Rekt's Holdfast Melee guide[UPDATED]

This is Rekt's guide to what is probably the most non-RNG, skill based part of the game that, whether you're a pub player or a regimental tryhard, you'll have to use many times.

Part 1: Setting your game up

Before you start killing n00bs you have to make sure your PC doesnt run Holdfast like a 90s toaster would and that you dont have to move a mile for your mouse to move a pixel

Video Settings:

Display:

Resolution: Lowering your resolution can save you a lot of FPS, though this does depend on the rig. If yours is mid/low tier i recommend going lower. Remember to switch your rez whenever you play a gamemode in which you require high awareness and vision(leading and artillery)

Options:

I recommend turning all of these off/low, as the game is still playable without them, and you get a slight FPS boost. Leave cannonball trails on if you either plan on using artillery or dont want to be wiped by a cannonball.

Advanced:

All of these can be turned off with no significant gameplay impact(however, your game will likely look much worse. You'll get used to it with time). LOD Quality should be turned up when operating a cannon.

Audio Settings:

Ambience: Turn down to 0. Only effects distracting background noise(and musicians. Possibly a bug)

Weather: Turn down to 0. Simply distracting.

The rest you should fine tune. I personally have all of them on 30-40, with master being 10-20, and voip being 100.

Game settings:

Mouse sensitivity:These should be fine tuned to whatever you like. You'll find whatever works for you with time and experience. Melee sensitivity is not affected by global sensitivity.

Melee combat:

Melee cam distance: I recommend max, and that is what most players use.

Same attack sensitivity: This needs to be maxed out. Make blocking more responsive.

Part 2: The basics

This is the stuff that anyone can do, you just need to know that it exists. Learning the basics will put you ahead of 90% of the community.

Defence

Defending in Holdfast is extremely straightforward. You have 4 block directions, which will be covered in pairs. All weapons can block in holdfast, except for the carpenter's axe, the sapper's tools(His sword can still block) and any of the tertiary DLC weapons.

Up and down block:

These are the 2 block directions you will be using the most, since all musket attacks will be one of the 2 and 50% of sword attacks are up or down.

Performing these is rather simple: Move your mouse in the direction you want to block. I.e. if the incomming attack is a down attack, you will have to move your mouse downwards, then click right mouse button to block it(The light around your crosshair indicates which direction you will block if you would block now). Same goes for an up attack. You have to block in the same direction as the incomming attack is in. Even if a down attack is aimed at your head, only a down block will block it.

Blocks happen near-instantenously and have a very slight grace period after being let go of. I recommend you practice these 2 blocks, as a lot of new players continuously fail to block the correct way due to bad mouse movement.

When learning and practicing block directions , instead of moving your mouse the "expected" amount of distance for an up or down block, you should over exaggerate the movemenent , moving your mouse to look down on the floor for down blocks and looking above the enemies head for up attacks.

As you improve your skill you will get better at blocking and the distance you move your mouse will be reduced.

Left and right block:

These blocks should only be utilized against a sword, and have no use otherwise.

Everything from paragraph 2 from "Up and down block" is true for left and right blocking, except that you need to move your mouse leftwards to perform a left block, and rightwards to perform a right block.

These 2 blocks do not need to be practiced much, and should be learnt automatically with experience.

Misc.:

Movement is another important topic, however there isnt really much to say about it, and its better learnt from experience. However, as a rule of thumb: Whenever your opponent starts attacking try to distance yourself away from your opponent, while also continuously facing said opponent.Reverse is true for attacking.

Offense

Offense by itself is pretty basic, and there is a lot to talk about it on basic levels.

Up attack:

Similarly to an upblock, this attack can be performed by moving your mouse up+pressing the left mouse button. Holding the left mouse button will cause you to hold your attack, however 99% of the time you should simply let go of it instantly. This attack is slightly shorter, but also faster, though the difference. is minimal.

Down attack:

Similarly to a down block, this attack can be performed by moving your mouse down+pressing the left mouse button. This attack too can be held, though the same thing applies to a low attack as to a down attack: You should rarely hold it. This attack is slightly longer, but also takes slightly longer to finish, though, as with an up attack, the difference is minimal.

Left and Right attack:

These attacks can only be performed by swords, and can be performed by moving your mouse left/right(left for a left attack, right for a right attack). These have no difference between eachother except for their swing direction. (This section may be expanded upon additional testing)

Additional notes:

Attacks have 2 phases: A windup, during which you cannot hit, and a "thrust" phase, during which your character will thrust his weapon, and can hit opponents. Attack also have a very small "linger" phase, where the bayonet isnt being thrusted anymore, however, it can still hit opponents.

There is a built in sensitivity lock for all attacks, however, by blocking and then attacking(pressing right mouse button->pressing left mouse button->letting go of right mouse button) we can bypass this lock. We will exploit this in the spinning section of the advanced part.

Dragging your attack too much(moving it around, spinning) will cause you to deal less damage.

While attacking your movement speed is slightly slower than when not attacking. On a basic level this shouldnt affect you too much, but if you're chasing someone only attack when you're sure to hit

Damage mechanics:

Attacks actually can deal different damage depending on where you hit and how you hit. We will quickly go over them here.(Note: We're talking about line infantry vs line infantry combat, which is the general competitive format)
Action Hits to kill
Upper body hit+no drag= 1
Upper body hit+drag = 2
Lower body hit+no drag= 2
Lower body hit+drag = 2

As you can see, hitting the upper body deals more damage than hitting the lower body, and dragging decreases the damage you can do. There isn't a lot more to talk about this, and so this section ends.

Part 3: Advanced melee

This is the more advanced stuff. The kind of things you'll rarely see on a public server but as soon as you join a melee server it will be everywhere.

Feinting

Feinting is really easy to perform. You simply start an attack, and then perform a block.(You cant press the left mouse button twice in a row) The one universal thing in all feints is that they all end with an attack, with the goal of killing your opponent.

There is no "set" feint type. You can simply switch between left and right mouse button. You can spam the right mouse button with a few left clicks. You will learn what works and what doesnt with time. Also feel free to plagiarize. See someone do a cool feint? Try it out yourself!

Anything beyond this point should only be practiced lightly untill you have mastered the basics.

Spinning

You probably remember about "bypassing the sensitivity limit". This little technique allows you to "spin" while attacking. I'm sure you too saw a helicopter of a player in game already.

In case you missed it, you spin by blocking and then instantly attacking. Spins will always get new players, though it will be harder to break more experienced ones.

You dont have to neccesarily do full spins either. A "half spin/third spin" is performed by spinning 120°-180° degrees and then spinning back.

You can also feint while spinning, confusing your enemy even more.

Spinning speed increases with higher FPS and higher melee sensitivity/DPI, however there is a limit

Interrupting/Gambling

A rather controvesial move, which is heavily situational, but, when done right, can generate great results.

The basis of holdfast 1v1 combat can be broken down into "turns"(Its a tad bit more complicated then that but we'll call it that for the sake of explanation). You feint, maybe do a spin, and finish your attack. The opponents blocks it, does his stuff, and you block his attack. This goes on until one of you break. Interrupting is "breaking" that cycle, by interrupting your opponent while he is feinting/spinning.

Interrupting realies heavily on reading your opponent, and should be only done lightly, lest you fall into the trap of constantly interrupting.

Kicking

Kicking is a rarely used move that can be used via pressing F.

The kick is similar to an attack in a way - It has a wind up period before it hits. After the windup period the character will release their kick. Its only real use is to gain initiative, however its an immense risk and as such is rarely used.

Defence

Shoves are a great way of gaining another "turn" without exposing yourself too much. Its a great way to counter feintspam and facehugging. A good shove will let you get another turn, which, in the grand scheme of things, will make you less likely to die.

Finishing move

Shoves can also be used as a finishing move due to the fact that they are unblockable yet they deal damage.

In grenadier vs grenadier combat, due to the extra HP of the grenadiers a single upper body hit will leave them with ~5 shoves worth of HP.

All in all, shoves are a quite useful secondary attack, however, they can be quite readable, and can often result in your early death. Use with caution, and never spam.

Crouch stabbing

Crouch stabbing is a relatively modern move, and its pretty simple: You click control and then attack in quick succession, resulting in albeit a slower, but harder to read attack.

This can also be spammed: Click control, left click, right click to cancel the attack, and control again. This will result in a double crouch-stab.

Crouch stabbing is a rather risky move as its prone to being interrupted, however it can add great variety to your attacks, and there are many variations of crouchstabs.

Ending notes

With enough experience, these moves will make up your offensive(and maybe defensive) arsenal. Once you get to this point no guide will help you, and your best bet is to keep playing, and maybe get a good player to help you.

Part 4:Ending notes

In the end, there is only so much a guide can help you. The rest you will learn by either directly learning from others, or by experience. In this section you will learn where you can get said experience.

Weekly Events:

XMG Pickups - EU - Friday, 8PM GMT/15AM EST
Weekly pickup event that focuses on groupfights, communications, tactics and teamwork.
First you have 2 captains volunteer. The 2 captains pick players back to back, until 2 teams are made. The 2 teams fight in a first to 15 format, with a 2nd match happening after the 1st one has ended.
To enter simply join the MMG discord[discord.gg] and enter voice chat 15 minutes before start. XMG also plans to start hosting mini games, so watch out for that

Holdfast Draft League:

Draft Matches - NA - Weekly matches, variable time

The Holdfast Draft League is several teams competing against eachother, with the initial players chosen via a snake draft. ATM There are 5 teams, and you can sign up as a waiver and will be picked up in the week.
Link:join the HDL discord[discord.gg]

Servers:

51st Melee Server[EU] and Wraith's Dueling Server[NA] and Grey's Dueling Server[NA]

The 3 most widely used dueling servers of Holdfast, and the ones i personally recommend. You will find both experience players and newcommers here, and its a great place to practice.
Due to the lack of a built in duel system, its generally agreed upon that duels start upon both parties upblocking.

NA7, EU7, Peprika's Groupfight Server[NA] and 63e Groupfight Server[NA]

Also often used, these are a decent place to play on, however due to the sub-par server quality the previously mentioned dueling servers are preferrable. There is also no widely agreed upon dueling rule in these servers, and as such you'll often find yourself in a 1v2 or 1v3.

General uptimes for all melee servers are 1 or 2 hours before events(5-6, 11-12PM GMT / 11-12AM, 6-7PM GMT)

For discord servers, currently the 2 main melee hubs are the XMG discord[discord.gg] and Holdfast Melee Discord[discord.gg]. I recommend joining both.

Note:For all duels be sure to up block to signal your readyness to fight. Avoid teabagging or being toxic.

Hopefully this has given you a headstart compared to the others. See you on the battlefield!

[SYNTH]

how to win every melee 1v1:
don't use a melee, just shoot them.
ah yes, Jones will be proud

[Con]

Wraiths pickups are also a good place for melee events.

[Eye-Talion]

In a shocking turn of events, the city of Bayblyon made the difficult decision to expel a prominent kin member, causing ripples of controversy throughout the community.

[ReichVictor]

Hungarian melee

[TheCrazyCorpse]

Excuse me sir or ma'am

but I couldn't help but notice.... are you a "girl"?? A "female?" A "member of the finer sex?"

Not that it matters too much, but it's just so rare to see a girl around here! I don't mind, no--quite to the contrary! It's so refreshing to see a girl online, to the point where I'm always telling all my friends "I really wish girls were better represented on the internet."

And here you are!

I don't mean to push or anything, but if you wanted to DM me about anything at all, I'd love to pick your brain and learn all there is to know about you.

I've always wanted the chance to talk to a gorgeous lady--and I'm pretty sure you've got to be gorgeous based on the position of your text in the picture--so feel free to shoot me a message, any time at all! You don't have to be shy about it, because you're beautiful anyways (that's juyst a preview of all the compliments I have in store for our chat).

Looking forwards to speaking with you soon, princess!

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan]

Just download an auto clicker, set the melee sensitivity to max, spin, then win.

[Lois11]

I don't live in Central Europe and can't have 30 ping, this guide doesnt work for me sadly

[Shalashaska]

instructions unclear shot with pistol instead

[King Monkey]

Very informative, great sex with Hilter guide

[Tr_n]

Right click to block, your welcome.