How to fight in Melee Combat

A guide for playing Melee characters in Dark Messiah. Has combat tips and skill/equipment help.

1. Striking First/Maintaining Distance

Always try to land the first blow with a power attack, as this can stagger most human opponents and leave them vulnerable to a tactical strategy where you strike, move back, and strike again. Once you have made the first strike, moving out of range allows you to prepare a power strike without fear of taking damage from their attacks. After they are hit with a power attack they will be stunned for a precious short amount of time, leaving them open to a flurry.

2. Hybrid Flurries

Early on your attacks will lack punch due to a combination of enemy armor, lack of the Strength skill, and weak weapons. To get the most damage in when an opportunity to power attack shows itself, strike with two weak flurries and a power attack. To do so, you should hold the attack button down as soon as you are making the second swing. If timed right, this will both stagger the opponent and do a little more damage to him overall. If you have the dexterity for it, you can try adding in kicks and jumping strikes for even more devastating results.

3. Kicking

Kicking is a mainstay of melee fighters in this game for many reasons: the first is that it can interrupt nearly any melee attack and leave the enemy open to a counterstrike, the second is that it synchronizes well with your melee attacks because of the lack of stamina cost with weapons, and the third is the most important: it can be used in most stages to score an instant kill using the environment around you. Most of the time kicking will only result in an enemy staggering back, but in these situations it will throw the enemy onto their back:

Being staggered (swaying around, limping, making groaning noises)

Standing between you and a physics-enabled object (furniture, crate, any moving prop)

Standing next to a lethal environmental entity (heights, spikes, fire, water, etc.)

Getting up from being knocked down (throw a prop, kick them as they try to get up, and impale them for an easy kill)

4. Defending Yourself

This guide has been mostly offense, but this section will show you the defensive part. Fighting in Dark Messiah requires you to pick your battles, but sometimes you have to take on superior odds. To accomplish this, you should try to:

Maneuver so that only one enemy is attacking you at a time (put objects between you and ranged attackers, circle around enemies so that a line is facing you)

Block as soon as you see the enemy move to attack (this can have the added benefit of pushing them back with a well executed block)

Hamper mobility by fighting in clustered environments (e.g. around furniture, corners, in hallways, etc.)

Seek high ground whenever possible (this may also allow your kicks to knock them down if on stairs for example)

5. Equipment and Skills

Equipment is easy: you don't have to choose between items like wizards or rogues.
Weapon: The progression should probably be Shortsword-->Longsword-->Cleaver-->Dragon Sword to maximize damage, as special qualities won't help you or will be circumstantial (except for the Earthfire Sword if you find it)

Ring: Rings don't have a great effect on the game, but I usually go with the ring of might because I am always fighting.

Shield: If you choose to use shields the progression should be easy, just pick up better shields when you find them.

Armor: Again, this is easy as you only have one line of armor to obtain.

Chainmail is found early on in the blackguards' barracks (in the caves under the warehouse.) Requires 1 endurance.

Platemail is found in the collapsing cliff-face house in Temple Island (behind the barrel.) Requires 2 endurance.

Shadowsteel Armor is found on top of a shack in chapter 7 (when you take the cart down to the stone structure, go around the corner and scale the wooden shack you see.) Requires 3 endurance.



Skills are fairly straightforward: you will use almost every combat skill in the game save for a few.
Paying for all skills is a bit harder however as skill points seem to come agonizingly slowly for you, so here is some help:

You should have Endurance 1 by the time you are in the caverns underneath the Warehouse early on (to use chainmail armor)

You should work towards Strength 2 while on Temple Island (to use the cleaver and do good damage)

You should have Endurance 2 by the time you are exploring the cliff-face buildings (to use platemail armor)

Strength 3 is good by the time that you are in the crypts but at this point there is little need to plan your skill point usage.

The last thing is to make sure you have Endurance 3 by the time you are in Stonehelm so that you can use Shadowsteel Armor against the ghouls.

Hopefully this guide has helped you to fight in melee effectively.

[Nanach]

Thank you:) I never try holding anything in, I must remember that .
^^

[Osse Rota]

the "Special" thing in menu will be revealed to you later in the game.

A power strike is when you hold the mouse button. If you just click it, you will make a light swing. If you hold it, you will prepare for a powerful attack. When you release the mouse button, your will do a much stronger swing.

[Nanach]

Yo. What is Power Strike? Nothing happens when I press the button (the one mapped "special attack" in menu?) What is the yellow stuff on my left beside the health bar? Do that need to be at a certain point? It goes up and down when I fight.

[TheUnbeholden (ChainBreaker)]

Heres a interesting item FAQ: {LINK REMOVED}https://www.neoseeker.com/dark-messiah-of-might-and-magic/faqs/142413-dark-messiah-mm-enemy-item.html

[Medic]

Naga Sword is best sword

[Darqfalls]

Alright, nice, thanks.

[Osse Rota]

The Earthfire Sword is smithed like the Longsword, but with a flamegold bar instead of a steel bar. A gold bar is hidden (but also fairly easy to find) in the ship level. If you're too late for that one you can find a second bar in the level where your gear is taken from you.

[Darqfalls]

Gotcha, alright.

What does the Earthfire Sword do? Where do I find it?

[Osse Rota]

I don't find Souldrinker very useful in my playthroughs, mostly because Strength 3 is either acquired early in the campaign (in which case you'll want damage because you're vulnerable in combat from low endurance) or acquired late in the campaign (because you've picked up other skills and most likely the Earthfire Sword). Hold on to it for now, and try it out when you get Strength 3. Earthfire does mad damage against spiders and the Dragon Sword is just the best sword due to its raw damage (before its insane Undead damage comes into account) which I find greatly outweighs 30% of the health from weaker attacks.

[Darqfalls]

I feel like Souldrinker would be pretty useful, but of course I don't know what the Dragon Sword or Earthfire Swords do, so

How right am I? Should I hang onto Souldrinker until I can use it, or just trash it for inventory space (not that inv space is really a problem)