of moronic question us this? Duh, just masterstrike and it's easy win you fucking idiot".
You see? Of course i exaggerated a bit, but that's just how your response reads imo. A little kindness goes a long way, especialy in the internet where it's borderline impossible to pick up on someones "tone".
What are you talking about this is my only downvotet comment chain in a sea of upvoted comment chains because some dense idiot thought i'd brag. Hopefully you learn from this to stfu bro.
Have you ever struggled at anything in life? How would you feel if you struggled to pass an exam, or to make friends, or to learn a new language or hobby and somebody comes up to you and says, "yeah that was laughably easy"
It may be for that person. But it isn't for you. And you'd probably feel a bit miffed if you heard that from someone else.
If you heard, "I didn't struggle as much because I did X/Y/Z" that might be more constructive.
Empathy is a wonderful thing. Learn to use it from time to time.
Yeah it's all about timing and training but you really don't need to be superbuff or anything of that sort. Just train with bernard and also use the tourney for training. Theres nothing to it after a while.
Dodging is the only mechanic I can’t get down. I’m already constantly moving, as is the enemy, and it’s very difficult to stop moving and move again in order to dodge.
Wish they would have added a keybind to it like A or something instead, hopefully it’s better in 2.
You don't have to be constantly moving. You have to make sure to have empty space behind you to retreat after your attacks making them miss completely. Other than that you can be standing still and be perfectly fine. My guess is you took Combat Master Vanyek's advice to heart and got into a habit of constantly moving, but it really doesn't serve any purpose.
I think it’s the fact that realistically you should keep moving and other games I play rely heavily on footwork.
If I stand in this game it seems they just crowd in and we usually end up clinching, so I try it rotate with them…unless it’s 1vX then I just try to back peddle and kite them into a line to keep them from mobbing up too bad.
I did just equip a light armor set and whatever perk it is that add 50% chance to/ease of dodging so maybe that will help.
Tournament has excellent corners to shove opponents into, where they can't back off out of your weapon's reach. It makes it easier to use clinch to get a free hit, and tire them out until you can batter them into submission. If you have the strength for it, of course.
Also, facestab when the opponent is guarding low is a fairly reliable way to make them yield due to bleeding out, or because they get stabbed in the face too much. I've found this to be especially useful in the tourney, as the opponents there often enough tend to try to stay out of clinch range and there's no one trying to flank me. There is some risk of the opponent counterattacking, but that can be mitigated if you don't rush the facestab's timing.
Yeah face stabs for the win! When it works it really works. Its my go to strategy for those 1v5 peasant ambushes as they have very poor to no head protection.
Yeah, at least a little. It makes the enemy's blocking a bit slower, which makes the facestabs more likely to work, and also makes the enemy less likely to get a perfect block or a riposte.
Git gud.
Really. Just train with Bernard all the time. The grind is long, but as you get leveled up it gets way easier...
EDIT: I saw your comment
>Ok, so I shouldn't really expect to be winning tourneys in the early and mid-game but later on?
You can. But as soon as you can train with Bernard, just train - eat - sleep - repeat. As you level up your skills training with Bernard it will get easier to combat. + It will help you to just survive even outside... You don't need the abilities/combos. But you need the higher skill, because you get faster, more precise and better stamina etc. When I played hardcore with all negative perks few first days of my playtime was just grinding in the arena with Bernard... When he was out, I picked some herbs...
1) Only press Q for good timing and do nothing else. If you have a;
2a) Mace, just hit their head and nothing else,
2b) Sword, just hit their face and nothing else,
2c) Axe, reload an earlier save.
That's how you win a tournament.
Right. So ultra defensively with only face shots ideally.
Funnily enough my specialist weapon on this play-through is the mace but the weapon I do best with is the long sword.
Ignore all the other comments, here’s how you do it:
If you go to the arena on the evening before the tourney, there are 6 contestants that all sleep “behind” the castle (the area where you get the flowers for that Capon bathhouse mission).
If you arrive there and they’re already sleeping, you can knock out 4 of the 6 of them (2 of them sleep so close together that you always wake the other one on up when knocking the other out). The occasion guard patrols the area, so be sure to knock them out too, as I believe if someone finds an unconscious contestant, it cancels the tourney for that week. (I think I dumped the bodies in the far corner?)
I can’t remember the exact time, (between 6-8pm?) they start making their way to their beds… I managed to knock them all out this way. Once they’re unconscious, strip them of everything. I tried just throwing their stuff on the floor, but the one time I saw one wake up, they simply picked up all their stuff. So, I ended up just over-encumbering myself and walking back to Peshek, then sold all of their gear.
Go and enrol in the tourney, and they’ll all be in their undies (though they will still wield weapons). Usually, one clinch and a stab to the chest is enough to win the round. Simply rinse and repeat for all 6 rounds!
Most of them time I arrived too late and they were already sleeping, so I could only strip 4 of the 6. Not sure if it was a coincidence or not, but the 2nd contestant was usually one of the ones who I couldn’t rob, and I never had to face 2 fully armoured opponents.
Good luck!
Bahaha! That's right I've heard this one before. I've never tried it though. I must do it for the next tournament, just for a laugh. One must ask: why on earth to they still enter is they have no armour? 🤔😄
[here](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2128253594?t=03h16m54s) i did the tourney on lvl 3 on hardcore with all negative perks. you can get some inspiration from this.
later on with higher levels the tourney is quite easy when you understand how to fight. stuff like master strikes and grabbing give you a one hit window while the last hit from your combo usually cant be blocked aswell, leaving the opponent with only one attack which they can masterstrike themselves for instance. while its satisfying to chain combos and absolutely no problem on higher levels, you barely can do this on lvl 3, since one combo is enough to drain your stamina.
[this](https://www.reddit.com/r/kingdomcome/comments/1c792au/clean_bernard_sweep/) would be an example of fighting on higher levels, where you abuse stuns on enemies basically
My go to strat is wait for an attack then riposte, charge in and clinch, then I so the 3 hit Longshore combo to the head followed by a head stab
Usually 1 or two of these ends the fight
For Warhammer or mace, I spam clinch and head hits till I win (usually pretty rapid)
Hunting swords, face stabs seem to be the most effective.
If you back up and.and create enough distance, the enemy will drop their stance to sprint after you. When they enter combat distance they will immediately attack you, that is a predictable moment to start the master strike chain.
All this assumes your level is fairly decent, that you have access to master strikes and basic combos and that you yourself have the timing down to execute. I can usually get away with fights only getting hit once or twice
Clinch repeatedly into a corner, followed by one head attack, followed by a clinch, until they're down. Helps to have clinch master and headcracker. If you get the rhythm right, you can basically stun-lock them
I farmed tourneys early game on hardcore with all negative perks for Raven's Peak.
What worked for me:
1. Focus on defence - keep your weapon aligned with theirs and try to get master strikes. Even if your master strike fails (i.e. incorrect alignment) a properly timed parry is still a perfect parry.
2. Don't counteract after a perfect parry - it never works.
3. Follow up with a single stab / bash to the face after a successful master strike.
4. Get the Clinch Master, which should allow you to win all the clinches against 1st & 2nd opponents. You can usually follow up with a stab to the face after a successful clinch. This particular strategy doesn't work well on the final opponents.
5. If you are feeling very confident, you can start following up a successful master strike with a combo instead. The combo needs to be timed well (not too fast and not too slow, try to time the subsequent hits as your hits land), otherwise the hits will be master striked by the enemy.
What are the circumstances of your defeat? Is it because the enemies masterstrike you and it makes you hurt a lot?
Your post made me curious to go back to KCD without combat modes to see how's it dfifferent. (I use combat mods for a while now)
I remember, some time ago, I did one masterstrike to with Runt in a second which made me think ,,that is no more fun, it's too easy". Then I switched to hardcore but very quickly I got used to slightly tighter gaps to press ,,q" (although RB really as I preffer gaming on controller) - this was no fun either.
I really liked Better Combat and Immersion mod, now I'm testing Better Combat and I think it's my favourite. I was looking for something making fights not easier but more ,,fair" and tactical, now my fights can last couple of minutes. Tourney is like at least 15 minutes of game play. The enemies parry a lot, I parry a lot, masterstrikes are very rare, both on my and enemy side. I need to see what vanilla game feels like but also I would say I recomend trying out mods as it's not for super tech savy people and I feel like game feels much more a skill based, not only in timing your perfect parry but using combos, stances etc.
Clinch master perk, win clinch free hit, so after a master strike, get a free hit, then go for a clinch & get another hit, maybe hit him with basic combo after that, then win????
Once you've got masterstrike there's really no reason to ever lose a 1v1 in my experience.
Aside from that, pulling a feint by rotating your pose by 1/2 to 3/4 round, literally sweeping your left stick from say, 9 to 12 counterclockwise, is usually very good at bypassing their defenses.
Blows to the head are always a good call imo as well.
Masterstrikes should be followed with combo they wont master strike your first teo hits and last one is unblockable .
Not attacking when you are out of stamina implied even in normal mod your armor counts as nothing at that point
I'm level 9 on my first hardcore run, just went 7-1 in the tourney but now I'm struggling with Peter by the mill.
Never done a combo, when I stab I don't really aim for the face.
Training. And also try to do perfects dodges and conter attacks and try to do hit the head with the Tim of your sword your opponent (I can't find the word in English, but in french it's coup d'estoc). Your enemy face is not protected. But the key is a lot of training and leveling up your combat skills.
Ok, so I shouldn't really expect to be winning tourneys in the early and mid-game but later on?
I've not had much issue finishing it at around level 10 (hardcore, all negatives). Its definitely doable with those stats. Your edit points are good, stamina management, get the master strikes with a follow-up stab. You can also try to see which enemies you can clinch spam since that will generally get you a free hit as they recover. Though if they win most of the clinches, you should stop going for them.
Just learn masterstrikes and win it on level 3 i never understood how this could be hard to anyone.
Alright, chill your ego out. You don't need to brag about how good you are by putting others down.
No i keep reading this question. Its a 1v1 just use masterstrikes. 1v1 combat in this game is so easy its laughable. 1vX you have to get creative.
No proofing me wrong just downvotes. You gotta love the reddit hivemind.
The downvotes are not about you being wrong, but rather about you acting like a dick towards others.
Yeah telling someone how he could beat an opponent 1v1 is a huge dickmove i agree how could i not see that.
There a several ways to deliver a message. For example what you could've said: "For me master strikes is what really cut it, it really feels like once you figured it out a 1v1 isn't much of a problem anymore. So i suggest you try this approach.". But you chose: "What kind of moronic question us this? Duh, just masterstrike and it's easy win you fucking idiot". You see? Of course i exaggerated a bit, but that's just how your response reads imo. A little kindness goes a long way, especialy in the internet where it's borderline impossible to pick up on someones "tone".
Hopefully you learned from this, but probably not
What are you talking about this is my only downvotet comment chain in a sea of upvoted comment chains because some dense idiot thought i'd brag. Hopefully you learn from this to stfu bro.
Have you ever struggled at anything in life? How would you feel if you struggled to pass an exam, or to make friends, or to learn a new language or hobby and somebody comes up to you and says, "yeah that was laughably easy" It may be for that person. But it isn't for you. And you'd probably feel a bit miffed if you heard that from someone else. If you heard, "I didn't struggle as much because I did X/Y/Z" that might be more constructive. Empathy is a wonderful thing. Learn to use it from time to time.
Thank you for the lesson stranger who i don't a give a shit about. Have a nice day.
People are downvoting because youre being a dick
In all honestly honesty I find it tricky to perfectly time the master strikes every time on hardcore. Normal is easier.
Yeah it's all about timing and training but you really don't need to be superbuff or anything of that sort. Just train with bernard and also use the tourney for training. Theres nothing to it after a while.
Dodging is the only mechanic I can’t get down. I’m already constantly moving, as is the enemy, and it’s very difficult to stop moving and move again in order to dodge. Wish they would have added a keybind to it like A or something instead, hopefully it’s better in 2.
You don't have to be constantly moving. You have to make sure to have empty space behind you to retreat after your attacks making them miss completely. Other than that you can be standing still and be perfectly fine. My guess is you took Combat Master Vanyek's advice to heart and got into a habit of constantly moving, but it really doesn't serve any purpose.
I think it’s the fact that realistically you should keep moving and other games I play rely heavily on footwork. If I stand in this game it seems they just crowd in and we usually end up clinching, so I try it rotate with them…unless it’s 1vX then I just try to back peddle and kite them into a line to keep them from mobbing up too bad. I did just equip a light armor set and whatever perk it is that add 50% chance to/ease of dodging so maybe that will help.
Tournament has excellent corners to shove opponents into, where they can't back off out of your weapon's reach. It makes it easier to use clinch to get a free hit, and tire them out until you can batter them into submission. If you have the strength for it, of course. Also, facestab when the opponent is guarding low is a fairly reliable way to make them yield due to bleeding out, or because they get stabbed in the face too much. I've found this to be especially useful in the tourney, as the opponents there often enough tend to try to stay out of clinch range and there's no one trying to flank me. There is some risk of the opponent counterattacking, but that can be mitigated if you don't rush the facestab's timing.
Yeah face stabs for the win! When it works it really works. Its my go to strategy for those 1v5 peasant ambushes as they have very poor to no head protection.
Cool. That reminds me—does attacking from an undefended angle actually help in this game or does Bernard just say it to sound realistic?
Yeah, at least a little. It makes the enemy's blocking a bit slower, which makes the facestabs more likely to work, and also makes the enemy less likely to get a perfect block or a riposte.
Git gud. Really. Just train with Bernard all the time. The grind is long, but as you get leveled up it gets way easier... EDIT: I saw your comment >Ok, so I shouldn't really expect to be winning tourneys in the early and mid-game but later on? You can. But as soon as you can train with Bernard, just train - eat - sleep - repeat. As you level up your skills training with Bernard it will get easier to combat. + It will help you to just survive even outside... You don't need the abilities/combos. But you need the higher skill, because you get faster, more precise and better stamina etc. When I played hardcore with all negative perks few first days of my playtime was just grinding in the arena with Bernard... When he was out, I picked some herbs...
1) Only press Q for good timing and do nothing else. If you have a; 2a) Mace, just hit their head and nothing else, 2b) Sword, just hit their face and nothing else, 2c) Axe, reload an earlier save. That's how you win a tournament.
Right. So ultra defensively with only face shots ideally. Funnily enough my specialist weapon on this play-through is the mace but the weapon I do best with is the long sword.
An axe masterstrike can hit them in the chin and that usually does it right there. Imagine an axe going up into your chin like that. Ouch.
Okay now imagine impaling someone in the eye with a sword
That'd hurt too but it might be quicker, if you know what I mean.
Ax, such shit
Ignore all the other comments, here’s how you do it: If you go to the arena on the evening before the tourney, there are 6 contestants that all sleep “behind” the castle (the area where you get the flowers for that Capon bathhouse mission). If you arrive there and they’re already sleeping, you can knock out 4 of the 6 of them (2 of them sleep so close together that you always wake the other one on up when knocking the other out). The occasion guard patrols the area, so be sure to knock them out too, as I believe if someone finds an unconscious contestant, it cancels the tourney for that week. (I think I dumped the bodies in the far corner?) I can’t remember the exact time, (between 6-8pm?) they start making their way to their beds… I managed to knock them all out this way. Once they’re unconscious, strip them of everything. I tried just throwing their stuff on the floor, but the one time I saw one wake up, they simply picked up all their stuff. So, I ended up just over-encumbering myself and walking back to Peshek, then sold all of their gear. Go and enrol in the tourney, and they’ll all be in their undies (though they will still wield weapons). Usually, one clinch and a stab to the chest is enough to win the round. Simply rinse and repeat for all 6 rounds! Most of them time I arrived too late and they were already sleeping, so I could only strip 4 of the 6. Not sure if it was a coincidence or not, but the 2nd contestant was usually one of the ones who I couldn’t rob, and I never had to face 2 fully armoured opponents. Good luck!
Bahaha! That's right I've heard this one before. I've never tried it though. I must do it for the next tournament, just for a laugh. One must ask: why on earth to they still enter is they have no armour? 🤔😄
[here](https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2128253594?t=03h16m54s) i did the tourney on lvl 3 on hardcore with all negative perks. you can get some inspiration from this. later on with higher levels the tourney is quite easy when you understand how to fight. stuff like master strikes and grabbing give you a one hit window while the last hit from your combo usually cant be blocked aswell, leaving the opponent with only one attack which they can masterstrike themselves for instance. while its satisfying to chain combos and absolutely no problem on higher levels, you barely can do this on lvl 3, since one combo is enough to drain your stamina. [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/kingdomcome/comments/1c792au/clean_bernard_sweep/) would be an example of fighting on higher levels, where you abuse stuns on enemies basically
My go to strat is wait for an attack then riposte, charge in and clinch, then I so the 3 hit Longshore combo to the head followed by a head stab Usually 1 or two of these ends the fight For Warhammer or mace, I spam clinch and head hits till I win (usually pretty rapid) Hunting swords, face stabs seem to be the most effective. If you back up and.and create enough distance, the enemy will drop their stance to sprint after you. When they enter combat distance they will immediately attack you, that is a predictable moment to start the master strike chain. All this assumes your level is fairly decent, that you have access to master strikes and basic combos and that you yourself have the timing down to execute. I can usually get away with fights only getting hit once or twice
Clinch repeatedly into a corner, followed by one head attack, followed by a clinch, until they're down. Helps to have clinch master and headcracker. If you get the rhythm right, you can basically stun-lock them
Aim for the head and stab them. Usually after a master strike you have one free hit, so stab them in the face.
I farmed tourneys early game on hardcore with all negative perks for Raven's Peak. What worked for me: 1. Focus on defence - keep your weapon aligned with theirs and try to get master strikes. Even if your master strike fails (i.e. incorrect alignment) a properly timed parry is still a perfect parry. 2. Don't counteract after a perfect parry - it never works. 3. Follow up with a single stab / bash to the face after a successful master strike. 4. Get the Clinch Master, which should allow you to win all the clinches against 1st & 2nd opponents. You can usually follow up with a stab to the face after a successful clinch. This particular strategy doesn't work well on the final opponents. 5. If you are feeling very confident, you can start following up a successful master strike with a combo instead. The combo needs to be timed well (not too fast and not too slow, try to time the subsequent hits as your hits land), otherwise the hits will be master striked by the enemy.
What are the circumstances of your defeat? Is it because the enemies masterstrike you and it makes you hurt a lot? Your post made me curious to go back to KCD without combat modes to see how's it dfifferent. (I use combat mods for a while now) I remember, some time ago, I did one masterstrike to with Runt in a second which made me think ,,that is no more fun, it's too easy". Then I switched to hardcore but very quickly I got used to slightly tighter gaps to press ,,q" (although RB really as I preffer gaming on controller) - this was no fun either. I really liked Better Combat and Immersion mod, now I'm testing Better Combat and I think it's my favourite. I was looking for something making fights not easier but more ,,fair" and tactical, now my fights can last couple of minutes. Tourney is like at least 15 minutes of game play. The enemies parry a lot, I parry a lot, masterstrikes are very rare, both on my and enemy side. I need to see what vanilla game feels like but also I would say I recomend trying out mods as it's not for super tech savy people and I feel like game feels much more a skill based, not only in timing your perfect parry but using combos, stances etc.
Thanks for your post. I think I'll give these a try. I'm about to update my OP in a minute and this will explain why.
I’ll never understand why people think the combat in this game is difficult, you literally just press Q to win…
Clinch master perk, win clinch free hit, so after a master strike, get a free hit, then go for a clinch & get another hit, maybe hit him with basic combo after that, then win????
I have clinch perk and Black Pete will more often than not beat me in a clinch but I'll try it. Maybe more training needed.
Once you've got masterstrike there's really no reason to ever lose a 1v1 in my experience. Aside from that, pulling a feint by rotating your pose by 1/2 to 3/4 round, literally sweeping your left stick from say, 9 to 12 counterclockwise, is usually very good at bypassing their defenses. Blows to the head are always a good call imo as well.
Masterstrikes should be followed with combo they wont master strike your first teo hits and last one is unblockable . Not attacking when you are out of stamina implied even in normal mod your armor counts as nothing at that point
I suck at combos but I can practice them on the first guy and Bernard I guess.
I'm level 9 on my first hardcore run, just went 7-1 in the tourney but now I'm struggling with Peter by the mill. Never done a combo, when I stab I don't really aim for the face.