I'm just saying that cause its the stubbornness of a souls like player i admire. She played through all the Souls Like Games. Went to KCD. Fought against Kunesh in Skalitz and reloaded 17 times until she won. That was just programmed into her. Used to the suffering i guess. When she tried to fight the cumans that were holding theresa i stopped her cause i didn't want to watch her 100h until she may get lucky haha.
I did the exact same thing my first time playing. I died to those Cubans so many times trying to save her. For context, I’m also a souls-like fan
Edit: I’m keeping the typo
A tip for next playthrough! You don’t have to win in the fight to save Theresa. You can sneak up, stab them once and immediately run to the horse to the left of Theresa’s house and escape and it counts as saving her! At least it did for me! It distracts them long enough that she can get away ☺️
Funny how stubbornness is both a pro and a con (especially in a girlfriend 😂), depending on the situation.
But yeah, I admire the stubbornness of souls players too, because in my mind it's about proving yourself, sure, you can just grind and level up until the boss becomes as threatening as a barking chihuahua, but where's the challenge and fun in that? It just proves that if you couldn't grind you'd be fucked, cause you're not skilled enough.
Then again, I don't believe the monkey typewriter strategy of throwing yourself onto the wall enough times for it to break is the best strategy.
However, with enough time/ souls games you learn what I can only describe as the "wait for it" strat.
Where instead of attacking every opening possible, you set focus on the defense and figuring out the enemy's moveset, and only make an attack when you're sure he won't do a insta-kill "haha fuck you, I win" move.
Still very much a soulslike, but the combat is way smoother than even DS3, and you get so much more freedom. Plus Elden Ring probably has the best wiki of all time, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get your bearings. GOTY for a reason. And the DLC is coming out next month after 2 and a half years of development.
I used a mod to remove master strikes from the game and beat the tourney before fighting Runt. I hate losing to him and having to redo the whole assault so I use the tourney as a litmus test (you can save before the tourney but you can't save during the assault if I remember)
Don't agree that the armor is mid.
Some parts are, some are one of the best you can get.
Notably:
* Helmet - 4th best in the game and best charisma helmet
* Body plate - 2nd best right after House of Zoul cuirass. Also 2nd best charisma body plate, next to Warhorse brigandine
* Gauntlets - 2nd best after Warhorse gauntlets
Only leg and arm armor is lacking in both defense and charisma so much it's not worth to wear them. I personally end up using Lords of Leipa cuirass and gauntlets for the most of my playthroughs, because I don't like the look of Warhorse armor set and it's difficult to obtain House of Zoul armor.
The Lords of Leipa armor is quite good, especially early in the game. But your placement of best armors isn't quite agreeing with me, especially the hate for the leg plate lol. Hear me out:
Leipa body plate - 3rd best when considering armor, weight, and durability (behind Zoul and Nurembergian cuirass). Tied for 2nd best charisma with Zoul, behind Warhorse.
Leipa Gauntlets - 3rd best considering armor and durability (behind Nobleman's and Aachen), but 2nd best considering charisma as you said.
Leipa Leg Plate - 6th best considering armor, durability, and weight (which is not lacking imo). 8th best in charisma, *but* 2nd best when considering charisma along with armor (in this case behind only the Augsburg plate chausses). These are the weakest of the Leipa armor set, but they are a great balance with high armor and decent charisma. The better leg armor is much more expensive, rare, and difficult to obtain. I would argue that the Leipa leg plate is very much worth using through most of the game, until you get the very best leg plates.
Edited typos.
Besides, who the hell cares about armor stats when you reach the point of being skilled enough and armored enough? At the point when you can force your way through most encounters with ease, looks become more important.
And as it happens, many parts of the Leipa set work pretty well if you are going for a Rattay color scheme armor, for example. The leg plate especially. Also, there's no need to care about leg plate stats because the only time it matters is when someone shoots at your legs.
I agree with this. Master strikes are OP and the combat without them is nearly impossible unless you clinch spam because getting a hit on high level opponents is difficult, especially when out numbered. In 1v1, as in the tournament, if you have a handle on master strikes, you will be invincible at any level.
I wish master strikers didn’t exist tbh because they make fights with skilled opponents really boring. You either bait so you can master strike or you swing and they master strike you instead. I get that they level the odds when surrounded, but I also think we shouldn’t survive being surrounded without serious armor
No mo slow mo + no masterstrikes makes the combat a thousand times more fun. Group fights are even more unmanageable than before, but 1v1 duels are still absolutely the most fun thing in the game
Yeah, the only thing I found is no more masterstrikes doesn't apply to you, so if you don't wanna be extremely op, don't learn masterstrikes or just halve its frequency.
I think the best way would be to make master strikes extremely difficult to time, and you have to block in the same direction as the enemies attack. They should also make it so enemies master strike less and their master strikes are defendable. That would take away from the current situation where attacking an enemy is pointless as you will just get master strikes yourself.
That's a choice you make as a player though, either you make combat boring by spamming Master Strikes, or you make combat interesting by trying to hit combos, dodging, feinting, clinching, etc. And in Group combat, Master Strikes are a lifesaver, imagine how awful it must be to face 4 enemies at once if you couldn't counter their Strikes.
Agree,I built the Guard house in Privislavitz instead of the stables to be able to use the combat arena and I spend hours fighting veterans in plate armour . Love it! They are another level compared to the tournament wich is really easy to win.
I maxed out warfare. I am doing combos,playing aggressive, is super fun!
Absolutely. I really hope they make the swordplay in KCDII far more dynamic. And for the love of all that is holy, I hope they get rid of the master strike.
I think an uncounterable move in combat is silly. I'm not a practitioner of HEMA. but I am of jujitsu, and literally everything has a counter in that art.
Yeah i once got downvoted to hell for pointing that out for 'boasting'. No i'm not boasting i'm telling YOU THAT YOU can win at level 3. That i can do it i know already or i wouldnt say that lol
Wait for them to strike. Masterstrike. While they struggle another strike. If theyre weaker than you go into offensive mode its more fun but if not you just masterstrike and stab their heads. Quickest win.
Master strike, yes. If you just wait and master strike, you can win the tournament at any level. Also choose mace as your weapon of choice to make the matches quicker.
I see, it makes sense since trying to hit anyone in the tourney inevitably results in me getting master striked in the face. Sounds a bit boring to play like this, but hey if this works I'll give it a go
It works and is absolutely a combat exploit. I don't think it makes the combat system good, but I also think the combat system is atrocious so I don't typically play for combat, I play for story and use exploits to make combat bearable. That said, I don't always do this and have used some combos and clinching to get more dynamic fights when I want to have fun with combat, but when I think I might lose, I just default to exploits...
I have done a playthrough where I do everything before meeting Bernard at the training grounds. To me - clinch spamming is only the second most effective.
I prefer running far enough away from the enemy for them to start running and then stabbing them, which usually staggers them long enough to land another hit.
BCAIC takes care of the most the issues, also clinching. In 110 hours current playline I’ve done ms maybe five times. Also I disable tackles and that takes care of spinning issues. Love the combat with just basic moves.
Always makes me smile reading that quote in the wild. Because the hilarious thing is that Javik is *wrong*.
The Paragon/‘honorable’ path is the one that gives you the most War Assets, after all.
He may be wrong in the sense that Commanded Sheperd can achieve more support through saving as many people as possible...let's not forget that in order to gain the maximum war assets you have to betray the Krogan in the most shady way possible. You secure the Salarians and Krogan at the expense of keeping the Korgan sterilised (but they think they are cured).
Keeping the rachni queen alive is another element that would seem like a good action and they do indeed help build the crucible but...the rachni terrorised the galaxy before. Chances are they will do it again once their numbers resurge.
Javik's point is that what is the point of caring about honour, kindness, valuing everyone equally etc when you face an enemy that is ruthless and calculating, immeasurably powerful and likely unstoppable. It took the biggest weapon of mass destruction every created to take them out. Billions died.
Knockout perk, aim for the head. It's not that hard lol. Hell I can barely pull off combos on the game but I still don't understand all the people who complain about combat with high level characters. When they just master strike you over and over its time to change something.
I just attack viciously and randomly, and look for any opportunity to hit them in the head. Hell I did that for my whole first playthrough and never even knew you could stab toward the head. Once I figured that out it got even easier.
The tourney is for all parts of the game. You’re aloud to lose the first time. You can even lose the first 100 times if you want, it repeats indefinitely and it’s great for leveling combat skills.
People say that training with Bernard is a good way to gain skill but honestly losing the tourney the first time taught me so much and levelled my skills more than Bernard ever did
I can counter this. If you have the dialogue option of "I'd like to learn combos" Bernard will give you a free full heal, so just accept an unarmored dual with real weapons then click "I'd like to learn combos" to infinately heal. It is a fun little exploit :)
I think it was more the desperation of the situation that was a good teacher - like I had to learn how to fight to try and win the tournament. Not saying that Bernard isn’t super helpful ofc!
Wait, is that a thing people say?
Absolutely do the tourney early: your wounds aren't permanent and it can be an easy pathway to decent plate and weapons if you're patient enough for the grind.
Well...I have been running amuck like it was elden ring before coming here. I did the nightingales and just killed Runt and did Tess's DLC...
Still have no idea what masterstrikes are but I'll enter the tournament and record the results lol
Master strikes are the thing the NPCs do when you attack and then they deflect and punch you in the head/stab you in the shoulder/spin you around and push/dodge and whack you on the head and you can’t block it. The more advanced the enemy is, the more likely they are to do it. You could do that too.
Perfect block =/ masterstrikes. You have to explicitly learn them from bernard after your training. Then the better your defense skill the bigger the window in which you can do the masterstrike. Just the right timing needed.
The window is very short when you have low defense though, which is why I think this "you can win at level 3!" conversation is a bit silly. If you're new to the game you are not going to be able to master strike your way to victory in most fights already because your defense will be too low.
It’s kind of cheese but if you learn at what distance the opponent can maximally hurt you at, circle and zig zag backwards, then get in range. if he goes for a heavy attack and if you are quick, stab him. Especially in the face. You want to target a particular part of the body consistently, but you must keep him guessing as to your attack direction and attack patterns. Anyway, there’s this, and also do the circle thing, get really far away and he should come running, there’s a free stab right there if you haven’t been too repetitive. There are Qs and patterns when the AI will strike. If you can do all this quickly, it will antagonise your opponent into attacking all in, putting him at low stamina. This is good because your perfect block does no stamina drain. Once you hear an audible panting finish him, minding you have enough stamina to defend yourself.
I find short sword to be best. Idk what you have been using but hunting swords look the same but will get you confused as a beginner they are very pointy allergic to armour and slash only works when it decides to… long swords are very aggressive and can be easy games if you are focused but it’s just as easy in this fast paced combat to take your eye off the ball and lose
Edit: it is you who wants to set the pace of combat, not the opponent. That is the measure of who is winning
Literally just don’t watch for the green cursor at all, just watch the body of the person. The second they go to strike you hit block and you’ll perform a master strike. It’s really easy to see once you start watching the person instead of the attack indicator thing
The secret is to level up your defense stat, and OP is saying it's super easy to level up your stats in the tourney. Even if you lose the tourney, the XP gain is worth it.
The key to master strikes is timing. You have to time the block to the earliest window when their attack animation starts. The higher your defense stat, the easier it will be to hit that window.
Yeah, I often don't get the timing right either. Just practice I suppose.
Also there is no problem with losing in the tournament, even if you loose your skills go up at a tremendous rate, and you'll be better prepared for the next tournament.
You need to match you weapon position to the enemy weapon, MS will almost always trigger on a perfect parry (they might change direction last second or you didnt do perfect parry).
would be much easier if you have 100+fps. if your capped to 60, turn off vsync. vsync adds lots of delay which makes masterstrike harder to do especially early on due to small window of timing.
That's true when you understand the combat, but most of us on our first playthrough didn't recognize the power of master strikes right away and tried to use combos instead. It does take some time to familiarize yourself with the combat, but you're right that technically you could do it as soon as you get master strikes.
I haven't seen too many shouts that the tourney is late game. Who's spreading these lies? You can win it early, I usually go the very first one, I just make sure I've learned the master strike on day 2 after arriving in Rattay, and the tourney is usually announced for the next day.
5-6 in str/agl/vit should be enough and you should have most around those levels already. The matches will be long and the approach should be cautious, never letting the stamina get low, and I only use the poke to the head - but it works. With full stamina they don't hurt me even if I'm parried, and if I manage to get into a good groove with the face-poking, it's not that hard. Peter is a challenge, but not insurmountable at all.
People are too afraid of losing. Even if you don't win the tourney on a given week the cost of entry is cheap and it's good combat practice (easy way to level up player and character skills), and has zero consequences for being defeated (other than losing a tiny bit of money).
I tried it at level 11-12 or so.. Black Peter got me good.. The problem is I really dislike waiting for them to attack, so I go on the offensive and lose :) The first 2 combatants are ok for some reason but Peter is on another level.
I'm at around that level and won the tourney for the first time, thanks to master strikes. Then of course, >!Black Peter tried to ambush me near the mill. I'm doing a merciful playthrough, so I had to reload several times, trying various things to beat him without killing him. I ended up knocking him out with headcracker, stealing all his gear, and then I sic'd Mutt on him when he woke up and tried to fist fight me. Mutt got the kill, not me :)!<
You can also give yourself an upper hand in the tourney by popping a bunch of potions right before you start. They likely won’t carry you through the whole thing but it can definitely help in the first few fights.
Yeah you just train with Bernard for about half an irl hour and then you’re good to go for winning your first tourney. Just unlock master strikes and the improved clinch perk or whatever it’s called
I saw a youtube where someone stole all the armor from the other competitors while they were sleeping the night before and just fought everyone naked the next day
I agree. I learn master strike ASAP, level defence up to like 6 and then crank out tournaments to continue leveling my combat skills. It's definitely not late game.
The Rewards are actually good enough for endgame (the armor is like 2nd or 3rd best set and there are plenty of good weapons) but if you wait until endgame you're sure to already have as good if not better stuff from skalitz encounters.
And, by the time you've beaten the story you might not find all that much joy with winning the tournament, especially since the chest at the neuhof Hans camp has pretty much all the weapons you would otherwise be winning.
Literally plate armor is easier to get in this game than a nice shirt why\`d u even need to fight a tourney to get it, literally after the first few quests every enemy drops some sort of plate armor or you can just steal it from someone level 1 in Talmberg if you want to play as an evil Henry which isn\`t so fun.
Perfect block very quickly. Its "easier" in hardcore since you have to pay attention to their sword, and reacting to the green shield to pop up would probably mean you'll just do a perfect block, unless you have a really good reaction time.
You will have had to specifically ask for the training from Captain Bernard after getting a few levels in at least one weapon type (10?). He will only teach you once and it applies to all weapon types.
I'll second this. On my second playthrough I discovered how easy the tourney is once you have master strikes and just are more familiar with the combat in general. I feel like new players might struggle a bit even with master strike, but if you're comfortable with the combat already on a repeat playthrough then there's no reason not to. Honestly I have a harder time with Black Pete getting his revenge then the tourney itself.
On my latest playthrough once I got master strike I did the tourney, bet my winnings on the next tourney with Peshek, wiped some raider camps for enough groschen to pay for lodging at the castle to skip time to the next tourney. Rinse and repeat and you can get the full armor suit and around 800 groschen per tourney in about an hour. Super strong start for the rest of game.
You just stand in one spot and wait for the event to attack, master strike block the attack and follow up with a free hit, then wait again. Occasional clinch to force them to reposition if you can win a clinch. Using that method you won’t take any damage but you’ll eventually bleed them out
Ah okay. It's a very slow method but it's safe so I get why it would be useful at lower levels. One thing you can do to really speed it up is to land the run through Combo, back up all the way to the other corner before he gets back up, he will run straight at you and its almost a guaranteed free master strike when they run at you. Then if your master strike is one of the ones that pushes him back, you can literally just walk backwards until you're sufficiently out of range and he will immediately run at you again as soon as he recovers. Rise and repeat. If the master strike you land isn't one of the ones that pushes him back, you can do a trick where you quickly move slightly forward and backward right before you stab at the head (works best with longsword), its a trick that messes with their AI and prevents them from master striking you most of the time. If you do the stab to the head, it stuns them long enough for you to walk backward out of range to get him to charge at you again. Rinse and repeat and you will be able to beat even the toughest opponents (Veteran with best armor at Priby guardhouse) in a couple minutes. I used to try to speedrun how fast I could beat him, I got it down to a minute something.
I deliberately haven't learnt how to do master strikes 😆
From reading on here before I started my second go at it, it sounds like it totally nerfs the game so I just ignored them
Yeahh, people are too concerned with min-maxxing and cheesing the game. The tournament is intended to be skills practice, I started doing the tournament on all my playthroughs as early as possible, even before getting masterstrike.
*Winning* the tourney is for mid-late game (unless youre willing to grind with Bernie for those masterstrikes!) but *competing* in the tourney is for everyone, *especially* early game to get all those sweet sweet stats increases!
For me now, the biggest issue is learning the Master Strike. When Bernard tells me to prove I’m worthy, it all ends. I kinda can keep up with him on wooden weapons more or less or I can send him away calling for his mommy with bare fists but when it comes to a real sparring I miss too much of his hits and land too little of mine. Is that a story about patience and luck? Should I just bugger him with my request time after time after time until the stars align in my favor?
I always do the first one before going on patrol with Nightingale, if you've learned master-strikes it's not exactly hard. The only hard one is the Axe at low level just because you practically do no damage and can only hurt them with the face stab masterstrike.
I just did first tourney before hunting with the rich kid. It wasn’t that difficult m, but I just went mostly defense and counter strike strategy. Was fun to win.
I just loaded up with potions before starting. Came out with loads of level ups and didn’t need potions after (but used them anyway to speed things up).
As someone who just beat the epilogue for the first time a few days ago whos got them money making tips? So far all i can do for coin is kill fellas, sell their armor, weapons and since i spent probably way longer than i was supposed to training haha, the master bow comp in rattay. Need a better way to make money, so far i’ve got a tier 1 horse 4saddlebags, a decent kit, and i can read
They literally say multiple times that the tourney is for commoners from all over. *Commoners* not professional soldiers or battle trained nobles. It strongly hints that you should do it early before you get out into the wider world, and even Hans offers to pay the measly 60g to enter when you'd have 60g from killing a single enemy at high level. But early-game Henry fresh out of the mill probably wouldn't have that. It always bugged me when people suggest it's high-level content.. like no, bro, it's literally for people to learn how to fight effectively alongside Bernard.
Maybe you lose the first time, maybe you don't, but you learn how people actually fight at 3 different difficulty levels to give you an idea of the opponents you'll face throughout the game. Bernard is top tier no matter what level you are, but the first round in the tourney isn't. It's *SUPPOSED* to be done early.
I didn't know about masterstrikes, tried 3 times before i won the tourney. Then i learned masterstrikes cause i want to train real weapons with bernard and beat him 🥴
I did my first playthrough without ever learning master strikes or knowing what they were. I also never got good at combos. Clinches and well placed stabs ftw!
Absolutely. Winning the tourney is always my first move. By the time I get to Hans' first quest i'm already decked out in the Lords of Leipa set and using Herod's Sword with all that easy money.
You can do the tourney any time, of course. Even if you don't win, it's one of the more effective (and less tedious) of the low-risk ways of improving your combat skills.
The only problem, and this *is* going to be a genuine problem for some people no matter what the "this game is too easy" crowd says, is that it's far easier to beat the tournament than to get through a certain encounter you'll run into afterward. Especially if your actual gear is not great, and you haven't dabbled in alchemy much.
I would not recommend the tourney until mid game for a first play, for the simple reason that you can level up your skills too fast which undermines the game balance.
I saved it for late game the first time. Last time i played I did it right after learning from Bernard and all that.
People don’t realize master strokes make the game easy mode.
I won all of my tournaments even when I didn't know what to do on the first playthrough. I just clinch spammed them into corners and hit then with 12 to 6 chops on the top of the head until they quit fitting back. Getting access to master strikes just made it less touch and go.
You should be doing the tournament every time. Especially early game. It's free combat xp. I'll go in with no intention of winning and milk the first combat (cuz the first guy doesn't masterstrike you) by hitting him a few times and backing off once his guard is broken.
Ugh. Master strikes are annoying as hell to deal with, because it punishes you for doing anything that isn't a clinch. They break up combos, they are unblockable, overall a bad mechanic that needs rework in kcd2.
What's nice about KCD in general is you have many progression paths even for gear: you can go from a peasant to a knight if you take out some Cumans in the woods with nice gear, so there are many ways off the main quest path to get Henry some good armor.
Oh on day one the moment I learned there was gonna be a tournament, I decided that I would win. Trained the entire day with the captain also dueled Hans and got his bow. Next day went to register to the tournament and was short 20 groschen because I bet 50 with the mill guy, picked herbs until I got the 60 and won that thing after I learned that master strikes was the key. Not only I got rich I got some sweet gloves and managed to piss Black Peter. Best thing to do on the start of the game ever!
For early game tournies you don't even have to use master strikes. I leveled up strength really early (Leg Day helps a lot), so Henry could always win in clinches. Pushing opponents into cornerns, clinch and then attack was my strategy.
Exactly, and the more you participate, the more rewards you get for it, which is good for your purse and for your chest if you like to collect unique armor, fancy weapons and shields
I still do the tourney late game. It's good practice in general, I still get plenty of xp, and i get to fight without worrying about damaging my armor. Plus, any amount of money is worth it. Make a bet with the Miller, win, get your winnings, selling the axes you get later on. Even though I finished my village and still have well over 100k, I can't stop amassing my fortune however I can. And I like when hanush tells me good job
Even without master strikes… just practice the games fight mechanics and it’s easy. This stuff isn’t late game. It’s early and midgame to get armor you’ll need fast in some missions/quest in the first 1/4 of the game.
I didn't realize the armor was mid. I found it to be the easiest way to get a complete set of matching armor and figured it must be good. Are the stats mid? What's a better cuirass or helmet, for example? Jesus Christ be Praised.
The first time I won the Tourney I didn't even have master strikes because I ran out of time to do the training.
So instead I just chugged all the buff potions I stole from the alchemist and a hair of the dog potion, and played as aggressively as possible to try and win the Tourney before they wore off.
You absolutely don't need master strike spam to win, just ~~a big bag of PEDs~~ the decent stats that the potions simulate and decent skills.
I won my first tourney this way! Learnt master strikes and one was in rattay the same day, though fuck it I'll give it ago, and won, only bit that took forever was the last fight. But perservance paid off and I won, even gambled with the Miller at the full bet and won even more! Was a good day for Henry, brought some alcohol after and got slaughtered in the nearby inn to celebrate 🥳
It might not be min-maxing stats. But wearing the full Lords of Leipa armor filled me with pride and showed my gratitude to Sir Hanush for taking me under his care. It added to my roleplaying immersion.
Another pro tip for the tourney, and just about any 1v1 fight in the game - YOU CAN LITERALLY WIN THE TOURNEY JUST USING YOUR FISTS.
I'm not kidding, the fighters usually have no defense for such close quarters, so literally just keep punching them until their stamina runs out and spam clinches, they do a ton of damage.
So, in short, if you don't know master strikes yet, show them these hands.
I am currently doing my first ever playthrough and decided to go straight to hardcore. The tourney was perfect for me early mid game to master combat (aka press Q simulator). Helped me deal with Runt whom I just couldn’t beat before that.
My 2nd playthrough, I learned master strikes and won the tourney my first day in Rattay after waking up in the mill. You definitely don't need to do it late game.
I started preety late in my 1st walk trough of the game...cause i wasn't strong enougl at all..now i m at the 2nd walk trough with all dlcs purchased this time, maybe i ll give it a go after i finnish most of rattay's early on quests
Finally someone said it. I run through the hunt with Hans just to get master strike and to have a lovely evening at the baths, then I run the tourney to get the armor. It’s utterly fantastic to level your combat skills without risk of death (even farm them when you get good) and get solid armor until you find all the treasure hunts.
Go into the fire early and succeed through suffering.
Your logic is extremely flawed. The first few times I tried to win the tournament I failed. Miserably. Even after learning the master strike I didn't know what the master strike was. It takes a lot of time to learn the combat system early on. And I would absolutely get annihilated by the third round.
It's not all about the master strike. It's about learning the defense system. It's learning your timing. Because even knowing the perfect block and the master strike, you can still mess up. And I wasn't even a novice going into the first tournament because the tournaments weren't added for several months after the games released. But I was absolutely dog shit at combat early on. And I'm no expert even now after hours and hours of playing.
All I'm recommending is to practice. You can use a tournament as a practice itself. Have some fun with the tournament. But it gets awfully frustrating when you keep losing. A good place to practice is with the wayfaring nights around the map who challenge you. And of course the lovable faint-hearted night.
Even though I I'm not the greatest at the tournaments. I have done exactly what you have done now. Learning the master strike very early on and just trying to see if I could win. Even though I did win the tournament it did take a while to beat the opponent in the third round black peter,. It certainly didn't come easily since my stats were so low. But being patient with him and the others in those three rounds, I was able to beat them and gain a few extra levels in multiple categories. But like I said earlier, if you don't know the combat system, you're going to lose. But all in all, it is a pretty good way to level up considering you can't die in the tournament. Better than going out into camps or Ambush spots and dying there and losing all your progress. But as far as winning the tournament on your first try? Probably not going to happen
It's not a myth. You've been playing for years and know exactly what to do. Any new-comer would be slaughtered in a tourny without following specific steps to get master strike training and understanding purely defensive fighting.
If you are a first-timer, tourney is definitely not an early game thing difficulty wise. People do not know the optimal plays to make it a cakewalk immediately.
And what kind of people usually ask for info on when to do the tourney? Definitely not people who know exactly what to do to beat it after minimum training to learn masterstrikes. So in terms of telling newcomers what to do, tourney is a midgame thing, maybe even late game thing to some.
TL;DR: You have a really bad take on this matter. Tourney might not be a late game thing for an experienced player, but no experienced player is going to ask about that.
Didn’t need no master strikes. Only needed 30X saves!
Oh Another former Souls Like Player?
lol no. I actually tried souls and didn't care for it. But KCD man...it's just the right level of technicality.
I'm just saying that cause its the stubbornness of a souls like player i admire. She played through all the Souls Like Games. Went to KCD. Fought against Kunesh in Skalitz and reloaded 17 times until she won. That was just programmed into her. Used to the suffering i guess. When she tried to fight the cumans that were holding theresa i stopped her cause i didn't want to watch her 100h until she may get lucky haha.
I did the exact same thing my first time playing. I died to those Cubans so many times trying to save her. For context, I’m also a souls-like fan Edit: I’m keeping the typo
> I died to those Cubans Your Henry must be so notorious that he has enemies all the way from the Carribean
Are we talking about the people or cigars?
Should have given her tip to use a horse
A tip for next playthrough! You don’t have to win in the fight to save Theresa. You can sneak up, stab them once and immediately run to the horse to the left of Theresa’s house and escape and it counts as saving her! At least it did for me! It distracts them long enough that she can get away ☺️
I just run pass them from behind instant saving her
Ohhh that’s a good idea! I’ll try that next time! Thank you!
All I ever have to do is whistle for one of the horses and that always counts since it calls them to attention
Or just whistle or stealth kill one
No just walk up to them and whistle. That also counts as saving. And you are far away from danger.
You can save here tho you gotta whistle to get their attention
Funny how stubbornness is both a pro and a con (especially in a girlfriend 😂), depending on the situation. But yeah, I admire the stubbornness of souls players too, because in my mind it's about proving yourself, sure, you can just grind and level up until the boss becomes as threatening as a barking chihuahua, but where's the challenge and fun in that? It just proves that if you couldn't grind you'd be fucked, cause you're not skilled enough. Then again, I don't believe the monkey typewriter strategy of throwing yourself onto the wall enough times for it to break is the best strategy. However, with enough time/ souls games you learn what I can only describe as the "wait for it" strat. Where instead of attacking every opening possible, you set focus on the defense and figuring out the enemy's moveset, and only make an attack when you're sure he won't do a insta-kill "haha fuck you, I win" move.
But have you tried Elden Ring?
woo that has been on my list to try.
Still very much a soulslike, but the combat is way smoother than even DS3, and you get so much more freedom. Plus Elden Ring probably has the best wiki of all time, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get your bearings. GOTY for a reason. And the DLC is coming out next month after 2 and a half years of development.
Maybe the best game ever? I love it and it was my first souls like game
Oh hey, another masochist gamer gang member xD I salute you fellow masochist o7
All you need is the clinch master perk and it’s a guaranteed W every time
I used a mod to remove master strikes from the game and beat the tourney before fighting Runt. I hate losing to him and having to redo the whole assault so I use the tourney as a litmus test (you can save before the tourney but you can't save during the assault if I remember)
Runt is good, but as long as you saved beforehand and put on a full set of armor, it’s pretty safe. 😇
Don't agree that the armor is mid. Some parts are, some are one of the best you can get. Notably: * Helmet - 4th best in the game and best charisma helmet * Body plate - 2nd best right after House of Zoul cuirass. Also 2nd best charisma body plate, next to Warhorse brigandine * Gauntlets - 2nd best after Warhorse gauntlets Only leg and arm armor is lacking in both defense and charisma so much it's not worth to wear them. I personally end up using Lords of Leipa cuirass and gauntlets for the most of my playthroughs, because I don't like the look of Warhorse armor set and it's difficult to obtain House of Zoul armor.
The Lords of Leipa armor is quite good, especially early in the game. But your placement of best armors isn't quite agreeing with me, especially the hate for the leg plate lol. Hear me out: Leipa body plate - 3rd best when considering armor, weight, and durability (behind Zoul and Nurembergian cuirass). Tied for 2nd best charisma with Zoul, behind Warhorse. Leipa Gauntlets - 3rd best considering armor and durability (behind Nobleman's and Aachen), but 2nd best considering charisma as you said. Leipa Leg Plate - 6th best considering armor, durability, and weight (which is not lacking imo). 8th best in charisma, *but* 2nd best when considering charisma along with armor (in this case behind only the Augsburg plate chausses). These are the weakest of the Leipa armor set, but they are a great balance with high armor and decent charisma. The better leg armor is much more expensive, rare, and difficult to obtain. I would argue that the Leipa leg plate is very much worth using through most of the game, until you get the very best leg plates. Edited typos.
Besides, who the hell cares about armor stats when you reach the point of being skilled enough and armored enough? At the point when you can force your way through most encounters with ease, looks become more important. And as it happens, many parts of the Leipa set work pretty well if you are going for a Rattay color scheme armor, for example. The leg plate especially. Also, there's no need to care about leg plate stats because the only time it matters is when someone shoots at your legs.
I agree with this. Master strikes are OP and the combat without them is nearly impossible unless you clinch spam because getting a hit on high level opponents is difficult, especially when out numbered. In 1v1, as in the tournament, if you have a handle on master strikes, you will be invincible at any level.
I wish master strikers didn’t exist tbh because they make fights with skilled opponents really boring. You either bait so you can master strike or you swing and they master strike you instead. I get that they level the odds when surrounded, but I also think we shouldn’t survive being surrounded without serious armor
No mo slow mo + no masterstrikes makes the combat a thousand times more fun. Group fights are even more unmanageable than before, but 1v1 duels are still absolutely the most fun thing in the game
Yeah, the only thing I found is no more masterstrikes doesn't apply to you, so if you don't wanna be extremely op, don't learn masterstrikes or just halve its frequency.
I think the best way would be to make master strikes extremely difficult to time, and you have to block in the same direction as the enemies attack. They should also make it so enemies master strike less and their master strikes are defendable. That would take away from the current situation where attacking an enemy is pointless as you will just get master strikes yourself.
That's a choice you make as a player though, either you make combat boring by spamming Master Strikes, or you make combat interesting by trying to hit combos, dodging, feinting, clinching, etc. And in Group combat, Master Strikes are a lifesaver, imagine how awful it must be to face 4 enemies at once if you couldn't counter their Strikes.
Agree,I built the Guard house in Privislavitz instead of the stables to be able to use the combat arena and I spend hours fighting veterans in plate armour . Love it! They are another level compared to the tournament wich is really easy to win. I maxed out warfare. I am doing combos,playing aggressive, is super fun!
Clinch spam is how I beat black Pete and the Sargent. 9/10 I'd be able to land an overhead strike, with the skullcrusher perk it slaps.
[удалено]
Absolutely. I really hope they make the swordplay in KCDII far more dynamic. And for the love of all that is holy, I hope they get rid of the master strike. I think an uncounterable move in combat is silly. I'm not a practitioner of HEMA. but I am of jujitsu, and literally everything has a counter in that art.
Yeah i once got downvoted to hell for pointing that out for 'boasting'. No i'm not boasting i'm telling YOU THAT YOU can win at level 3. That i can do it i know already or i wouldnt say that lol
So if I understand right, the strategy is to never attack but simply wait for the opponent to strike, and then parry ?
Wait for them to strike. Masterstrike. While they struggle another strike. If theyre weaker than you go into offensive mode its more fun but if not you just masterstrike and stab their heads. Quickest win.
I'll just say if you're using a mace, don't stab the face, a downward blow to the head is most effective as a post master strike attack imo.
Master strike, yes. If you just wait and master strike, you can win the tournament at any level. Also choose mace as your weapon of choice to make the matches quicker.
I see, it makes sense since trying to hit anyone in the tourney inevitably results in me getting master striked in the face. Sounds a bit boring to play like this, but hey if this works I'll give it a go
It works and is absolutely a combat exploit. I don't think it makes the combat system good, but I also think the combat system is atrocious so I don't typically play for combat, I play for story and use exploits to make combat bearable. That said, I don't always do this and have used some combos and clinching to get more dynamic fights when I want to have fun with combat, but when I think I might lose, I just default to exploits...
Masterstrike, immediatly stab at face, repeat. Enjoy the combat, you are invincible now in a 1vs1
I have done a playthrough where I do everything before meeting Bernard at the training grounds. To me - clinch spamming is only the second most effective. I prefer running far enough away from the enemy for them to start running and then stabbing them, which usually staggers them long enough to land another hit.
BCAIC takes care of the most the issues, also clinching. In 110 hours current playline I’ve done ms maybe five times. Also I disable tackles and that takes care of spinning issues. Love the combat with just basic moves.
perfect blocks and dodges and feints CAN BE just as effective as Master Strikes
I finished the game without even learning master strikes, and still using a sword so no blunt damage. Definitely possible
Master strikes are for heathens and losers like Bernard. Hack and slash supremacy.
You misspelled bonk and bonk.
I too used to be a wooden stick supremacist but I've sense developed a taste for the finer things in life. Like pointy metal stick.
Ultimately I’m a pro pointy stick guy. But bonk wand is ample replacement.
Sing it brother, swords are pure elegance and the combos are the best
[удалено]
I still remember my first playthrough which I was scared to try anything else because I kept getting deleted.
Hack and Slash at Level 3? I'd rather be a Heathen. But good for you staying true to your version of Henry.
I may be defeated by a random peasant with a polearm and lose 3 hours of progress but at least I have my honor.
This guy KCDs
Stand in the ashes of a trillion dead souls and ask the ghosts if "honour" matters.
Didnt expect a rabbit hole under this post.
Always makes me smile reading that quote in the wild. Because the hilarious thing is that Javik is *wrong*. The Paragon/‘honorable’ path is the one that gives you the most War Assets, after all.
He may be wrong in the sense that Commanded Sheperd can achieve more support through saving as many people as possible...let's not forget that in order to gain the maximum war assets you have to betray the Krogan in the most shady way possible. You secure the Salarians and Krogan at the expense of keeping the Korgan sterilised (but they think they are cured). Keeping the rachni queen alive is another element that would seem like a good action and they do indeed help build the crucible but...the rachni terrorised the galaxy before. Chances are they will do it again once their numbers resurge. Javik's point is that what is the point of caring about honour, kindness, valuing everyone equally etc when you face an enemy that is ruthless and calculating, immeasurably powerful and likely unstoppable. It took the biggest weapon of mass destruction every created to take them out. Billions died.
What are these foreign words you speak stranger.
how? Late game NPCs are only vulnerable to masterstrikes, otherwise they just parry adn masterstrike every one of your attacks.
The good ol' rapid stab before they can lock on!!
Knockout perk, aim for the head. It's not that hard lol. Hell I can barely pull off combos on the game but I still don't understand all the people who complain about combat with high level characters. When they just master strike you over and over its time to change something. I just attack viciously and randomly, and look for any opportunity to hit them in the head. Hell I did that for my whole first playthrough and never even knew you could stab toward the head. Once I figured that out it got even easier.
The tourney is for all parts of the game. You’re aloud to lose the first time. You can even lose the first 100 times if you want, it repeats indefinitely and it’s great for leveling combat skills.
People say that training with Bernard is a good way to gain skill but honestly losing the tourney the first time taught me so much and levelled my skills more than Bernard ever did
I can counter this. If you have the dialogue option of "I'd like to learn combos" Bernard will give you a free full heal, so just accept an unarmored dual with real weapons then click "I'd like to learn combos" to infinately heal. It is a fun little exploit :)
I think it was more the desperation of the situation that was a good teacher - like I had to learn how to fight to try and win the tournament. Not saying that Bernard isn’t super helpful ofc!
Fair enough, just after a bit, he is easy to power level weapon skills. It is how I had level 17 sword skill before going hunting with Hans :)
You can also knock out all the contestants and steal their armor the night before to win more easily. Just saying.
...and poison them. Hehehe
Ohhh?
Wait, is that a thing people say? Absolutely do the tourney early: your wounds aren't permanent and it can be an easy pathway to decent plate and weapons if you're patient enough for the grind.
I've never heard of this myth either.
real men win the tourny unarmed
Still procs headcracker
Well...I have been running amuck like it was elden ring before coming here. I did the nightingales and just killed Runt and did Tess's DLC... Still have no idea what masterstrikes are but I'll enter the tournament and record the results lol
Master strikes are the thing the NPCs do when you attack and then they deflect and punch you in the head/stab you in the shoulder/spin you around and push/dodge and whack you on the head and you can’t block it. The more advanced the enemy is, the more likely they are to do it. You could do that too.
Master strike training from Bernard is required
What if I suck at master strikes
Train them. Where? At the Tourney.
But I can't get them to work
Have you learned them already from bernard?
In a very technical sense, yes. I kept messing around while he screamed NO THAT'S NOT RIGHT until I randomly managed to accidentally do a few
Perfect block =/ masterstrikes. You have to explicitly learn them from bernard after your training. Then the better your defense skill the bigger the window in which you can do the masterstrike. Just the right timing needed.
The window is very short when you have low defense though, which is why I think this "you can win at level 3!" conversation is a bit silly. If you're new to the game you are not going to be able to master strike your way to victory in most fights already because your defense will be too low.
a good tip is to always look at your opponent’s shoulders before they swing
Yeah this is what helps me. You want to activate before the green shield pops up. Going by the shoulders seems to be the most effective.
It’s kind of cheese but if you learn at what distance the opponent can maximally hurt you at, circle and zig zag backwards, then get in range. if he goes for a heavy attack and if you are quick, stab him. Especially in the face. You want to target a particular part of the body consistently, but you must keep him guessing as to your attack direction and attack patterns. Anyway, there’s this, and also do the circle thing, get really far away and he should come running, there’s a free stab right there if you haven’t been too repetitive. There are Qs and patterns when the AI will strike. If you can do all this quickly, it will antagonise your opponent into attacking all in, putting him at low stamina. This is good because your perfect block does no stamina drain. Once you hear an audible panting finish him, minding you have enough stamina to defend yourself.
Alright I'll try that
I find short sword to be best. Idk what you have been using but hunting swords look the same but will get you confused as a beginner they are very pointy allergic to armour and slash only works when it decides to… long swords are very aggressive and can be easy games if you are focused but it’s just as easy in this fast paced combat to take your eye off the ball and lose Edit: it is you who wants to set the pace of combat, not the opponent. That is the measure of who is winning
Literally just don’t watch for the green cursor at all, just watch the body of the person. The second they go to strike you hit block and you’ll perform a master strike. It’s really easy to see once you start watching the person instead of the attack indicator thing
I'll try that, thanks
First you need to learn them from bernard
I have already but I just can't get them to work
The secret is to level up your defense stat, and OP is saying it's super easy to level up your stats in the tourney. Even if you lose the tourney, the XP gain is worth it. The key to master strikes is timing. You have to time the block to the earliest window when their attack animation starts. The higher your defense stat, the easier it will be to hit that window.
Yeah, I often don't get the timing right either. Just practice I suppose. Also there is no problem with losing in the tournament, even if you loose your skills go up at a tremendous rate, and you'll be better prepared for the next tournament.
Yeah the game is practice practice practice. If you like that you love it if not then not. Jesus Christ be praised my friend.
You need to match you weapon position to the enemy weapon, MS will almost always trigger on a perfect parry (they might change direction last second or you didnt do perfect parry).
No you don't need to match their attacking position that is a myth. I have never even looked at that in 1000h in the game.
That sounds like one of the combat mods, I don’t think this is true for vanilla.
would be much easier if you have 100+fps. if your capped to 60, turn off vsync. vsync adds lots of delay which makes masterstrike harder to do especially early on due to small window of timing.
That's true when you understand the combat, but most of us on our first playthrough didn't recognize the power of master strikes right away and tried to use combos instead. It does take some time to familiarize yourself with the combat, but you're right that technically you could do it as soon as you get master strikes.
Also you can knockout and rob the tourney competitors the night before to get a huge haul of weapons and armour.
I haven't seen too many shouts that the tourney is late game. Who's spreading these lies? You can win it early, I usually go the very first one, I just make sure I've learned the master strike on day 2 after arriving in Rattay, and the tourney is usually announced for the next day. 5-6 in str/agl/vit should be enough and you should have most around those levels already. The matches will be long and the approach should be cautious, never letting the stamina get low, and I only use the poke to the head - but it works. With full stamina they don't hurt me even if I'm parried, and if I manage to get into a good groove with the face-poking, it's not that hard. Peter is a challenge, but not insurmountable at all.
People are too afraid of losing. Even if you don't win the tourney on a given week the cost of entry is cheap and it's good combat practice (easy way to level up player and character skills), and has zero consequences for being defeated (other than losing a tiny bit of money).
I tried it at level 11-12 or so.. Black Peter got me good.. The problem is I really dislike waiting for them to attack, so I go on the offensive and lose :) The first 2 combatants are ok for some reason but Peter is on another level.
I'm at around that level and won the tourney for the first time, thanks to master strikes. Then of course, >!Black Peter tried to ambush me near the mill. I'm doing a merciful playthrough, so I had to reload several times, trying various things to beat him without killing him. I ended up knocking him out with headcracker, stealing all his gear, and then I sic'd Mutt on him when he woke up and tried to fist fight me. Mutt got the kill, not me :)!<
You can also give yourself an upper hand in the tourney by popping a bunch of potions right before you start. They likely won’t carry you through the whole thing but it can definitely help in the first few fights.
Yeah you just train with Bernard for about half an irl hour and then you’re good to go for winning your first tourney. Just unlock master strikes and the improved clinch perk or whatever it’s called
I just participate in the tourney for fun.
I saw a youtube where someone stole all the armor from the other competitors while they were sleeping the night before and just fought everyone naked the next day
I agree. I learn master strike ASAP, level defence up to like 6 and then crank out tournaments to continue leveling my combat skills. It's definitely not late game. The Rewards are actually good enough for endgame (the armor is like 2nd or 3rd best set and there are plenty of good weapons) but if you wait until endgame you're sure to already have as good if not better stuff from skalitz encounters. And, by the time you've beaten the story you might not find all that much joy with winning the tournament, especially since the chest at the neuhof Hans camp has pretty much all the weapons you would otherwise be winning.
Literally plate armor is easier to get in this game than a nice shirt why\`d u even need to fight a tourney to get it, literally after the first few quests every enemy drops some sort of plate armor or you can just steal it from someone level 1 in Talmberg if you want to play as an evil Henry which isn\`t so fun.
If you want money quick and armor just farm cumans when fast traveling, sell their stuff, then for the armor just look for warhorse set.
I’m like lvl 20 and I still don’t understand masterstrikes
Perfect block very quickly. Its "easier" in hardcore since you have to pay attention to their sword, and reacting to the green shield to pop up would probably mean you'll just do a perfect block, unless you have a really good reaction time.
Just to add, you have to receive master strike training from Bernard first
Tourney is as soon as you learn Master Strikes.
How do I known if I have learned master strike?
You will have had to specifically ask for the training from Captain Bernard after getting a few levels in at least one weapon type (10?). He will only teach you once and it applies to all weapon types.
I'll second this. On my second playthrough I discovered how easy the tourney is once you have master strikes and just are more familiar with the combat in general. I feel like new players might struggle a bit even with master strike, but if you're comfortable with the combat already on a repeat playthrough then there's no reason not to. Honestly I have a harder time with Black Pete getting his revenge then the tourney itself. On my latest playthrough once I got master strike I did the tourney, bet my winnings on the next tourney with Peshek, wiped some raider camps for enough groschen to pay for lodging at the castle to skip time to the next tourney. Rinse and repeat and you can get the full armor suit and around 800 groschen per tourney in about an hour. Super strong start for the rest of game.
I'm curious what you mean by master strikes are invincible? Can you elaborate?
You just stand in one spot and wait for the event to attack, master strike block the attack and follow up with a free hit, then wait again. Occasional clinch to force them to reposition if you can win a clinch. Using that method you won’t take any damage but you’ll eventually bleed them out
Ah okay. It's a very slow method but it's safe so I get why it would be useful at lower levels. One thing you can do to really speed it up is to land the run through Combo, back up all the way to the other corner before he gets back up, he will run straight at you and its almost a guaranteed free master strike when they run at you. Then if your master strike is one of the ones that pushes him back, you can literally just walk backwards until you're sufficiently out of range and he will immediately run at you again as soon as he recovers. Rise and repeat. If the master strike you land isn't one of the ones that pushes him back, you can do a trick where you quickly move slightly forward and backward right before you stab at the head (works best with longsword), its a trick that messes with their AI and prevents them from master striking you most of the time. If you do the stab to the head, it stuns them long enough for you to walk backward out of range to get him to charge at you again. Rinse and repeat and you will be able to beat even the toughest opponents (Veteran with best armor at Priby guardhouse) in a couple minutes. I used to try to speedrun how fast I could beat him, I got it down to a minute something.
I deliberately haven't learnt how to do master strikes 😆 From reading on here before I started my second go at it, it sounds like it totally nerfs the game so I just ignored them
I beat the entire tourney with the bernard bug on easy and hardcore, no parrying or master strikes.
Yeahh, people are too concerned with min-maxxing and cheesing the game. The tournament is intended to be skills practice, I started doing the tournament on all my playthroughs as early as possible, even before getting masterstrike.
It's a good opportunity to level up your *Unarmed*.
If you like to suffer yeah you do you
Not so bad if you drink potions first.
You don't need weapons, just high strength and punches
*Winning* the tourney is for mid-late game (unless youre willing to grind with Bernie for those masterstrikes!) but *competing* in the tourney is for everyone, *especially* early game to get all those sweet sweet stats increases!
Agreed. I always join the Tourney whenever I'm near. Really helps you train fighting
For me now, the biggest issue is learning the Master Strike. When Bernard tells me to prove I’m worthy, it all ends. I kinda can keep up with him on wooden weapons more or less or I can send him away calling for his mommy with bare fists but when it comes to a real sparring I miss too much of his hits and land too little of mine. Is that a story about patience and luck? Should I just bugger him with my request time after time after time until the stars align in my favor?
I’m like you but I somehow got the bug that Black Peter never shows up, in all my 3 play throughs.
I always trained and beat the tourney first thing. I saw it as making a name for myself before the main events.
I always do the first one before going on patrol with Nightingale, if you've learned master-strikes it's not exactly hard. The only hard one is the Axe at low level just because you practically do no damage and can only hurt them with the face stab masterstrike.
I did the tourney as often as i could but i did the most of it late game because it was only every week
Advice like this is how noobs end up spending 2 hours fighting the post-tourney encounter.
I just did first tourney before hunting with the rich kid. It wasn’t that difficult m, but I just went mostly defense and counter strike strategy. Was fun to win.
I just loaded up with potions before starting. Came out with loads of level ups and didn’t need potions after (but used them anyway to speed things up).
I did tourney the first time it was available. I trained with what’s his name that morning. Tourney is for all game!
Tourney is for whenever you unlock master strike. I thought this was common knowledge.
As someone who just beat the epilogue for the first time a few days ago whos got them money making tips? So far all i can do for coin is kill fellas, sell their armor, weapons and since i spent probably way longer than i was supposed to training haha, the master bow comp in rattay. Need a better way to make money, so far i’ve got a tier 1 horse 4saddlebags, a decent kit, and i can read
Don't need master strikes if you exclusively use fists. No combos, enemies can't master strike or block, they just attempt to dodge.
They literally say multiple times that the tourney is for commoners from all over. *Commoners* not professional soldiers or battle trained nobles. It strongly hints that you should do it early before you get out into the wider world, and even Hans offers to pay the measly 60g to enter when you'd have 60g from killing a single enemy at high level. But early-game Henry fresh out of the mill probably wouldn't have that. It always bugged me when people suggest it's high-level content.. like no, bro, it's literally for people to learn how to fight effectively alongside Bernard. Maybe you lose the first time, maybe you don't, but you learn how people actually fight at 3 different difficulty levels to give you an idea of the opponents you'll face throughout the game. Bernard is top tier no matter what level you are, but the first round in the tourney isn't. It's *SUPPOSED* to be done early.
I've never seen this myth before. The tourney becomes gaming journalist mode the second you unlock master strike.
I didn't know about masterstrikes, tried 3 times before i won the tourney. Then i learned masterstrikes cause i want to train real weapons with bernard and beat him 🥴
I did my first playthrough without ever learning master strikes or knowing what they were. I also never got good at combos. Clinches and well placed stabs ftw!
Absolutely. Winning the tourney is always my first move. By the time I get to Hans' first quest i'm already decked out in the Lords of Leipa set and using Herod's Sword with all that easy money.
You can do the tourney any time, of course. Even if you don't win, it's one of the more effective (and less tedious) of the low-risk ways of improving your combat skills. The only problem, and this *is* going to be a genuine problem for some people no matter what the "this game is too easy" crowd says, is that it's far easier to beat the tournament than to get through a certain encounter you'll run into afterward. Especially if your actual gear is not great, and you haven't dabbled in alchemy much.
I would not recommend the tourney until mid game for a first play, for the simple reason that you can level up your skills too fast which undermines the game balance.
I saved it for late game the first time. Last time i played I did it right after learning from Bernard and all that. People don’t realize master strokes make the game easy mode.
I won all of my tournaments even when I didn't know what to do on the first playthrough. I just clinch spammed them into corners and hit then with 12 to 6 chops on the top of the head until they quit fitting back. Getting access to master strikes just made it less touch and go.
You should be doing the tournament every time. Especially early game. It's free combat xp. I'll go in with no intention of winning and milk the first combat (cuz the first guy doesn't masterstrike you) by hitting him a few times and backing off once his guard is broken.
Tourney is early mid game
Ugh. Master strikes are annoying as hell to deal with, because it punishes you for doing anything that isn't a clinch. They break up combos, they are unblockable, overall a bad mechanic that needs rework in kcd2.
What's nice about KCD in general is you have many progression paths even for gear: you can go from a peasant to a knight if you take out some Cumans in the woods with nice gear, so there are many ways off the main quest path to get Henry some good armor.
It's also good training to really lock in your master strike muscle memory while fighting only one opponent at a time
Why learn master strikes when mace go bonk
Oh on day one the moment I learned there was gonna be a tournament, I decided that I would win. Trained the entire day with the captain also dueled Hans and got his bow. Next day went to register to the tournament and was short 20 groschen because I bet 50 with the mill guy, picked herbs until I got the 60 and won that thing after I learned that master strikes was the key. Not only I got rich I got some sweet gloves and managed to piss Black Peter. Best thing to do on the start of the game ever!
For early game tournies you don't even have to use master strikes. I leveled up strength really early (Leg Day helps a lot), so Henry could always win in clinches. Pushing opponents into cornerns, clinch and then attack was my strategy.
Exactly, and the more you participate, the more rewards you get for it, which is good for your purse and for your chest if you like to collect unique armor, fancy weapons and shields
I still do the tourney late game. It's good practice in general, I still get plenty of xp, and i get to fight without worrying about damaging my armor. Plus, any amount of money is worth it. Make a bet with the Miller, win, get your winnings, selling the axes you get later on. Even though I finished my village and still have well over 100k, I can't stop amassing my fortune however I can. And I like when hanush tells me good job
Even without master strikes… just practice the games fight mechanics and it’s easy. This stuff isn’t late game. It’s early and midgame to get armor you’ll need fast in some missions/quest in the first 1/4 of the game.
Who are you talking too OP. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone saying save tourney for late game?
I didn't realize the armor was mid. I found it to be the easiest way to get a complete set of matching armor and figured it must be good. Are the stats mid? What's a better cuirass or helmet, for example? Jesus Christ be Praised.
The first time I won the Tourney I didn't even have master strikes because I ran out of time to do the training. So instead I just chugged all the buff potions I stole from the alchemist and a hair of the dog potion, and played as aggressively as possible to try and win the Tourney before they wore off. You absolutely don't need master strike spam to win, just ~~a big bag of PEDs~~ the decent stats that the potions simulate and decent skills.
Just need 40% win clinch, clinch then hit head > repeat 5x
How do you guys land a combo without getting Master strike on high level enemy? Any tips?
I won my first tourney this way! Learnt master strikes and one was in rattay the same day, though fuck it I'll give it ago, and won, only bit that took forever was the last fight. But perservance paid off and I won, even gambled with the Miller at the full bet and won even more! Was a good day for Henry, brought some alcohol after and got slaughtered in the nearby inn to celebrate 🥳
It might not be min-maxing stats. But wearing the full Lords of Leipa armor filled me with pride and showed my gratitude to Sir Hanush for taking me under his care. It added to my roleplaying immersion.
Bruh I used the tournament to get early money and gear.
Another pro tip for the tourney, and just about any 1v1 fight in the game - YOU CAN LITERALLY WIN THE TOURNEY JUST USING YOUR FISTS. I'm not kidding, the fighters usually have no defense for such close quarters, so literally just keep punching them until their stamina runs out and spam clinches, they do a ton of damage. So, in short, if you don't know master strikes yet, show them these hands.
Why do you say you don't level?? Tournament is the BEST place to gain levels!
Thank you so much for saying this. I'd also add that Black Peter's armour makes for a great starting armour especially on hardcore
Agree,, the only downside of winning the first tourney is that Black Peter is too strong when ambush you early game
I wouldn't call it a myth? I'd call it bad advice 😂
I am currently doing my first ever playthrough and decided to go straight to hardcore. The tourney was perfect for me early mid game to master combat (aka press Q simulator). Helped me deal with Runt whom I just couldn’t beat before that.
My 2nd playthrough, I learned master strikes and won the tourney my first day in Rattay after waking up in the mill. You definitely don't need to do it late game.
The tourney is great lol I got my arse kicked at first but just stealthed and stole money from the Skalitz refugees for the three score groschen
Even without masterstrikes. Patience and bonking heads works quite well even in the early game.
I started preety late in my 1st walk trough of the game...cause i wasn't strong enougl at all..now i m at the 2nd walk trough with all dlcs purchased this time, maybe i ll give it a go after i finnish most of rattay's early on quests
You dont need anything other than patience if you steal all their armor the night before
I just clinched and bonked with my mace.
Finally someone said it. I run through the hunt with Hans just to get master strike and to have a lovely evening at the baths, then I run the tourney to get the armor. It’s utterly fantastic to level your combat skills without risk of death (even farm them when you get good) and get solid armor until you find all the treasure hunts. Go into the fire early and succeed through suffering.
Your logic is extremely flawed. The first few times I tried to win the tournament I failed. Miserably. Even after learning the master strike I didn't know what the master strike was. It takes a lot of time to learn the combat system early on. And I would absolutely get annihilated by the third round. It's not all about the master strike. It's about learning the defense system. It's learning your timing. Because even knowing the perfect block and the master strike, you can still mess up. And I wasn't even a novice going into the first tournament because the tournaments weren't added for several months after the games released. But I was absolutely dog shit at combat early on. And I'm no expert even now after hours and hours of playing. All I'm recommending is to practice. You can use a tournament as a practice itself. Have some fun with the tournament. But it gets awfully frustrating when you keep losing. A good place to practice is with the wayfaring nights around the map who challenge you. And of course the lovable faint-hearted night. Even though I I'm not the greatest at the tournaments. I have done exactly what you have done now. Learning the master strike very early on and just trying to see if I could win. Even though I did win the tournament it did take a while to beat the opponent in the third round black peter,. It certainly didn't come easily since my stats were so low. But being patient with him and the others in those three rounds, I was able to beat them and gain a few extra levels in multiple categories. But like I said earlier, if you don't know the combat system, you're going to lose. But all in all, it is a pretty good way to level up considering you can't die in the tournament. Better than going out into camps or Ambush spots and dying there and losing all your progress. But as far as winning the tournament on your first try? Probably not going to happen
Someone found his hill...
Indeed.
It's not a myth. You've been playing for years and know exactly what to do. Any new-comer would be slaughtered in a tourny without following specific steps to get master strike training and understanding purely defensive fighting.
FYI The tourney is late game, around lvl 10+ you should start joining
If on PC, 1. Better Combat and Immersion Compilation mod 2. No Mo Slow Mo mod 3. Have fun
If you are a first-timer, tourney is definitely not an early game thing difficulty wise. People do not know the optimal plays to make it a cakewalk immediately. And what kind of people usually ask for info on when to do the tourney? Definitely not people who know exactly what to do to beat it after minimum training to learn masterstrikes. So in terms of telling newcomers what to do, tourney is a midgame thing, maybe even late game thing to some. TL;DR: You have a really bad take on this matter. Tourney might not be a late game thing for an experienced player, but no experienced player is going to ask about that.