Hello all,
Its my first post. Firstly Id like to thank Warhorse Studios for the creation of this most wonderful game. Definitely my game of the year by far. Im a big fan. Thus far I have spent 39 hrs playing KCD. I am having a blast.
Despite this I have one complaint: master strikes. In summery a master strike is a perfect parry which is immediately followed by an uninterruptible counter strike. For the player it takes practice and skill to get the timing right, but really as you dont have to pick a direction and all you do is press one button its easier than normal blocking. For the AI to preform a master strike it is a roll of the dice (RNG). I feel master strikes leads to defensive boring turtle like combat. I will explain below.
When a sword is swung at a target (presuming the swing is in range) their are 5 possible outcomes:
- The sword hits the target dealing damage
- The sword is blocked by the target
- The target dodges and the sword hits noting
- the target parries the attack and can counter attack, which can be parried in turn by the initial attacker
- The target master strikes, thereby dealing unblockable damage to the attacker
For the player:
Outcome 1&2 are desirable, because with the right inputs you can still deal damage via a combo.
Outcome 3&4 are less desirable but even then you can exchange blows and parries and try to counter one another
Outcome 5 is undesirable, because the attacker takes damage.
There are two ways to achieve outcome 1 every time , on a attackers first sword swing, that is clinch followed by an attack, and to attack post master strike.
the problem arises when the attacker wants to try a combo. On their second swing which should follow immediately after the first, any of the 5 mentioned outcomes can occur (depending on what RNGesus decides), including outcome 5, which is when the attacker takes damage. So the reality of master strikes is: the player positions themselves perfectly, they input the combo keys in the right order and with the right timing, and despite the player doing everything they can do perfectly, on any stroke BAM masterstriked, player takes damage, player has to watch the slow motion thing which I found tedious after the 50th time. This results in a players ability to perform combos coming down to RNG deciding on the outcome of the swings, and RNG often results in the player taking damage. SO why would the player try??
So It is obvious to me that as a player, the safest, and therefore the best method to which conduct oneself in combat, which will reliably result in successful combat encounters, is to never attack and just either master stroke your way to victory, or clinch followed by a strike, as that way there is no risk of taking damage. Indeed I have bet Bernard this way many times.
With master strikes in place in its current form the game makes it undesirable to attempt combos, and i love including combos in combat. I get a real kick when I pull one off, and I feel like a badass. I have read posts on this very forum asking how to do combos from players with reportedly 100+ hrs in the game. They never learnt the combos because they didnt have to, because master strikes makes it undesirable to attack, and defense is so much safer. Even if you miss the master strike you’re gonna parry. Once you figure this out, why try to combo?
So I am currently in another TAB looking for a mod which disables/nerfs master strikes.
What I cant understand is who in warhorse studios thought master strikes (basically a quick time event) were a good idea. Why include feinting, combos, dodging and other techniques if “the best way” to play is master strike followed by regular sword swing.
Can someone please explain the logic behind master strikes to me? What are the pros to its inclusion in the game??
the only thing I can think of is someone who is bad at combat in warhorse studios complaining they couldnt beat the opposition and requested easier defense or something??? I honestly dont know.