I recommend playing Nidhogg before reading any guides. Part of the wonder of Nidhogg is learning how to play and advancing your technique. I ask that you consult this guide only if you've tried the game but are having trouble getting a grasp of it. Thank you.

You may change your key configuration by clicking the button at the at the bottom-right of the screen at the Start menu. Alternatively, you may find the button in "How to Play". You may have to move a bit before the button appears.

These controls are actually for two players using the same keyboard. But I'll list what I found most optimal for single player.

Controls
Lateral Movement: Left and Right
Duck: Down | S
Jump: G (I recommend changing this to Space)
Roll: Down while moving
Crawl: Move left or right while ducking
Get Up: Up, Left, or Right while knocked down
Raise Sabre: Up | W
Lower Sabre: Down | S
Pick Up Sabre: Down | S
Lunge: F
Prepare Sabre for Throwing: Hold Up or W beyond the highest sabre position
Throw Sabre: F while sabre is held aloft
Instantly Throw Sabre: Up and F simultaneously
Dive-Kick: F while in the air
Trip: F while crouched
Punch: F while disarmed
Snap Neck: F while opponent is downed
En Garde Stance: Run left and then hold right, while continuing to hold left. Or vice versa.

Kill your opponent and progress in the indicated direction through multiple screens. When you die, you will respawn in roughly five seconds in front of your opponent. Likewise for your opponent. Continue to kill your opponent or bypass him, progressing forward while he is dead, to win.

Go
When you kill your opponent, a Go arrow will appear in the corner of your monitor. Continue forward to pass to the next screen. You must have the Go signal to be able to advance. Likewise, your opponent must have his Go signal to advance oppositely. If you have a Go singal, then you need not continue to kill your opponent. By all means, pass him by if the opportunity arises. Be aware of thrown sabres, though. Duck beneath them or turn and block them to avoid death.

Running Backwards
If your opponent bypasses you, and he has a Go signal, chances are he will continue running onward. If you have a sabre, throw it at him, then run in the opposite direction (run towards your own objective). Running off-screen will kill you earlier, therefore causing you to spawn earlier, hopefully before your opponent races through the present screen. Thanks to joradthedevourer for this note.

The premise of Nidhogg is to kill your opponent. You can accomplish this in three basic ways:

• With your sabre
  
• Snapping the neck
  
• Causing or allowing him to fall to his doom

There is no health in Nidhogg. All sabre attacks one-hit kill. Meanwhile, punching, tripping, and kicking will disarm your opponent and knock him down.

The crux of Nidhogg is lunging, parrying, and disarming with your sabre. You can raise and lower your sabre in three positions: high, mid, and low. Additionally, you can hold your sabre aloft by holding Up or W once the sabre is already in the high position.

Lunging
By pressing F, you will lunge. If you lunge when too distant, you will miss. To hit with a lunge, your sabre tip's neutral position must be just beyond the tip of your opponent's sabre. When you lunge, you also advance forward, very slightly. If you repeatedly tap lunge, you will notice that you move closer and closer to your opponent. If you lunge and miss, you may be just close enough now for a second lunge to hit.

Parrying Lunges
Hold your sabre at the height of your opponent's lunges to automatically parry (block) the attack. Also, both of you will be slightly rebuffed.

Stabbing Automatically
Your sabre will automatically pierce your opponent if he runs (or rolls, or jumps) into it. No lunging necessary.

Disarmament
Disarm your opponent by crossing your sabre over his when your sabre is over half-way past his. Disarming is most easily accomplished when your opponent lunges. Disarming is possible both while your opponent is lunging forward and while he is withdrawing. For example, if your sabre is low or high and your opponent lunges at the middle height, move your sabre to the mid position to disarm him. Naturally, you must be quick to disarm before you are pierced through.

Waiting for a lunge is not essential to disarming. Disarmament is possible at any time when you and your opponent's sabres are half-way past the other. So if you get really close, and your opponent still hasn't lunged, just cross your sabre to his height, and he will be disarmed.

Throwing your Sabre
Throw your sabre by pressing F while holding it above your head. To hold your sabre aloft, hold Up or W once your sabre is in the highest position.

Thrown sabres will travel in a straight line forever, unaffected by gravity, until they are either parried, kill your opponent, or hit a wall. When your opponent is running or jumping is the ideal time for sabre throwing. While in the air or while running, you are defenseless against spinning blades.

Instantly Throw your Sabre
Throw your sabre instantly, regardless of your sabre position, by pressing F and Up simultaneously. Extremely useful. Thanks to joradthedevourer for this note.

You can also land thrown sabres over a mid position sabre. To accomplish this, you must immediately throw your sabre after jumping. Press F then Up to throw it instantly. For the sabre to land, your opponent must not have his back to a wall; he must be standing in the open. Thanks to Maple for this technique.

Parrying Thrown Sabres
Sabres thrown while standing will hit only if your sabre is in the low position. Hold your sabre in the mid or high position to parry certain death. But, like everything in Nidhogg, thrown sabres are location-based, or physics-based. For example, if an opponent is on high ground with his sabre high, then a thrown sabre at the height of his body will land. Thanks to Draconaes for this note.

Dodging Thrown Sabres
Dodge thrown sabres by ducking beneath their trajectory.

Dive-Kick
Press F while mid-air to dive-kick. Jumping first usually helps. You will kick at a 45 degree angle. If you hit your opponent, he will be disarmed and knocked down. Alternatively, if you dive into his sabre, you will die.

Skewering Dive-Kicks
If an opponent has a propensity for dive-kicking, raise your sabre to the high position to kill him. However, having your sabre high is not a guaranteed kill. Piercing is location-based, so your opponent can and will bypass your sabre and kick you in the head. To prevent this, inch backwards when you suspect the kick will occur because your opponent will be aiming for where you are, not for where you're going to be.

Punching
Press F to punch while disarmed. Punching your opponent twice in quick succession will knock him down.

Tripping
Press F while crouched to trip your opponent.

Getting Up
Just like Smash Bros. When you are downed, press up to stand up directly. Or, left or right to roll back to a standing position. If you roll over a downed sabre, you will automatically arm yourself.

Rolling
Hold down while moving to roll in that direction. Continue to hold left or right and down to roll a considerable distance. When you roll, your sabre will automatically lower to the low height upon your standing.

Roll-Tripping
While rolling, press F to trip. If your opponent's sabre is mid or high, you will roll beneath it.

Skewering Rolls
Position your sabre low to automatically kill a rolling opponent. Be wary of roll-disarms, though.

Snapping Necks
While your opponent is knocked out, you can snap his neck. Snap your opponent's neck by pressing F over his body while he is downed. Knocking out an opponent stuns him for about half a second. Technically, the stun lasts as long as the falling animation, which looks like a pancake flopping.

Run Faster
While unarmed, you run faster. Disarm yourself with less risk by throwing your sabre. Thanks to Amberlamps for this note.

Cart-Wheels!
While running, tap down to perform a cart-wheel! Unlike rolling, cart-wheeling does not reset the height of your sabre. For example, if you perform a cart-wheel when your sabre is high, it will still be high when you return to standing. You can continuously cart-wheel by holding forward and and repeatedly tapping down. Alternatively, repeatedly tap right, release the down-key entirely. Thanks to Maple for this note.

Wall-Clinging, Wall-Running, and Wall-Jumping
Jump into a wall to cling to it. You'll slowly slide downwards while clinging, a la Prince of Persia. When you jump into a wall, if you continue to hold towards the wall, you will run up it. Jump while clinging to a wall to jump off of it.

Balestra
In fencing, a balestra is a rapid advance towards your opponent preceding a lunge. We'll co-opt the term for Nidhogg in a modified definition.

Therefore, a balestra in Nidhogg is a rapid approach or retreat from your opponent while keeping your sabre drawn. If you run, then briefly let off that key, then continue to tap it again, you will step significantly faster, carrying the momentum of the run. You can carry this momentum in an advance or a retreat. This allows you to move quickly without sacrificing parrying capabilities (unlike running).

Draw Attacks and Disarming
Draw attacks are the at the core of Advanced Techniques. There are really only two rules that dictate a victor in a draw attack: Height Priority and Draw Disarming.

Height Priority
In many instances, the lower your sabre, the better. In draw attacks, the lower sabre will stab first, be it the defender's or attacker's. Your sabre is always longest at the low position.

Sheathing and Drawing
When you run, jump, roll, or cart-wheel, you sheath your sabre. When you return to standing, you will Draw your sabre.

Draw Disarming
When you draw your sabre, if your sabre is at the same height as your opponent's, you will disarm him, assuming three rules are met:

• You must not be too close when you draw, or you simply won't draw at all; you'll die.
  
• Your sabre must be half-way past your opponent's, as dictated by regular disarmament rules.
  
• Draw disarming works only in low and high positions.If you attempt a draw disarm at the mid position, you will either parry one another or die.

Thanks to his1nightmare for this vital insight.

Dash-Disarming and Cart-Wheel Disarming
Your sabre maintains its position when you run. When you stop running, if your sabre is held high or low, and at the same height as your opponent's, you will disarm your opponent. Also true for cart-wheeling. Again, thanks to his1nightmare for this note.

Roll-Stabbing
To stand from a roll, let off the down key. When you stand from a roll, your sabre will be held low. If your opponent has his sabre mid or high, then you will stab him first. This is because your sabre extends to full length at the low position before your body rises to mid height.

Roll-Disarming
Stand from a roll at the right moment, and you will disarm a low sabre. However, wait too long, and you'll roll into his sabre. Lunge quickly to finish him. In my opinion, this is the most broken technique in the game.

Roll-Jumping
Jump while crouched or rolling. You will remain curled in morph ball form, keeping your head low. A distinct use of roll-jumping is the ability to jump in tunnels, beneath platforms, and through doorways.

Roll-Jumping Low Sabres
Disarmed in a tunnel? Ready to accept defeat? Don't! You can roll-jump low sabres. Run forward, roll, and jump. Time it right, and you'll jump your opponent's low sabre. You can also roll-jump mid position sabres. Practice by playing offline multiplayer against yourself. Thanks to Maple for this fate-defying technique.

Parrying Draw-Disarms
If your opponent is attempting a draw-disarm, then inch either forward or backwards by tapping towards or away from your opponent. The purpose is to make the disarm more difficult. You don't want to be a stationary target. If you inch forward, closer than your opponent is expecting, you are more likely to stab him before he can disarm you. If you inch backwards, then you're more likely to parry the disarm.

En Garde Stance
Run either direction, then, without letting off, hold the opposite direction as well (for example, while running right, hold the left key). You will En Garde in the direction that you had been running. While in the En Garde Stance, you will also slide slowly towards the right. Continue to hold both keys to maintain the stance. When you let off the keys, you will resume the stance you had previously held, just like running.

The En Garde Stance has a few uses, some benign and some pretty great. A few notes:

• Press the keys quickly to assume the stance almost instantly.
  
• Block punches, but nothing else.
  
• From the stance, roll away from your opponent without having to turn your back.
  
• Most usefully, hide your sabre position. For example, if you assume En Garde when your sabre is high, it will still be high when you resume standing. Thanks much to Gagarin for this fact.

The En Garde Stance also produces an input glitch. If you are playing local multiplayer, on one keyboard, if one player En Gardes, the other will be unable to move to the right. The input isn't read.

High Ground
Use platforms to your advantage. The high ground is advantageous in Nidhogg. Often, by simply standing at the edge and holding your sabre low, your opponent will impale himself. Similarly, you can expect dive-kicks from elevated opponents, so when below an opponent, stand at a slight distance with your sabre raised.

Low Ceilings
Low ceilings are found throughout Nidhogg: beneath platforms, in tunnels, and in doorways. Sabres cannot be thrown in low ceilings. Stand just within low ceilings to block thrown sabres and dive-kick attempts.

Clouds
Cloud platforms disappear fairly quickly while you stand on them, opening a hole beneath you. You can use clouds defensively by standing at the walk-way's edge. While standing on a cloud, your opponent will be unable to fence for long or without significant movement.

Gaps
Forced jumps are the perfect time for throwing sabres or waiting for falling bodies to impale themselves.

Nidhogg Technique Guide
Copyright 2014 Finn Haverkamp
http://invisiblestudio.blogspot.com
finnhaverkamp@gmail.com
http://steamproxy.net/id/invisiblestudio

Version History
Version 0.1 -- 01/13/2014
Version 0.2 -- 01/14/2014 Added Running Faster, Running Backwards, En-Garde Stance. Corrected Disarmament. Other minor changes.
Version 0.3 1/15/2014 Replaced all instances of Thrust and Block with Lunge and Parry, to more closely reflect the fencing aspect of Nidhogg. Added Instantly Throwing your Sabres, Wall-Clinging, and Getting Up. Split Rolling and Roll-Tripping. Updated Controls, Cart-Wheels, En Garde Stance, and Parrying Thrown Sabres.
Version 0.4 1/16/2014 Separated technique into essential and advanced. Added lots of things. Changed lots of things.
Version 0.5 1/17/2014 Renamed Momentum Stepping to Balestra. Changed Cart-Wheels! and Instantly Throw your Sabre. Added Roll-Jumping and Roll-Jumping Low Sabres.
Version 0.6 4/16/2014 Added information to the basic lunge, which is that, when you lunge, you advance forward slightly.
Version 0.7 2/21/2015 Completed information on the En Garde Stance, which finally has some use. Thanks to Gagarin for the information.

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