What happened? Why did I suddenly become bad at this game?

[ZombieRommel]

So, I played Chivalry a whole lot when it was first released. I loved it and had a natural affinity for the combat. I did quite well and would consistently place very high with my Knight and his Messer.
I hadn't played the game much a good while after release.

But I spent the last couple hours in a Duel server and I have just been getting stomped.

So my question is... what changed in terms of combat?

I realize the patch notes are freaking ginormous so I am hoping someone can break down the significant changes to combat in layman's terms for me.

I'll tell you what it feels like to me. It feels like the recovery on many swings was increased. So if you miss, there is a much greater window for your opponent to hit you. This lead me into games where it felt like my opponent was simply waiting for me to swing so that he could run (or dash) forward during my recovery animation and attack me.

And once someone was in my face and attacking, it felt like parrying did not put me at positive frame advantage or even neutral frames. It felt like the parry only blocked damage but did nothing else. Basically I'd have a MAA with an axe right in my face, parry him twice, and go to stab him, but whilst I'm in the stab animation I just get hit again with his axe.

The kick can no longer interrupt attacks, so it feels like once someone is in your face with a fast weapon there is nothing you can do. You can parry all day, but that will just whittle away your stamina.

Also, it seems like if you go for a combo attack, you are FORCED to follow through with the whole animation and can no longer cancel it. Is this correct?

Am I missing something here?

[Manlytears]

Bad devs + shitty update + archers begging for gimp blocks.

[JHoersten2]

Most likely, you were one of the kids who ran around 2v1ing opponents as well as attacking the backs of your enemies. Now that it's a fair 1v1 fight, you realize that you're really just not that good after all.

This is quite common, actually. Plenty of players just LMB spammed their way through team objectives, free-for-alls, and team deathmatches, thinking they were good with all the kills they were getting. It also helps that the better players were in the beta testing out the duel game mode, and still frequent it.

TL;DR - You were bad all along.

[Manlytears]

Most likely, you were one of the kids who ran around 2v1ing opponents as well as attacking the backs of your enemies. Now that it's a fair 1v1 fight, you realize that you're really just not that good after all.

This is quite common, actually. Plenty of players just LMB spammed their way through team objectives, free-for-alls, and team deathmatches, thinking they were good with all the kills they were getting. It also helps that the better players were in the beta testing out the duel game mode, and still frequent it.

TL;DR - You were bad all along.

Sucking developer dick general.

[ZombieRommel]

Most likely, you were one of the kids who ran around 2v1ing opponents as well as attacking the backs of your enemies. Now that it's a fair 1v1 fight, you realize that you're really just not that good after all.

This is quite common, actually. Plenty of players just LMB spammed their way through team objectives, free-for-alls, and team deathmatches, thinking they were good with all the kills they were getting. It also helps that the better players were in the beta testing out the duel game mode, and still frequent it.

TL;DR - You were bad all along.

Not at all actually. I stayed away from most group melee situations so as to not get TK'd. I played a lot of "Duel" servers pre-patch and did well.

But thanks for making all sorts of baseless assumptions about me as a player and ignoring all the questions I asked.

[ReMixx]

Not at all actually. I stayed away from most group melee situations so as to not get TK'd. I played a lot of "Duel" servers pre-patch and did well.

But thanks for making all sorts of baseless assumptions about me as a player and ignoring all the questions I asked.

The trolls are out in force today. Ignore those two knuckleheads.

[gregcau]

One of the big differences is if you were a knight facing a van or maa you could just stand and trade blows.

Now if your opponent has a faster weapon you will always flinch so trading is not so easy - you must parry after getting hit.

That takes some getting used to but its a fairer system.

[StormtrooperDan]

None of the stats have changed for the Messer as far as I can see from the patch notes.

I've recently started playing with the Messer and it kicks ass. It is a bit short though so I've missed a bit more while getting use to the distance. Missing with an attack while within the enemy's reach will always leave you open for a hit pre or post patch.

If you've parried someone, you'll generally get the first hit if you counter attack. However you are using the Messer, and it as a significantly longer stab windup (0.7 sec) compared to its slashes and overheads (0.55 sec). That leaves you more open to being interrupted. So next time, use an overhead to counter attack the MAA after a parry.

Here is the link to damage charts and speeds btw:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv? ... true#gid=1

[DemonicChocobo]

It really seems to me that you're mainly not used to a duel scenario, nor do you know how to deal with MAAs.

This lead me into games where it felt like my opponent was simply waiting for me to swing so that he could run (or dash) forward during my recovery animation and attack me.

This statement is particularly revealing as there's no reason why you should be swinging if your opponent isn't in range. I'm not sure if it's impatience or what, but if you aren't swinging and creating a situation where your opponent must parry, you are intentionally opening yourself up to attack.

And once someone was in my face and attacking, it felt like parrying did not put me at positive frame advantage or even neutral frames. It felt like the parry only blocked damage but did nothing else. Basically I'd have a MAA with an axe right in my face, parry him twice, and go to stab him, but whilst I'm in the stab animation I just get hit again with his axe.

It seems you might not be as familiar with the Messer as you think? It has a terrible stab windup. You shouldn't use a stab after a parry with this weapon.

Also, it seems like if you go for a combo attack, you are FORCED to follow through with the whole animation and can no longer cancel it. Is this correct?

You should still be able to feint out of them.

[ZombieRommel]

OK, I've been using overheads after parries, and yes, the success rate is much better than when using a stab.

The flinching must be the other part of the equation that changed. Can't trade as much, like gregcau said.

I just went 9-0... so we'll see. I think those were 2 very big pieces of the puzzle, though, so thanks to the guys who tried to help.