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The Important Ones

• [Left Mouse Click] is the horizontal slash. [Mouse Wheel Up] is the thrust and [Mouse Wheel Down] is the overhead. Holding left mouse click will throw a heavy slash, and holding it after throwing a thrust or overhead with throw a heavy attack of that type. Heavy attacks are slower and do more damage. Be careful, as a heavy attack can't be feinted or cancelled.
  
• [Right Mouse Click] is the block. Holding block drains stamina, and holding block and throwing any attack will initiate a counter attempt. If you use up all your stamina while blocking, you will lose your weapon the next time you block an attack!
  
• [Alt + Any Attack] allows you to alternate attack direction. Very important in mixups!
  
• [V] cancels your attack.
  
• [R] throws a jab that will stop an opponent's attack in motion.
  
• [F] throws a kick that will break an opponent's block and grants you a free attack. This is also the default key for tackles.
  
• [Q] throws a special attack that deals massive damage and/or staggers the opponent. The primary exception is the two handed spear, which places you in a defensive position that is good for dodging and counter attacking. This is also the default key for sprint attacks.
  
• [G] throws your weapon—a tactical move to end fights and take down fleeing opponents.
  
• Most importantly, [C] is how you battle cry.

Feints
Feints are done by inputting a second, different attack (or kick/jab, this works on opponents more often than you would think) after attacking except for when the first attack is a heavy attack. They're used to mix up opponents and keep them on their toes. Don't forget to throw an alternate attack using alt to really confuse opponents. Feints can also be held for a heavy attack.


Riposte & Counters
Ripostes are done by blocking an attack and following up immediately after - signaled by a yellow riposte indicator. Ripostes are faster than normal attacks and block incoming attacks at the start of the riposte, useful when fighting multiple opponents.

Counters are done by blocking first and throwing the same type of attack as the opponent - signaled by a blue counter indicator. Counters regain stamina and avoid knockback of a normal block, are faster than normal attacks, and block incoming attacks at the start of the counter.
This becomes critical in a 1 v Many scenario. Whenever possible, try to counter your opponent's attack as you can easily win the duel simply by winning the stamina war.

A block has to be up to be able to counter and riposte but don't keep your block up as it drains stamina!

Ducking
Ducking is done by [Control] + [S / W]. It can be difficult to notice you're ducking unless you're in third person.

• [P] will change your POV.

I recommend changing the keybind to an easier-to-reach key because some weapons work better in first person such as ranged weapons and stabbing weapons.






Dragging & Accelerating
Dragging is done by moving your mouse in any direction to extend the reach of the attack. By dragging your attack you can hit multiple opponents and hit those you couldn't hit directly in front of you. You can accelerate your attacks by swinging with the arc, making the attack faster. Dragging against the arc slows your weapon down and can trick players into countering too soon, leaving them open to your attack. The larger the weapon, the greater the distance it can reach during dragging, and often the slower you can make your attacks with dragging. Some weapons can hit through opponents when dragging including stab weapons like the Spear.

In this GIF, my attack couldn't hit the person behind me until I dragged the attack.

Footwork
Footwork is a concept you are likely familiar with if you have played other fighting games, and is the basic principle of utilizing a reach or speed advantage to the fullest. If you are, for instance, playing as a Poleman with the Glaive like in this GIF, then you will likely want to stay farther away from your opponent so that you can hit them while staying outside of their weapons range. Vice versa, if you are playing an Ambusher with the Dagger, you would likely want to get up close and personal so you can put pressure on enemies with larger and slower weapons.


Tackles & Sprint Attacks
Tackles are an ability unique to the Knight classes that allows you to knock opponents down when charging at them from a sprint. This is excellent in team fights as it confirms damage from teammates and can allow you to get an attack in as well if you can correctly predict which way the opponent will roll.

Sprint Attacks are separate, unique attacks based on your weapon that are available on all Vanguard and Footman classes. They typically deal massive damage, make you run faster to catch fleeing opponents, or a combination of the two. Whenever you catch someone off guard in a fight and you have enough running room to trigger the sprint attack, it will almost always be your best option.

For the last of the basics, we cover the most confusing topic for many newcomers and seasoned players alike. Arguably the most important game concept to utilize for duels especially, we begin in a neutral initiative.

Neutral Initiative is the point at which the battle begins before either you or your opponent have thrown any attacks, jabs, etc. If you and your adversary were to both throw an attack at the exact same time, the faster attack would always hit first. This leads us to the initiative battle.

Note, Initiative is NOT whoever threw their attack first.

Gained Initiative gives you the "right" to attack. Sometimes people refer to gained initiative as it being your "turn" to attack. Both are correct so use whichever you find easiest to remember. These terms essentially mean that now, if you and your opponent were to throw an attack at the exact same time, your hit would almost always hit first. You can gain initiative by doing the following.

• Hitting your opponent with any attack.
  
• Successfully blocking or countering any of your opponent's attacks.
  
• Blocking an opponent's jab.
  
• Landing a jab on your opponent in the middle of their attack.
  
• Kicking your opponent and breaking their block.

The only exceptions are if you are using a very slow weapon such as the Highland Sword, and the opponent is using a very fast weapon such as the Knife, sometimes (especially if you feint) the opponents faster weapon will hit first. This is known as breaking initiative. The aforementioned weapons are the most extreme example of the speed difference you may experience but are easy to remember for this concept. To lessen the chances of this happening, you can try utilizing accelerations on your attacks and feinting less against quicker weapons.

Lost Initiative is of course the opposite. When you have lost initiative, it is best to not attack unless you are confident you can break initiative with your weapon. For clarity's sake, these are the instances in which you would lose initiative.

• Getting hit by your opponent with any attack.
  
• Having your attack be blocked or countered.
  
• Your jab getting blocked.
  
• Your opponent jabbing you out of an attack.
  
• Getting kicked out of your block.

Finally, there are a few different ways that the initiative can be reset back to neutral.

• Both you and your opponent jab at the same time.
  
• Both you and your opponent kick at the same time.
  
• If gained initiative is not capitalized on within approximately 1 second of gaining it.

Archer is the dedicated ranged class in the game. Archers have the lowest health with high mobility. They are obviously the ones that tend to stay back in team fights and pick off weak enemies from a distance.

Headshots charge all specials.

90 HP | 100 Speed | 50 Stamina (70 Stamina for Skirmisher)

SUBCLASSES

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Longbowman
Special: Brazier - used to light arrows and bolts on fire, dealing damage over time to all targets hit

Crossbowman
Special: Banner - used to heal nearby allies

Skirmisher
Special: Quiver - fully restocks projectiles




Vanguard is the fastest class in the game with a decent amount of health. The subclasses on offer give a good amount of variety. They tend to stay in the outskirts of fights, using their speed to chase down fleeing adversaries.

Sprint attack kills charges all specials.

130 HP | 120 Speed | 100 Stamina

SUBCLASSES

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Devastator
Special: Oil Pot - used to shut down an area

Raider
Special: Trumpet - used to heal and revive allies in your vicinity

Ambusher
Special: Bandage Kit - used to heal and revive allies
Bonus: Opponents can't be revived
Bonus: Attacking an enemy from behind will deal an extra 50% damage with your starting weapon

Footman have the same speed as Archers, but more health than Vanguards. They also have the Engineer subclass which is vital in team objective modes.

Healing allies charges all specials.

150 HP | 100 Speed | 80 Stamina

SUBCLASSES

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Poleman
Special: Bandage Kit

Man-at-Arms
Special: Bandage Kit

Engineer
Special: Bandage Kit
Bonus: Revives heal you an extra 25%
Bonus: Double damage to all structures, including objectives



Knight is the tankiest of the classes with nearly double the health of an archer. They do however pay the price with the lowest speed in the game. This is also a very well rounded class with a lot of weapon variety. They tend to stay on the front lines of battle.

Absorbing damage by blocking, countering, or taking hits charges all specials.

175 HP | 80 Speed | 80 Stamina

SUBCLASSES

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Officer
Special: Trumpet

Guardian
Special: Banner

Crusader
Special: Oil Pot

Each weapon in the game is assigned a damage type which have unique properties.

• Slash is the most basic of the three, doing no bonus damage to any class and all attacks passing through enemies.
  
• Chop is good for its bonus damage to Footman and Knights, as well as all attacks passing through enemies. This type also deals a small percent more stamina damage.
  
• Blunt has a larger bonus to Footman and Knights, but only heavy attacks will pass through enemies. This type also deals a large percent more stamina damage.

Note that both Vanguards and Archers take no bonus damage from any damage type.


Please note that all weapons are viable. Chivalry 2 is exceptionally balanced (well, we don't talk about katars and the Skirmisher subclass) and until you reach the highest level of play, weapon choice is entirely personal preference.

One of the most commonly overlooked things is that this is in fact, primarily at least, a team game. Team based modes are the most popular by a good margin and because of this, it would be cruel to yourself and your team to not be able to fight like a team.

As mentioned before in the guide, try your best to minimize slash attacks when you're in vicinity of your teammates. Nobody likes a team-killer. If you do happen to down one of your team members though, make sure that you revive them. Team-killing and not reviving the person you downed is a quick way to get called out in game chat or even kicked from the match entirely.

Another important note revolves around using your specials at the proper time.

• Oil Pots - make sure that your team is mostly, if not entirely, clear of the area you are trying to block off. You can very quickly damage and down teammates if you aren't careful with your placement.
  
• War Horns - try to get to the most centralized area of the battle before popping to ensure that you cover the most amount of team members as possible. Also, remember that you can actually revive your teammates with the war horn. This could be worth using in a sub-optimal situation if you can manage to bring up 3 or 4 of your team and get them back into the fight.
  
• War Banner - try to solidify a push when on offense by placing it directly in front of a strong line of defense. Conversely, when on defense, find a choke point that is easy to defend (think of the bridge on "The Fall of Lionspire") and set up there to make a strong hold. Make sure that you pay attention to where you Engineers are placing their defenses as well. It's counter intuitive to place a banner in front of a spike wall.

Speaking of War Banners, if you see an enemy place one down, breaking it should almost always take priority. The amount of health that it can give during a large team fight in even a small amount of time is easily enough to swing the battle in their favor. Also, considering that it only takes about 3-4 attacks to break depending on your weapon, there's really no reason not to.

Now mentioning points and leaderboard climbing. I'm sure everyone reading the guide has been looking forward to this part. It's actually quite simple though.

Playing on the objective or contributing to the siege is by far the easiest way to gain points and climb to the top of your team. Fighting on the capture point with a well placed banner could get you from middle of the pack to number 1 in the amount of time it takes for your team to fully capture the objective. That's not even including any points from takedowns you may get. Likewise, grabbing ladder pieces and constructing alternative entry ways for faster reinforcement will net you more score than a double kill.

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However, there is another method that will certainly get you some hateful messages in game chat. Cheating is of course shunned in gaming and as such, I only condone this if you are desperately trying to get the "Brave Brave Sir Robin" achievement for getting 50 kills in a match. This method involves right clicking on Chivalry 2 in your Steam library, selecting manage, and then clicking on "Uninstall". Now that you've bettered the community, find another game to ruin.

• You can eat food to heal by pressing [C]
  
  
• When using projectiles including siege weapons like ballistas and catapults, you can watch your projectile in motion by holding [Middle Mouse Button]. Use this to watch where your projectile lands to shift your aim.
  
  
• Be mindful of your surroundings. Situational awareness of both your enemies and allies is vital for success.
  
  
• Some maps feature hazards like chandeliers, hanging braziers, and corpses. Throw a weapon or shoot at them to make them drop onto your opponents.
  
  
• When fighting near allies, utilize your thrust and overhead attacks more frequently than your slash attacks to minimize team damage.
  
  
• Make sure to grab another bandage after you heal in case you need it later.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to back away or avoid fights that you are outmatched in. You are much more valuable to the team alive than dead.
  
  
• Shields may not seem very useful at first glance, but they have a significant amount of stamina damage absorption. This is the perfect crutch for newer players struggling with getting consistent counters.
  
  
• Increase the field of view as much as you can tolerate. Or, better yet, use 3rd person on all weapons that it's feasible for. Most especially long two-handed weapons like the halberd, greatsword, messer, etc.
  
  
• Sometimes you will notice a shield icon with a number to the right of your health bar like in the image adjacent. This is an overheal that you have received from a teammate sounding his war horn. Because of this, it can sometimes be helpful to have the team use multiple horns at once to give everyone some overheal before a tough hold.
  
  
• If you are in a duel, and even more so if you are playing a Vanguard class with high speed, make sure to move laterally during the fight. Many new players can't consistently keep up with your lateral speed and will miss attacks that they otherwise would have hit—of course allowing you to punish them during their recovery.
  
  
• More advanced players can utilize a short kick by looking down before kicking. This is slightly faster than a normal kick but also has less range.
  
  
• Breaking enemy banners, spike traps, or walls will give you some extra score and increase your special charge slightly.
  
  
• You can deflect thrown weapons by blocking. You can also deflect arrows and bolts by countering at a very precise moment. Watch this video to learn more!

If you really love the game and have an itch to perfect it, here is an excellent guide by @XEALEEN that gives details on how to get every achievement and some strategies to make your life easier.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2820208491

Now that you know what you need to be doing as a ruthless warrior, you have more than enough knowledge to either defend your castle effectively, or steal the Mason's loot viciously. Either way, you are now prepared to hack and slash your way through adversaries without having to worry about petty squires getting in your way. Spread this knowledge to your friends by either sharing this guide, or just letting them know the key points in bold that are spread throughout. In any case, make sure that you and your order are having fun. See you on the battlefield!

If you enjoyed this guide, please consider giving it a thumbs up, favoriting, or even an award! A lot of time went into making this guide and it would be greatly appreciated if you could spread the word. If you have any more questions, leave a comment below and we will respond as soon as possible. Also, if you know something helpful that isn't in this guide, leave that as a comment as well and it might be added in to help aspiring warriors even more.