Not so good at sword fighting? Here are some suggestions

[Tom]

I posted this as a response in a thread on a much different topic, but it occurred to me that it might make a good topic by itself, if you're having trouble winning sword fights.

It's not that hard to learn how to fence successfully. You probably already know that the game automatically does a save named Arrival when you arrive at a port. At a port where you've found a criminal in a tavern, or the governor's daughter sends you off to fight her boyfriend, you can practice fencing over and over by just reloading that Arrival save.

Initially, focus on the defensive moves: the parry, the duck and the jump. Watch your opponent, wait for his move, defend against it, and see when you can quickly respond with a thrust or one of the bigger but slower slashing attack moves. The tavern fights are the best, because in a shipboard fight you lose crew members as the fight wears on, but in a tavern fight you can make it last as long as you want as long as you don't drive your opponent back to where the tavern girl can whack him. Once you're comfortably defending and responding with a riposte (a counterattack) when he's opened himself up, you can take a more active role in the fight.

The older you get, the slower you get, so to learn this most easily just start another game and select fencing as your skill. Then have at it. Before long you'll be mowing them down.

And a couple other things while you're learning: the rapier is the fastest weapon; I'd suggest that you use it yourself. The English soldiers fight with it too and can give you a tough fight while you're learning. Early on, look for an opponent who's using one of the slower weapons.

[voronin_mike]

Originally posted by Tom:

Initially, focus on the defensive moves: the parry, the duck and the jump.

Actually, it's wrong. You are usually better off with just attacking. Straight thrust is faster than other attacks and if the opponent attacks with it himself, you both just fence for a few seconds. The only thing which beats straight thrust is mid-level parry, but opponents usually start using them only after you use thrust several times in a raw. If you vary your attacks, you are mostly safe.
There are fights in the game where you need to parry so it's probably good practice to learn this early on - but in many fights this only leads to more losses in your crew (not necessary a bad thing if you want to divide the plunder soon).
Agree that rapiers are fastest, but for some fights (especially if you are outnumbered) you may need to bring heavier damage.

[Tom]

Actually, it's wrong? Nah.

Everyone develops their own style, after they master the moves and learn what works for them. But this is an approach to *learning*, and knowing how to deploy the defensive moves is an important part of your fencing toolkit. Offense is what wins the duel, but the defensive moves keep you alive against a strong opponent. Then as you age in the game and your moves slow down, those defensive moves grow more and more important.

The rapier? I've never seen an occasion when using a heavier and slower weapon was useful. And a pirate with a cutlass brings a smile to my face.