How to beat adaptation?

[Crane Operator]

When you're going against the Savage Class who counters your frontal attacks, and they adapt to your stun move, what are you supposed to do to hit them? Mostly wondering for situations where there's no enviornmental assistance like fighting the WarLord inside the final room.

[Kid Meatball]

Turn his minions to followers. Summon your bodyguard. Shoot him in the face. Build might by fighting his followers, then use might moves on him. Change your skill set to get around his immunities. Pin him. Feed him to your mount. Flash past him then strike from behind. Get creative.

[viewport123]

I'm just beginning to properly study the game. See my proper research and assessment of game mechanics.

Before this, I was in holiday mood, and just did an almost-blind hack-and-slash.

Gotta say, this game is turning out to be quite a fine better-than-Dark-Souls treat.

Specifically, let's assume the captain is immune to pinning, immune to execution, arrow-proof, and has no Dazed By traits...

Glaive Rotations

More details in the post I pointed to above.

Vault with Hammer of Eregion (Freeze)

Try vault first, with Hammer of Eregion which freezes the orc right at the end of the vault. Note that the normal Vault won't give you enough time to turn around and hit his back, but you can still try.

Spectral Dash

If the captain has adapted to vault, use Waters of Lorien, which can never be adapted to by captains. This gives you enough time to turn around and hit his back. Also use this if the captain is Frost-Proof.

Distraction With Allies

You can dominate (brand) enemy grunts (or even captains) and have them try to distract the captain you're battling.

As usual, put the enemy between you and your allies. The captain you're fighting might keep his back to you.

Unfortunately, this tactic isn't always reliable. Berserker frontal defense will hit back if you fail to hit the berserker's back. The best use of allies really is just as a distraction so you can don't get hit from too many sides.

[Tal]

For Overlord fights where they seem to be getting the best of me, I summon a Graug and try to build up might on followers, turning the ones I can.

[BilvioSerlusconi]

Originally posted by NeonShadowz:

When you're going against the Savage Class who counters your frontal attacks, and they adapt to your stun move, what are you supposed to do to hit them? Mostly wondering for situations where there's no enviornmental assistance like fighting the WarLord inside the final room.

Literally the worst mechanic in the game. Lost a 20 min fight because the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ was a defender and adapted two times. I couldn't hit him frontally, couldn't punch him and even dodge over him. I tried to brand 10-11 different orcs but they were killed in no time. Incredibly frustrating.

[viewport123]

Originally posted by texdade:

Originally posted by NeonShadowz:

When you're going against the Savage Class who counters your frontal attacks, and they adapt to your stun move, what are you supposed to do to hit them? Mostly wondering for situations where there's no enviornmental assistance like fighting the WarLord inside the final room.

Literally the worst mechanic in the game. Lost a 20 min fight because the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ was a defender and adapted two times. I couldn't hit him frontally, couldn't punch him and even dodge over him. I tried to brand 10-11 different orcs but they were killed in no time. Incredibly frustrating.

My answer here has been neatly incorporated into my guide.

The OP was asking about a Savage (berserker) class captain. Glaive works.

The most frustrating captains to fight are the shielded ones (defender types). There is literally no time to waste after you spectral dash through him (no captains ever adapt to the dash). There will be a very short stun, during which (right after your dash) you must Elven Light Freeze. Only then, can you start hitting the captain from behind.

Poison works too, but you must wait for the captain to double over and puke. Fire always works, since you can always hit any burning captain (even Agile ones). Note that higher Hit Streak means your normal attacks have a greater stun effect, so you can actually stun-lock a captain (once you get the 1st hit in) perpetually with normal attacks if you have a high Hit Streak.

It's not that the adaptation game mechanic sucks; it's actually brilliant and makes the gameplay require actual human smarts (I sometimes do wish to turn off my brain and play mindlessly). The real "problem" (if you can call it that) is the shielded captains. Is this bad for the player? Nope.

Think about this rule: The harder a captain is for a player to take down, the better the captain's survivability. Recruit defenders, and you'll see them last a very long time in Endless Siege modes (where I initially lost 15 out of 18 captains quite consistently). I currently even have an Agile captain with a shield; now that is a true tank.

Shielded captains can't climb walls (unless you give them caragor mounts). If you're using them in Online Conquests, make sure they're Fire-Proof and Arrow-Proof. And be ready to face the 1st victory points (one in outer and one in inner) alone, if all your captains can't climb walls.