Overheads and Thrusts?

[Incomparable Groan]

This has been gradually getting on my nerves, and I've finally reached the boiling point.

How does the overhead and thrust attacks work in game? I know that they're there, because I've managed to use a few, and I've had enemies use them on me as well. What I simply don't understand though, is what triggers them? I've been trying to experiment a bit, using movement/attack combination, rush, crouch and playing around with the aim and so far it appears to be completely RNG. My character will continuously swing in the same default vertical pattern while I'm trying to get around a shield, only to do an extremely slow overhead attack and miss, when I want to land a quick slash when a mace wielder is dancing around doing their thing. Other times, my character will start an encounter by thrusting their sword behind the enemy's weapon or shield, and then making a quick vertical slash to essentially one-shot them.

I'm going to assume that there is an actual pattern to this and I just haven't figured it out yet, or it just haven't been successfully implemented yet due to early access. Because needless to say, I'd be pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ surprised if a game that boasts being a "realistic combat simulator" relies on RNG attacks.

Feel free to post your own experiences with these type of attacks (Or other types of attacks for that matter), and if you've found a reliable way to make them happen.

[Hariwulf]

Double click and hold for overhead.

Is explained in options. In the Guide section.

[KleinGulo]

Read the maunal man.
Double click for OH attack. According to the roadmap thrusts are not implemented yet.

[Vold]

This guide may help you as well:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=436028377

[Incomparable Groan]

I did read the manual once upon launch, but must've forgotten it mentioned overheads at all. So that solves the mystery of the Overheads. My miss.

Perhaps I should clarify that I don't have problem fighting in the game. I've cleared what I believe to me most of the early access campaign (2 dungeons, I've heard talk about 3, so shouldn't be that much further) and cleared the beginner arena. So while I appreciate the tutorial, most of it are things I'm well aware of, thank you.

What I want to get to the bottom with is the seemingly random attack responses. I don't appreciate that my character does not respond in a reliable manner. At times it feels like I'm just watching my character, rather than controlling it.
An easy way to test this is to enter the arena, then just stand in one spot and hold the attack button. You'll soon notice that your character will respond differently to attacks and movement of the enemy. Some appropriate, some utterly ridiculous to the point where you wonder why you bother releasing the left mouse button at all, and some that make you scratch your head thinking "Who thought this was a good idea?". The point is, I cannot be certain that my character will do what I want it to do when I press the left mouse-button. I can be certain it will attack, sure, but the length of the attack and power seem to vary.
An example that I brought in the opening post is when my character will thrust their sword behind the enemy's weapon or shield, and then proceeding to one-shot them. There's a couple of other examples I've noticed with locking unto shields, to seemingly leave them open for an attack, and so forth. It seems to be happening more often when sidestepping, but I've also had it happen while standing perfectly still. So in other words, I've not found a reliable way to duplicate it.
Am I to assume that I'm the only one that've noticed this, or even had it happen at all?

[Vold]

You dont control the character directly, remember that combat is run by physics and procedurally generated animations based on movement simulation. Again, I suggest you to look at that guide I linked before and at least look at the first 4 minutes of it, for you to understand how the mouse pointer and WASD work. :)

[USER404]

The combat have some random variables on it like the height of the swing, but saying that you character control itself is something else. On the other hand i see where you come from because i felt the same way at the beginning. But little by little i could also feel i made good movements based on my skill and no in my luck. The fact it felt like i was the one training and not my character kept me going.

In my opinion the game takes good advantage of what the current generation of controllers have to offer. If a better system come up one day, i have no doubts the devs would swipe off those little random variables.

[[Alpha]-0mega-]

Honestly you have a lot of control over how your character fights. the only thing that's not reliable is the exact angle of the swing, but the main direction (left / right/ overhead) are perfectly controlled.

Only thing I don't like is the way shuffling around during combat doesn't always reliably work. Sometimes it feels like I'm playing a turn based fighting game where my character takes one or two steps every 'turn'.

[Incomparable Groan]

Originally posted by USER404:

The combat have some random variables on it like the height of the swing, but saying that you character control itself is something else. On the other hand i see where you come from because i felt the same way at the beginning. But little by little i could also feel i made good movements based on my skill and no in my luck. The fact it felt like i was the one training and not my character kept me going.

In my opinion the game takes good advantage of what the current generation of controllers have to offer. If a better system come up one day, i have no doubts the devs would swipe off those little random variables.

Personally I've got to say that my impression is the opposite - where it felt really tight to start with, but the more I've been experimenting the more I've gotten the impression that there's a lot of things that seemingly just comes down to dumb luck, but it could be because I'm just not fond of random variables in a game like this.

I might be making the problem a bit bigger than it actually is as it's "only" 2-3 swings out of 10 where my character will do something completely unexpected, and perform in a way that does not consist with previous patterns (can be good or bad, the main point is that it is an unexpected move that does not consist with previous behavior). It's not really *that* big of a problem for most people I suppose, but in a game where the character control is paramount, it's enough for me to be off-putting.

I will, of course, be continuing the game, and continue experimenting with character control and movement, but I just figured I should share, and see what other people's impressions have been.