A new thought on blocking...

[Taurus Mephista]

Before I couldn't for the life of me figure out how blocking had been implimented at all. Of course there were the occasional luck parries or the off swing casually thrown aside... but it just didn't seem to work (and I found out quickly that just taking a defensive stance by just standing there?.. didn't help ). I was dueling today, however, and found that by walking while retreating kept the sabre up, allowing for very effective blocking (give or take a few corrections in position and aiming). Doing that actually allowed me to stay alive much more easily, and I started winning much more often (did I see a riposte or two?). Knowing that there is at least some degree of effective blocking is really cool, and adds what I *thought* was missing from the lightsabre combat; before it just seemed like a bunch of lightsabre-wielding maniacs twirling around like daisies (or lunging and then retreating)... well, it still is, but now *I've* gotten out of that habit for the most part, and it's all much more subdued and calculated (give or take a fit of twirling ). Definitely a new take on blocking.

 

I guess that could lead me to the nuances of the multiplayer game in general (dueling, no force, that is). For example, I thought the heavy stance was much more buggy than it really is (and it's still a tad bit buggy, I say; we all get the occasional "wtf??!?!"s and "how in the hell"s dealing with that style... even when *I* use it ), but after playing for a while now, I find that all of that is *much* easier to deal with. The players that continuously lunge and attack/retreat with the heavy style seem much easier to kill now, and everything is more like I expected it to be when I first got the game and got owned on a multiplayer server; it makes everything more enjoyable (and gratifying when you toss the lunger's hand back to him ).

 

Now, I know, this isn't to say that because you *can* deal with the "bugs" that it makes it all right. I'm just saying that while we wait for it to be looked at (if Raven decides it needs looking at, hence the quotation of bugs), it makes things a lot more fun...

 

I don't know, or I could be crazy and my thoughts could be due to one good day on the dueling scene, lol. So, what's everyone thoughts on blocking in combat (i.e. have you done it effectively? or do you think it's still a bit lacking) and definitely your thoughts on the "bugs" in lightsabre combat, looking at it now from when you first saw them and knew something was wrong.

 

-Taurus

[Valdarious]

I believe you are right to an extent. I guess I never really realized it before but when I fight, if I am not spinning a backhit on a person running straight at me, I have a tendacy to stand still more often than not.

If you notice that if you just walk up to someone without swinging, the saber will do a lil dance per se. That in itself is what most of the blocking does I think. I have taken a couple special heavy hits in duels and still lived mostly cause it knocks me back since I was either standing still or "aiming" my saber at the attack coming in, sure sometimes you will still take damage but I notice far less than if you are strafing away from it or just moving forward.

I notice that when I fight, and I do this purposely, that I use momentum with alot of my swings. If someone is straight in front of me, I will turn myself to an angle from them and time it so that when they come to me I turn the mouse and use a strafe swing at the same time towards the person. I find that after I have scored a hit on the person, they say "ouch" that did alot of damage. This will also block alot of blows that come in front of me, maybe its a strafing style block or something.

My moto is to just experiment with new attack patterns from time to time to see what works well and I have found that I do pretty well in duels with alot of the attacks that I do.

I will usualy always change my patterns alot so I dont get predictable, the only real predictability that I show is I will usualy only use medium stance unless I want to the light crouch upward stroke for a surprise now and then. There are ways to pull that move off without alowing the person to see you set up for it. If you press crouch(or have a crouch toggle) and press jump, you will stand up, as soon as you let go of jump you will crouch again. So with that in mind, hold crouch, hold jump, walk forward with a straight up and down attack and imediatly let go of jump and keep attack held down, you will automaticaly go into the light special upward thrust. If they are coming at you the same way and the first hit hits each other sometimes it will do a saber lock depending on what stance they are in, so in itself this could be a good block too, if you are good at winning locks.