I kinda often finish dudes in the arena with full health or very close to it (not pushing them out). In alpha 0.5 it was impossible but I think now it’s pretty balanced.
tips:
The only big issue I have is fighting against multiple opponents for that I suggest sprinting to switch between targets and go at the one you want to get then run off after a couple of strikes and repeat 
. (Pretty cowardly but it works)
The key to parrying parries is to not try to strike at all. Strike once, see if he blocks or parries then follow up if he blocks or takes it in, if he parries hit block calmly not immediately due to the stinking slow down effect. (eww…)
For combos I suggest writing them down on a paper so you can always take a peek. 
If you get hit well press and hold Q while backing off or if you can remember the rhythm you can try to parry by pressing Q.(bad button for blocking imo)
If you get stuck well…don’t 
prevent it by sprinting to known areas. Sprinting lets you disable lock on immediately so you can move freely.
Oh and don’t forget to try the new sword and shield combat it seems easier to fight like that.(I might be alone with that view)
edit: forgot to mention where can you write the combos down from: go to inventory/ click on player/ find the skills where it mentions sword and shield/ and press e to expand and z for more info. All the combos are there
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Those I great tips, I agree with all of them
I’m having an issue starting a fight in the arena with the beta version. Every time I try to fight, the screen goes black as if transitioning to the arena fight, then just hangs there. Has anyone else experienced this?
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Yes, it happened to me.
However I started new game as squire, went straight to arena, payed groshen, borrowed armor and picked slightly advanced opponent - this settings worked 100% time for me. Very advanced fighter however freezes the game almost everytime, rookie is hit or miss.
Interesting - I was playing as Jack of All Trades. I don’t quite understand how choice of skill set would impact performance, but I’ll have to try as the other options just to see what happens. Thanks!
It maybe doesn´t effect it at all, I just tried to give you the most accurate description of my situation which worked
Just whispering: in Mount and Blade Warband you control the the sight and direction of swing at the same time and it seems to work. Anyway I don’t think slashing direction would mean too much in a multiple opponent fight as you most likely lack the time to perform a combo. In 1vs1 it’s easy to keep the One opponent in sight and so one could pay more attention on the direction he swings from. Thanks for the answer, much love for thinking about what I said.
Well this happened to me as a squire . I think it’s because they started literally killing each other in and outside the arena and then looked for the culprit in and outside the arena. note: don’t loot dead guys when they see you cause there will be more dead guys
I would back this game if there would be intantkills/takedowns (if you surprise an enemy) and kill moves in the end of a regular combat. I dont mean simple stabs or strikes. Unconventional attacks dirty tricks and nice combos with gore and blood. Wish the same quality of animations as in other AAA games but in a realistic way. Mordschlag, come in the back of enemy and stab him, strangle, throatcuts and that stuff.
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Yes, agree on combos - they’re pretty, but totally useless.
Kick the guy in the teeth with your shield o pommel, but can’t kill him while he’s not defending… character just stops after combo instead of rushing in to finish the guy off.
Very frustrating, it’s like a sparring simulator - you stop before killing your opponent 
Also…I just watched the livestream of the bannerlord demo…and holy crap…it’s not as realistic as this game, but damn if it doesn’t look like they’ve done som amazing work animation-wise.
Link me please. I must watch this.
Well, I am finding the combat system quite immersive and as I get more and more used to it lots of fun.
It has the feel of historical fencing. I get to apply the same tactics and techniques with only minor modification:
- Understanding distance (melee range of you and the opponent) and how it changes with different weapon length is an asset. Once you know the distances, you can sit just out of distance (what George Silver called ‘wide distance’), from which you can launch attacks because each attack includes the footwork that moves you into distance. At wide distance you also have decent time to see the opponent’s attack and parry, or better yet step away (‘dodge’) just out of distance and then counter-attack!
- Attacking in true times (that is presenting a threat as you come into distance so you can attack in safety as your opponent has to parry or die) works because the physics system tracks your sword’s position and will cause it to collide with and stop an ill-advised and last minute counter-attack by your opponent.
- There is also no unrealistic anti-spam mechanic like say in Witcher 3 in which after a few attacks the enemy gets an automatic counter. Instead the system uses stamina, a more realistic limitation.
- It is worthwhile studying your opponent’s guard and changing yours accordingly because different attack directions seem to work better or worse against different guards.
As for the first person animations, I think they are functional and convey the information needed. In a real fight you barely see your hands, arms or even the sword. You feel where they are instead. Of course you don’t have a sense of touch in a video game so the first person animations are a necessary compromise.
The combat system just needs a few tweaks (better lethality and faster recharging stamina, please), some bugs squashed and maybe some additions (I like the idea of finishing moves).
I think the animations are good but they need a lot of attention until the final release. They should smoother and better opimize for first personmview. The animations are good but not the implemention. There should also be great animations for unlocked attacks and the option to block. The fov is too small. NPC react too slow. And I agree would love to see instantkills or takedowns in some situations (npc has not pull his weapon) and also finish moves after regular fights.
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There is one thing I dislike from the combat system and that’s that it takes like 20 hits to kill a person but he only needs to stab you like 5 times (Witch…for someone without armor…is still…a stretch.) will this change? beacuse he does not have a helmet, or armor on his upper body yet, it still takes forever to kill him, while with me it will only take about 5-10 strikes? (I want both me and my opponent to have minimal strikes like maby 5 for each one of us? So that the person will die after 5 strikes, no matter where it is directed to (head or body.) ) I think…it would make combat much faster and make it feel much more realistic. because I like the idea of the combat system but as many have said, Animations, sounds and speed of the combat system need work. It takes like 15 mins to kill someone at this point. 0.0 and that’s easy level.
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I think that camera effects should definitely be toned down a bit and tweaked, especially when taking damage it can be very disorienting (I get that’s how it is irl) - the kinda narrow field of view doesn’t help it. I don’t care if there is instant kills, takedowns etc, but the basic functionality has to be smoother. Camera work in general is one area of the game that I find not that pleasing be it in fighting or dialogues. Hovewer I still think the combat system as a whole has huge potential, but it being an innovative approach that has not been replicated in 100s of games clearly has its own difficulties.
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Yes the way the camera works needs to be improved. It is also hard to get fluid moves when the framerate is stuck in the 30’s.
I would prefer some finish moves in the end of a fight. The player would get more feedback, would see more gore and blood, the fights would look more realistic. Takedown or instantkills/animations would be nice but just in very few cases. I think the combat looks better than in all other games. Animations during the combat have to look smother, in the third person perspective they are fine. Just from the first person view they need little fixes. (higher fov and better models)
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I have small problem with combat animations right now. When we are facing each other with my opponent, and I am trying really hard to spot start of his attack animation so I can parry it - I always press the button prematurely when opponent switches stances. This transition animations feel so sharp and unsmooth, that whenever he just switches stances, I immediately get a feeling that he is attacking me I know that its probably just me being crap at the game, but I can´t help it, that animation is just too jittery and fast
And about the issue of camera and its movement - I can see that this camera movement is kinda realistic, blurred vision is good and such, but the problem is that in real life you atleast have idea where and how are you moving, so you can orientate better. In game, we have no visual cue of what just happened, and where am I even looking, and it feels very disorienting. It could be maybe even solved by some marker showing us what happened. For example - where is our enemy currently, or which way is our head facing…
One thing that’s lacking in combat at the moment is feints. AI is not trying to feint an attack, which is the basic move everybody does even without training.