How To Effectively Fight Arena Beasts By Dawnbreaker

In this manual, I will discuss basic strategies to effectively fight and kill the Beasts in Exanima Arena.
We will discuss basic maneuvers, tactics and ideas on avoiding the Ogre's attacks and successfully attacking the Ogre.
We will discuss recommended weapons and weapon details.
This Guide is NOT fool proof, the Ogre and you are subject to RNG and her nasty magic, so keep your wits about you and remember to be cautious!

Selecting a Weapon.

When making a selection choice, remember that everyone has a personal preference and muscle memory may differ for different weapon grip types.
Here i will explain the weapon choices i believe to be the best pick for successfully fighting the Beasts
You will notice i almost exclusively recommend two handed weapons, this because they are objectively more effective offensively and defensively. Taking a one handed weapon, like a mace or an arming sword can work, but the vast range difference may get you killed. Taking a shield is also not ideal, as blocking a strike from a Beast will potentially result in getting tossed, taking large amounts of damage, or both.

Novice Beast Weapon Choice Recommendations
Bardiche
Spear
Two Handed War Hammer
Great Axe

Adept Beast Weapon Choice Recommendations
Spear
Guisarme
Voulge
Two Handed War Hammer
Two Handed Mace
Two Handed Spike Mace
Two Handed Battle Axe

Expert Beast Weapon Choice Recommendations
Halberd
Poleaxe
Polehammer

Master Beast Weapon Choice Recommendations
Polehammer
Poleaxe
Halberd



The Bardiche is an overall excellent weapon for dealing with the Novice Beast's lack of armor and very large body. It's less ideal for Adept Beast or onward, due to an increase in Beast's armor.

It features a large blade, allowing user leniency when landing meaningful strikes and can deliver good slash damage.

The Bardiche is also quite long in comparison with some of it's novice counterparts



One handed or two handed, the spear is another great choice for handling the Novice Beast or the Adept Beast, and it's great length may help to keep you alive at a safe distance...

It features very high thrust damage and is the longest possible weapon in the game.

Despite designed for thrusting, the spear is in fact, a long piece of thick wood with some metal on the end, so don't be afraid to strike with it



The Two Handed War Hammer is a long yet nimble hard hitting weapon choice for the Novice, Adept, or even Expert Beast! Can be used for master too, but keep in mind the Master Beast has more range than any of the other beasts, so a longer polearm is recommended.

It features high crush damage with average length at relatively higher handling speeds due to lower weight than the Two Handed Mace or Spiked Mace.



The Great Axe is a smart pick for fighting the Novice Beast, but can be very effective against Adept Beast, too.

It features high impact and good slash damage with some crush damage at the cost of slower handling speeds due to higher weight when compared to the Bardiche.

CAN be used to fight Adept Beast, but due to lack of range, you may find yourself being out-spaced after landing a good strike.



The Guisarme is a quality weapon choice for fighting the Adept Beast, or Expert Beast if you haven't found any decent expert polearms.

It features good slash damage, paired with small pierce damage, and very high range. The Guisarme should be the second longest possible weapon in the game if not tied with the halberd.



The Voulge is another quality weapon for fighting the Adept Beast or Expert Beast if you haven't found any decent expert polearms.

It features good slash damage paired with crush damage, and can get very long.



The Two Handed Mace is an ideal anti armor bludgeon great for Adept Beast, Or Expert Beast. Can be used for master too, but keep in mind the Master Beast has more range than any of the other beasts, so a longer polearm is recommended.

It features high crush damage, good possible range, and heavy weight.



The Two Handed Spike Mace is a superb choice for the Adept Beast, or Expert Beast. Can be used for master too, but keep in mind the Master Beast has more range than any of the other beasts, so a longer polearm is recommended.

It features good crush damage, paired with good pierce damage, making it ideal for penetrating light armor or weaker spots and gaps in armor. It is also just as long as the other two handed bludgeons, and quite heavy.



The Two Handed Battle Axe is ideal for handling the Adept Beast. Can be used for Expert Beast too, but may be less effective when compared to weapons with different damage types and greater ranges.

It features good slash damage and good crush damage, average range, and heavy weight.



The Halberd is an amazing choice for both Expert and Master Beasts.

It features good slash, good crush, and high thrust damage. It is quite heavy and is extremely long, the longest of the expert weapons and possibly the second longest weapon in the game, potentially tied with Guisarme.



The Poleaxe is the ultimate utility weapon due to its varied heads. It is extremely effective to Expert Beast and very effective for Master Beast when flipped to it's hammer side.

It features great length, high weight, good slash, good crush, and good thrust damage, whilst maintaining higher handling speeds when compared to the Halberd or Polehammer.

The Hammer Side of the Poleaxe features a hammer or potentially a beaked hammer, featuring very good crush damage or a mixture of good crush damage and pierce damage, depends on the hammer type.



The can-opener is an exceptional choice for fighting the Expert Beast or Master Beast.

It features possibly the highest damage per strike, with very high impact, weight, and superior crush damage.

There is no fight in which the Polehammer is not a good choice, come man or beast.

Tactics and Strategy

Basic Phrases

LTR = Left to Right
RTL = Right to Left
Remise = the 2nd swing in a combo following a 1st swing
Clinch = basically close enough to almost kiss or in contact with via body or weapon

Combos and basic ideas to counter

1) When The Ogre Initiates an LTR - RTL Combo:

1a) If you are at a reasonable distance, backstep the LTR, queue an overhead and push in to strike, you may even crouch when doing this. The remised RTL from the ogre should go over your head, only backup and gain distance *after* the RTL from the ogre goes over your head whilst you are still clinched, do NOT land your strike then try to out space the RTL, you will NOT out space a weapon as tall as you and as wide as your hopes and dreams. You WILL eat a nasty head-shot if you try to immediately backstep after successfully striking.

2) When The Ogre Initiates an RTL-LTR Combo:

2a) If you are reasonably close to the ogre, you may simply move in for a crouching overhead, the initial swing will go over your head, after this, IMMEDIATELY retreat as the remise will catch and toss you, potentially doing damage in the process.

2b) You may be safer just backstepping this combo, depending on how far away you are when you see the combo winding up. You can actually wait for it to remise then punish, but if the ogre follows with an LTR - RTL Combo, you may end up being tossed or struck.

2c) If you find yourself too close to the ogre in general be watchful of of the LTR-RTL Combo, as you may end up being tossed by the first swing.

3) From Behind

3a) Sometimes patience is rewarded, nothing wrong with waiting for the ogre to be struck by a team mate and waiting for its back to turn to strike it, but this could result in the ogre quickly whipping around with great momentum, leading to a very heavy strike against yourself. This happens with normal NPC combatants too, where after landing a strike they quickly and unexpectedly retaliate with zero warning.



4) Retreating

4a)The best way to back step the ogre is to lunge back, and then to the right, keep doing this,
as this will keep you at the furthest distance from the ogres right hand weapon,
it will also help you keep a circular retreat pattern, allowing your teammates to get in shots as you retreat.
4b) Lunging straight back works fine too, but really depends on your situation.
4c) remember that ogre's are much bigger and can easily out pace you, so running away constantly is a good way to die. Your goal is to defeat the ogre, not try to beat it in a foot race, that being said, sometimes disengaging and running isn't the worst idea, especially when you know you are in a really bad spot and your useless hirelings are on the other side of the arena. Remember, if you do decide to run, there's always a chance that when you decide to turn or to stop, that the ogre's weapon will snag onto you, resulting in a potential throw or strike.

5) Being Knocked Down

5a) If you are knocked down (and you will be), chances are that the ogre is going to try to finish you with an overhead strike. Simply trying to get up and quickly dash to a safe distance can work, depending on how far away the beast is, but sometimes you will end up really close and this may not be a reasonable option you you.

5b) if you are close enough to the ogre's weapon so that you are too close to gain proper distance to avoid the overhead strike, you may find it safer to go right INTO the ogre's body for a clinch, resulting in the weapon safely striking past you onto the ground. remember your training and don't linger.

5c) If you find yourself at such a distance where nether retreating to a safe distance or hugging the ogre seems reasonable, you may attempt to circle to the left or right of the ogre, though i recommend going to your right, as going to the left may place you right under the ogres weapon or arm, resulting in you being ragdolled or struck.

6) Keeping A Safe Distance

6a) You may have learned some tricks, but don't get ahead of yourself. Sometimes the weapon of the Beast will go lower than expected and still strike you. It's not all a bad idea to simply backstep the Beast's full combos, then retaliate, but keep in mind of the combo you are countering, and keep in mind of your positioning, Never stop in place for long.

Novice Beast

The lowest rank beast, but don't be fooled! The Novice Beast is a straight savage! At Novice level, you do not have access to any plate armor, including a helmet!

The Novice Beast has no armor, but neither do you, this fight can end very quickly with victory, or one wrong move leading to disaster!

Slash Damage is recommended due to lack of armor. The club that the beast uses is quite long, and may potentially kill you or your hirelings in a single well placed blow.

Obviously you want to go for meaningful headshots, as this will stun the beast, if not any of them.

Adept Beast

The Adept Beast is a far greater challenge than the novice beast, as at the adept rank you have far too few points to spare between picking a reliable weapon and picking a good amount of armor.

The Adept Beast uses a shorter but far deadlier giant hammer, where once again, the beast has the potential to kill you or your hireling with one well placed blow.

The Adept Beast also has a higher flinch threshold due to its thick leather armor.

The problem with this beast is the short hammer that it wields. The hammer may be shorter in range but this will result in an adjustment to your strategy. You may find it harder to go under his RTL swings. He may also backstep your attempt at closing in, which is a very bad situation for you to be in.

Expert Beast

The Expert Beast is the second to the last rank of the beasts, yet is possibly the least lethal out of all beasts, due to the increase in point budget for the player, and the low lethality of the flail it uses.

The Expert Beast features partial plate armor, as well as chain armor and under padding, making it very tanky. Luckily for you, expert weapons are very effective and quite long, meaning this fight has the potential to be very easy if you play your cards right.

The catch here is that all the tactics you've learned suffer even more from Lady RNG, as the flail that the Expert Beast used may strike you at completely unexpected times, even when you are nearly behind the beast!

Master Beast

The powerhouse, the tank, the grim reaper of all Exanima monsters... The Master Beast is akin to a dragon without wings or fire.

It features a super heavy, highly lethal and long spiked bar mace. This beast also has full gothic-like plate armor, meaning anything other than impactful blows will feel more like a massage than an attack. This beast is among the hardest challenges to face in the game.

The main problem is that this beast can easily out-range you. The weapon it wields is long enough to just barely strike you while keeping your strike far enough away, depending on the length of your weapon. This wouldn't be such an issue for you, if it wasn't also fully decked out in thick metal armor, meaning that trying to close the distance to strike it means that you will need to put a good bit of power behind your swings to even phase it. On top of that, once you do close the gap and either strike it or not, it is likely to back peddle and strike or toss you, and if you are in an outside arena, he may finish you with a single overhead whilst you are still on the ground, gasping for air.

BE CAUTIOUS WHEN FACING THIS FORCE OF DESTRUCTION.

Epilogue

I sincerely hope this guide has been somewhat helpful in your future matches against Exanima's most lethal enemy. I wrote this guide to try and help future Exanimates conquer the great challenge of defeating such a mighty foe. If you have any questions comments or concerns, feel free to message me, comment, or maybe even consider joining the official Exanima Discord (Link Below)
Remember that this guide is not a surefire way at victory, i can help guide you to glory, but you must overcome the tribulations and horrors that are before you. Take care, never give up, let this be the end of your inferiority complex, you must strive to win, you must continue!

Link to Discord: - https://discord.gg/reuecCgr

[Dawnbreaker]

Sadao you can flip weapons in the experimental branch

[Sadao]

I do want to ask, how does one switch to a different side of a weapon? Like a pole axe/hammer and changing it to the spike/hammer at the other side.

[MIM]