So what would the point of blocking be if parrying is so much better? I haven’t gotten my hands on the game yet so forgive me if that’s a bit of a dumb question. Just seems like parrying both prevents the damage from the attacker and anyone else around you, far more effective than a block would.
@@spiggityspoo756 not exactly sure as even the game considers it a downgrade (balanced ->block stat change is red as balanced ->fencing is green), havent tried any block only weapon variants so far myself
@@HibHab69 If balanced weapons have a smaller parry window and fencing weapons increase that window, maybe a block is just a way to stave off damage from a few enemies around you in the event of a mistimed parry? And maybe block weapons just remove the parry window and make it so the block is more useful, and you get some other stat changes in return? I dunno, I’m spitballing. Could also be possible that those mechanics aren’t working entirely as foreseen in large hordes, though I kind of doubt that’s the case.
The ingame term for the special shot is "gun strike". It can trigger even when you're out of ammo, it also has a lot of abilities linked to it/changing it in the class talent trees.
@@alexandreparent5754 it's a little off unfortunately. parries dont do aoe stagger, especially not to minoris, though perfect parries do stagger majoris and extremis often times. you can also still get gun strikes off perfect dodges, which are often applicable in the same situations a parry would be. block is a perfectly viable alternative, you just need to be aware that you're sacrificing the parry, which as powerful as it is, is not essential
For people asking, the weapons that only have block and no perfect parties usually have WAY higher damage output and speed. Like the strongest thunder hammer that does 12 damage and has a 5 speed is a block only. It’s sacrificing defens for offense basically. On an assault that is constantly moving block weapons are really good cus you’re constantly attacking and utilizing the rally mechanic that regains health as you attack
I think that's the idea, but my experience with it in difficulty 3, let alone 4, was getting swarmed and having no room to dodge. It seemed fine in D2 and D1. Could be a skill issue but then again I think I said my advice is for new players to pick fencing.
When you have multiple Majoris on your ass peppering you and jumping you, the higher stats start to matter a lot less over being able to take advantage of parry opportunities and Gun Strike. Only time I can see better stats working out is against Thousand Sons because they do pull out an AoE unblockable if you're wailing on them too hard, so having better speed there works wonders since in my experience, slower weapons either don't force the unblockable to come out after a number of hits or you overcommit for one more hit and the animation locks you into taking the unlockable.
@@Reginald-sc9tk I've been experimenting on this too and I was dancing around the idea that no fencing build might work cuz of the Assault's innate 50% more perfect dodges. So I thought the Assault should be dodging instead of parrying but its way too hard when theres so many enemies around, especially on higher difficulties. On the other hand, the Assault has a skill that adds one segment of armor with every gun strike (even if it doesnt kill)which looks like it makes the fencing a way more viable option (from what I'm seeing now), although perfect dodges also allow you to gun strike, therefore giving you extra armor segments each perfected ones and now add that to the assault's passive (plus 50% perfect dodge) + the weapons that have block only stats are faster and stronger (which allows you to dodge easier)... that bounces me back to making the Assault just a dodger instead , but again, its super hard (most likely a skill issue on my part tho). But I'm still getting my Space Marine ass handed to me so I'm still switching stuff out. Game is so good because its this hard, I love it.
You can run block on assault but it basically requires you to have assault maxed out so you can replace your parries with jet pack doges. Without the 100% uptime jet pack dodge you need to be able to parry
I think the point of block is that you rely almost entirely on dodging instead of parrying. If you dodge an attack at the perfect moment, it opens the enemy up to a gun strike, just like a parry does. The difference is you are forgoing the aoe knockback of a parry. If you look in the assault perk tree there should be some nodes based around perfect dodges. You're right though. I think this is a much harder playstyle until everyone is better at the game and understands the mechanics more. Thanks for the vid! Looking forward to some new Darktide videos once the next big patch drops!
The issue is that, in my experience, dodge only gets you so far. Parry can kinda be spammed, but dodge can get you surrounded and cut to ribbons. PLUS you cannot dodge through enemies and thus can get stuck. Parry can save you, dodge cannot.
It's more of an issue of being unable to perfectly dodge minoris normal attacks, making it just dodging into getting hit multiple times during your roll animation. Parry is the only defensive AoE you have, giving that up for slightly more damage on a melee is just not worthwhile unless it's on bulwark.
@@Reginald-sc9tk on assault you can just use the jetpack to slam or jump away& However, fencing weapons still seem better as dmg and cleave inc are not that impactful. Block weapons are good for 1-3 difficulty on 4th seems meh. Perhaps, with good party could work but then you have to play super safe.
This is the kind of video I want to see! Just straight to the point, non-arrogant information about how to use the potential within the game systems. Also appreciate how you focus on and show the strengths of a chain sword build for the assault class, as that one seems less common than the Thunder Hammer one.
I'm happy to do it, it's a lot of fun. Thammer has some mystique but honestly I think they designed it poorly. Chainsword has good aesthetics and feel too. I've had a lot of fun with it.
I'm interested to see what you think of this game going forward. I thought your takes on Helldivers were very levelheaded, being able to find the fun and joy in the game while still seeing and addressing the more fundamental problems with its design. Also, that weapon stats screen is hilarious. I had to check and see if the developers were Swedish after seeing it, but I think baffling UI elements are just par for the course now. Attack: 9 Speed: 9+ Damage: yes please Cleave: B- Defense: Crouching Tiger Please consult this unlabeled skull graph to determine skull performance:
I laughed heartily at your stats joke. I'm going to take a bit more time to get to know the game before complaining about systems. I will say it's fun.
Just hover Your mouse over "Defence" in game and it explains everything... . Fencing : increased parry window Block - no parry window balanced - moderate parry window
1. That's awesome, thanks for informing me. Wish the UI had mentioned that anywhere. 2. Thats not the whole of it. Parry knockback is the critical piece here
i dunno if its bulwark but after a lot of confusion, playing balance i figured that you do block if you press block but you can parry with a double tap on block.
In my experience, if you're using a weapon that only lets you block, it is not worth using the parry button anymore unless you're getting jumped by a small enemy. With a block weapon I recommend to only use dodge and attack as much as possible since those weapons usually deal more damage so you reach the execute point faster and can regenerate armor that way. Those weapons can work too but they do require another playstyle.
Finally an assault guy, I've been having a hard time playing this class but I can't stop. I'm a blood angel and I need my wings! Been juggling between chainsword, hammer and fist but the higher difficulties have been so hard lately, way harder than lets say a Heavy.
its way harder. I post good numbers but you need to play smart and plan ahead with your staggers, parries and gun strikes. I intend to make a guide later.
Excellent video - thank you. You get straight to the point, and you nail it. You've obviously written a script and taken time to curate the footage you use, rather than just blabbing whilst recording, like some other channels I've seen.
Thank you very much. I make it my true ambition to be quick about it. I don't like having my time wasted and don't like wasting other people's either. Thanks for your time!
EDIT: this is bulwark specific. To everyone who plays bulwark, pick up fencing weapons and then constantly parry when you get swarmed its op, combined with the perks that trigger on parry. The blocking mechanic has been confusing me a lot. I play bulwark and couldnt figure out why i couldnt parry. I was playing with balance all the time. I think balance works different. If you push and hold block you do a normal block it doesnt matter the timing, it will always do a normal block, BUT if you you double tap the block button it will do a parry that you have to time correctly. This is kind of unintuitive for me, since double tapping is kinda stupid for a fast reaction move imo, so i will go try fencing now. Maybe that will improve the gameplay for me, since its starting to get frustrating for me. They could have made a better effort to explain that stuff, since its a very important core mechanic as well...
I will try but still dont get it. Parry is the thing when i get the blue notification icon when the enemy attack no? So when i have balance i have shorter time window to do it,fencing u have longer so easier and with the block u cant even parry only dodge?
@@blackstaarx2824 the blue marker is a weird thing. You can parry any melee attack even without blue marker. Only if there is a orange marker specifically, you have to dodge it. In a swarm you will constantly have something to parry, which is very good for bulwark, since it does a lot of AOE. For bulwark I just go for fencing , the rest is just not worth it imo. Block has no parry window, fencing extends it so far, that you get a large enough parry window, that multiple successive attacks wont hurt you, like when multiple enemies attack you in a horde. you are basically invincible as long as you can dodge the occasional orange or ranged attack.
This explains so much. When I first tried Bulwark I had a horrible time because I was using a block sword. I kept fishing for parries but wasn't getting any even when the timing seemed right. I thought the class just couldn't parry at all for some reason and moved on to other classes. It was a terrible first impression of the class.
If you mouse over the weapons Block, Balanced or Fencing stat (in the top left) on the equipment screen, you actualy get a pop-up explaining what the 3 stats do (Block = no perfect parry window at all, Balanced = normal perfect parry window, Fencing = extended perfect parry window)
Definately been thinking about this, also think this game needs some deeesperate balance tweaks. I've completed some difficulty 3 missions and I play mostly assault and I think the best way to describe it is that in Darktide, attrition damage is a penalty for playing poorly. In Space Marine 2, attrition damage is a baseline that requires either exploiting the games mechanics or nigh inhuman levels of good play to mitigate. Relying on Fencing weapons just to be able to deal with hordes is pretty hilarious given the thunder hammer, a weapon DESIGNED for hordes will get you killed on the same difficulty to use. It's more then a little frustrating.
This is great to know, thank you for the enlightenment brother! glad to know I'm not the only one experiencing the stagger lock ass kicking, and also struggling to see the value of slower "heavy hitting" melee weapons, something I too would like to experiment more with once I return the ass kicking with this new found fencing knowledge.
Minotaur: “I don’t think I’m supposed to be here.” Ultramarine: “Brother, can you not read your itinerary? It says to report to…..ugh never mind. Want to kill some xenos?” Minotaur: “F yeah!”
Fencing greatly increases the time you have to perform a perfect parry, at the cost of weapon stats. Block trades your ability to parry into a gun-strike for much better weapon stats. Balance, as the name suggests, sits somewhere in the middle. In my opinion, Fencing is the better option for every weapon except the hammer, which I've found works best with Block. Balance is also an fine choice for the knife if you want a little more damage. All the styles are viable, but you can't play the same way with block as you would with a fencing, and vice versa. Fencing can feel like a more forgiving version of Balance, but it can be easy to get swarmed with that lower damage output.
As a Bulwark main, I need to toss some info into this. -Fencing is the best for parrying, and if you have a parry build, you can do a looooot of damage with it. -Speed is a very important stat too, as the lower the number, the more frames you need to commit to an attack before you can do anything else. (I would like a second opinion on this if someone has noticed something different.) -Cleave potential appears to affect the size of your hit box when you swing. Like a thrust can deal aoe damage if your cleave potential is high enough (Really need a second opinion on this one) With slower swords, I spam power rake (melee charge attack) as it does more dps than light combos. Bulwark also has a plethora of skills rewarding parrying, though I didn't see that so much for Assault. Still, even basic parrying can be super rewarding, and to be honest, I never noticed that parrying pushes the crowd back.
Assault buffs Gunstrike, _(ie, +Armor on Gunstrike)_ which makes parry useful. Assault also more explicitly focuses on rolling, with an inherent +50% perfect dodge window.
little tip I found for those who use balanced, If you are using chainsword use power attack with no combos to punch all infront of you, this will knock the smaller mobs down allowing for a gun finisher which replenishes armour and staggers the enemies too, every other weapon including chainsword to acheive this dodge followed by an attack will do a charged knockdown attack for small enemies allowing for the same effect. Sure has kept me alive anyhow :) also blue rings signal an attack but watch the animation of the enemy to time your parries better as some mobs will delay the actual attack. I Hope this helps some Brothers starting out.
It also helps that perfect parries with a balanced or fencing weapon is guaranteed to kill at least one of the gaunts that are trying to jump you. Being able to stand in the middle of the horde while meticulously slicing through each enemy feels great that way.
im so glad u pay attention to things others dont, because I have been getting my ass kicked as bulwark due to not knowing how fencing works ( i thought it was 1 on 1 advantage rather than large parry window)
Yes fencing is the only stat on your melee weapon that matters, I say this as a Tactical main who has gotten the class to 25 as well as unlocked literally everything for it. Fencing gives you bigger window for getting a parry in and as you can see when you parry it knocks back everything around your frontal arc of 230 degrees which is delightful when wading into the fray. Also the piecing on the Bolter weapons will determine if the thing is good for nids or chaos as that state tells you how many nids it will go through before stopping which is important for nid hordes but less so for traitor forces where raw stopping power is needed more so. You can mouse over the stat and it will give you a lil blurb explaining it in vague terms but only using all the weapons and figuring out the real difference will tell you what you need to know.
i honestly agree with what you said but that's also exactly why i chose a block weapon for now on my assault, I wanted to train with the worse version so that later i'm better with the better version
Mouseover the block type of your weapon in this (1:00) UI and it gives a bit of extra info (which you already know given the video's content, but it's always nice to get a little extra confirmation).
PLEASE READ Block: no perfect parry window Balance: normal perfect parry window Fencing: longer perfect parry window You can still parry blue attacks you just can’t perfect parry them. If you hover over the “Defense” term in your weapon’s window where it says balance, fencing, or block. It tell you exactly what I put up above. You can hover over all of the stat names and it’ll tell you what they do. Cheers
I will also add that the bonus to perfect parry and why it is so good is because it opens up enemies to gun strikes. This is the same for perfect dodge vs regular dodge. Disregard block, there is no blocking. They should remove that name. I will add so nobody gets on me, of course bulwark can block but their capabilities to block with their shield have nothing to do with their melee weapon defense type.
Hey Ethan, I read all my comments. No worries. Thanks for the added detail on the way the UI works. I do think the core focus of this video is on how inferior block stat is and how superior fencing is, and how big of a gameplay impact it makes. I know my understanding of the mechanics is still a bit insufficiently fleshed out so the feedback helps.
@@Reginald-sc9tk thanks for the response! No problem. I have been racking my brain over the melee types for so long and have been digging and digging and finally hovered my mouse over it to get an exact answer lol. We did some testing with it as well. I love fencing because gun strikes give our paper armor some life. But like I said you can still parry with block weapons, just not going to get a gun strike from it.
You definietly got the jist of it right. Block type weapons as of right now are completely useless. They remove your ability to stagger and Gun Strike and they dont even break the attack chains EVEN if you seemingly get a perfect parry with the timing with them. Plus a lot of classes have perks taht trigger after parries, Block weapons completely disable your parries and these never trigger. In THEORY Block weapons should make up for this with their increased stats but imo even if they had 3x the stats they'd still be inferior. Maybe not on the assault with the default increased perfect dodge window but even then it's iffy.
Fencing chainsword and the tactial perk to give enemys a mark after a perfect block (so literaly any block with fencing wapon) is insane it just gets better and better the bigger the enemy gets
Even using the combat knife fencing with a mixture of heavy attacks to get easy gun strikes for armor back and stagger enemies, coupled with parry executing jumping gaunts and such makes clear a breeze. I play sniper because I love trivializing zoanthropes and neurothropes and sniping backs of warriors whilst my melee squad members are in the thick of it, and if I get assaulted, I whip out the knife and start blade dancing.
Block is only a sound option when you have high burst/AoE damage. The only class that utilizes it best is the assault class, with ground pound kills refunding 10% ability charge and using your ability for perfect dodges. The trade off is that you're not going for parries because you're pumping up your damage in a wide spread area let alone taking Precision Strike to take out majoris or higher enemies. Is it advised? No, because there is a perk in Assault that lets you abuse non gun strike finishers to regain armor. It's all up to the player if they have their timings right. For newer players to the class itself, yes fencing is alot more forgiving but you're going to be trading off weapon swing speed with artificer weapons, relic weapons are really where you want to be aiming for to truly decide what's best in your playstyle
When I thought about fencing I automatically thought that's has something to do with the parry system being that it's a core mechanism of the game It would be a good stat to have glad that theory is correct because I haven't played the game yet 😂 this will save me tons of frustration to know it actually is beneficial.
If you move the cursor over the fencing/banlance/Block stat the tooltip will tell you what it does : Fencing provides a bigger Parry window and Block gives you none at all
Ohh man, noticed you on Clay's Channel lol!! You're on the right track man, Fencing is openin something up that the other two wpn categories are just completely failing at... His Assult SM was getting absolutely pummeled with a Balanced T-Hammer and when he switched to the Fencing it was a night and day Difference. I feel like the Thammer is really lackluster as well compared to the Chainsword, which is just owning everything on PVE content
Clay is a total bro. I've been watching him since the Darktide days. Man the thammer seems so bad on Assault. I was playing with it last night and hilariously the chainsword is considered the single target weapon and thammer is the horde clear weapon according to the stats bars. Just...what? Ima have to make a different "i hate the thunder hammer" video just for the one in SM2
The main point is the gameplay value of parry over block and how critical it is to high level gameplay in coop but thank you for the UI tip, it was not self-evident
i only use block with chaos on my sniper, the base damage getting so many % multipliers make it worth it. "when dealing with large groups" is the key phase and with a melee weapon. take sniper, shadow stab + tactical ambush + kinetic energy + melee mastery + adaptability + all the right melee perks with the 14 base damage can MELT big single targets ina couple of swings. then you can use your las or smg for the little guys and/or go for headshots to charge your camo 15% per any headshot kill* using those 2 perks, so you can use that 100% melee out of camo and 100% per second shadow stab together as much as possible, and your an absolute assassin. block is worth it for the right build fs. not to mention how the team works together, maybe everyone else has crowd control or plays soloy, etc.
Which weapon would you recommend for Bulwark on? I have the chainsword and power sword at purple rarity. I got my tactical to 20 and was getting pissed at the parries on the bulwark.
@@novaDF6871 Alright thanks! I was using the chainsword with balanced defense and I was getting hit so much trying to parry. Excited to try out fencing.
@@scorpiowarrior7841 i was talking end game. I dont stim anymore. Yeah its cool how you said that on paper. But different with others in group. I just solo ruthless and some lucky fellas join sometimes. Bulwark is not that great at low levels. But thanks for the already known info.
this explains a lot about why i see vanguard players run in there and somehow not get mulched by swarms. Because when I try it, i always get stagger locked because i can't make breathing room
I was confused as fuck about what those two statuses meant and didn’t have the balls to waste my precious few req points on it, thanks a bunch buddy 🤞😄
I think fencing is better if you are not 100% sure on the timing of some attacks. But as you become experienced in how each attack looks and the timing, balance is the way to go. The extra speed and cleave on the weapons is very noticeable on higher difficulties and its often needed to make some weapons like the chainsword and thunderhammer shine as the power comes from the combos and the speed you can perform them. balancing just makes the timing harder. So if you have bad reaction time or just haven't learned the timing of enemy attacks you might want to try fencing. I have all of my classes at 20+ at this point but I understand the vast majority haven't grinded the game that hard. As the game is new I cant imagine many people have quickly learned the timings. So fencing is a good choice.
I figured this out the second substantial game I played. Ive been enjoying the wow comments in the chat on my survibability with assault in t3 and 4 modes since then. Now the tea is spoiled Ill go back to be a regular.
Fencing is good to learn to perfect parry with and on bulwark due to it having so many perks based around parry. Assault is the best for block weapons due to its trees if you are getting swarmed just take to the air or dodge away and balanced is for experienced players who can perfect parry almost every time heavy not having a melee weapon means all his timings are balanced parry timings
Block on assault feels pretty bad on high difficulty. You need gunstrikes and counter into execution to facilitate easy and repeatable armor regeneration.
@@Reginald-sc9tk To elaborate on this for sourcream, a perfect parry both kills a gaunt and staggers the horde, both things that a perfect dodge will not do and both things that are essential to survive diff 3 and 4. I don't think the perfect dodge window is anywhere near as forgiving as the spammable fencing parry window, even as assault. Dodge is vastly inferior to fencing parry spam against gaunt minoris hordes. Without the stagger of the perfect parry, the minoris enemies just constantly do normal lunges that dodges cannot keep up with. Anecdotally it also feels like you can interrupt melee attacks and other actions with parry, but not with dodge. This is why unblockables are so much harder to deal with. If it's a fast unblockable and you're mid-swing, you simply cannot dodge it and you're going to get staggered. This is one of the major things I think they need to fix. Dodges need to be immediately responsive on demand like parry is.
It seems to be an intended negative at the moment, in the stat screen the weapon defense stats do show red and green arrows when they are compared together. So rather than each having ups and downs it's really just Block < Balance < Fencing. The actual upside to a block weapon is just the higher stats in other places to compensate for losing the parry. (It doesn't look to be worth it from what I've seen so far, but only time and future changes will tell)
I got super frustrated with the game. I played bulwark with a balance weapon and tried to get the parry triggers. I think you have to double tap block on a balance weapon to do a parry, that has worked for me to get parry procs. However if you only press block once and hold it you will never get a parry no matter the timing. It has to be the double tap that goes into a parry animation. Its pretty unintuitve to use tho.
I don’t have to double tap to parry? If i tap left bumper he goes into then block and the into the party animation, as long as I time it correctly I get the parry. If I hold left bumper I stay in the block stance
They should rework block to be able to push back that only affects minoris level enemies. If parry gets you a kill or a gun strike leading to a kill. Blocking just punish you for not evading. There's no reason to block in this game. You block because you miss the parry. Bulwark is different of course.
I believe is about the whole parry system but I have no idea how it actually works, I think it's a mix of parry window and recovery time from the parry, I could be completely wrong
Fencing > balanced > block Block swords tend to have better stats but the caveat is that they can’t parry and fencing swords tend to be lower stats but easiest to parry with. Balance is in the middle of both. The parry stat does not affect perfect dodge or block effectiveness.
Yeah fencing means it has a higher perfect parry window (easier to parry) balance means it can parry but normal time and block means you can only block
blocking weapons are good if you run assault or vanguard , they are awful in horde situations but can deal a lot of single target dmg , i was deleting majoris enemies left and right , but your perfect dodges need to be on point to be able to use the pistol shots and be on the same level as the fancing weapons
@@Reginald-sc9tkuntil now ive tried it on substantial wich is the second to last, and it works best with the vanguard class, since you can swap to something like a melta rifle for the hordes and grapple and dps the majoris enemies, its still not on par with fencing but its viable, if a block weapon would let you block red marked attacks it would be way better
You are right the extra damage from block weapons doesn't seem worth it at all, however you can justify getting the high damage block knife on vanguard as you can use the melta gun and grapple for on demand stagger
My Vanguard is currently Lvl 22. He needs at least a Balance melee weapon in order to do a Gun Strike to finish Tyranid Warriors quickly. Attack flow is like this: 1. Grapple Shot 2. Short Combo 3. Tyranid Warrior counterattacks 4. Parry & Gun Strike 5. Finisher 6. Rinse and repeat You really want to save all your melta ammo when hordes appear so you can disintegrate them quickly in less than two seconds. If you waste your precious ammo on Tyranid Warriors on a regular basis then you will start having troubles.
You can definitely make block weapons work if you're highly aggresive and just don't block at all. Heavy attacks will stagger, perfect dodges will still give you gun counters. Just alternate until the enemy stance is broken and execute them. The point is to keep regaining health as fast as you lose it. But as you say, fencing weapons give the ability to perfect parry basically all the time which is just a straight up advantage.
Reg, this is the right universe but the wrong game lol! Still a great video so I'll support it. :) Happy hunting! (Now if only PVP would let me play as a Tyranid.)
I mean imo the problem with meele in general is they just are not tuned well at all. Playing a bulwark at times where I know I'll run out of ammo feels really bad.
2:10 with balanced you have a tight perfect parry window, fencing extends the window, block completely removes it
So what would the point of blocking be if parrying is so much better? I haven’t gotten my hands on the game yet so forgive me if that’s a bit of a dumb question. Just seems like parrying both prevents the damage from the attacker and anyone else around you, far more effective than a block would.
@@spiggityspoo756 not exactly sure as even the game considers it a downgrade (balanced ->block stat change is red as balanced ->fencing is green), havent tried any block only weapon variants so far myself
@@spiggityspoo756 Maybe it's easier?
Thanks for the added detail! The main thing i noticed is just how important it is for high difficulty and I figured it may help people to know it.
@@HibHab69 If balanced weapons have a smaller parry window and fencing weapons increase that window, maybe a block is just a way to stave off damage from a few enemies around you in the event of a mistimed parry? And maybe block weapons just remove the parry window and make it so the block is more useful, and you get some other stat changes in return? I dunno, I’m spitballing. Could also be possible that those mechanics aren’t working entirely as foreseen in large hordes, though I kind of doubt that’s the case.
The ingame term for the special shot is "gun strike". It can trigger even when you're out of ammo, it also has a lot of abilities linked to it/changing it in the class talent trees.
Thanks! Still trying to remember all the terminology.
@@Reginald-sc9tk no worries. I learned plenty of DT lingo from you glad to return the favour
That ability that restores armor with a non kill shot is really good on the assault class.
I'd really like some invincibility frames for gun strike
Giving it a like and comment,
No clickbait
Short video
Straight to the point
Thanks for the valuable information 😎
Glad you liked it. I aim for fast and accurate.
@@alexandreparent5754 it's a little off unfortunately. parries dont do aoe stagger, especially not to minoris, though perfect parries do stagger majoris and extremis often times. you can also still get gun strikes off perfect dodges, which are often applicable in the same situations a parry would be. block is a perfectly viable alternative, you just need to be aware that you're sacrificing the parry, which as powerful as it is, is not essential
My dumbass heard “Fencing” and thought there was a Rapier sword in the game. Imagine a whole Space Marine fencing, lol
That would be fun as heck
Play Darktide if you want a rapier to kill xenos with :D
@@henrikw377 ALL CLASSES SOON BROTHER
"En garde, you fucking heretic!"
@@Reginald-sc9tk >looks inside fencing ogryn
>uses fence as a weapon
For people asking, the weapons that only have block and no perfect parties usually have WAY higher damage output and speed. Like the strongest thunder hammer that does 12 damage and has a 5 speed is a block only. It’s sacrificing defens for offense basically. On an assault that is constantly moving block weapons are really good cus you’re constantly attacking and utilizing the rally mechanic that regains health as you attack
I think that's the idea, but my experience with it in difficulty 3, let alone 4, was getting swarmed and having no room to dodge. It seemed fine in D2 and D1. Could be a skill issue but then again I think I said my advice is for new players to pick fencing.
@@Reginald-sc9tk fair
When you have multiple Majoris on your ass peppering you and jumping you, the higher stats start to matter a lot less over being able to take advantage of parry opportunities and Gun Strike. Only time I can see better stats working out is against Thousand Sons because they do pull out an AoE unblockable if you're wailing on them too hard, so having better speed there works wonders since in my experience, slower weapons either don't force the unblockable to come out after a number of hits or you overcommit for one more hit and the animation locks you into taking the unlockable.
@@Reginald-sc9tk I've been experimenting on this too and I was dancing around the idea that no fencing build might work cuz of the Assault's innate 50% more perfect dodges. So I thought the Assault should be dodging instead of parrying but its way too hard when theres so many enemies around, especially on higher difficulties. On the other hand, the Assault has a skill that adds one segment of armor with every gun strike (even if it doesnt kill)which looks like it makes the fencing a way more viable option (from what I'm seeing now), although perfect dodges also allow you to gun strike, therefore giving you extra armor segments each perfected ones and now add that to the assault's passive (plus 50% perfect dodge) + the weapons that have block only stats are faster and stronger (which allows you to dodge easier)... that bounces me back to making the Assault just a dodger instead , but again, its super hard (most likely a skill issue on my part tho). But I'm still getting my Space Marine ass handed to me so I'm still switching stuff out. Game is so good because its this hard, I love it.
You can run block on assault but it basically requires you to have assault maxed out so you can replace your parries with jet pack doges.
Without the 100% uptime jet pack dodge you need to be able to parry
I think the point of block is that you rely almost entirely on dodging instead of parrying. If you dodge an attack at the perfect moment, it opens the enemy up to a gun strike, just like a parry does. The difference is you are forgoing the aoe knockback of a parry.
If you look in the assault perk tree there should be some nodes based around perfect dodges. You're right though. I think this is a much harder playstyle until everyone is better at the game and understands the mechanics more.
Thanks for the vid! Looking forward to some new Darktide videos once the next big patch drops!
The issue is that, in my experience, dodge only gets you so far. Parry can kinda be spammed, but dodge can get you surrounded and cut to ribbons. PLUS you cannot dodge through enemies and thus can get stuck. Parry can save you, dodge cannot.
It's more of an issue of being unable to perfectly dodge minoris normal attacks, making it just dodging into getting hit multiple times during your roll animation. Parry is the only defensive AoE you have, giving that up for slightly more damage on a melee is just not worthwhile unless it's on bulwark.
@cameronphares2482 true I run a vanguard with melta and chainsword with fencing it is a great combo in ruthless.
@@Reginald-sc9tk on assault you can just use the jetpack to slam or jump away& However, fencing weapons still seem better as dmg and cleave inc are not that impactful.
Block weapons are good for 1-3 difficulty on 4th seems meh. Perhaps, with good party could work but then you have to play super safe.
@@HeavyFootedMoa parry doesnt do aoe knockback. otherwise true
This is the kind of video I want to see!
Just straight to the point, non-arrogant information about how to use the potential within the game systems.
Also appreciate how you focus on and show the strengths of a chain sword build for the assault class, as that one seems less common than the Thunder Hammer one.
I'm happy to do it, it's a lot of fun.
Thammer has some mystique but honestly I think they designed it poorly. Chainsword has good aesthetics and feel too. I've had a lot of fun with it.
I'm interested to see what you think of this game going forward. I thought your takes on Helldivers were very levelheaded, being able to find the fun and joy in the game while still seeing and addressing the more fundamental problems with its design.
Also, that weapon stats screen is hilarious. I had to check and see if the developers were Swedish after seeing it, but I think baffling UI elements are just par for the course now.
Attack: 9
Speed: 9+
Damage: yes please
Cleave: B-
Defense: Crouching Tiger
Please consult this unlabeled skull graph to determine skull performance:
I laughed heartily at your stats joke.
I'm going to take a bit more time to get to know the game before complaining about systems. I will say it's fun.
Heavy mains:
Interesting...
Ah I'm glad I'm subscribed to you, I've said "i definitely fucking parried that" way to many times and all my frustration has been explained
I'm glad I was able to explain it. I know I had the same issue often and got very frustrated too.
Just hover Your mouse over "Defence" in game and it explains everything... .
Fencing : increased parry window
Block - no parry window
balanced - moderate parry window
1. That's awesome, thanks for informing me. Wish the UI had mentioned that anywhere.
2. Thats not the whole of it. Parry knockback is the critical piece here
i dunno if its bulwark but after a lot of confusion, playing balance i figured that you do block if you press block but you can parry with a double tap on block.
@@jellomello2683thats bulwark only, bulwark melee has its own unique melee mechanic due to shield having innate block
Please read both my comments above. You can still parry with a block weapon. It is just perfect parry you lose out on.
Blocking weapons are a lot of fun to use on average when enemies are a lot weaker. On substantial and ruthless, you have to parry and gun strike
In my experience, if you're using a weapon that only lets you block, it is not worth using the parry button anymore unless you're getting jumped by a small enemy. With a block weapon I recommend to only use dodge and attack as much as possible since those weapons usually deal more damage so you reach the execute point faster and can regenerate armor that way. Those weapons can work too but they do require another playstyle.
Finally an assault guy, I've been having a hard time playing this class but I can't stop. I'm a blood angel and I need my wings! Been juggling between chainsword, hammer and fist but the higher difficulties have been so hard lately, way harder than lets say a Heavy.
I main assault, what works best for me are hit and run tactics.
its way harder. I post good numbers but you need to play smart and plan ahead with your staggers, parries and gun strikes. I intend to make a guide later.
Excellent video - thank you. You get straight to the point, and you nail it. You've obviously written a script and taken time to curate the footage you use, rather than just blabbing whilst recording, like some other channels I've seen.
Thank you very much. I make it my true ambition to be quick about it. I don't like having my time wasted and don't like wasting other people's either. Thanks for your time!
Short, sweet, and to the point. Keep it up dude
Thanks very much.
Best video and explanation I’ve seen. The Emperor provides. Thank you brother
And thank you!
Probably one of the most helpful tip-vodeos I've seen so far...
Thanks for the details!
My pleasure
EDIT: this is bulwark specific. To everyone who plays bulwark, pick up fencing weapons and then constantly parry when you get swarmed its op, combined with the perks that trigger on parry.
The blocking mechanic has been confusing me a lot. I play bulwark and couldnt figure out why i couldnt parry. I was playing with balance all the time. I think balance works different. If you push and hold block you do a normal block it doesnt matter the timing, it will always do a normal block, BUT if you you double tap the block button it will do a parry that you have to time correctly. This is kind of unintuitive for me, since double tapping is kinda stupid for a fast reaction move imo, so i will go try fencing now. Maybe that will improve the gameplay for me, since its starting to get frustrating for me. They could have made a better effort to explain that stuff, since its a very important core mechanic as well...
Thanks for the updats
I will try but still dont get it. Parry is the thing when i get the blue notification icon when the enemy attack no? So when i have balance i have shorter time window to do it,fencing u have longer so easier and with the block u cant even parry only
dodge?
@@blackstaarx2824 you can parry ANY attack. Not just blue ones.
@@blackstaarx2824 the blue marker is a weird thing. You can parry any melee attack even without blue marker. Only if there is a orange marker specifically, you have to dodge it. In a swarm you will constantly have something to parry, which is very good for bulwark, since it does a lot of AOE.
For bulwark I just go for fencing , the rest is just not worth it imo. Block has no parry window, fencing extends it so far, that you get a large enough parry window, that multiple successive attacks wont hurt you, like when multiple enemies attack you in a horde. you are basically invincible as long as you can dodge the occasional orange or ranged attack.
This explains so much. When I first tried Bulwark I had a horrible time because I was using a block sword. I kept fishing for parries but wasn't getting any even when the timing seemed right. I thought the class just couldn't parry at all for some reason and moved on to other classes.
It was a terrible first impression of the class.
If you mouse over the weapons Block, Balanced or Fencing stat (in the top left) on the equipment screen, you actualy get a pop-up explaining what the 3 stats do (Block = no perfect parry window at all, Balanced = normal perfect parry window, Fencing = extended perfect parry window)
A perfect video on the topic of block, balance, fencing.
Genuinely one of the best explanations ive seen of this mechanic. I thought i was going mad but yeah, fencing ftw
Thanks for your kind words!
I thought it was a suggestion. I didnt know block would disable parries
Totally irrelevant but god Nightsider is such a good fuckin song
Absolutely killer song.
Definately been thinking about this, also think this game needs some deeesperate balance tweaks.
I've completed some difficulty 3 missions and I play mostly assault and I think the best way to describe it is that in Darktide, attrition damage is a penalty for playing poorly. In Space Marine 2, attrition damage is a baseline that requires either exploiting the games mechanics or nigh inhuman levels of good play to mitigate.
Relying on Fencing weapons just to be able to deal with hordes is pretty hilarious given the thunder hammer, a weapon DESIGNED for hordes will get you killed on the same difficulty to use. It's more then a little frustrating.
I am with you 100% and that's a good way to describe things.
This is great to know, thank you for the enlightenment brother!
glad to know I'm not the only one experiencing the stagger lock ass kicking, and also struggling to see the value of slower "heavy hitting" melee weapons, something I too would like to experiment more with once I return the ass kicking with this new found fencing knowledge.
Let me know how your experiments go
Minotaur: “I don’t think I’m supposed to be here.”
Ultramarine: “Brother, can you not read your itinerary? It says to report to…..ugh never mind. Want to kill some xenos?”
Minotaur: “F yeah!”
Great video, straight to the point information
As a budding bulwark main this is super helpful. Thanks!
Fencing greatly increases the time you have to perform a perfect parry, at the cost of weapon stats.
Block trades your ability to parry into a gun-strike for much better weapon stats.
Balance, as the name suggests, sits somewhere in the middle.
In my opinion, Fencing is the better option for every weapon except the hammer, which I've found works best with Block. Balance is also an fine choice for the knife if you want a little more damage.
All the styles are viable, but you can't play the same way with block as you would with a fencing, and vice versa.
Fencing can feel like a more forgiving version of Balance, but it can be easy to get swarmed with that lower damage output.
As a Bulwark main, I need to toss some info into this.
-Fencing is the best for parrying, and if you have a parry build, you can do a looooot of damage with it.
-Speed is a very important stat too, as the lower the number, the more frames you need to commit to an attack before you can do anything else. (I would like a second opinion on this if someone has noticed something different.)
-Cleave potential appears to affect the size of your hit box when you swing. Like a thrust can deal aoe damage if your cleave potential is high enough (Really need a second opinion on this one)
With slower swords, I spam power rake (melee charge attack) as it does more dps than light combos. Bulwark also has a plethora of skills rewarding parrying, though I didn't see that so much for Assault. Still, even basic parrying can be super rewarding, and to be honest, I never noticed that parrying pushes the crowd back.
Assault buffs Gunstrike,
_(ie, +Armor on Gunstrike)_ which makes parry useful.
Assault also more explicitly focuses on rolling, with an inherent +50% perfect dodge window.
Love you Reginald.
My warm regards!
little tip I found for those who use balanced, If you are using chainsword use power attack with no combos to punch all infront of you, this will knock the smaller mobs down allowing for a gun finisher which replenishes armour and staggers the enemies too, every other weapon including chainsword to acheive this dodge followed by an attack will do a charged knockdown attack for small enemies allowing for the same effect. Sure has kept me alive anyhow :) also blue rings signal an attack but watch the animation of the enemy to time your parries better as some mobs will delay the actual attack. I Hope this helps some Brothers starting out.
It also helps that perfect parries with a balanced or fencing weapon is guaranteed to kill at least one of the gaunts that are trying to jump you.
Being able to stand in the middle of the horde while meticulously slicing through each enemy feels great that way.
Thats the key point to be made. Its not just that "oh I can be safe" it's safety AND kills
Those little bastards are basically medkits delivered right into your hands, if they didnt jump to be parried you would go down way way faster.
im so glad u pay attention to things others dont, because I have been getting my ass kicked as bulwark due to not knowing how fencing works ( i thought it was 1 on 1 advantage rather than large parry window)
Made a huge difference for me too
Exactly the video i was looking for, thank you
finally someone covered tihs GLARING stat mechanic
Yes fencing is the only stat on your melee weapon that matters, I say this as a Tactical main who has gotten the class to 25 as well as unlocked literally everything for it. Fencing gives you bigger window for getting a parry in and as you can see when you parry it knocks back everything around your frontal arc of 230 degrees which is delightful when wading into the fray. Also the piecing on the Bolter weapons will determine if the thing is good for nids or chaos as that state tells you how many nids it will go through before stopping which is important for nid hordes but less so for traitor forces where raw stopping power is needed more so. You can mouse over the stat and it will give you a lil blurb explaining it in vague terms but only using all the weapons and figuring out the real difference will tell you what you need to know.
i honestly agree with what you said but that's also exactly why i chose a block weapon for now on my assault, I wanted to train with the worse version so that later i'm better with the better version
Mouseover the block type of your weapon in this (1:00) UI and it gives a bit of extra info (which you already know given the video's content, but it's always nice to get a little extra confirmation).
Great video, will definitely be trying out a fencing weapon now 😁
Thanks! This kinda gives me a path to work with now.
PLEASE READ
Block: no perfect parry window
Balance: normal perfect parry window
Fencing: longer perfect parry window
You can still parry blue attacks you just can’t perfect parry them.
If you hover over the “Defense” term in your weapon’s window where it says balance, fencing, or block. It tell you exactly what I put up above. You can hover over all of the stat names and it’ll tell you what they do.
Cheers
I will also add that the bonus to perfect parry and why it is so good is because it opens up enemies to gun strikes. This is the same for perfect dodge vs regular dodge. Disregard block, there is no blocking. They should remove that name. I will add so nobody gets on me, of course bulwark can block but their capabilities to block with their shield have nothing to do with their melee weapon defense type.
Hey Ethan, I read all my comments. No worries. Thanks for the added detail on the way the UI works.
I do think the core focus of this video is on how inferior block stat is and how superior fencing is, and how big of a gameplay impact it makes. I know my understanding of the mechanics is still a bit insufficiently fleshed out so the feedback helps.
@@Reginald-sc9tk thanks for the response! No problem. I have been racking my brain over the melee types for so long and have been digging and digging and finally hovered my mouse over it to get an exact answer lol. We did some testing with it as well. I love fencing because gun strikes give our paper armor some life. But like I said you can still parry with block weapons, just not going to get a gun strike from it.
I had a feeling it meant something like that but thank you for clarifying.
Love the Darktide track in the back :)
Just got my sub and blew my mind at the same time
I can't believe you're playing an Assault character with a chain sword... "fencing" increases the window to get a perfect parry.
Few know this but I'm secretly the chain weapon guy.
You definietly got the jist of it right. Block type weapons as of right now are completely useless. They remove your ability to stagger and Gun Strike and they dont even break the attack chains EVEN if you seemingly get a perfect parry with the timing with them. Plus a lot of classes have perks taht trigger after parries, Block weapons completely disable your parries and these never trigger. In THEORY Block weapons should make up for this with their increased stats but imo even if they had 3x the stats they'd still be inferior. Maybe not on the assault with the default increased perfect dodge window but even then it's iffy.
Fencing chainsword and the tactial perk to give enemys a mark after a perfect block (so literaly any block with fencing wapon) is insane it just gets better and better the bigger the enemy gets
Truely
Sound track is fire 🔥
Even using the combat knife fencing with a mixture of heavy attacks to get easy gun strikes for armor back and stagger enemies, coupled with parry executing jumping gaunts and such makes clear a breeze. I play sniper because I love trivializing zoanthropes and neurothropes and sniping backs of warriors whilst my melee squad members are in the thick of it, and if I get assaulted, I whip out the knife and start blade dancing.
I took the fencing combat knife and now I can just Parry everything
Thats it man
Block is only a sound option when you have high burst/AoE damage. The only class that utilizes it best is the assault class, with ground pound kills refunding 10% ability charge and using your ability for perfect dodges.
The trade off is that you're not going for parries because you're pumping up your damage in a wide spread area let alone taking Precision Strike to take out majoris or higher enemies.
Is it advised? No, because there is a perk in Assault that lets you abuse non gun strike finishers to regain armor. It's all up to the player if they have their timings right. For newer players to the class itself, yes fencing is alot more forgiving but you're going to be trading off weapon swing speed with artificer weapons, relic weapons are really where you want to be aiming for to truly decide what's best in your playstyle
When I thought about fencing I automatically thought that's has something to do with the parry system being that it's a core mechanism of the game It would be a good stat to have glad that theory is correct because I haven't played the game yet 😂 this will save me tons of frustration to know it actually is beneficial.
It will save you hours of confused annoyance. I speak from experience.
If you move the cursor over the fencing/banlance/Block stat the tooltip will tell you what it does :
Fencing provides a bigger Parry window and Block gives you none at all
Ohh man, noticed you on Clay's Channel lol!! You're on the right track man, Fencing is openin something up that the other two wpn categories are just completely failing at... His Assult SM was getting absolutely pummeled with a Balanced T-Hammer and when he switched to the Fencing it was a night and day Difference. I feel like the Thammer is really lackluster as well compared to the Chainsword, which is just owning everything on PVE content
Clay is a total bro. I've been watching him since the Darktide days.
Man the thammer seems so bad on Assault. I was playing with it last night and hilariously the chainsword is considered the single target weapon and thammer is the horde clear weapon according to the stats bars. Just...what? Ima have to make a different "i hate the thunder hammer" video just for the one in SM2
Switched to a finesse knife on vanguard with 50% perfect parry perk it’s so nice, I love it.
Thanks for clarifying this.
Ah, a fellow Assault class enjoyer
You can hover cursor over balance\fencing\bloc stat and it will tell you what it is. In short balance stat - parry window.
The main point is the gameplay value of parry over block and how critical it is to high level gameplay in coop but thank you for the UI tip, it was not self-evident
Great Video! I'm gonna have to try out some fencing options.
I have heard the fencing thammer with 0 speed is bad. I don't have it unlocked so I don't know.
Fencing is the Parry window. A longer window to parry an attack..
Any attack, for sick aoe knockback
If you hover over the stat bars in the armouring hall when customizing weapons, it’ll tell you what the stat means
i only use block with chaos on my sniper, the base damage getting so many % multipliers make it worth it. "when dealing with large groups" is the key phase and with a melee weapon. take sniper, shadow stab + tactical ambush + kinetic energy + melee mastery + adaptability + all the right melee perks with the 14 base damage can MELT big single targets ina couple of swings. then you can use your las or smg for the little guys and/or go for headshots to charge your camo 15% per any headshot kill* using those 2 perks, so you can use that 100% melee out of camo and 100% per second shadow stab together as much as possible, and your an absolute assassin. block is worth it for the right build fs. not to mention how the team works together, maybe everyone else has crowd control or plays soloy, etc.
ever since i picked up Fencing on Bulwark i have never used stims again lol. its awesome. very forgiving and consisting flow.
Which weapon would you recommend for Bulwark on? I have the chainsword and power sword at purple rarity. I got my tactical to 20 and was getting pissed at the parries on the bulwark.
@@JohnWick-kb5jr power sword is the best for me. i having fun just being up front doing my job lol.
@@novaDF6871 Alright thanks! I was using the chainsword with balanced defense and I was getting hit so much trying to parry. Excited to try out fencing.
@@scorpiowarrior7841 i was talking end game. I dont stim anymore. Yeah its cool how you said that on paper. But different with others in group. I just solo ruthless and some lucky fellas join sometimes. Bulwark is not that great at low levels. But thanks for the already known info.
this explains a lot about why i see vanguard players run in there and somehow not get mulched by swarms. Because when I try it, i always get stagger locked because i can't make breathing room
Took a block power sword on my bulwark. Cant parry anything really but he absolutely cleaves through chaff
Yeah but so does ground pound
Im never this early! Loving the game right now
Same here! Can’t seem to put it down
I'm having a blast myself
So in conclusion...Fencing = Near immortal
Yes. Especialy after they buffed it.
I was confused as fuck about what those two statuses meant and didn’t have the balls to waste my precious few req points on it, thanks a bunch buddy 🤞😄
You bet!
I think fencing is better if you are not 100% sure on the timing of some attacks. But as you become experienced in how each attack looks and the timing, balance is the way to go. The extra speed and cleave on the weapons is very noticeable on higher difficulties and its often needed to make some weapons like the chainsword and thunderhammer shine as the power comes from the combos and the speed you can perform them. balancing just makes the timing harder. So if you have bad reaction time or just haven't learned the timing of enemy attacks you might want to try fencing. I have all of my classes at 20+ at this point but I understand the vast majority haven't grinded the game that hard. As the game is new I cant imagine many people have quickly learned the timings. So fencing is a good choice.
I hear the fencing thammer is unusable due to 0 speed
Weirdest thing about this game, is that if you don't move, the enemies attack you a lot less.
Thats strange
I figured this out the second substantial game I played. Ive been enjoying the wow comments in the chat on my survibability with assault in t3 and 4 modes since then. Now the tea is spoiled Ill go back to be a regular.
I know my thunder hammer suffers compared to the chainsword. Still gonna use it tho! ELECTRIC BONK
You should be able to hover over the block/fencing/balanced thing to get a tool tip. It’s the time you have to get a perfect parry
Fencing is good to learn to perfect parry with and on bulwark due to it having so many perks based around parry. Assault is the best for block weapons due to its trees if you are getting swarmed just take to the air or dodge away and balanced is for experienced players who can perfect parry almost every time heavy not having a melee weapon means all his timings are balanced parry timings
Block on assault feels pretty bad on high difficulty. You need gunstrikes and counter into execution to facilitate easy and repeatable armor regeneration.
@@Reginald-sc9tk To elaborate on this for sourcream, a perfect parry both kills a gaunt and staggers the horde, both things that a perfect dodge will not do and both things that are essential to survive diff 3 and 4. I don't think the perfect dodge window is anywhere near as forgiving as the spammable fencing parry window, even as assault. Dodge is vastly inferior to fencing parry spam against gaunt minoris hordes. Without the stagger of the perfect parry, the minoris enemies just constantly do normal lunges that dodges cannot keep up with.
Anecdotally it also feels like you can interrupt melee attacks and other actions with parry, but not with dodge. This is why unblockables are so much harder to deal with. If it's a fast unblockable and you're mid-swing, you simply cannot dodge it and you're going to get staggered. This is one of the major things I think they need to fix. Dodges need to be immediately responsive on demand like parry is.
thanks, good information!
I feel like whatever benefit the 'block' archetype has is either bugged or completely useless. As it offers zero benefits over the parry at the moment
This was the issue I certainly encountered and it is really obviously painful in a dense horde.
It seems to be an intended negative at the moment, in the stat screen the weapon defense stats do show red and green arrows when they are compared together. So rather than each having ups and downs it's really just Block < Balance < Fencing. The actual upside to a block weapon is just the higher stats in other places to compensate for losing the parry.
(It doesn't look to be worth it from what I've seen so far, but only time and future changes will tell)
@@emii-olii3596 agreed
I got super frustrated with the game. I played bulwark with a balance weapon and tried to get the parry triggers. I think you have to double tap block on a balance weapon to do a parry, that has worked for me to get parry procs. However if you only press block once and hold it you will never get a parry no matter the timing. It has to be the double tap that goes into a parry animation. Its pretty unintuitve to use tho.
I don’t have to double tap to parry? If i tap left bumper he goes into then block and the into the party animation, as long as I time it correctly I get the parry. If I hold left bumper I stay in the block stance
Thank you!
They should rework block to be able to push back that only affects minoris level enemies. If parry gets you a kill or a gun strike leading to a kill. Blocking just punish you for not evading.
There's no reason to block in this game. You block because you miss the parry. Bulwark is different of course.
BALANCED -> Middling base stats, small parry window.
BLOCK -> improved stats, Cannot parry
FENCING -> less stats, but has a very long parry window
Yes but fencing is the only one that matters.
definitely feels mandatory for vanguard. so much of the playstyle already encourages scoring as many perfect parries and dodges as possible
I feel like that's the weakest part of the game mechanically.
I believe is about the whole parry system but I have no idea how it actually works, I think it's a mix of parry window and recovery time from the parry, I could be completely wrong
Thank you sir.
Minotaurs are the chapter of the High Lord's. Bobby G is a High Lord. Makes sense to me why a rival chapter would lead the ultrasmerfs
Its all coming together
Fencing > balanced > block
Block swords tend to have better stats but the caveat is that they can’t parry and fencing swords tend to be lower stats but easiest to parry with. Balance is in the middle of both. The parry stat does not affect perfect dodge or block effectiveness.
I think block is so abysmal its not worth it period. Pretty sad really.
@@Reginald-sc9tk I agree
Finally, a minotaurs player
hell yea
Put your mouse over the defence stat , it shows you what all of them are
Thanks for the tip mate, only 2 more days till I can join the fun :)
WELCOME BROTHER
Yeah fencing means it has a higher perfect parry window (easier to parry) balance means it can parry but normal time and block means you can only block
The lack of aoe stagger is the big killer for any defense type that isn't fencing.
@@Reginald-sc9tk yeah i dont really see why Pick Any weapon Variant that doesnt have The fencing or balance stats
thank you was wondering y my bulwark turned into dogshit at level 10
I had the same experience!
blocking weapons are good if you run assault or vanguard , they are awful in horde situations but can deal a lot of single target dmg , i was deleting majoris enemies left and right , but your perfect dodges need to be on point to be able to use the pistol shots and be on the same level as the fancing weapons
What difficulty because hordes are half of all of them in my experience on high diff
@@Reginald-sc9tkuntil now ive tried it on substantial wich is the second to last, and it works best with the vanguard class, since you can swap to something like a melta rifle for the hordes and grapple and dps the majoris enemies, its still not on par with fencing but its viable, if a block weapon would let you block red marked attacks it would be way better
Just hover over the word Fencing and it'll give you a popup with an explanation ingame
even with the block stat you can still parry terminus level enemies and one shot them staggering the horde, you can't parry majoris or elite though
You are right the extra damage from block weapons doesn't seem worth it at all, however you can justify getting the high damage block knife on vanguard as you can use the melta gun and grapple for on demand stagger
My Vanguard is currently Lvl 22. He needs at least a Balance melee weapon in order to do a Gun Strike to finish Tyranid Warriors quickly. Attack flow is like this:
1. Grapple Shot
2. Short Combo
3. Tyranid Warrior counterattacks
4. Parry & Gun Strike
5. Finisher
6. Rinse and repeat
You really want to save all your melta ammo when hordes appear so you can disintegrate them quickly in less than two seconds. If you waste your precious ammo on Tyranid Warriors on a regular basis then you will start having troubles.
In game if you hover over the guard type it explains what it is
Thank you, though unfortunately it doesn't explain why its important.
@@Reginald-sc9tk I don’t know what else you want to say than having a bigger party window being great for survival
@@Raven3557 That is basically it. But its not self evident, coming from other games, that blocking is trash garbage.
You can definitely make block weapons work if you're highly aggresive and just don't block at all. Heavy attacks will stagger, perfect dodges will still give you gun counters. Just alternate until the enemy stance is broken and execute them. The point is to keep regaining health as fast as you lose it.
But as you say, fencing weapons give the ability to perfect parry basically all the time which is just a straight up advantage.
Tried it, it went pretty roughly for iffy results. The damage feels a bit better but I take too much more. Sustain is bad.
Reg, this is the right universe but the wrong game lol!
Still a great video so I'll support it. :)
Happy hunting!
(Now if only PVP would let me play as a Tyranid.)
only problem is chaos marines rarely do parriable attacks which is super annoying trying to kill them since theyre so tanky and can tp away
True
I mean imo the problem with meele in general is they just are not tuned well at all. Playing a bulwark at times where I know I'll run out of ammo feels really bad.
I find bulwark melee with P.Sword really solid
@@Reginald-sc9tk it does decent but I feel like I live a lot better with PP