Turning into swings, crouching on the downward chop, and dashing forward on a thrust greatly increase damage, same with following a swing through with the mouse cursor but keep in mind moving into an enemy's swing or thrust will greatly increase damage you take. It's a fun game once you figure it out, and not a bad basics tutorial good job.
you have no idea how much this video helped.. and with in a matter of a few tries in the practice arena. i can finally enjoy the game, because before i found myself getting frustrated with the combat physics because i couldn't quite get the hang of them, but now its awesome. thanks bro!
I am so happy to hear that this video is helping people. Its very frustrating at first and theres not much help in-game. Thanks for watching and thanks for the support.
It speaks volumes on how willing people are to actually study up on a unique game such as this. I bought this yesterday, and I've only got to the shield and axe wielding woman in Novice. I've already figured out most of what you explain here through trial and error. The swings seem lame until you add movement to the characters body. I did discover one additional little nugget. Once you have the sword (all I know right now) drawn back, Start you left to right movement with the mouse and add A or D movement to the body. You will get huge velocity on the swing. When you miss, be ready for the sword to pull your body through the follow through though. It can spin you around, Add crouch C for leg sweeps and such. Brutal! Thanks for making the tutorial dude. We can't let these youngsters have such a fantastic game go to waste because they can't/won't take time to learn it.
Will Baack Since I made this video, I have found the same huge velocity swing you speak of. With the two-hand, or any pole arm you find in the main game, when you perform the move you speak of you can actually sometimes hook the enemy and toss him across the floor on the follow through. Its so cool to find these little maneuvers as we progress. I have yet to sweep a leg though! People tell me it can be done so I must be doing something wrong or my timing is off. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching! These little bits of input viewers give goes a long way.
I don't mean a "sweep" as in they slam to the ground with the soles of their feet going up in the air, I mean a nasty side of the knee/shin hack that makes me cringe when it comes off correctly.
Will Baack Ah, I see. My misunderstanding. I still havent used much of the crouch mechanic because it didnt seem that it was very well connected to combat techniques just yet. I will have to start trying to play around with crouch combos and see what happens.
+GrizzlyGreenGaming Funnily enough, if you crouch halfway through delivering a double-click "overhead attack", you give the blade a lot more momentum on the downward swing, making it hit harder and faster. Not very good vs shields but especially effective against an attacking enemy if they are attacking and you have a long weapon. (You can also combine an overhead swing with a sideways movement to make it slightly diagonal, though it's not very reliable)
Thank you for this guide, I just purchased this game last night and kept dying over and over lol. This guide has put into perspective how much patience I need to become more comfortable with the combat system.
Thank you! I am very happy to hear that this has helped you. I designed it this way for the exact reason you mentioned. It breaks it down into steps to help people understand the complexity of the combat system. I am very glad to hear its helping people.
I bought the game a short time ago, and went directly to the arena to fight, and i just loved it :D Of course most time I died but even then i was just amazed of cool and realistic the combat system is. I wasn't frustrated even once. And i learned fast, after short time I could already face almost all novice enemies and the first few expert enemies
Great beginners guide Grizzly! I'm new to the game and was feeling the frustration you mentioned. I watched a few tutorial vids, but yours is by far the most comprehensive and breaking it down into phases makes it easy to digest. Thank you Sir!
+DeckerDallasII I am very glad to hear that this was one of the better tutorials you have watched! This makes me feel happy and I appreciate it. Thanks for watching!
Saw some people talking about using crouch in swings to add momentum and such, felt I could add that if you crouch while you're doing an overhead, it seems to speed it up and give it more momentum.
+Coseo Frerichs I have noticed that as well. It does seem to speed it up but its hard to tell if the game actually adds more damage for that type of move. If you are lucky enough to strike a successful overhead then its almost a guaranteed kill or serious injury. I almost never time them properly.
+GrizzlyGreenGaming I've found the best time them to start an overhead is just before you think the enemy is going to attack or move towards you whilst backpedaling, so you catch them during their startup. Also, if you time it right you can strafe and even turn your body to catch their leg if they try sidestep the swing. Still, its a hard move to time, and if you don't abandon the swing in time its easy to punish on a miss, especially if you further commit by crouching. Also, I dunno if you made it that far so I won't go into detail, but there's a specific enemy in the 4th area of the story mode where I could imagine crouching being particularly helpful. But most people don't try to fight that one anyways, even though its completely possible to take it down, simply because of how terrifying it is.
Very well done. I've been thinking about making a combat tutorial myself and this is exactly the format I had in mind. But you already did it very nicely, hats off.
+Whats There Well thank you very much! I encourage you to make a tutorial still. Many people need as much help as they can get and the more videos out there, the better chance people have of finding the help they need. There are many formats and teaching techniques you could use without exactly copying someone word-for-word. I look forward to seeing what you come up with! Thanks for watching!
Not sure if it's been mention already but since I'm late to the party, there is now also a lunge attack you can do by holding down alt before swinging. It definitely adds a new dynamic to the combat and I've managed to secure some cheeky one shot kills by stabbing my opponent in the face with my sword right in the beginning of s fight as he closes in for his opening attack.
Even after over 50 hours of playtime I never managed to beat the Novice arena even once. Not even 2 hours after I watched this video and I've already beat Expert!
+andraip That's awesome! I am glad to hear that this guide helped you better your skills in that game. Its good to know that it has become useful to people. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment!
I somehow i got to win novice and expert in the same day Ps. I take a few try to successfully beat both arena Fun fact. To spell successfully you have to spell succ first
+JohnVonWankTank Thanks for the update! I think when I made this video there was no stabbing feature in-game yet as it was still very early access. Thanks for the hint!
In the Arena, I feel fine. But in the main game, my character moves like a drunk. Maybe because of the clutter, maybe because the early weapons are not sharp. I don't know.
+CaesarTheCzar It is quite different in the the main game. The corridors are way too narrow and there is not enough room to move around at all. I do agree with you on that.
I had a very simple problem which you didn't explain in the beginning of this video (but after 05:10 min you just mentioned it for few seconds!!) "How to engage to the combat?" answer: press TAB and that is it! you can swing sword or mace or whatever you have... thanks though for the guide
+Ardalan H Thats a good find and is something I overlooked. Thanks for bringing that up. I may make an annotation pop-up near the beginning of the video that explains that. Thanks for watching!
Just got this game and i'm really liking the idea of it.. but i suck at it.. (which is why i'm here to learn) At the outset i feel like this games combat system (where it tries to mimic physics) doesn't seem to work as well as i had hoped it would when played with a keyboard and mouse combination.. Not giving up until i figure it out.. Love top down dungeon crawlers
+Gino Foogle I suck at it too! But, its all about learning and continuing to try. The combat is indeed a bit odd and not as functional as it really could be but its still really unique and you get that excitement when you pull off a really cool attack or perfect hit.
It looks like it's made for the Steam controller, I must say. I'm having similar issues, so am thinking of picking one up. It's an amazing combat engine, maybe even better than Kingdom Come's, but it's also amazingly tough. You don't want it to control like a tank as well. Which is how I'm doing, going from PS4 to... WASD. Or my interpretation of it..scrambles 'round, finds Tab [whew]...gets hit, looks unsuccessfully for reverse. Brave new plan; run away...[tries to find shift in the dark, this is the last we ever hear of Spandex Targaria.]
this game is great i got it today but damn its so hard to move while in combat and there is only the swing that works the other attacks are complete shit
You can obviously learn how to fight... _Or you know..._ *Rush the enemy with a shield and sword, stab their kidney and don't let them run away, DEUS VULT!*
this came leaves zero room for casual gaming. i am fine with this unique combat system. what i cant take is repetition. i can only wish this game add a save option. i know there are a lot of hardcore players who themselves a gamer. but business wise the game can reach out to more people with a save option. tired of perma death and restarting all over again and again. unique combat system and no save option? right now i consider money wasted. played for an 1.5hrs and died like 4 times and getting nowhere. just putting my opinion out there and i know the "disagreements" with my opinion already so don't brother cussing me out.
+hanwenzero the updates that come out recently are pretty dope. I haven't played single player but the arena changed a lot, you can now use multiple characters. If you create/hire a bunch of new guys you never have to use your main character so you can just upgrade the hired soldiers. I see where you are coming from, but I think they are trying to make a very realistic/unforgiving rpg!
Abilities I don't want to try arena because in single player you start with no equipment and fighting areas are small. but thanks for telling me the updates! will definitely check that out. I see other people having no trouble playing this game and it almost makes me ashamed of myself to keep playing xD.
"Welcome to Examina". Good start mate. Lol.
I had a lot of patience issues a few month ago.
Playing this game for a few weeks made somehow patient.
I am happy this game helped your life!
Same.
I might have missed it, but I think you forgot to include stab. You hold down Alt and right mouse button to stab.
Turning into swings, crouching on the downward chop, and dashing forward on a thrust greatly increase damage, same with following a swing through with the mouse cursor but keep in mind moving into an enemy's swing or thrust will greatly increase damage you take. It's a fun game once you figure it out, and not a bad basics tutorial good job.
you have no idea how much this video helped.. and with in a matter of a few tries in the practice arena. i can finally enjoy the game, because before i found myself getting frustrated with the combat physics because i couldn't quite get the hang of them, but now its awesome. thanks bro!
I am so happy to hear that this video is helping people. Its very frustrating at first and theres not much help in-game. Thanks for watching and thanks for the support.
It speaks volumes on how willing people are to actually study up on a unique game such as this. I bought this yesterday, and I've only got to the shield and axe wielding woman in Novice. I've already figured out most of what you explain here through trial and error.
The swings seem lame until you add movement to the characters body. I did discover one additional little nugget. Once you have the sword (all I know right now) drawn back, Start you left to right movement with the mouse and add A or D movement to the body. You will get huge velocity on the swing. When you miss, be ready for the sword to pull your body through the follow through though. It can spin you around, Add crouch C for leg sweeps and such. Brutal!
Thanks for making the tutorial dude. We can't let these youngsters have such a fantastic game go to waste because they can't/won't take time to learn it.
Will Baack Since I made this video, I have found the same huge velocity swing you speak of. With the two-hand, or any pole arm you find in the main game, when you perform the move you speak of you can actually sometimes hook the enemy and toss him across the floor on the follow through. Its so cool to find these little maneuvers as we progress. I have yet to sweep a leg though! People tell me it can be done so I must be doing something wrong or my timing is off.
Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching! These little bits of input viewers give goes a long way.
I don't mean a "sweep" as in they slam to the ground with the soles of their feet going up in the air, I mean a nasty side of the knee/shin hack that makes me cringe when it comes off correctly.
Will Baack
Ah, I see. My misunderstanding. I still havent used much of the crouch mechanic because it didnt seem that it was very well connected to combat techniques just yet. I will have to start trying to play around with crouch combos and see what happens.
At the very least you can make an opponent miss.
+GrizzlyGreenGaming Funnily enough, if you crouch halfway through delivering a double-click "overhead attack", you give the blade a lot more momentum on the downward swing, making it hit harder and faster. Not very good vs shields but especially effective against an attacking enemy if they are attacking and you have a long weapon.
(You can also combine an overhead swing with a sideways movement to make it slightly diagonal, though it's not very reliable)
Thank you for this guide, I just purchased this game last night and kept dying over and over lol. This guide has put into perspective how much patience I need to become more comfortable with the combat system.
Thank you! I am very happy to hear that this has helped you. I designed it this way for the exact reason you mentioned. It breaks it down into steps to help people understand the complexity of the combat system. I am very glad to hear its helping people.
I bought the game a short time ago, and went directly to the arena to fight, and i just loved it :D Of course most time I died but even then i was just amazed of cool and realistic the combat system is. I wasn't frustrated even once. And i learned fast, after short time I could already face almost all novice enemies and the first few expert enemies
+Atrenix you did far better than I did! Even now i get killed in the arena quite often and even more when doing the single player story.
the controls really helped man, together with this and my HEMA knowledge i managed to get to the expert practice without a real problem!
You are a saint. I went in blind and got destroyed over and over till i almost refunded. Im going to follow this guide and try again.
I’m happy you found this guide helpful. This game is super tricky to get the hang of.
Great beginners guide Grizzly! I'm new to the game and was feeling the frustration you mentioned. I watched a few tutorial vids, but yours is by far the most comprehensive and breaking it down into phases makes it easy to digest. Thank you Sir!
+DeckerDallasII I am very glad to hear that this was one of the better tutorials you have watched! This makes me feel happy and I appreciate it. Thanks for watching!
Saw some people talking about using crouch in swings to add momentum and such, felt I could add that if you crouch while you're doing an overhead, it seems to speed it up and give it more momentum.
+Coseo Frerichs I have noticed that as well. It does seem to speed it up but its hard to tell if the game actually adds more damage for that type of move. If you are lucky enough to strike a successful overhead then its almost a guaranteed kill or serious injury. I almost never time them properly.
+GrizzlyGreenGaming
I've found the best time them to start an overhead is just before you think the enemy is going to attack or move towards you whilst backpedaling, so you catch them during their startup. Also, if you time it right you can strafe and even turn your body to catch their leg if they try sidestep the swing. Still, its a hard move to time, and if you don't abandon the swing in time its easy to punish on a miss, especially if you further commit by crouching.
Also, I dunno if you made it that far so I won't go into detail, but there's a specific enemy in the 4th area of the story mode where I could imagine crouching being particularly helpful. But most people don't try to fight that one anyways, even though its completely possible to take it down, simply because of how terrifying it is.
Very well done. I've been thinking about making a combat tutorial myself and this is exactly the format I had in mind. But you already did it very nicely, hats off.
+Whats There Well thank you very much! I encourage you to make a tutorial still. Many people need as much help as they can get and the more videos out there, the better chance people have of finding the help they need. There are many formats and teaching techniques you could use without exactly copying someone word-for-word. I look forward to seeing what you come up with! Thanks for watching!
Not sure if it's been mention already but since I'm late to the party, there is now also a lunge attack you can do by holding down alt before swinging. It definitely adds a new dynamic to the combat and I've managed to secure some cheeky one shot kills by stabbing my opponent in the face with my sword right in the beginning of s fight as he closes in for his opening attack.
This hasnt been mentioned before and its not something I have tried out yet. Is it a lunging slash attack or is it more of a lunging poke?
+GrizzlyGreenGaming it's a lunging stab attack. It probably works better on swords and things that do piercing damage but you can do it on any weapon.
It's called a Thrust. Aim it using the red cursor, it's good to hit feet and legs against opponents with shields or right to the face for huge damage.
I am glad it helped you!
There is also a stab button if you didn't know, its alt plus left mouse click.
I did not know that. Thanks for the tip!
This is the first step to the best fencing game of the world that will come!
Even after over 50 hours of playtime I never managed to beat the Novice arena even once.
Not even 2 hours after I watched this video and I've already beat Expert!
+andraip That's awesome! I am glad to hear that this guide helped you better your skills in that game. Its good to know that it has become useful to people. Thanks for watching and thanks for the comment!
I somehow i got to win novice and expert in the same day
Ps. I take a few try to successfully beat both arena
Fun fact. To spell successfully you have to spell succ first
Press Shift key + attack to perform a thrust. That's in the controls settings menu.
If you hold left-alt on the keyboard when attacking you can stab with a weapon. I didn't know how to overhand thanks for the video!
+JohnVonWankTank Thanks for the update! I think when I made this video there was no stabbing feature in-game yet as it was still very early access. Thanks for the hint!
Thanks man, i was playing this game for 5 hours, and only can defeat 4 knight at novice practice.. now i defeated and completed expert practice
Congratulations! I am glad this helped you. It means a lot to me.
In the Arena, I feel fine. But in the main game, my character moves like a drunk. Maybe because of the clutter, maybe because the early weapons are not sharp. I don't know.
+CaesarTheCzar It is quite different in the the main game. The corridors are way too narrow and there is not enough room to move around at all. I do agree with you on that.
+CaesarTheCzar u can get a machete on the 2nd room
Oh, i jumped in and button mashed.. I learned how and got through the novice arena
alt+attack=lunge
if you chose side to attack (outer side/the inner side) and start attacking with another side, its looks like a feint
I had a very simple problem which you didn't explain in the beginning of this video (but after 05:10 min you just mentioned it for few seconds!!) "How to engage to the combat?" answer: press TAB and that is it! you can swing sword or mace or whatever you have... thanks though for the guide
+Ardalan H Thats a good find and is something I overlooked. Thanks for bringing that up. I may make an annotation pop-up near the beginning of the video that explains that. Thanks for watching!
*JUST WAITING FOR MULTIPLAYER OR CO-OP MODE ARENA OR THE STORY MODE bye have great time*
I love the iron stake...I prize its harmony.
"Welcome to EXAMINA" I'm sorry, I'll have to stop there.
Just got this game and i'm really liking the idea of it.. but i suck at it.. (which is why i'm here to learn)
At the outset i feel like this games combat system (where it tries to mimic physics) doesn't seem to work as well as i had hoped it would when played with a keyboard and mouse combination.. Not giving up until i figure it out.. Love top down dungeon crawlers
+Gino Foogle I suck at it too! But, its all about learning and continuing to try. The combat is indeed a bit odd and not as functional as it really could be but its still really unique and you get that excitement when you pull off a really cool attack or perfect hit.
+GrizzlyGreenGaming i see in weapons there is Thrust damage, I know how to slash and hit from the top, is there a way to thrust the weapon?
+Mark Camilleri Thrusting will be added later, probably soon, maybe the next update
to thrust, hold alt then left click (while aiming). Yes I'm a necro..philiac
It looks like it's made for the Steam controller, I must say. I'm having similar issues, so am thinking of picking one up. It's an amazing combat engine, maybe even better than Kingdom Come's, but it's also amazingly tough. You don't want it to control like a tank as well. Which is how I'm doing, going from PS4 to... WASD.
Or my interpretation of it..scrambles 'round, finds Tab [whew]...gets hit, looks unsuccessfully for reverse.
Brave new plan; run away...[tries to find shift in the dark, this is the last we ever hear of Spandex Targaria.]
most dangerous and cunning enemy in this game is the camera.
You're not wrong! LOL
Nice video grizzly! The new art looks great!
VexGaming Thanks for the art! It adds a bit more uniqueness and professionalism to the channel!
this game is like QWOP with combat
Very nice tutorial! I like it a lot! Great job and thank you!
+Андрей Давыдов Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
this game is great i got it today but damn its so hard to move while in combat and there is only the swing that works the other attacks are complete shit
Thanks GrizzlyGreenGaming, this helped me alot to improve my combat skills.
+EmpuGaming I found that using the space key helped alot with orientating the camera while in combat btw :)
Very nice and helpful tutorial.
By all means, brilliant.
Thank you very much!
Good job man.
+kylekrb1 Thanks! I am glad you appreciated it. Thanks for watching!
amazing guide thanks a lot you are awesome dude
The part I hate the most is the movement like it feels so awkward
Yes, very awkward. I agree. Its kind of an awkward game in general.
this game is awesome
I was so lost before this thanks lol
Thank you! I am glad it helped!
good stuff! thx for the help.
+stardust I am glad it helped you. Thanks for watching!
Nice guide bro !!
+Erik Gosselin Thank you! I appreciate that!!!
Great video. Just started Exanima but, good Lord, it's a hard game to get use to! This video has framerates of a potato though :/
Thank you! The video was recorded when the game was first released in early access and was done on a potato laptop haha.
You can obviously learn how to fight...
_Or you know..._
*Rush the enemy with a shield and sword, stab their kidney and don't let them run away, DEUS VULT!*
This is a perfectly valid tactic. I approve.
...DEEEUUUUSS VUUUULT
_Far from their land as they made their stand._
until you find skeletons. who have no kidneys to stab
too much noise in the mic.
game needs a lock on
this came leaves zero room for casual gaming. i am fine with this unique combat system. what i cant take is repetition. i can only wish this game add a save option. i know there are a lot of hardcore players who themselves a gamer. but business wise the game can reach out to more people with a save option. tired of perma death and restarting all over again and again. unique combat system and no save option? right now i consider money wasted. played for an 1.5hrs and died like 4 times and getting nowhere. just putting my opinion out there and i know the "disagreements" with my opinion already so don't brother cussing me out.
+hanwenzero the updates that come out recently are pretty dope. I haven't played single player but the arena changed a lot, you can now use multiple characters. If you create/hire a bunch of new guys you never have to use your main character so you can just upgrade the hired soldiers. I see where you are coming from, but I think they are trying to make a very realistic/unforgiving rpg!
Abilities I don't want to try arena because in single player you start with no equipment and fighting areas are small. but thanks for telling me the updates! will definitely check that out. I see other people having no trouble playing this game and it almost makes me ashamed of myself to keep playing xD.
hanwenzero You should come back to it!
this dude has big brein
This game sucks.