Combat

Melee combat in Gloria Victis is skill based, non-target combat with directional attacks and blocks.

This page is meant to be an explanation of the basic principles of melee combat beginning with the UI. Also see: Archery.

Check out these excellent combat guide videos too.

Combat Mode

Press F to enter combat mode. When in combat, health or stamina does not regenerate. Being in combat includes attacking, taking damage, and blocking. It is important to disengage from combat for regeneration. Combat mode is indicated by crossed swords icon.

Settings

It is important to find controls that are comfortable for you. There are a variety of options for keybinds, color selection, mouse sensitivity, indicators, mouse direction inversion and so on in the Options menu. Don't overlook settings when trying to improve at combat!

The Aiming Reticule

The white dot on the center of the screen. Keeping your reticule on your enemy will prevent them from getting a hit at an angle you cannot block. This advice sounds simple, but being very tight with your reticule will absolutely help your combat.

The Power Bar

Each weapon type has a unique power bar that is made up of yellow and red zones which indicate the strength of the attack. Stronger attacks deal more damage. Hold down the attack button to see the color distribution. If the attack is held too long, the bar will grow and then shrink and then end up with a black box. That will count as a weak attack.

An attack can be held at the maximum heavy attack (red) stage for a moment ranging between 0.4 seconds and 1 second, depending on the weapon. the power bar glows when it is at maximum attack power.

These color zones indicate the strength of the attack. Stronger attacks do more damage when they hit the opponent.

• empty = weak (this occurs after holding an attack "too long")
• yellow = medium
• red = strong

The amount of damage done to an enemy within each color zone is static, meaning that the same amount of damage occurs at every point within that color. Use this to more precisely time attacks.

The Mouse Indicator

Just above the hotkey bar, there is a radial indicator that shows which direction the mouse is positioned. The small dot within it indicates which way the mouse is moving. It can be facing left, right, Overhead (up), or stab (down). In this image, the mouse is in the overhead/up position and is close to moving to the right.

The Block Indicator

The block indicator is a crescent shape that pops up when there is an incoming attack. The indicator tells the direction but not the strength of the incoming attack.

The color of the block indicator can be changed, but by default an unblocked attack will show up red, while a blocked attack will show up bright green. This indicator is a vital part of combat awareness, and it may be more helpful to focus on in some cases than the animations of the enemy. Choosing which attacks to block and which to allow through is an important aspect of fighting. Not every attack needs to be blocked.

Directional Attacks

Melee weapons may be swung in 4 directions: from the left, from the right, overhead and stab. Directional attacks are determined either by mouse movement or by keybinds set in the Options menu.

Some weapons are best used in specific ways - spears are best for stabbing, for example - while others have more well rounded utility. Mouseover a weapon icon to see that weapon’s directional attack modifiers and damage type in each directional attack. Higher modifiers will result in more damage. See the weapons page to learn about each weapon's attacks and damage types.

In order to block attacks, players will need to counter with either a shield block or the appropriate directional block with a weapon.

Keybinding directional attacks - particularly the stab and overhead attacks - is highly recommended.

Attacks may be chambered (parried) instead of blocked.

Holding

Holding is the act of queueing up an attack and then not releasing it at the expected time, making the enemy think there is an opening for him to strike or throwing his timing off. Each type of weapon can be held at full status for a small amount of time. When the weapon is fully charged, the outline of the power bar will glow red for the duration of the hold time. The weapon can continue to be held after the glow fades, but the attack will be weak.

Hold times

• Daggers: 0.4s
• 1h weapons: 0.75s
• 2h swords: 0.75s
• 2h axes: 1s
• 2h hammers: 1s
• 2h spears: 1s

Feinting

Feinting is the act of queueing up an attack and then not attacking. This can be done by switching to a block or by using the "Cancel attack" key. Feints cost 5 stamina.

Sound Feinting

Sound feinting is the result of queueing up an attack and canceling it at the moment when its sound still plays for the opponent. This can cause the opponent to react to an attack which does not actually occur.

Directional Blocking

Weapons have a much smaller blocking angle than shields and must intercept the attacker’s swing at the proper angle in order to effectively block.

There are 4 directional attacks, but there are only 3 directional blocks: Left, right and center. Center block will block both overhead and stab attacks. Blocks are executed by mouse movements or keybinds.

Directional blocking with a weapon can provide excellent coverage for skilled two handed fighters. Many players find it especially helpful to keybind their blocks, but especially the center block.

Attacks may be chambered (parried) instead of blocked.

When using a shield to block, there are no directional blocks, just a single block with a wide angle of protection.

Special Moves

There are a few special moves that can impact a fight.

Chamber

The attack bar's chamber indicator can help you more reliably chamber your enemy.

Chambering is the act of interrupting the enemy’s attack with a counterattack. This will cancel their attack and enable you to deal damage. To chamber, begin a weapon swing that mirrors your opponent’s just as they are about to release their swing. There will be an audio indicator and "chamber" will appear on screen when you successfully chamber an opponent. It is also possible to chamber with a shield bash, because a shield bash is an attack. Shield bashes can also be chambered by opponents.

Kick

Kick is bound to Q by default. A kick is a short range attack that does not deliver much damage on its own, but it will stun or stagger an enemy that is blocking, providing an opportunity for another attack. It is not advised to kick a player who is backing away. Kicks are costly in stamina.

Shield Bash

Shield Bash is the leftmost skill on the bottom of the abilities tree, and gives players the ability to swing their shield like a weapon and hit an enemy for a small amount of damage and stagger or stun them for a moment. Players without this skill cannot shield bash. There is a short cooldown to prevent spamming and stunlocking enemies.

Hold down RMB and then click LMB to perform a shield bash. It is not possible to keybind this ability.

Shield bashes are directional attacks and can be done from the left, right, overhead or stab motions. They are all the same speed, but the stab attack is a bit harder for enemies to easily see because the shield does not physically move around as much. Shield bashes can be used to chamber enemy attacks.

Shield bash can be used to chamber an enemy's attacks, but a shield bash can also be chambered.

Stun

Stuns are the result of being kicked while blocking or being shield bashed. When stunned you are immobilized and cannot block or attack. If you find yourself being stunned a lot, you're probably holding up your block too long, too often. Remember, you don't *have* to attempt to block everything.

Stagger

A stagger allows the player to move but not attack or block. The top-tier ability "Unstoppable" changes stuns to staggers. Swinging a weapon with an empty power bar will result in a stagger if that attack is blocked.

Ally Damage Debuff

Ally damage occurs when you swing your weapon through your allies. Notification highlighted in yellow.

Hitting an ally with your weapon before hitting your enemy greatly reduces your damage on the enemy.

When you swing your weapon through an ally player in order to hit an NPC enemy or player, you will receive the ally damage instant debuff. This has 2 effects:

1.) Reduces the damage of that swing by 70% for 1 handed weapons. Swinging through an ally first, before hitting an enemy with a 1h, looks like this:

• • Ally >> Enemy = None >> 30%

2.) consumes a "stack" of cleave on 2 handed weapons. If you have 5 points in the Reaper ability, you can hit 3 enemies with 1 swing. However, hitting an ally consumes one of your cleaves, so you can then hit 2 enemies with that swing. You can potentially swing and hit up to 3 allies and and up doing no damage to any enemies because all the cleaves were absorbed by allies.

Here is a comparison of weapon damage between a "clean" cleave which hits 3 enemies, and a cleave which hits an ally:

• Enemy >> Enemy >> Enemy = 100% >> 60% >> 30%
• Ally >> Enemy >> Enemy = None >> 30% >> 30%

You do not technically have to hit "through" your ally, if you simply hit too close to them you can still receive an ally damage debuff. The "bubble" of where ally damage can occur around you is quite large.

To avoid the ally damage debuff, allies should stand apart from one another and use weapon movements that do not intersect with other allies.

"Ally damage" does not cause harm to your allies. It reduces your own damage. Take care to stand out of your allies' way so they can get clean hits for max damage, too.

13 Mass Combat Tips for New Warriors

Open world siege style combat can be fast paced and the tide of battle can turn at any moment. Communication with the party and knowing your own role are keys to success. Mass combat has a big learning curve. Don't despair if you fall a lot in your early days or get caught out of position, or don't know how to use something, or what to do.

1. Know that defending a location is easier than attacking it. You can defend with fewer people than the attacking force and still win the battle. You will have guards, ballistas, boiling oil, and doorways on your side.

2. Hold W for the win. A relentless force pushing forward will often break the morale of an enemy group. Once they are pressing S, they are losing and you are winning. Watch out for "fake retreats" by the enemy though!

3. Don't chase shieldmen. A shieldman will be happy to draw off 3 or 4 of your teammates and have you banging on their shield for several minutes wasting time and splitting up your party.

4. Stay tight with the party! If you over extend, you're going to get caught in a bad place and quickly find yourself surrounded with enemies. Read party chat and look for X's on the map to know where to go.

5. Know bait when you see it. Enemies will try to lure you out and pick you off. After you fall victim to this a few times, you'll get the hang of it.

6. Stay grouped up! Don't "trickle in" to a siege. If you look at your map and your party is strung out like a pearl necklace across 2 miles of territory, you're probably gonna have a bad time!

7. Prepare for the long haul. Bring TENTS, BANDAGES, and BARRICADES with you to every fight. Don't come hungry, you'll be weaker. Share your supplies with allies. Tents give you a respawn which may be much closer to the battle than the nearest flag.

8. Know your role! What are you built to do? Do that! If you're a tank, it's not your job to be trying to rack up kills. If you're a medic, you need to be alive to rezz your friends, so stay safe!

9. Use terrain to your advantage. Create chokepoints, use the high ground, make the enemy waste stamina getting to you.

10. Manage your stamina and health. One of the biggest reasons people fall in battle is they ran out of stamina to attack, block or sprint with and they just get shredded. Use consumables to buff your health, stam and regen. It's ok to run off to heal. Get somewhere safe.

11. Know when and how to retreat. Sometimes its better to quit while you're ahead. Sometimes turning tail and running is the right way to get out, and sometimes a more measured retreat is better. Retreating poorly can cause a lot of your teammates or you to get caught and killed trying to extricate. Watch party chat carefully. If experienced folks think the fight is not winnable, they will try and get people out safely together.

12. Having good logistics is important. People running siege equipment like catapults and rams, and everyone having tents set up can make a huge difference.

13. Change targets frequently. This isn't an epic final movie scene where the main character squares off with the villain. This is, for the most part, a wild brawl, and getting hits in on as many enemies as possible and not letting yourself be a focused target is more beneficial than focusing on one guy.

Also see: Weapons | Armour | Character Statistics | Video Combat Guide | Ally Damage Debuff