Mirage - Combat Primer

This is a beginner-level guide to help players learn how to move around and fight with melee weapons in Mirage: Arcane Warfare.

Combat System Basics

More tutorials can be found on our Official Forums.[forums.tornbanner.com]

Combat Exchanges

Melee battles in Mirage use an exchange system; a player starts an action, taking the Initiative, and the opponent is able to respond to this action with a variety of options and may be able to take Initiative for their own. Depending on the course of a fight, there may be several exchanges back and forth with melee attacks & defense, abilities, or evasion actions. Each fight relies on your own actions and those of your opponent...and those of your allies and multiple opponents!

Click for an example.[www.tornbanner.com]

Interrupts

If two opponents start a melee attack at the same time, whoever strikes first will Interrupt the opponent’s attack, completely negating that attack. This is also called first-hit-flinch. Abilities can also be Interrupted with melee attacks, so starting attacks or abilities must be done when you have the Initiative and enough time to take that action. Learning when to attack or when not to attack is a hard-won skill!
Some abilities can Interrupt (or flinch) an opponent’s attack or ability, but not all can do this; check the ability description for more information.

Friendly Fire

Mirage has low-level team damage (friendly fire) enabled for melee attacks; this makes it more important to control your attacks to avoid harming your teammates! Read on to learn how to avoid harming teammates!

Sprinting

You can Walk or Sprint in Mirage. Auto-Sprint is enabled by default.
You can deactivate Auto-Sprint in the Options > Game panel if you wish to hold a button to Sprint. Press and hold LeftShift to Sprint, whether you are in combat or not.
Sprinting in a fight can greatly increase your effective attack range, allowing you to rush in after an opponent’s missed swing.

Vaulting, Wall-Jumping and Evasive Jumps

Mirage allows you to vault up ledges and even perform wall-jumps! This allows you to climb ledges, walls, and cliffs!

Vaulting
Press and hold Jump (default is Spacebar) when jumping near a ledge to Vault to the top of it.
You can also use Vaulting to save yourself from missing a jump to balcony or platform.

Wall-Jumping
Tap Jump twice near a wall and you will perform a Wall-Jump. Tap Jump and hold it to wall-jump then Vault to the top of higher walls!
You can also use Wall-Jumps to assist crossing wide gaps or save yourself from a long fall!

Evasive Jumps
Tap Jump (Default is Spacebar) while moving backwards or strafing left or right to perform a small dodge; this can help you evade melee or ability attacks!
This move will cost you some Stamina, so use it only when you need to.

Combat for Beginners

Phases of an Attack or Ability

Attacks in Mirage are not instantaneous; there are three distinct phases to an attack, whether using a weapon or ability; Windup, Release, and Recovery. This is done to support the Exchange system and to make actions clear; we want you to be able to identify when someone is attacking you in Mirage and to be able to react to it!

Windup is when your character starts an attack; you see your arm pull back and ready a strike. Windup takes some time; make sure you have enough time to start an attack to ensure that your attack is able to finish!

Note Mirage does not have hit-trading like Chivalry does and weapon timings must be adjusted to compensate for this. See above for a description of Interrupts for some more info.

Release is when your weapon is swinging or thrusting; this is when your attack deals damage to other players.

Recovery is when your attack is finished dealing damage and you are repositioning yourself to attack or defend.

Basic Melee Attacks

There are three basic melee attacks with your weapon; Slash, Overhead, and Thrust attacks.

Slash Attacks

• Slash attacks are activated using the Left Mousebutton (Default)
  
• Slash attacks are medium speed, deal medium damage, and travel horizontally; it is usually easier to hit opponents with Slash attacks
  
• Slash attacks start and finish at your sides, making it easier to harm your allies with these attacks!

Overhead Attacks

• Overhead attacks are activated using MouseWheel ScrollDown (Default)
  
• Overhead attacks are slower speed, travel vertically and are harder to aim than Slash attacks, but deal more damage
  
• Overheads are more precise than Slash attacks; using an Overhead attack can help you avoid harming your teammates!

Thrust Attacks

• Thrust attacks are activated using MouseWheel ScrollUp (Default)
  
• These travel from straight ahead, starting from your side
  
• Thrust attacks deal less damage than Slash attacks, but have longer reach and are more precise
  
• Using a Thrust attack can avoid harming your teammates in a fight!

Parrying

You can Parry (block) incoming attacks or abilities to defend yourself!
Defending yourself in Mirage is based on timing; you cannot hold a parry indefinitely.

• Activate a Parry using the Right Mousebutton (Default)
  
• Watch your opponent's attack animation to time your Parry; wait until their weapon or ability is about to strike you before Parrying!
  
• If you successfully Parry, you will see a blue glow and hear a weapon-clash sound
  
• Parrying a weapon or ability allows you to;
  • Riposte (see below)
    
  • Redirect an ability or projectile as if it was your own!
    
  • Parry again immediately if another weapon or ability is about to hit you
• Mis-timing a Parry will put you into Parry Recovery, a short period where you cannot use abilities, attacks, or Parries

You can only Parry when you are not attacking or when you are in Windup; you cannot Parry while in Release or Recovery phases

Some abilities can parry as part of activation; read the ability descriptions for more information!

Riposte

Queue up an attack immediately after a successful parry to make a faster attack

• Windup time is shortened, meaning your strike can deal damage sooner than a regular attack
  
• You can use Slash, Overhead or Thrust for Ripostes
  • You can even use Alt Attacks for Ripostes (more info soon!)
• You can delay or accelerate ripostes as a normal attack
  
• You are actively Parrying during Riposte Windup

Health

Each class has their own health pool, or Hit Points, with heavier classes having more health than lighter classes. As you are hit with weapons or abilities, your health pool depletes. If you avoid taking damage or attacking for a few seconds, your health will slowly begin to regenerate.

• You regain health by not attacking, using abilities, or jumping
  • You can regain health while you are sprinting or walking, but you regain health faster if you are walking or not moving
• Enemies drop small blue orbs of Essence; run over top of these to regain health
  • If you are already at full or near-full health when you pick up, you will earn a small amount of overhealth. This is slowly lost over time until you reach your normal maximum health
• There is no modifier for armour or damage type
  • Weapons deal a fixed amount of damage per individual weapon per attack type (Slash, Overhead, or Thrust),
    
  • Damage is modified based on hit location, rewarding you for precison strikes;
    • Torso takes normal damage
      
    • Legs take less damage than Torso
      
    • Heads take more damage than Torso

Stamina

Your attack and defense is based on how much Stamina you have (blue bar below your health bar). Missing attacks, Jumping, Feinting, or only Parrying will deplete your stamina reserve.[/list]

• If you run out of Stamina, you will not be able to Combo, Feint, or perform Evasive Jumps (see below).
  
• If you run out of Stamina while performing a Parry, you will be Stunned, possibly allowing your opponent to get a free hit on you!
  
• You start to recover Stamina a few seconds after you stop performing attack actions or jumping
  • You can back off for a moment to recover Stamina in the middle of a fight!*
    
  • Enemies drop small blue orbs of Essence; run over top of these to regain Stamina
• You will continue to regain Stamina (and Health) even while sprinting to help you get back to the fight faster!

Combo Attacks

If you miss your opponent with an attack, you can follow up with a fast combo attack! You can start a combo-attack by starting another attack while your attack is in Release or Recovery phase. Comboing allows you attack faster by skipping the Recovery Phase of your attack; your attack goes from Release directly into Windup. You can chain together Slash attacks with Overhead or Thrust attacks to add variety to your attacks! You can even combo melee attacks into abilities or abilities into melee attacks, or use Alt-Attacks!
There are few restrictions to this system; you cannot combo Thrust into Thrust and you cannot combo when you are out of Stamina.

Real-Time Strikes

Mirage uses a real-time strike system built on Chivalry’s melee system; this means that you have control over your attacks after you start them by moving your crosshairs. This is commonly called Dragging.
You can steer your attacks into opponents or away from allies!
Keeping the enemy in the center of your screen makes your attacks very predictable and easy to defend against. Accelerate or Delay your attacks to change the timing of your strikes by looking to the left or right for slashes, or up or down for overheads.
You can often control the direction and timing of abilities that use melee attacks!

Dragging - Accelerated

Start an attack, then move your mouse in the same direction as the swing is travelling; your attack will accelerate and strike the target sooner
You can also turn during Windup to place your opponent where your strike will begin
For Overheads, look down as your strike finishes Windup

Note: You are not able to perform Reverse Overheads or Reverse Slashes in Mirage

Dragging - Delayed

Start an attack, then move your mouse in the opposite direction the swing is travelling; your attack will be delayed and strike the target later
You can also turn away from the opponent during Windup
For Overheads, look up as you finish Windup
For Thrusts, thrust to the side of the opponent, then drag it into the opponent before the Release phase is finished

Real-Time Projectile Control

Just like melee attacks, many projectiles in Mirage can also be controlled after you throw or fire them. Once you fire an ability, move your crosshairs to control the direction of the projectile!
Some projectiles allow for more control than others; slower projectiles are often easier to control than fast projectiles.

Cancelling / Feinting

You can Cancel an attack or Ability while it is still in Windup. Press R (default) while in Windup phase for a melee attack or ability to cancel it.

• Cancel an attack if you don’t wish to be locked into Release and Recovery and unable to react;
  
• You may wish to use this when an opponent is out of range and may attack you while you are in Recovery
  • Use this when an opponent has already started an attack or ability (Cancel to Parry)

[Soter Ðave]

This is the remnants of those who are still interested in playing Mirage: Arcane Warfare

Mirage Leftovers Discord - https://discord.gg/RnrdTFpd

[Jean Cassis]

Hey man, where is Mirage ?

[凤雏]

1

[J]

=)

[Reiður]

I no longer work for torn banner, direct any complaints to their sites.

[Super Arthritis ⁧⁧ ⁧⁧Man]

All these instructions require an opponent.

[Mercenaru]

Since Tutorial is unavailable, this is very useful ! I discovered all these myself while playing, except I didn't know you can dodge-sideways or backwards with space (sort of man-at-arms ?). Also, do drags really work like in Chivalry ? It feels to me that Mirage is more like Deadliest Warrior and not Chivalry.

[Þjazi]

pretty neat

[Telinha]

Nice job Reithur

[Reiður]

@Buttersworth yes. That's the same as it is in Chivalry as well.