Mount and Blade: Combat

I wasn't able to get my Mount and Blade fix yesterday as I had a blackout last night. I did manage to go around the countryside a bit as The Don but the power went out. The nice thing about setting the game to Save and Exit is that it auto saves I think every game day and every time you enter town.

I've heard of the multiplayer expansion coming for this game called Mount and Blade: Warbands. I don't know how this expansion will change the single player game but multiplayer would be really game changing. Think of a MMO with action combat.

The combat in Mount and Blade is deceptively simple but quite deep once you start looking at the intricacies of it. Let me first explain melee (on foot) combat. The game starts with the default of an auto direction attack though you can set this to manual. Basically, you can attack at 4 different directions - left to right, right to left, vertical slash and stab/pierce. Pressing and holding the attack button will then create a stronger attack. Blocking then creates an added complexity. If one has a shield, pressing and holding the block button will block all attacks (until your shield breaks). If one doesn't have a shield, blocking gets more difficult. One has to wait for the enemy to ready his attack (whether horizontal, vertical or stab) before pressing the block. If one holds the block, your enemy can change the direction of his next attack to avoid your block. Thus, a vertical block will not be able to block horizontal attacks.

Range combat are done with three types of weapons - bows, crossbows and thrown weapons. Basically, bows have the longest range yet are the most difficult to use. Crossbows are easy to use but have a fairly short range. Throwing weapons are fairly easy to use and are generally very powerful but have barely any range to them. Since the game takes into account gravity (there isn't any wind in the game so you don't have to worry about that), at longer distances, one has to fire higher to hit the target. I'm not fond of range weapons as I can't really hit anyone with them and shields can block them easily. I tend to use most ranged weapons at point blank range since then I'll be sure to hit my targets.

Mounted combat changes things up. Holding a melee weapon still has the same 4 way attack (except for polearms). One can slice to the right side or left side of the horse, slash vertically and stab. Generally the vertical slash and stab are used against other mounted opponents and the side slashes are for enemies on foot. A polearm changes things since now you can charge and lance your enemies. This is done automatically when you ride your horse at a certain speed. Your character will automatically position the polearm to the side and moving your mouse changes the aim of the pole slightly.

Seems simple enough until you add in your weapon attack types and your armor rating. There are 3 attack types, cutting, piercing and blunt. Swords can do cutting and piercing while other weapons like clubs can do blunt. In general, cutting has the highest damage of the 3 types but do significantly less when your opponent is heavily armored and carries a shield. There's also a thing called speed factor. When running forward and you attack with a stab or vertical slash, you usually gain a bonus as your whole body is propelling your attack forward. If you're moving backward while attacking, the opposite happens, you do less damage. The distance between attacks also modifies damage. Stabbing a person with a spear in very close quarters will deal very little damage. Think of it in real life since you can't pull back your spear or aim it properly you'll probably hit with a very small amount of force or hit them with the stick instead of the blade of the spear.

I'm not so sure but I believe feint attacks can be performed by pressing the block key while you are preparing to attack. The block key cancels your attacks with ranged weapons but I'm not so sure if it's the same with melee attacks.