I’d just like to throw my 2 cents in on the combat in this game after 15 hours play time. Sorry if my points have been raised before by others - I haven’t read many posts here.
Duels
I think the combat system works really well for duels. It couldn’t really be more realistic, in my opinion. I’m no HEMA expert nor do I participate in HEMA, but I do spectate it fairly often. The wards the NPCs use and the attacks etc all seem really great for a duel. The enemy attacks cautiously and it all looks and feels pretty convincing IMO. Kudos to the devs for achieving the most realistic dueling experience I’ve ever seen in a game. It’s really, really good. Not just for us and the game, but also for this industry.
Fights against multiple enemies
Combat against multiple combatants seems to be the same as in a duel. The enemies advance slowly and cautiously all as though they were trying to duel me one on one. It would be better if perhaps the enemy that I’m targeting/attacking behaved in this way, while the others moved faster with flankling/encircling me as their priority, while attacking me more recklessly. They currently make no effort to flank. I’d expect them to be running/sprinting into position at least, instead of all approaching me directly from the front. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an enemy run yet.
I feel like this is more of an AI issue rather than a combat one.