In the Rattay Tourney,one fighter we'll get to face at one point is a Sword Master named Menhard from Frankfurt. Yes,it seems that he's a returning character as well.
personally i liked the combat in kcd1. only thing i would have changed is the way multiple enemies surround you instantly and how we are tethered to the person we are locked in combat with. i hope they dont screw up the combat for the sake of “simplicity”. it is a rewarding system and i would hate to see it ruined. but i guess time will tell
Yeah the tethering and getting magnetically tackled if you tried to run away were annoying and multi person combat was a mess but I actually liked the combat (taking on Pribislavitz solo was a ton of fun). Now that masterstrike isn't so OP it will be nice to use more of the combat system like the combos.
@greenbrickbox3392 yeah the master strike really f***** me over a few times. I had my enemies bottle necked in an alley once, all of them in front of me. And then I master striked and performed a judo throw that put one of my enemies behind me... 😑
This system is actually more complex if what is said in the video actually turns out true. As he said, combat it KCD one became essentially push one button and win. It doesnt get much simpler than that.
I think the fact that KCD's combat system is centered around one on one duels is what got them in a bind upon trying to adapt it for fighting an entire group. Yes,the sequel is looking good so far,but nothing is certain until we can get our hands on it.
@@johnathanera5863KCD 1 set a good foundation for first person melee combat, but we need to acknowledge its faults. The masterstrike baiting meta. Lack of crowd control options. Forced enemy magnetism/soft lock on. My solutions to these are: Master Strikes are overhauled. To perform a Master Strike: • Henry or Hans must meet the skill requirements of the wielded weapon. • Henry or Hans must have 50% or higher Stamina. Note that enemies also abide by this rule. • You must mirror the stance the enemy is in (if enemy is in upper left stance you must be in upper right stance, etc). • Quickly flick the R-Stick into the stance and press both L1 and either R1, R2, or L2 simultaneously right before the enemy attack is in the midpoint of its animation. Using R1 in a Master Strike performs a thrust or pommel strike, while R2 performs a slash or bash, and lastly L2 performs either a punch or kick based attack. The type of master strike animation performed is dictated by what stance the enemy is in as well as whether you are in lethal or non lethal mode. Performing a master strike on a near 0HP enemy will replace the master strike animation with an execution animation or a knock out animation, in lethal or non lethal mode, respectively. Only certain enemy types are capable of masterstriking and they also have a "masterstrike stance" that they go into to warn players to back off. These are usually high level threats such as veteran soldiers, bandit leaders, and knights. These stances range from relatively obvious to nearly imperceptible depending on how skilled the enemy is. To Lock On to an ememy, press R3. Only then can you do proper attack combos and perform masterstrikes. While locked on, pressing Left and Right D-pad switches between hostile targets. To sheathe weapons, unlock from target by pressing R3 and then Hold Left or Right D-pad. _You can still attack and defend even when not locked onto an enemy. *However, attacks are less precise, being wider and more horizontally focused for better crowd control. Blocking blocks all attacks in view of the camera, same with parrying._
Battle system in KCD1 was duel-sided. It wasn't prepared for dealing with groups larger than one enemy. Many games where you have to fight multiply enemies in melee are 3rd person or enemies behind you stay idle, or game gives you a warning when you are attacked from behind. KCD1 was pretty decent when you fought one tough enemy rather than fighting a group. So when you was forced to fight a ggroup you had to abuse the game mechanics, such as AI, clunky level-design, etc. And the master strike. This made any battle just pressing one button when enemy attacks, and stalemate until someone attacks and gets punished for it. It induced passive gameplay, where any aggression is severely punished.
Even if you could get attacked from behind it wouldn’t be a problem it’s just that literally everyone bumrushes going behind you. They will literally let themselves get stabbed and attacked just for a chance to get behind you and get you where you can’t fight back.
@@justnothing8692 Yeah peasants using HEMA stances is a bit silly but I can understand that the game probably wouldn't be very challenging if they just blindly swung at you
@@slynt_Dark Souls and Sekiro, man. Just because some peasant lout is barely trained *_doesn't mean they're harmless_* Attacking blindly but in an unpredictable flurry. Bumrushing you unexpectedly. Attacking you in groups. Etc. On the flip side. KCD is also meant to be a historically accurate, authentic and more realistic game. And its historically accurate, authentic, and more realistic if certain NPC types aren't formally trained and perform poorly or/and unorthodoxically in combat.
The exciting part about KCD2 to me is that every aspect/mechanic in the game will have improvements not only the combat. Tobi from Warhorse Studios said so in a german interview at gamescom ❤🎮👍
I loved the KCD1 combat. On my 2nd playthrough I was determined to max out warfare and learn and use combos, thank god we had the Privislavitz Garrison to train as much as we wanted to . Hope there's combat arenas like the one you build ,Captain Robard doesn't last long to be able to train properly and fully master the combat. Nice video,thank you!
Wait, you could use combos??? I stuck to master strikers because NPCs always master-stroke me at the 3rd attack of a combo :/ I could never complete them
3:39 it looks like Henry is under the influence of a potion in the clip against the dicers where stamina regenerates instantly whereas he is not in the clip against the sword master.
removing the low cuts doesn't sound like a benefit to me the issue I had with the first game was once you got to a certain level you simply couldn't do many combos because you'd end up doing the perfect parry instead, or your foe would. Sounds like they have fixed that issue. And the sounds effects were a bit too weak, we tapped the swords not clashed them, I understand it has to be slowish animation for players to react but at least make it sound like there is some more force behind the blows. But anyway pretty hyped for the new game.
Im surprised other people arent mentioning this. It wasnt the amount of cuts that was the issue. Its how master strikes and kiting made everything else obsolete
I find it very very difficult to pull off any sort of combo in this game, have to rely on masterstrikes and simple follow up strikes to defeat things. I love the game, reinstalled it just a few days ago after playing 60 hours on release and moving on. Determined to play this first one out.
Do you clinch? Winning a clinch will award you a small window to get 2 strikes of a combo in before the enemy can begin blocking again False edge is a great opening combo because you recover quick from preforming it, and it ends by hitting the opponent in the head, giving you another small window to make follow up attacks, not to mention false edge cracks the skulls of anyone not wearing a helmet.
@HeadHunter697 thanks for the reply, maybe I missed what to do in a clinch...do I need to be pressing something in particular, I'd sort of assumed it was being decided on a dice roll in the programming. I'll give false edge a look too, many thanks.
When a clinch battle starts,you have two options. Right Button(thrust atk) results in a pommel strike,Right Trigger(Slash) results in a kick. For doing combos,you'll want to use the RT to give your character a bit of room. The easiest one to pull off IMO is the one taught by Cpt.Bernard. Remember that you have to unlock combos through him before you can do any of them.
Played KCD1 80+ hours; I just yesterday got to the point that I came in 2nd after a tiebreaker in the Rattay Tourney. I have a hard time pressing block fast enough to pull off master strike, and have only pulled off a combo like three times in the whole game. In order to press block in time for a master strike, cannot ever blink, and my eyes dry out. I can’t wear contacts, and I think, to win the tourney I am going to have to rush to put eye drops in my eyes between the rounds.
I’m quite excited to hear all these changes - they’re basically exactly what I would’ve added however…that stance with the one handed sword still really bugs me. It’s not an unrealistic or fictitious swordfighting stance but it’s not common enough to justifiably be the one of like four base stances.
It's the "Come stab me!" stance for when you're opponent is too slow and defensive from being scared. It's meant to make the opponent angry, so they are more likely to carelessly attack with rage. It should be a taunt instead of an attack stance, but in game it's obviously an attack stance and it irritates me too.
@@ThatOtherGamer Hmm I can’t see the similarity. I’m currently looking at Fiore’s illustration and description for _Colpo di Villano_ and it doesn’t really bear any resemblance to KCD2’s stance. The colpo di villano is to defend against a basic downward travelling strike - called the peasant’s strike because it’s the most obvious and common attack you can make with a sword.
Eh tbh I like it, I usually use a hand a half sword, but, with anything one handed u highkey clear so much space like that and it’s not as complex as trying to scissor walk *and* play defense
@@xsweat1618 I don’t see how that really applies here? You rarely have to scissorwalk between defence and offence when it comes to stances, nearly all the basic one handed fencing stances are perfectly capable offensively and defensively. This one is just very weird looking.
Makes sense they removed the bottom slashes, I barely used them unless it was to pull off one of the special combos. I think the fighting in KCD2 looks much better and refined then the first game, which is a very good thing since in KCD1 the combat felt rather clunky at times, especially in group fights.
i hope they buff the shields. having a shield in kcd1 is such a big nerf, they give you non deadly lame repostle/counter that does nothing. having no shields was much much better. hope they fix it, cause i love shieldddd
Can't wait for this game to come out. Currently I'm playing KCD1 a second time (deliberately very differently from my first playthrough) and I can't wait to compare my experiences with KCD2.
If it’s gonna be anything like the descriptions here, it’s gonna be fire. Perfect block-riposte is initiative adding a time based master strike is genius tbh
I don't know if it's my impression but it looks like the attacks animations have less momentum now, it's more slow, on kcd 1 even having the slow motion it looks like the enemy and you is really putting their force and velocity on the attacks, now they're just like kinda slow
Not sure I like the new combat animations. Does anyone else think that the swings look too... stiff now? As if they are deliberately slowing them down and telegraphing. Maybe Warhorse felt like they had to go in this direction on account of removing the slow-mo in combat, but it seems to have come at the expense of realism and authenticity of the strikes, which KCD1 valued tremendously. It's what made the game unique. It was the first and only first-person melee game so far in which combat looked close to what it would look like in reality. The swings, parries, combos and masterstrikes all looked great. I fear that the second game, with its focus on streamlining combat and making it more accessible, will end up losing that special touch that made KCD so unique among its peers. Also I don't like the complete loss of low attacks AT ALL. What's the point of having leg armor then, if we can only aim our swings at the torso? I feel like this is a part of the combat system that really didn't need to be simplified. I understand that they wanted to adjust the mechanics regarding the masterstrikes, group combat and locking-on, which all received valid criticism in the first game, but who the hell was out there complaining of too many attack directions? Definitely not happy with that change either.
In a German live demo the combat tutorial screen shows briefly, where it shows that on an XBOX controller LT is now used for blocking (LB in KCD1) and RT for attacking, which is same with KCD1 but it doesn’t say RB is used for piercing. So indeed piercing is now probably implemented into the lower attack. But it means that both LB and RB are freed up for other actions. In 1 player can use LB + A to surrender but in 2 there are two other actions taunt and war cry. The button prompt shows that LB is now used for these kind of talk actions with the enemies and I’m guessing that RB might be used for the new quick item access.
Pretty much everything I've seen regarding the combat system of KCD2 comparing to the old one got me anxious to play the new game... minus the fact they removed the low attacks... I really liked those... What are you guys thoughts on this?
Thank you for the awsome video :). I'm very much looking forward to finishers and i hope they get those right, would love to slice into my enemies witcher 3 style or at least similar to the sword through the neck in the gameplay reveal.
I remember complaining early on in the forums about how Master Strike was not a good system as it inverted risk vs reward and made for bad gameplay design. I got yelled at for that and I feel so vindicated now.
whoever told you that has 1 braincell, i modded the 1st KCD removing master strikes and slowmotion, the combat felt awesome, especially in a 1v1, making combos actualy useful. im reallly happy they removed the slowmotion and tuned out master strikes for the 2nd game since that was my main problem with the game.
Honestly, the blue icon may just symbolize that the swords are touching and the defense is over *they may be taking a page out of chivalry 2’s book making it an initiative based thing that relies on turn based offense and defense depending on who attacks first, this is usually faster paced and highly punishing when you go against the grain of the initiative*
This seems infinitely better than the first game. I have been enjoying it a lot (except when I got drunk and frustrated). The problem was the master strikes and playing on mouse there were just too many attacks that didn't come from the direction I wanted them to because of the nature of the game. It got so bad I had to install a mode to reduce the likelihood of enemy master strikes just for it to feel fair. Looking forward to this one
I think what they should do with masterstrickes, instead of being a free hit attack, should work more like s desbalance, so if you do it, you will be able to perfom a safe couple of hits in the enemie instead like kc1 were you would hurt or even instakill the enemie with it And for the enemies so my recomendation if 1. Only elite or trained enemies should be able to perform it and no just any regular guy 2. If for example have his guard up right, and you attack with that guard too, depending of the enemie level, he should increase his chances of perform it, so it insentiviaze the player of using different guards to find openings and evade masterstrikes
A lot of comments stress the combat when fighting multiple people in kcd 1 but if ur speed stat is maxed out u can run away and break the locked camera and quickly switch targets *it really just goes back to being a high enough level Henry*
I'm so glad they touched on the master strikes. I thought that was completely boring, and I think it's fair that I should be able to dodge as the enemy has control of my weapon, so the only logical thing to do is move, right? But being able to avoid being affected by it at all is good enough for me. The devs themselves said the attack has to be mirrored. It's not just based on %. So they have to be blocking in the opposite direction you swing from to master strike you. One thing I don't like, is that I constantly see the putting the sword to the side stance for the one handed sword. That's not an accurate sword stance! In the books they derived this from, it's a stance you take when the opponent is too defensive and slow, it's quite literally the "Come stab me brother!" stance. It's a stance to encourage the opponent to become aggressive when they are too scared, to exchange blows that will put them in a bad spot. It should be more of a taunt to get the other person angry. A stance that is almost the same, but is infinitely more useful and less of an attempt to mock the other person, is if they simply keep that ready to stab stance but bring it close to their face instead. The sword would simply face the same direction but be in either a ready to attack or defend position.
a % based chance of performing one would be nice with the higher level you go, but should be quite rare regardless, never 100% chance. Say when you start out not at all, then as you progress up the levels you can go to a 20% chance of getting a masterstrike upon a correctly timed block.
This, I think this would be the best way to do it. Then the skill would be being able to effectively and quickly following up on the opening given to you by the masterstrike for a combo.
I don't like % chance based active mechanics in real time action games even if they are RPGs. Especially if its a mechanic that in real life you can actually consistently perform such as masterstrikes. My system for masterstrikes would be: • Henry must meet the skill requirements of the wielded melee weapon. • Henry must have 50% of higher Stamina. Note that enemies also abide by this rule. • You must hard lock on to an enemy with R3 in order to bring up the directional reticle. • You must match the direction where the attack is coming from. Enemies also abide by this rule. • Quickly flick the R-Stick into the direction and press both L1 and either R1, R2, or L2 simultaneously during the midpoint of an enemy's attack animation. Using R1 in a Master Strike performs a thrust or pommel strike, while R2 performs a slash or bash, and lastly L2 performs either a punch or kick based attack. The type of master strike animation performed is dictated by what stance the enemy is in as well as whether you are in lethal or non lethal mode. Performing a master strike on a near 0HP enemy will replace the master strike animation with an execution animation or a knock out animation, in lethal or non lethal mode, respectively. With this. Masterstrikes are harder to unlock and perform. But its consistent.
to me there were two problems with kcd 1, master strikes being too ubiquotous, which was talked about in the video, and the fact that ripostes are useless. Suposedly ripostes can only be defend by perfect blocks, as described by an in-game tooltip about blocking under the combat skill in KCD1, but that effect only works against the player and never in favour of the player, meaning the player has to perfect block a riposte, but an NPC doesn't need to (it can normal block, perfect block and dodge a riposte). If the devs don't address this in future promotional materials, well, I'm going to play it anyway because I love the mission design of KCD. But it wouldn't hurt if those issues were adressed...
I’m surprised by the people defending the old combat. It almost ruined the game for me. It never stopped feeling frustrating and cumbersome even at later levels, combos were basically impossible to pull off. I got to the point where I just spammed hammer attacks because that’s the only thing that reliably worked. If the rest of the game wasn’t so good I would never have finished it for the combat. This is, of course, to say nothing of group combat. I’m hoping they’ve improved things.
@@lorddiethornno, the gameplay was just bad. You pressed one button and won. Some people just dont care, doesnt make the actual gameplay any good. Masterstrikes were simply to strong and too easy to pull off that they became the only real mechanic.
@@johnathanera5863 this. It’s not just a matter of being not to peoples taste, it has real issues, and it’s frustrating seeing people sweep it under the “not for you” rug. With some improvements it could be an absolute blast. They just need to make the mechanics more intuitive and reliable.
@@johnathanera5863agreed. I like KCD, but I'm not going to blow smoke up people's asses and say the combat is flawless and that "its not for everyone". Focusing on making the combat based on 1-1 dueling made group combat clunky and unfeasible. And the masterstrike meta pretty much made the rest of the combat system useless.
I honestly never had an issue. I can pull off combos whenever I want and never used maces. Cleared the entire privislavetz camp with a longsword. You basically have complete control over the combat. Don't like doing master strikes just press the block button when the greed shield pops up rather than before. Combos will become easier to pull off if you tire out the opponent they have stamina bars too you know
One problem is that ”our combat system is based on hema” Yes and as we see enemies use those tactics, but does that mean every serf knew hema tactics? Like the dicers? No
An lot of people did know the basics bro. I hav seen many people used do an master strike who have little to no experience also have seen people pull into guards and those three guys were in gamebson so you argue they were former soldiers
@@lorddiethorn the basics is more understandable but hema is not ”basic knowledge” every farmer knew, but i dont expect they have 2 diffrent combat systems for if your opponent is trained or not but im just saying its unrealistic for example the baker and his friends did the exact same style of fighting, they would certinly not know these tactics and stances, sure they would swing their club but not get into a specific secure stance. If you want something else to irritate yourself on, maybe all or alot of the belts ends dangle in a knot, there were no evidence of this, its only in modern reenactments today
@@lorddiethorn and yes the bandits in kcd 1 who knew master strike is just wrong, sure some soldiers and men at atms go rouge or against the law and thats realistic, but not every arms wielding bandit in the woods
@@andreasthelin9824 hema is just martial arts buddy you would get training if you were part of an town watch besides it’s in incredible hard to have different ai have different skills in game like this
@@andreasthelin9824 I have seen people who never really held sword used an master strike. I don’t think you understand that nearly all master strike are very simple attacks
1v1 combat was fine, but with more enemies it's a crazy camera spinning vomit inducing experience. I watched plenty of videos where the enemies behave nothing like when i play, and just backtrack bro doesn't work for me, they always flank me and i am toast. Also i am unable to hit enemies that are held by Mutt, swinging wildly over their heads, so that one time when he should be useful, he is not.
i mainly just hated changing target in kcd 1 i would find it get stuck on 1 target or switch to some 1 behind me that would turn my back allowing some one to hit me from behind etc every ecounter resulted in me baiting attackers and walking backwards while waiting for master strikes !
also, unrelated, real medieval fighters don't usually attack from below, which makes sense regarding strikes in the game, only striking from below when it is a prime opportunity
The blue crossed swords are very likely an indicator that you are committing an action "indes", or within the time/tempo of the attack. So, I'd like to call that the "indes indicator" If you'd like to know what that means, you can look up Liechtenauer/Kunst des Fechtens
I just ran up to enemies and stabbed when they weren't ready then ran and turned to stab as they chased me don't think I ever slashed or blocked outside of training. I also tried to catch people sleeping for stealth kills.
I know him but can never pulled them off too much. Which makes me relies on clinches and combos (hard to pull off) or poison bow and horse when it was a large group of bandits
The blue Crossed Swords icon probably means you've blocked the opponents attack and can force a clinch yourself by pressing the ability button (F). This would give the player more control over when they want to try and overpower the opponent by spending a large amount of stamina, rather than it only happening sometimes.
I hope it isn't an animation battle as in KC1. Also hope it doesn't take a Nasa level computer to run it. Also hope it does well in terms of sale. Would love to see it succeed.
they should remove the lock on to the enemy or atleast have that as option, it would be so much better if i could move the camera freely, and to change direction in the star just make the player press a button like alt,
In game development, a construction cone, or construction worker 👷 sign indicates the art work is “under construction” or not finalized/decided on yet. I found this out recently when doing a beta of a different game.
in kdc1 i;ve found i can sprint away from enemies but get dragged back by an attack, where i literally slide 15+ feet to my attacker, which looks completely stupid and is incredibly frustrating, glad that seems to be gone in kcd 2
The fact that "threat of blindsided in a fair manner" is a thing ruins a fair chunk of this game's allure to me. I knew I was pig shit the moment I got surrounded, and that's because it's very realistic that you won't have a good time. Even in the first game the enemies were extremely passive when they have your back and a completely open shot at battering you, the moment they get behind you they should incessantly bash with blunts and stab with piercing, interrupting your chance and hope at doing anything. Seems they are even more passive in KCD2 :(
Peasants and bandits shouldn’t be too aggressive , or combat effective. Morale didn’t have much of effect for me in KCD1, maybe 1 out or 10 encounters someone would run away. Most of all I hope encounters with groups is better handled somehow
In my system: Enemies in the lower social classes are not formally trained nor that effective in combat in their lonesome. They can't masterstrike, parry (perfect block) or dodge. They only attack from one stance (Up/Head) and once they attack they do so for just a few strikes and then block constantly until they recover their stamina. Their threat comes from how many they are as they attack in groups. For masterstrikes. Only certain enemies can perform them against Henry. Bandit leaders, veteran soldiers, men-at-arms , and knights. And they go into a "stance" to telegraph them. The higher up the social class they are, the subtler their "masterstrike stance" is. But there are conditions for them to masterstrike Henry. • They must have 50% or higher Stamina. • They must not have been hit or have been parrying for at least 3 seconds straight. • Henry must match their stance. Meaning if a knight is in the Up/Head stance and they go into their "masterstrike stance", Henry's Up/Head attack will trigger their masterstrike. As for group combat. No longer will the game force us into a "soft lock" when in combat. We can still attack, block, and parry without locking on. Attacks while not locked on are horizontal in nature, so if enemies close enough together they can get hit with the same attack. And any attacks can be blocked and parried as long as they're in view of the screen. *_Even a single pixel of the enemy's weapon_* can be blocked. Lastly. Henry can now defend against getting caught while sprinting by simply blocking and attacking. Done with L1+R1 on the PlayStation controller. Attack combos, feints, and masterstrikes can now only be performed while locked on.
what if the blues sword symbol just means that you have to manually activate master strike in kcd2, and it being there is an indication that you can perform a master strike after perfect blocking.
adding further to this, maybe the reason we didnt see it in other footage is because it's a skill that you can get to control when and where you want to use master strike
I hope it won't feel dumbed down like RPG sequels tend to do. I do agree though that Master Strikes in KCD 1 made the rest of the combat system pointless.
The sword combat look too simplify for me. The only stab direction seem to be is from below to the chest. It seem like you no longer be able to stab from the left-right or straight to the enemy face any more. And losing 2 lower attack angles? I think it going to make combos too easy. It already kind of easy KCD 1. Combo like doubling: < > / > what are they going become? Just < > < > ? I’m excited for the game but this make me a little bit less so, I hope I’m wrong.
The lack of visual cues might be from difficulty? IIRC in kcd1 if you played on hard mode you didn't get notifications for master strike, nor a compas etc... Whatever the case may be, I am super glad they addressed masterstrike problem. It was so bad in the first game, that any 1v1 was winnable playing the game with one hand... What worries me, however is the fact that enemies still attack with constant speeds. This makes any counter play super easy, if you can sustain 60fps... I wish enemies attacks accelerated exponentionally and to be more snappy... Kind of like in Sekiro... From what we see in their footage from the preview, the floppy arms move at constant speed, causing you to fall a sleep while waiting for a counter...
On your second point. That can be solved by implementing Enemy Types. Depending on the NPC's combat experience (typically based on their social class and wealth), they have different combat behaviors. Weaponry used. Attack range preference. Attack patterns and frequency. Block frequency. Parry and riposte capability and frequency. Clinch capability. Masterstrike capability.
@@DJWeapon8 This only muddies the problem, doesn't solve it. The challange in perfect blocking/ dodging etc, comes from attacks that accelerate, not from constant speed motion. This is the reason why melee combat in cyberpunk sux as well. It is just too easy... Considering the fact that enemies do not use faints, fluid motions with 0 acceleration feel unsatisfying to parry imo
@@DJWeapon8 Don't get me wrong. Difficulty is not the main problem with this. If you look at games like mordhau, bannerlord, chivalry etc, chambering there is insanely difficult to pull off, not because of the pvp (although this is a huge factor), but it is very hard to do against the AI as well. My main point is about the satisfaction from pulling off the counter move vs attacks with changing speed, plus the feeling for impact from accelerating strike is much more visceral if that makes sense.
@@zyfryth if my system was implemented. What you're looking for will be found when fighting against wealthy men-at-arms and knights. These enemy types would be the game's bosses. Being rare and only encountered in the climax of main quest arcs and at the end of extensive sidequests. They would employ feints, dodges, change up their attack patterns often, parry and dodge regularly, are challenging to clinch against (Clinches are massively overhauled in my system), have masterstrike stances (the period in which they will counter any attack you throw at them) that are nearly imperceptible, and each one would their own unique behavior that vary how they employ all of these mechanics.
I'm suddenly reminded of a combat mod I really liked. It made it so that master strikes could only be done if the direction of the attack matched the stance. For example, you get attacked on your right side, and your stance is aligned to your right, only then with proper timing could a MS be done. The same went for npcs; you attack the head while your target has his sword high, then your opponent has a chance for a MS. If you were to get attacked from the left, but you have your sword by your head, a MS was not possible, only blocks & perfect blocks. This mod made combat much more engaging and a bit more skillful without just raising speed or damage values. Can't remember what it's called at the moment, but it's one of the top mods on Nexus I think.
That system is what I envision the masterstrike mechanic to be in its best implementation. A few things I'd add, though. • Henry must meet the skill requirements of the equipped weapon. • Henry must have 50% or greater stamina. • Using the PlayStation 4 controller. You need to press L1 *_and_* R1/R2/L2 simultaneously. Depending on what you pressed, the masterstrike animation changes. R1 is a stab attack, R2 is a swing attack, L2 is a punch or kick attack. • Only certain enemies are capable of masterstrikes. And they also show that they're going to masterstrike you by going into one of several "masterstrike stances". These stances range from relatively obvious (pounding their shield, doing a "Come At Me!" gesture) to nearly imperceptible (angling their weapon a little more inwards, getting a tighter and closer grip on their weapon) _depending on the combat experience of the enemy._ Peasants, petty criminals, army conscripts, and bottom rung bandits *cannot masterstrike.*
8:35 As much as i hate dieing to that crap, im sad about this. My first thought everytime i die to a group that runs behind me to surround me is. "Well thats the most realistic fight in a video game i have ever experienced lol". In real life people dont stand around and watch as they each take turns engaging. They just pounce like a pack of hyenas and you get the shit kicked out of you 😂.
The devs continually claim they want the combat to be realistic and feinting is realistic in not only fencing but in melee combat like mma. Idk why enemies never feinted in the original probably technically issues but it better be a thing in 2. I want conbat to be harder and deeper.
Man, I am so stoked for this game in a way I didn' t think my jaded, cynical 37 year old ass could be anymore. I just hope it is optimized well. There doesn't seem to be too many (imo) redundant bleeding edge tech in this game or fancy bells and whistles, but then again KDC didn;t either and it released in a horrible state.
for me, this KCD2 combat footage looks very stiff. also, simplicity being one of their goals is very worrying to me. why can't some games just be hard and it being a feature. i personally LOVE challanging combat. this is what brought me to buy this game in the first place.
@@jimzeez We need this to be voice activated. being able to scream profanities at my opponents while whopping their asses and them actually hearing it is my dream for this game
@@Just_a_Piano_ I found myself yelling at Henry more often than not, every time he did the stupid twirly counter attack, or step straight vertically up over a bush or tent mid combat, or pushed an opponent out of reach from a bind and missed the next swing. Yes, he's a special fellow
I've been playing in hardcore recently and with the shield icon and directions being taken away from you, I've learned to time it on the apex of the enemy's swing - the moment it goes from a backwards windup to a forward attack is my sweetspot.
It still needs work and polishing,the gameplay showcase had a placeholder object and a traffic cone icon for example. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened in KCD1.😂
I replay the Game right now and still hate Combat... Combos are Impossible to pull off since after one hit my enemy can instantly Block again. And Cpt. Bernard is never at the Training post so i can practice.... The only reason I did not go for stealth and archery is because lockpicking and archery are even worse. Also I think that tue Balance of random encounters is really off. I met a guy in full plate when all I had was a Gambeson a shield and shart and no horse. How am i supposed to beat that? Despite that I really Like this Game, or want to Like it. Its Just... I dont Know.
combos are difficult because you're likely just spamming them over and over. Bernard is not at the training post because he goes away during the neuhof quest. and obviously isn't going to be their at night. 8:30 is when he goes over to the fighting ring. Fighting plate armour enemies while not having plate yourself is really not that bad if you actually block and defend their attacks. Combos are pretty easy to do and I do them basically everytime I try to. When I'm fighting I just pick and choose which combo I want to do because it looks cool. Clinching gives a small window to do a combo, same with master strikes. Combos are also a lot easier to pull off and you drain an enemies' stamina. They have stamina bars too and when they get tired they'll react and attack a bit slower making combos even easier than they already are
I hate the multi fighting in kid I literally redownloaded it just to uninstall in 20 minutes it because I get instantly get surrounded even when I try the strategy for multi-fighting because of the Timmy quest where u have to fight the bandits behind the mill it’s a dumb fight mechanic that not only are u tethered to the enemy in front all the enemies are literally tethered to you too and even when u try to run. If kcd2 getting a refund
I had to stop playing KCD quite early in the story because the combat was too difficult for me. I just couldn't do the millisecond reactions as the game requires. I was hoping KCD2 would "streamline" (dumb down) this a bit for us merely human players, but it seems they made it harder. definitely NOT BUYING IT. Pity.
@@Just_a_Piano_ Yep, that's what I said. I simply can't no matter how much I try, I guess my nerve reflexes are a tenth of a second too late. KCD is just too demanding in this so it is only for a certain type of player and leaves out a lot of us. Pity because all the rest of the game outside combat is so great.
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In the Rattay Tourney,one fighter we'll get to face at one point is a Sword Master named Menhard from Frankfurt. Yes,it seems that he's a returning character as well.
That’s wild. Just beat him on my first play through on kcd 1.
Every time I've faced him he's used a mace or axe. Ridiculous for a "sword master"! /s
@@RudeSaiyanHe's challenging himself, clearly.
He's trying to expand his expertise,Mace Master has a nice ring to it.😂
Master Mace wind u 🤣
personally i liked the combat in kcd1. only thing i would have changed is the way multiple enemies surround you instantly and how we are tethered to the person we are locked in combat with. i hope they dont screw up the combat for the sake of “simplicity”. it is a rewarding system and i would hate to see it ruined. but i guess time will tell
Yeah the tethering and getting magnetically tackled if you tried to run away were annoying and multi person combat was a mess but I actually liked the combat (taking on Pribislavitz solo was a ton of fun). Now that masterstrike isn't so OP it will be nice to use more of the combat system like the combos.
@greenbrickbox3392 yeah the master strike really f***** me over a few times. I had my enemies bottle necked in an alley once, all of them in front of me. And then I master striked and performed a judo throw that put one of my enemies behind me... 😑
This system is actually more complex if what is said in the video actually turns out true. As he said, combat it KCD one became essentially push one button and win.
It doesnt get much simpler than that.
I think the fact that KCD's combat system is centered around one on one duels is what got them in a bind upon trying to adapt it for fighting an entire group. Yes,the sequel is looking good so far,but nothing is certain until we can get our hands on it.
@@johnathanera5863KCD 1 set a good foundation for first person melee combat, but we need to acknowledge its faults.
The masterstrike baiting meta.
Lack of crowd control options.
Forced enemy magnetism/soft lock on.
My solutions to these are:
Master Strikes are overhauled.
To perform a Master Strike:
• Henry or Hans must meet the skill requirements of the wielded weapon.
• Henry or Hans must have 50% or higher Stamina. Note that enemies also abide by this rule.
• You must mirror the stance the enemy is in (if enemy is in upper left stance you must be in upper right stance, etc).
• Quickly flick the R-Stick into the stance and press both L1 and either R1, R2, or L2 simultaneously right before the enemy attack is in the midpoint of its animation.
Using R1 in a Master Strike performs a thrust or pommel strike, while R2 performs a slash or bash, and lastly L2 performs either a punch or kick based attack.
The type of master strike animation performed is dictated by what stance the enemy is in as well as whether you are in lethal or non lethal mode.
Performing a master strike on a near 0HP enemy will replace the master strike animation with an execution animation or a knock out animation, in lethal or non lethal mode, respectively.
Only certain enemy types are capable of masterstriking and they also have a "masterstrike stance" that they go into to warn players to back off. These are usually high level threats such as veteran soldiers, bandit leaders, and knights. These stances range from relatively obvious to nearly imperceptible depending on how skilled the enemy is.
To Lock On to an ememy, press R3. Only then can you do proper attack combos and perform masterstrikes.
While locked on, pressing Left and Right D-pad switches between hostile targets.
To sheathe weapons, unlock from target by pressing R3 and then Hold Left or Right D-pad.
_You can still attack and defend even when not locked onto an enemy. *However, attacks are less precise, being wider and more horizontally focused for better crowd control. Blocking blocks all attacks in view of the camera, same with parrying._
Battle system in KCD1 was duel-sided. It wasn't prepared for dealing with groups larger than one enemy. Many games where you have to fight multiply enemies in melee are 3rd person or enemies behind you stay idle, or game gives you a warning when you are attacked from behind. KCD1 was pretty decent when you fought one tough enemy rather than fighting a group. So when you was forced to fight a ggroup you had to abuse the game mechanics, such as AI, clunky level-design, etc. And the master strike. This made any battle just pressing one button when enemy attacks, and stalemate until someone attacks and gets punished for it. It induced passive gameplay, where any aggression is severely punished.
Even if you could get attacked from behind it wouldn’t be a problem it’s just that literally everyone bumrushes going behind you. They will literally let themselves get stabbed and attacked just for a chance to get behind you and get you where you can’t fight back.
I am glad that simple peasants using farming tools won’t be able to keep pace with a leveled and swordsman Henry like in KCD1
But they still know HEMA somehow
@@justnothing8692why wouldn’t they mimic stances?!
@@raskolnikov6443 Why the fuck would they?
@@justnothing8692 Yeah peasants using HEMA stances is a bit silly but I can understand that the game probably wouldn't be very challenging if they just blindly swung at you
@@slynt_Dark Souls and Sekiro, man. Just because some peasant lout is barely trained *_doesn't mean they're harmless_*
Attacking blindly but in an unpredictable flurry.
Bumrushing you unexpectedly.
Attacking you in groups.
Etc.
On the flip side. KCD is also meant to be a historically accurate, authentic and more realistic game. And its historically accurate, authentic, and more realistic if certain NPC types aren't formally trained and perform poorly or/and unorthodoxically in combat.
The exciting part about KCD2 to me is that every aspect/mechanic in the game will have improvements not only the combat. Tobi from Warhorse Studios said so in a german interview at gamescom ❤🎮👍
Good video, finally someone who doesn't just say "yeah the combat is better but more simple," will continue monitoring your channel.
Thanks for watching!👍
The four points instead of five will definitely make combos easier.
Definitely. I never had a problem with the 5 points,but turning it into 4 will help a lot of players.
I'd consider the first system 6- 5 slash directions and a thrust
I loved the KCD1 combat. On my 2nd playthrough I was determined to max out warfare and learn and use combos, thank god we had the Privislavitz Garrison to train as much as we wanted to . Hope there's combat arenas like the one you build ,Captain Robard doesn't last long to be able to train properly and fully master the combat. Nice video,thank you!
Thanks for watching,Huntress.👍
Wait, you could use combos??? I stuck to master strikers because NPCs always master-stroke me at the 3rd attack of a combo :/ I could never complete them
Problem with KCD1 combat is that it always ended up to be the plauer jsut walking backwards and master striking every enemy that hit them.
3:39 it looks like Henry is under the influence of a potion in the clip against the dicers where stamina regenerates instantly whereas he is not in the clip against the sword master.
That's one possibility.🤔
Or more likely a cheat character for presentation purposes
removing the low cuts doesn't sound like a benefit to me
the issue I had with the first game was once you got to a certain level you simply couldn't do many combos because you'd end up doing the perfect parry instead, or your foe would. Sounds like they have fixed that issue. And the sounds effects were a bit too weak, we tapped the swords not clashed them, I understand it has to be slowish animation for players to react but at least make it sound like there is some more force behind the blows.
But anyway pretty hyped for the new game.
Im surprised other people arent mentioning this. It wasnt the amount of cuts that was the issue. Its how master strikes and kiting made everything else obsolete
Super informative and well put together. Hope your channel gets many more subs
Thanks for watching,Nik.👍
I find it very very difficult to pull off any sort of combo in this game, have to rely on masterstrikes and simple follow up strikes to defeat things.
I love the game, reinstalled it just a few days ago after playing 60 hours on release and moving on.
Determined to play this first one out.
Do you clinch? Winning a clinch will award you a small window to get 2 strikes of a combo in before the enemy can begin blocking again
False edge is a great opening combo because you recover quick from preforming it, and it ends by hitting the opponent in the head, giving you another small window to make follow up attacks, not to mention false edge cracks the skulls of anyone not wearing a helmet.
@HeadHunter697 thanks for the reply, maybe I missed what to do in a clinch...do I need to be pressing something in particular, I'd sort of assumed it was being decided on a dice roll in the programming. I'll give false edge a look too, many thanks.
When a clinch battle starts,you have two options. Right Button(thrust atk) results in a pommel strike,Right Trigger(Slash) results in a kick. For doing combos,you'll want to use the RT to give your character a bit of room. The easiest one to pull off IMO is the one taught by Cpt.Bernard. Remember that you have to unlock combos through him before you can do any of them.
@ThatOtherGamer very kind advice here thank you. I'm a PC player I'll figure out the buttons for that.
Played KCD1 80+ hours; I just yesterday got to the point that I came in 2nd after a tiebreaker in the Rattay Tourney. I have a hard time pressing block fast enough to pull off master strike, and have only pulled off a combo like three times in the whole game. In order to press block in time for a master strike, cannot ever blink, and my eyes dry out. I can’t wear contacts, and I think, to win the tourney I am going to have to rush to put eye drops in my eyes between the rounds.
I think finishers would be really satisfying. And I personally prefer the old health bar hud
I’m quite excited to hear all these changes - they’re basically exactly what I would’ve added however…that stance with the one handed sword still really bugs me. It’s not an unrealistic or fictitious swordfighting stance but it’s not common enough to justifiably be the one of like four base stances.
I recognized the peasants' stance from Fiore's fighting manual on one-handed swords,but I agree that's not what I would've picked first for them.
It's the "Come stab me!" stance for when you're opponent is too slow and defensive from being scared. It's meant to make the opponent angry, so they are more likely to carelessly attack with rage. It should be a taunt instead of an attack stance, but in game it's obviously an attack stance and it irritates me too.
@@ThatOtherGamer Hmm I can’t see the similarity. I’m currently looking at Fiore’s illustration and description for _Colpo di Villano_ and it doesn’t really bear any resemblance to KCD2’s stance. The colpo di villano is to defend against a basic downward travelling strike - called the peasant’s strike because it’s the most obvious and common attack you can make with a sword.
Eh tbh I like it, I usually use a hand a half sword, but, with anything one handed u highkey clear so much space like that and it’s not as complex as trying to scissor walk *and* play defense
@@xsweat1618 I don’t see how that really applies here? You rarely have to scissorwalk between defence and offence when it comes to stances, nearly all the basic one handed fencing stances are perfectly capable offensively and defensively. This one is just very weird looking.
Makes sense they removed the bottom slashes, I barely used them unless it was to pull off one of the special combos.
I think the fighting in KCD2 looks much better and refined then the first game, which is a very good thing since in KCD1 the combat felt rather clunky at times, especially in group fights.
I liked the bottom slashes, I use them all the time
i used it with feints
Best PC game of the year award plus most worded RPG game ever made will be added when it releases February 11th 2025 one million something words.
Yes,I've seen Mr.Vavra's post about the script length. Surpassing BG3 is incredible.😳
@@ThatOtherGamer That's awesome, I didn't know that. I for one love wordy RPGs, especially when they're fully voiced!
now that the trust attack isn't in RMB we will get other input there maybe related to the master strike
My best guess right now is maybe a dedicated dodge button.🤔
i hope they buff the shields. having a shield in kcd1 is such a big nerf, they give you non deadly lame repostle/counter that does nothing.
having no shields was much much better. hope they fix it, cause i love shieldddd
Agreed,our offensive capability when carrying a shield is diminished. That's one thing to look out for in the sequel.
Can't wait for this game to come out. Currently I'm playing KCD1 a second time (deliberately very differently from my first playthrough) and I can't wait to compare my experiences with KCD2.
If it’s gonna be anything like the descriptions here, it’s gonna be fire. Perfect block-riposte is initiative adding a time based master strike is genius tbh
4 directions is just the sweet spot like in Mount&blade, more than that it gets too complicated for anything beyond duels.
I don't know if it's my impression but it looks like the attacks animations have less momentum now, it's more slow, on kcd 1 even having the slow motion it looks like the enemy and you is really putting their force and velocity on the attacks, now they're just like kinda slow
strange, i feel like the kcd1 are slower
I just hope the combos will be more viable. In the first, it was rare I could get one off in a one on one and I never got one of when fighting groups.
I do suspect combos will play a bigger role this time. We shall see.🤔
You sound like a guy from some serious documentaries but talk about a game and I love it.
Not sure I like the new combat animations. Does anyone else think that the swings look too... stiff now? As if they are deliberately slowing them down and telegraphing. Maybe Warhorse felt like they had to go in this direction on account of removing the slow-mo in combat, but it seems to have come at the expense of realism and authenticity of the strikes, which KCD1 valued tremendously. It's what made the game unique. It was the first and only first-person melee game so far in which combat looked close to what it would look like in reality. The swings, parries, combos and masterstrikes all looked great. I fear that the second game, with its focus on streamlining combat and making it more accessible, will end up losing that special touch that made KCD so unique among its peers. Also I don't like the complete loss of low attacks AT ALL. What's the point of having leg armor then, if we can only aim our swings at the torso? I feel like this is a part of the combat system that really didn't need to be simplified. I understand that they wanted to adjust the mechanics regarding the masterstrikes, group combat and locking-on, which all received valid criticism in the first game, but who the hell was out there complaining of too many attack directions? Definitely not happy with that change either.
In a German live demo the combat tutorial screen shows briefly, where it shows that on an XBOX controller LT is now used for blocking (LB in KCD1) and RT for attacking, which is same with KCD1 but it doesn’t say RB is used for piercing. So indeed piercing is now probably implemented into the lower attack. But it means that both LB and RB are freed up for other actions. In 1 player can use LB + A to surrender but in 2 there are two other actions taunt and war cry. The button prompt shows that LB is now used for these kind of talk actions with the enemies and I’m guessing that RB might be used for the new quick item access.
Just found your channel and loving your kcd1 & 2 Coverage
Hi,Drew. Thanks for watching!👍
Pretty much everything I've seen regarding the combat system of KCD2 comparing to the old one got me anxious to play the new game... minus the fact they removed the low attacks... I really liked those... What are you guys thoughts on this?
13:26 , thats not a master strike its a standing mercy kill.👋
Thank you for the awsome video :). I'm very much looking forward to finishers and i hope they get those right, would love to slice into my enemies witcher 3 style or at least similar to the sword through the neck in the gameplay reveal.
im excited for this game. KCD is my favorite Historical RPG
👍
I remember complaining early on in the forums about how Master Strike was not a good system as it inverted risk vs reward and made for bad gameplay design. I got yelled at for that and I feel so vindicated now.
Lol wow mad bro it’s was still an pretty good system
Not much has changed from that lol. It's impossible to criticize KCDs combat system without being yelled at.
whoever told you that has 1 braincell, i modded the 1st KCD removing master strikes and slowmotion, the combat felt awesome, especially in a 1v1, making combos actualy useful. im reallly happy they removed the slowmotion and tuned out master strikes for the 2nd game since that was my main problem with the game.
@@tano1670 lol just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it objectively bad clown.
@@lorddiethorn saying those werent flaws shows your lack of understanding of the 1st game, there is a reason it got reworked like this you dufus.
Cant wait for playing my warhammer smithbonk build again. Hope they have new things in petto for the warhammer!
I'm excited to finally be able to use combos effectively. Master Strike and Clinch spam got really boring real quick.
Honestly, the blue icon may just symbolize that the swords are touching and the defense is over
*they may be taking a page out of chivalry 2’s book making it an initiative based thing that relies on turn based offense and defense depending on who attacks first, this is usually faster paced and highly punishing when you go against the grain of the initiative*
I just hope the armor makes you nearly invulnerable like in real life, and of course, ACTUAL BLOOD ON THE ENVIRONMENT!!!
11:17 Bummer...
This seems infinitely better than the first game. I have been enjoying it a lot (except when I got drunk and frustrated). The problem was the master strikes and playing on mouse there were just too many attacks that didn't come from the direction I wanted them to because of the nature of the game. It got so bad I had to install a mode to reduce the likelihood of enemy master strikes just for it to feel fair. Looking forward to this one
coming from for honor, delaying the master strike to when the attack is about to connect makes me a very happy knight
Wow, that's a detailed anaylsis
Thanks for watching,Templar.👍
I think what they should do with masterstrickes, instead of being a free hit attack, should work more like s desbalance, so if you do it, you will be able to perfom a safe couple of hits in the enemie instead like kc1 were you would hurt or even instakill the enemie with it
And for the enemies so my recomendation if 1. Only elite or trained enemies should be able to perform it and no just any regular guy
2. If for example have his guard up right, and you attack with that guard too, depending of the enemie level, he should increase his chances of perform it, so it insentiviaze the player of using different guards to find openings and evade masterstrikes
A lot of comments stress the combat when fighting multiple people in kcd 1 but if ur speed stat is maxed out u can run away and break the locked camera and quickly switch targets
*it really just goes back to being a high enough level Henry*
Is it possible executions are just automatic if you land a killing blow now? that could explain what happened at 13:24
It makes sense for combat to look smoother. Because by this point henry has tones of training
I'm so glad they touched on the master strikes. I thought that was completely boring, and I think it's fair that I should be able to dodge as the enemy has control of my weapon, so the only logical thing to do is move, right? But being able to avoid being affected by it at all is good enough for me. The devs themselves said the attack has to be mirrored. It's not just based on %. So they have to be blocking in the opposite direction you swing from to master strike you. One thing I don't like, is that I constantly see the putting the sword to the side stance for the one handed sword. That's not an accurate sword stance! In the books they derived this from, it's a stance you take when the opponent is too defensive and slow, it's quite literally the "Come stab me brother!" stance. It's a stance to encourage the opponent to become aggressive when they are too scared, to exchange blows that will put them in a bad spot. It should be more of a taunt to get the other person angry. A stance that is almost the same, but is infinitely more useful and less of an attempt to mock the other person, is if they simply keep that ready to stab stance but bring it close to their face instead. The sword would simply face the same direction but be in either a ready to attack or defend position.
a % based chance of performing one would be nice with the higher level you go, but should be quite rare regardless, never 100% chance. Say when you start out not at all, then as you progress up the levels you can go to a 20% chance of getting a masterstrike upon a correctly timed block.
This, I think this would be the best way to do it. Then the skill would be being able to effectively and quickly following up on the opening given to you by the masterstrike for a combo.
I don't like % chance based active mechanics in real time action games even if they are RPGs. Especially if its a mechanic that in real life you can actually consistently perform such as masterstrikes.
My system for masterstrikes would be:
• Henry must meet the skill requirements of the wielded melee weapon.
• Henry must have 50% of higher Stamina. Note that enemies also abide by this rule.
• You must hard lock on to an enemy with R3 in order to bring up the directional reticle.
• You must match the direction where the attack is coming from. Enemies also abide by this rule.
• Quickly flick the R-Stick into the direction and press both L1 and either R1, R2, or L2 simultaneously during the midpoint of an enemy's attack animation.
Using R1 in a Master Strike performs a thrust or pommel strike, while R2 performs a slash or bash, and lastly L2 performs either a punch or kick based attack.
The type of master strike animation performed is dictated by what stance the enemy is in as well as whether you are in lethal or non lethal mode.
Performing a master strike on a near 0HP enemy will replace the master strike animation with an execution animation or a knock out animation, in lethal or non lethal mode, respectively.
With this. Masterstrikes are harder to unlock and perform. But its consistent.
to me there were two problems with kcd 1, master strikes being too ubiquotous, which was talked about in the video, and the fact that ripostes are useless. Suposedly ripostes can only be defend by perfect blocks, as described by an in-game tooltip about blocking under the combat skill in KCD1, but that effect only works against the player and never in favour of the player, meaning the player has to perfect block a riposte, but an NPC doesn't need to (it can normal block, perfect block and dodge a riposte). If the devs don't address this in future promotional materials, well, I'm going to play it anyway because I love the mission design of KCD. But it wouldn't hurt if those issues were adressed...
Excellent breakdown!
Thanks for watching,Vigo.👍
I’m surprised by the people defending the old combat. It almost ruined the game for me. It never stopped feeling frustrating and cumbersome even at later levels, combos were basically impossible to pull off. I got to the point where I just spammed hammer attacks because that’s the only thing that reliably worked. If the rest of the game wasn’t so good I would never have finished it for the combat. This is, of course, to say nothing of group combat. I’m hoping they’ve improved things.
Because they liked it you didn’t. It that simple the gameplay is not for everyone
@@lorddiethornno, the gameplay was just bad. You pressed one button and won. Some people just dont care, doesnt make the actual gameplay any good. Masterstrikes were simply to strong and too easy to pull off that they became the only real mechanic.
@@johnathanera5863 this. It’s not just a matter of being not to peoples taste, it has real issues, and it’s frustrating seeing people sweep it under the “not for you” rug. With some improvements it could be an absolute blast. They just need to make the mechanics more intuitive and reliable.
@@johnathanera5863agreed. I like KCD, but I'm not going to blow smoke up people's asses and say the combat is flawless and that "its not for everyone".
Focusing on making the combat based on 1-1 dueling made group combat clunky and unfeasible.
And the masterstrike meta pretty much made the rest of the combat system useless.
I honestly never had an issue. I can pull off combos whenever I want and never used maces. Cleared the entire privislavetz camp with a longsword. You basically have complete control over the combat. Don't like doing master strikes just press the block button when the greed shield pops up rather than before. Combos will become easier to pull off if you tire out the opponent they have stamina bars too you know
One problem is that ”our combat system is based on hema”
Yes and as we see enemies use those tactics, but does that mean every serf knew hema tactics? Like the dicers? No
An lot of people did know the basics bro. I hav seen many people used do an master strike who have little to no experience also have seen people pull into guards and those three guys were in gamebson so you argue they were former soldiers
@@lorddiethorn the basics is more understandable but hema is not ”basic knowledge” every farmer knew,
but i dont expect they have 2 diffrent combat systems for if your opponent is trained or not but im just saying its unrealistic for example the baker and his friends did the exact same style of fighting, they would certinly not know these tactics and stances, sure they would swing their club but not get into a specific secure stance.
If you want something else to irritate yourself on, maybe all or alot of the belts ends dangle in a knot, there were no evidence of this, its only in modern reenactments today
@@lorddiethorn and yes the bandits in kcd 1 who knew master strike is just wrong, sure some soldiers and men at atms go rouge or against the law and thats realistic, but not every arms wielding bandit in the woods
@@andreasthelin9824 hema is just martial arts buddy you would get training if you were part of an town watch besides it’s in incredible hard to have different ai have different skills in game like this
@@andreasthelin9824 I have seen people who never really held sword used an master strike. I don’t think you understand that nearly all master strike are very simple attacks
1v1 combat was fine, but with more enemies it's a crazy camera spinning vomit inducing experience. I watched plenty of videos where the enemies behave nothing like when i play, and just backtrack bro doesn't work for me, they always flank me and i am toast. Also i am unable to hit enemies that are held by Mutt, swinging wildly over their heads, so that one time when he should be useful, he is not.
I feel quite HUNGRYYY!!!!
i mainly just hated changing target in kcd 1 i would find it get stuck on 1 target or switch to some 1 behind me that would turn my back allowing some one to hit me from behind etc every ecounter resulted in me baiting attackers and walking backwards while waiting for master strikes !
also, unrelated, real medieval fighters don't usually attack from below, which makes sense regarding strikes in the game, only striking from below when it is a prime opportunity
The blue crossed swords are very likely an indicator that you are committing an action "indes", or within the time/tempo of the attack. So, I'd like to call that the "indes indicator"
If you'd like to know what that means, you can look up Liechtenauer/Kunst des Fechtens
I just ran up to enemies and stabbed when they weren't ready then ran and turned to stab as they chased me don't think I ever slashed or blocked outside of training. I also tried to catch people sleeping for stealth kills.
Am i the only one that didnt know master strikes were a thing ?
I know him but can never pulled them off too much. Which makes me relies on clinches and combos (hard to pull off) or poison bow and horse when it was a large group of bandits
It’s pretty much 99% of the combat in KCD1 (unfortunately).
Feigns and combos work, but master strikes once you have it it’s all you use + riposte
@@Taooflu Yep, just walk backwards and masterstrike.
The blue Crossed Swords icon probably means you've blocked the opponents attack and can force a clinch yourself by pressing the ability button (F). This would give the player more control over when they want to try and overpower the opponent by spending a large amount of stamina, rather than it only happening sometimes.
I hope it isn't an animation battle as in KC1. Also hope it doesn't take a Nasa level computer to run it. Also hope it does well in terms of sale. Would love to see it succeed.
Very well done analysis !
they should remove the lock on to the enemy or atleast have that as option, it would be so much better if i could move the camera freely, and to change direction in the star just make the player press a button like alt,
The blue sword could be the counter strike by pressing block again, so you don’t have to swap buttons 🤔
KCD1 also has it so master strikes are more common against higher trained opponents. Compare Captain Bernard with a peasant.
Maybe they maxed some traits in the gameplay showcase so that Henry doesn't get exhausted by running or hungry all the time
As long as I can mod out master strikes for AI the game might be playable. The mod works in KCD1
This seem pretty dumb just don’t unlock them
@@lorddiethorn*_For AI_* meaning enemies.
You aren't going to "don't unlock" masterstrike for enemies.
Is that a traffic cone in the selected inventory slots at 4:03???☠️
Yes,it is. The equipment icons are not yet complete it seems.
In game development, a construction cone, or construction worker 👷 sign indicates the art work is “under construction” or not finalized/decided on yet. I found this out recently when doing a beta of a different game.
in kdc1 i;ve found i can sprint away from enemies but get dragged back by an attack, where i literally slide 15+ feet to my attacker, which looks completely stupid and is incredibly frustrating, glad that seems to be gone in kcd 2
The fact that "threat of blindsided in a fair manner" is a thing ruins a fair chunk of this game's allure to me. I knew I was pig shit the moment I got surrounded, and that's because it's very realistic that you won't have a good time. Even in the first game the enemies were extremely passive when they have your back and a completely open shot at battering you, the moment they get behind you they should incessantly bash with blunts and stab with piercing, interrupting your chance and hope at doing anything. Seems they are even more passive in KCD2 :(
Peasants and bandits shouldn’t be too aggressive , or combat effective.
Morale didn’t have much of effect for me in KCD1, maybe 1 out or 10 encounters someone would run away.
Most of all I hope encounters with groups is better handled somehow
In my system:
Enemies in the lower social classes are not formally trained nor that effective in combat in their lonesome. They can't masterstrike, parry (perfect block) or dodge. They only attack from one stance (Up/Head) and once they attack they do so for just a few strikes and then block constantly until they recover their stamina.
Their threat comes from how many they are as they attack in groups.
For masterstrikes. Only certain enemies can perform them against Henry. Bandit leaders, veteran soldiers, men-at-arms , and knights. And they go into a "stance" to telegraph them. The higher up the social class they are, the subtler their "masterstrike stance" is. But there are conditions for them to masterstrike Henry.
• They must have 50% or higher Stamina.
• They must not have been hit or have been parrying for at least 3 seconds straight.
• Henry must match their stance. Meaning if a knight is in the Up/Head stance and they go into their "masterstrike stance", Henry's Up/Head attack will trigger their masterstrike.
As for group combat.
No longer will the game force us into a "soft lock" when in combat.
We can still attack, block, and parry without locking on.
Attacks while not locked on are horizontal in nature, so if enemies close enough together they can get hit with the same attack.
And any attacks can be blocked and parried as long as they're in view of the screen. *_Even a single pixel of the enemy's weapon_* can be blocked.
Lastly. Henry can now defend against getting caught while sprinting by simply blocking and attacking. Done with L1+R1 on the PlayStation controller.
Attack combos, feints, and masterstrikes can now only be performed while locked on.
what if the blues sword symbol just means that you have to manually activate master strike in kcd2, and it being there is an indication that you can perform a master strike after perfect blocking.
adding further to this, maybe the reason we didnt see it in other footage is because it's a skill that you can get to control when and where you want to use master strike
I hope it won't feel dumbed down like RPG sequels tend to do. I do agree though that Master Strikes in KCD 1 made the rest of the combat system pointless.
The sword combat look too simplify for me. The only stab direction seem to be is from below to the chest. It seem like you no longer be able to stab from the left-right or straight to the enemy face any more. And losing 2 lower attack angles? I think it going to make combos too easy. It already kind of easy KCD 1. Combo like doubling: < > / > what are they going become? Just < > < > ? I’m excited for the game but this make me a little bit less so, I hope I’m wrong.
The lack of visual cues might be from difficulty? IIRC in kcd1 if you played on hard mode you didn't get notifications for master strike, nor a compas etc... Whatever the case may be, I am super glad they addressed masterstrike problem. It was so bad in the first game, that any 1v1 was winnable playing the game with one hand... What worries me, however is the fact that enemies still attack with constant speeds. This makes any counter play super easy, if you can sustain 60fps... I wish enemies attacks accelerated exponentionally and to be more snappy... Kind of like in Sekiro... From what we see in their footage from the preview, the floppy arms move at constant speed, causing you to fall a sleep while waiting for a counter...
On your second point.
That can be solved by implementing Enemy Types. Depending on the NPC's combat experience (typically based on their social class and wealth), they have different combat behaviors.
Weaponry used.
Attack range preference.
Attack patterns and frequency.
Block frequency.
Parry and riposte capability and frequency.
Clinch capability.
Masterstrike capability.
@@DJWeapon8 This only muddies the problem, doesn't solve it. The challange in perfect blocking/ dodging etc, comes from attacks that accelerate, not from constant speed motion. This is the reason why melee combat in cyberpunk sux as well. It is just too easy... Considering the fact that enemies do not use faints, fluid motions with 0 acceleration feel unsatisfying to parry imo
@@zyfryth thrust and swing speed is also included in attack frequency.
@@DJWeapon8 Don't get me wrong. Difficulty is not the main problem with this. If you look at games like mordhau, bannerlord, chivalry etc, chambering there is insanely difficult to pull off, not because of the pvp (although this is a huge factor), but it is very hard to do against the AI as well. My main point is about the satisfaction from pulling off the counter move vs attacks with changing speed, plus the feeling for impact from accelerating strike is much more visceral if that makes sense.
@@zyfryth if my system was implemented. What you're looking for will be found when fighting against wealthy men-at-arms and knights. These enemy types would be the game's bosses. Being rare and only encountered in the climax of main quest arcs and at the end of extensive sidequests.
They would employ feints, dodges, change up their attack patterns often, parry and dodge regularly, are challenging to clinch against (Clinches are massively overhauled in my system), have masterstrike stances (the period in which they will counter any attack you throw at them) that are nearly imperceptible, and each one would their own unique behavior that vary how they employ all of these mechanics.
I'm suddenly reminded of a combat mod I really liked. It made it so that master strikes could only be done if the direction of the attack matched the stance. For example, you get attacked on your right side, and your stance is aligned to your right, only then with proper timing could a MS be done. The same went for npcs; you attack the head while your target has his sword high, then your opponent has a chance for a MS.
If you were to get attacked from the left, but you have your sword by your head, a MS was not possible, only blocks & perfect blocks.
This mod made combat much more engaging and a bit more skillful without just raising speed or damage values. Can't remember what it's called at the moment, but it's one of the top mods on Nexus I think.
That system is what I envision the masterstrike mechanic to be in its best implementation.
A few things I'd add, though.
• Henry must meet the skill requirements of the equipped weapon.
• Henry must have 50% or greater stamina.
• Using the PlayStation 4 controller. You need to press L1 *_and_* R1/R2/L2 simultaneously. Depending on what you pressed, the masterstrike animation changes. R1 is a stab attack, R2 is a swing attack, L2 is a punch or kick attack.
• Only certain enemies are capable of masterstrikes. And they also show that they're going to masterstrike you by going into one of several "masterstrike stances". These stances range from relatively obvious (pounding their shield, doing a "Come At Me!" gesture) to nearly imperceptible (angling their weapon a little more inwards, getting a tighter and closer grip on their weapon) _depending on the combat experience of the enemy._ Peasants, petty criminals, army conscripts, and bottom rung bandits *cannot masterstrike.*
Better Combat And Immersion Compilation? I've heard about it but never tried it yet.
8:35 As much as i hate dieing to that crap, im sad about this. My first thought everytime i die to a group that runs behind me to surround me is. "Well thats the most realistic fight in a video game i have ever experienced lol".
In real life people dont stand around and watch as they each take turns engaging.
They just pounce like a pack of hyenas and you get the shit kicked out of you 😂.
The devs continually claim they want the combat to be realistic and feinting is realistic in not only fencing but in melee combat like mma. Idk why enemies never feinted in the original probably technically issues but it better be a thing in 2. I want conbat to be harder and deeper.
So no more avoid combat in KCD1 as long as possible becuase low level enemies can kill you if your not careful until you learn the master strike.
Man, I am so stoked for this game in a way I didn' t think my jaded, cynical 37 year old ass could be anymore.
I just hope it is optimized well. There doesn't seem to be too many (imo) redundant bleeding edge tech in this game or fancy bells and whistles, but then again KDC didn;t either and it released in a horrible state.
Bro they need to invite you to play the game early, nobody's doing in-depth combat analysis like you do.
I think it would be best if I start digging into KCD2 once it becomes available to everyone.
for me, this KCD2 combat footage looks very stiff. also, simplicity being one of their goals is very worrying to me. why can't some games just be hard and it being a feature. i personally LOVE challanging combat. this is what brought me to buy this game in the first place.
i am afraid that the making it more simple, is making it more bad..... hope i am wrong but bad feeling
Fingers crossed.🤞
Did I see this correctly.. you can shit-talk ppl while fighting them by pressing L ALT? :D
Yes.😂
Tha could be quite a cool feature if it allows you (for instance) to coax a hot-headed character into attacking
Haha that might be one actual thing legitimately missing from kcd1 that I would've loved
@@jimzeez We need this to be voice activated. being able to scream profanities at my opponents while whopping their asses and them actually hearing it is my dream for this game
@@Just_a_Piano_ I found myself yelling at Henry more often than not, every time he did the stupid twirly counter attack, or step straight vertically up over a bush or tent mid combat, or pushed an opponent out of reach from a bind and missed the next swing. Yes, he's a special fellow
I never could consistently land master strikes. Tried looking for shoulder movement but it didn't work. I don't know what was I doing wrong
train a lot, like A LOT
Will a MS timing video help? We have a short clip on it. th-cam.com/users/shortsOt5Mj2oVzdk?feature=share
I've been playing in hardcore recently and with the shield icon and directions being taken away from you, I've learned to time it on the apex of the enemy's swing - the moment it goes from a backwards windup to a forward attack is my sweetspot.
@@CeCactus13 I just press it pretty much the exact frame they move and works every time
Bro I'm so excited for this game...why do they have to delay it to Feb 2025???!!!
It still needs work and polishing,the gameplay showcase had a placeholder object and a traffic cone icon for example. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened in KCD1.😂
Didn't they make master strikes fire off depending on your skill level?
CRAB BATTLE!
Nooo, they removed bottom slashes. I use it to land cheap shots on enemy hands.
Also, I see that the blue crossed-swords logo seems to be visible on longsword vs longsword showcases here.
I replay the Game right now and still hate Combat... Combos are Impossible to pull off since after one hit my enemy can instantly Block again.
And Cpt. Bernard is never at the Training post so i can practice....
The only reason I did not go for stealth and archery is because lockpicking and archery are even worse.
Also I think that tue Balance of random encounters is really off. I met a guy in full plate when all I had was a Gambeson a shield and shart and no horse. How am i supposed to beat that?
Despite that I really Like this Game, or want to Like it. Its Just... I dont Know.
combos are difficult because you're likely just spamming them over and over. Bernard is not at the training post because he goes away during the neuhof quest. and obviously isn't going to be their at night. 8:30 is when he goes over to the fighting ring. Fighting plate armour enemies while not having plate yourself is really not that bad if you actually block and defend their attacks. Combos are pretty easy to do and I do them basically everytime I try to. When I'm fighting I just pick and choose which combo I want to do because it looks cool. Clinching gives a small window to do a combo, same with master strikes. Combos are also a lot easier to pull off and you drain an enemies' stamina. They have stamina bars too and when they get tired they'll react and attack a bit slower making combos even easier than they already are
Looks way better than big forehead The Failguard qunari 🤣
Master strike ruined KCD1
You kinda remind me of Giancarlo Esposito when you talk
That's a new one. There was another person who said I sounded like Duke Luca Abele of Dishonored 2.😂
I know im a bum for this but i really hope they add a toggleable "easy mode" for combat. Im really bad at this type of sword fighting game lol
Thanks king
0:03 muskets????
Wish they would have an even more hardcore mode so when you take a sword blow to the head, you die.
Random peasants still know HEMA and how to fight like discount Knights
I hate the multi fighting in kid I literally redownloaded it just to uninstall in 20 minutes it because I get instantly get surrounded even when I try the strategy for multi-fighting because of the Timmy quest where u have to fight the bandits behind the mill it’s a dumb fight mechanic that not only are u tethered to the enemy in front all the enemies are literally tethered to you too and even when u try to run. If kcd2 getting a refund
I had to stop playing KCD quite early in the story because the combat was too difficult for me. I just couldn't do the millisecond reactions as the game requires. I was hoping KCD2 would "streamline" (dumb down) this a bit for us merely human players, but it seems they made it harder. definitely NOT BUYING IT. Pity.
In every form of the two words. This boils down to....
Skill Issue
@@Just_a_Piano_ Yep, that's what I said. I simply can't no matter how much I try, I guess my nerve reflexes are a tenth of a second too late. KCD is just too demanding in this so it is only for a certain type of player and leaves out a lot of us. Pity because all the rest of the game outside combat is so great.
@@charlesduke9750 The game kinda was built for a specific audience, that was kinda the point
the answer is stab