OK so I decided to recreate the swordfighting tutorial here until I get the forums finished. In my opinion the COAS swordplay is some of the best in a game anywhere and people who criticize it don’t really know what they are doing or have not become adept at it yet.

This tutorial was originally posted on PA! but of course they care very little for COAS over there. I plan to also make this part of the illustrated guide. I will also post a short video here shortly, illustrating the effective swordplay I describe in the tutorial.

From original PA! post:

There is a lot to learn, but it doesn’t take long. I am actually thinking about doing a Lets Play tutorial on GOF sword fighting and posting to YouTube once I get to my destination. The reason for this is that uninitiated players often get very frustrated with swordplay. That’s because unless you understand all of the different moves you can make the enemy have advantages over you.

So fighting will allow you to level up faster than any other single thing in the game. Remember you can block and parry and that you have numerous different attacks. The different parries allow you to totally evade your enemy and put him off balance.

For starters your center button or wheel on the mouse allows for a powerful overhand downwards slash. Only use this when an enemy has fired a weapon, is out of breath(no blue), or has made a mistake that they have to recover from like an overhead slash that you evaded. That means they have to take extra time to get reset before they can block or attack again and the overhead slash takes extra time to commit. That slash will break all guards they put up even from the strongest heavy weapons.

The space bar is your friend. That is your block. Keep your thumb on it and quickly learn to tap it and tap/hold it between attacks to cover up.

Your right and left mouse keys allow for different attacks. Right is usually a thrust and faster. Left is a slash…a bit more powerful but takes a fraction of a second longer and just a tiny bit more of your breath(blue energy).

Learn to watch how much energy your opponent has and you have. If you’ve run out you must block and wait to catch your breath. Often you have just enough energy to right click thrust after every enemy attack to counter him before blocking again.

Also remember that this is where the type and weight of the weapon has a lot of bearing. The heavier the weapon the less skill you have on light medium or heavy weapons, the quicker you will run out of breath(blue energy).

I keep my left pinkey finger close to the left shift key because thats how I will evade the enemies brutal overhead slashes on me when I have run out of breath(blue energy). When you see him committing to that attack quickly push your shift key down while simultaneously hitting your right mouse button and you will go into a fancy little parry evasion animation that differs between RPCs. Some have more than one and will parry to the left and right. You can use this at any time as well against their ordinary attacks.

Your last attack is the wide sweeping slash (or double slash) and sweeping half slash. The double slash is pinkey on left shift key combined with your left mouse button. This is useful for throwing back and hitting multiple opponents. The half slash is simply faster and you just push your space bar to block after the slash goes halfway through. This is a good move to make to keep an enemy from having a successful attack on one of your officers and can help keep them alive when you’re in a heavy melee.

Last remember you can still sidestep and step to the rear. With this combination of moves I find GOF swordplay to be awesome!…..especially when you get good at it. I own the best of opponents as a beginner character just starting out with a poor weapon.

Just as in real fencing, carefully watching your opponents and your own timing and space is everything. I have had some really ultra realistic fights when I have used all of these considerations combined.

Keep in mind that I tailored Era’s weapons with all these things in mind so that not only do you have huge variety but you also have a ton of different weights and lethality to consider. I have yet to decide which weapon is my favorite. I have narrowed it down. Just because the weapon has higher numbers does not always mean its the best weapon. Weight coupled with the lethality numbers coupled with your skill determines the optimal solution at any given time. Then there’s always personal preference as well because there are some really beautiful weapons to find and choose.

I am definitely going to make that video. I have talked myself into it.

MK