Can't win a single battle

[AreYouJoking]

Every single time I get attacked by bandits or have to fight to complete a quest, I just can’t win. And it’s not because of a lack of effort. I’ve wasted 27 hours of my life trying to figure it out. To all those who will suggest training with captain Bernard, he’s never there, and I’m still only in the Neuof (or however you spell it) quest. I can’t train with anyone. And I can’t gain experience through fights because I never live through them. If there’s two or more people in a group, while I focus on one, the other kills me. If I try to back away, the archer kills me. If I try to stay on horseback, I get knocked off. My equipment is already really good (The armor’s worth at least 6,000 g’s). I can’t "Just shoot them in the face with a bow) because my strength’s crap.

I’m not to the point of giving up yet because I spent my money on it and I at least want to enjoy the story. If anyone has any suggestions, I’d really appreciate it.

7/20/19

Thanks for everyone who replied. I managed to kill the two bandits at night while they were sleeping. Just gave them a few hits with my sword. Then I trained with Bernard. And now I just use master strikes or Chain strikes.

[ilya1502]

There are tons of threads like this with a lot of advice on the subject. Try to search.

Fighting multiple opponents is never easy. It requires tactics. Move so that they never surround you, but instead form a line so that the second enemy is always behind the back of the one closest to you and the third is behind his back and so on. Move so that your foes always block their own archers: cover behind their backs and archers will end up shooting down their buddies. Switch from walk to run (caps lock) to move faster. When on horseback, never stop. Canter around, applying shock and hit-and-run tactics. It will require some skill to aim your strikes, but it’s not rocket science.

If you’re not very skilled, don’t rush to attack. Fight in defense. Wait until they are just about to strike and then parry. They will clearly telegraph the attack, just watch for their swords. As soon as they go back, press your block.

You can switch your lock between opponents with the TAB key. Or if you just want to unlock, press and hold the middle mouse button.

P. S.: Neuhof. Pronounced as Noy-Hoff.

[MattiasT1565]

Definitely lots of combat tips all over this board.
First and best lesson I learned was to watch your stamina. You take major damage if you let it get low by fighting and flailing away too hard at the enemy. Back off, block, attack, back off, etc.
EDIT-
Get some juice in you before a big fight - Buck’s Blood Potion and Lazarus Potion. Aqua Vitae also helps.

[Daniel-the_Bard]

Make yourself Aqua Vitalis potions and drink them whenever in combat. The potion halves the amount of damage that enemies deal you. Also, get yourself some lockpicking skills and steal some better armor if you can’t afford any yet. Whenever you fast travel, make sure you’re wearing plate armor. And use a mace against armored targets, but a sword against unarmored ones. Also, use master strikes. Press attack and block as soon as the green shield shows up on the screen and you’ll deal an un-blockable attack to your enemy.

If you have any other questions, let me know. This game has a really steep learning curve, but is immensely rewarding. Best of luck.

[Basillicus]

You can train with bow in many ways. Hunt some animals in the forrests to try archery contests in towns. IMO in the beginning of the game archery from horseback is they easiest way to deal with multiple - or strong - enemies. Wait until they come close, shoot arrow in the head and then run back until you have new arrow ready.

And stay away from swords, they are pretty much useless unless you have very high skill level, or there is only one enemy. Mace is the best melee weapon, it will deal massive damage especially when you hit in the head, and it does not matter if the enemy has armor or not.

[AnnaHintz]

I totally suck at combat too… good fortune I was not born in that time, I would probably ended up dead while going outside to outhouse. So anyways, I run around like squirrel and spamming arrows. And regarding the quests where you need to kill bandits in the camps, well, I wait for the night to fall and slaughter them while they sleep. Yes, I know, I’ll have trouble later on in the game

[glansky]

The game can be a test patience at times. Weapon selection is a important factor, well at least for me. I am terrible with the sword and get injured or killed more often than not. I am a demon when it comes to the mace and after a lot of practice shooting rabbits I am proficient with the bow. I would suggest that you try not complete quests and take time to explore and until skills improve, avoid combat whenever possible until your skills improve. It is a fun game and enjoy game instead of trying to win the game.

[kaiman]

All the advice I can give is: be persistent and keep on trying. Personally, I suck at combat in the game, and when possible try to avoid it. However, I am now at a point where simple low-lives (like the bandits you are to hunt for Captain Bernard after Neuhof) or other riff-raff on the road goes down easy, even in larger groups. But if I see more than a single foe in armor, I’ll run for it.

Taking part in the tournament, losing 2 of 3 rounds against the first opponent, I noticed that fighting with a (long)sword for some reason is incredibly difficult to master (for me or Henry at his level). Shortsword and shield was manageable, but it’s really vital to keep an eye on stamina. I’ve not yet tried any blunt weapons, nor have I trained with Bernard after the tutorial. So I assume I could improve my chances against armored enemies, but running works well enough for now .

Btw., once you get to the battle of Pribyslavitz, it’s relatively easy to gain a few levels in combat by hacking away at the back of enemies while they’re engaged with your own soldiers. And don’t forget to bring a bow and some good arrows, too. You’re going to need them! Nobody says that Henry must behave chivalrous .

[glansky]

Remember all is fair in love and war……. There is no second place in combat to the death.

[Aradiel]

You can beat up the Skalitz refugees in the fight club in Rattay to get your stats up. The best time to train with Bernard is before you go hunting with Hans, but since you missed that, finish your quest to get Bernard back home. Then train with him.

[stridingshadow]

Generally try to train with Captain Bernard as soon as you can to get strength and agility to 10, defense to 12, sword and mace to 10 each. Mace and shield is good because with a bit of luck you’ll deal massive damage against fairly well-armored opponents. Footwork is very important, and you should avoid being surrounded. The most dangerous enemies are the ones with bows (some use piercing arrows which bypass your armor easily, use a shield to avoid getting shot, and try to keep other opponents between you and the archer) and polearms (they deal massive damage, have long range and can’t be riposted against with a master strike, you should definitely never allow them to blindside you, as well as try to stall combat until they drop the polearm and go for their sword).

Stamina is crucial, because it soaks up some damage. The less health you have, the less stamina you have, the less damage you soak, the easier you are to wound further. Don’t go into combat with low health. Always disengage when stamina is low, especially that enemies become more aggressive whenever this happens. If your regain normal stamina the enemies return to normal aggression levels.