Lances in Warband = Garbage

[Nethog]

Well after using lances in vanilla and having a great time, I'm now playing Warband and they seem totally broken - impossible to aim them straight. Is this generally agreed by everyone or am I missing something?

[can1529]

If you are having difficulty with the lances, go to settings and change the lance difficulty to (automatic) or (easy), automatic is slightly easier than the (easy) option. Hope it helped.

[Tuidjy]

Ranked by effectiveness:
- lances on the hardest settings
- lances on automatic
- lances and spears used to thrust

[Nethog]

Ok I'll give automatic a try - even though it's less effective than the hardest setting if I miss 99.99% of the time with hardest, it is less effective than automatic!

[Tuidjy]

It's the other way around. The most effective way to use them is by thrusting with them. Get the timing right, and you get enough damage to kill anyone. In addition, you get a wider arc in which you can attack, a better attack rate, and a much better defense.

[Nethog]

Oh I think then this is different than vanilla right? I seem to recall reading that you should NEVER thrust a lance, instead rely solely on couched damage. What I am most annoyed at is the lance seems to have a mind of it's own and position itself randomly - why in earth did the devs code it this way? It should be simple - I move the mouse and the lance precisely moves with my mouse movement. I haven't checked my lance difficulty settings yet - now I am wondering if it is set to automatic? I'll check tonight.

[Vaulty]

Playing on automatic, lance is moving itself according to my mouse movement, can easily one shot nearly every enemy (unless I am behind them and chasing)

[Nethog]

I just checked and my lance setting was automatic. Vault Hunter when you use the lance do you thrust by pressing the mouse button or are you using a couched attack? As noted earlier I never use the mouse button with a lance.

[VeryFastPicket]

he means using the mouse button to actually attack with the lance instead of using the couched lance

[VMVXMK2]

What? Going stabby stabby with a lance is the most powerful ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ thing you can do in the early game!

[Nethog]

Well I tried all lance settings and I still find controlling the lance difficult for couched attacks. I will try stabbing it as well. To be honest I wouldn't normally use a lance but I was in a tournament and it seemed every round used lances, and afterwards I "rage wrote" this forum post :)

[Danny]

Thrusting the lance does requirre the right timing.
Which needs practice.

[Nethog]

Well I finally figured out the secret for how to control the lance for couched attacks! USE FIRST PERSON VIEW. Those of you that say you have perfect control of the lance in 3rd person view I don't believe you.

[ricklong]

The only time I couch a lance is in the arena on some opponent who isn't moving, and is looking the other direction, and even then you have to be careful to steer your horse so it doesn't have to stop from hitting another horse. I'm only doing it for the extra damage to level up Polearms, since a full-speed thrust usually does plenty of damage.

[Drinjanin]

Originally posted by Nethog:

Well after using lances in vanilla and having a great time, I'm now playing Warband and they seem totally broken - impossible to aim them straight. Is this generally agreed by everyone or am I missing something?

Yes, because in Mount And Blade and Mount And Blade - Warband riding physics work differently.
In Mount And Blade:
1.) Only practice lances feel heavy to handle when mounted and on foot. They have the weight.
2.) Spears, two-handed and one-handed weapons feel light when mounted and on foot. They don't have the weight.
3.) Horse's head is not an obstacle while changing the direction of the spear.
4.) When you take a swing with the lance and spear, you can freely change the direction of the attack until you hit or withdraw the move.
5.) When you take the swing with a one-handed or two-handed weapon the swing remains fixed in that direction until you hit, or withdraw the move.

In Mount And Blade - Warband:
1.) All lances, spears and two-handed weapons feel heavy to handle. They have the weight.
2.) Only one-handed weapons feel light when mounted or on foot. Only they don't have the weight.
3.) Horse's head is an obstacle like a collision detection. It makes keeping the spear in straight direction impossible. You always have to lean the camera opposite of the direction you are facing the tip of the spear or lance.
4.) When you take a swing with the lance and spear, you can not entirely freely change the direction of the attack until you hit or withdraw the move. The horse's head is an obstacle.
5.) When you take the swing with a one-handed or two-handed weapon the swing direction can be changed until you hit, or withdraw the move.

[elvendualwielder]

I've found they're significantly easier to aim in first person mode, one of the only weapons I do that with.