Master Strike Timing Made Easy in Kingdom Come Deliverance

[@TrialBySquire]

I didn't get into it in the video but Defence as a skill is broken. It does NOT reduce wounding OR increase a weapon's defensive capability, despite the game claiming otherwise. The only thing it seems to do is increase the timing windows for Perfect Block and Master Strike, which in itself is enough reason to power level the skill. Also, I said dark combat jacket is in uzhitz. I meant black combat jacket. The dark one is gained from random encounters like in skalitz.

[@Rabijeel]

For the PC Guys and Ladies: Nail Clippers. At least when you use mechanical Keyboards. Open them up, and use them reversed by putting the upper part below the 1 and 2 Key so the q keeps pressed. Or, just change the Key for your personal Style like "Rubberband and Mounsbuttons". Oh, and turn off the Rumble-Feature - it can make the Rubberbands move.

[@TrialBySquire]

@@Rabijeel these are great tips, thank you! I'm sure I've done something similar back in the day but I haven't PC gamed in ages. I'm sure a paper clip could be used in a number of ways as well, or some stiff paper folded a few times. I appreciate you looking out for our PC Brethren. If all goes to plan, I'll be joining those ranks before KCD 2 comes out.

[@Sydlxia]

Very useful and straight to the point, appreciate the extra start tips too! Will be using this in my hardcore run thanks alot!

[@TrialBySquire]

I'm pleased to hear. Thank you for the kind words! Let me know how your run progresses. I'm in the middle of my full perk run right now.

[@sea-saw2654]

Recently bought this for steam deck (oled) I am blown away by the graphics. I put headphones on and i just keep going for walks in the woods, listening to the birds, following narrow footpaths to woodland gardens or waterfalls and pools.. and running away from anything resembling a bandit.. Hmm what am i saying.."where my fucking mace " ..

[@TrialBySquire]

The amount of times I see a slightly dark piece of tree stump and think Imma 'bout to get jumped...

[@Griff_Gaming]

Good stuff bud! Honestly never win tourney 26 times so first time hearing about the Envoy sword

[@TrialBySquire]

It's a rare sword carried by merchants, typically un-alive ones, in encounters. I tried using it for my merciful run but I ended up liking the Thumper, Tusk, bludgeon, and bare fists the best.

[@scottiblasto]

Dude, it's almost criminal that after 6 months this video only has 500 likes. Should be 500,000

[@TrialBySquire]

Whoa, I'd settle for 500,000 views but if everyone who watched this video could just like it about 37 times, that'll work... I'm a new fish in a big pond but we'll get there! Thank you for your support. 🍻 Cheers!

[@sgovender1994]

Thank you for making this video. I hope you continue to make awesome videos for KCD II.

[@TrialBySquire]

Thank you! That's very kind. 😊 I'm definitely eager to experience, test, and break, KCD II as soon as possible, and then rant about it to anyone who'll listen!

[@icoz7]

"I know it's a well-covered game, it's over six years old" Yeah, but most of the other guides are vague and recycle the same tips, so if things aren't clicking for a player, one is just as unhelpful as the next. I think a lot of this has to do with an assumption (either intentional or unintentional) that this game is primarily player skill based, when in truth combat experience is hugely influenced by your stats. I appreciate that you acknowledge the importance of exp and raising your stats, this took me a couple of frustrating weeks to figure out on my own, but the combat became fun and engaging once I got over the initial stat handicap. I recommend this video to anyone having trouble with combat, even if you're not wanting to cheese it with exp farming.

[@TrialBySquire]

I appreciate not only your thoughtful comment but also that you watched that far into the video! I try not to ramble that much anymore but it was kinda my "introduction video" since it was the first I talked in. One thing I really like about this method is that it can be used to ONLY level defence, instead of raising all combat skills to OP levels. This game is a bit about choosing your own difficulty level by deciding how much XP to grind, as you suggest, so It's great having a way to make master strikes easier to perform (to balance against multiple foes) but not necessarily make you too strong to enjoy the 1v1 encounters. How's your playthrough coming along? What's your favorite weapon?

[@icoz7]

I like anything short and stabby, which is a holdover from when I wasn't very good and found spamming stabs easiest. Now I'm fairly decent at swordplay, but stab spam is still really effective in certain situations if your target is distracted.

[@TrialBySquire]

@@icoz7 nice. I definitely loved the Stinger on my first playthroughs. Now I gravitate toward Raven's Beak.

[@bluestarkiller]

Finally a helpful video thats not just "watch the shoulders!" It did feel insane that no matter what i did or how quick i was to press the button I just never hit a master strike no matter what. J actually am doing the rubber band as I write this and I've already gone up a level.

[@TrialBySquire]

I'm glad your found it useful! Let me know how it goes with your new found skill. I'm sure you'll be a Lord of Leipa in no time.

[@wisard734]

Here from KCD's Twitter.

[@TrialBySquire]

Welcome! Thanks for checking out the video.

[@ggoddkkiller1342]

I never knew tournament had such cool rewards, i guess it is time for my 5th run lol. No game does leveling as good as KDC, i think it is that we really like, feeling utterly hopeless at start then becoming a monster slowly.

[@TrialBySquire]

Yeah it's super cool! Alongside stats it also boosts your reputation with Rattay, I believe, so there's a lot of utility with the tournaments. You can definitely take on the whole game using the rewards earned. I love that the Devs were willing to surround us with endgame loot at the start of the open world. We really get to choose if we want to do a slow rise with the campaign, go full thief and rob Rattay blind, or just be a champion of the people and earn awesome stuff in tournament. Aside from a little bit of level gating on weapons, we can really go from zero to hero before we ever report to radzig. Delicious freedom...

[@exclusiveoro5349]

All other kcd vids they have immersive musics and a lot of god be praised meme inputs but this video felt like somebody else’s dad trying to show me how to fix a car for the first time in a wholesome manner. Great video great vibe I will subscribe 🎉

[@TrialBySquire]

Lol. Thanks, Bud! I'd love to be cool like those other guys but if I haven't learned how by now... It's a good compliment. I appreciate it. My main goal is to be a meaningful source of information for this community. I'll always work to improve and polish my future videos but I'm never going to sensationalize.

[@L0rd_0f_War]

Thanks for a great tips video. Playing KCD for the fist time despite having it for years (wanted to play it at Ultra + QoL mods + bugs fixed on a 4090 build - so worth the wait). Having a good time.

[@TrialBySquire]

I'm so glad you're taking on the KCD experience! I'll have a new video out ASAP for anyone looking to become a thief. Hope to see you there! 😇

[@hunterredtalon9011]

The exp strategy works pretty well, thanks! Well Worn and Shining Armor will be key for my hardcore run

[@TrialBySquire]

I'm thrilled to help you ascend to the status of Paladin, Sir Knight! May your enemies be blinded by your brilliance and confounded by your speed.

[@matthewgaming2291]

200th subscriber! Thank you for the video, super helpful 🙌🏻

[@TrialBySquire]

200!?!? Amazing. 😁 I really appreciate you being here and enjoying the video! I hope I can keep that trend going.

[@Andreeee75]

I'm playing rn so really cool I found this video

[@TrialBySquire]

Very cool! Did you pick it up in the sale? Thanks for checking out the video. I hope it helps you out! The next one is in the works

[@Andreeee75]

​@@TrialBySquire My friend is sharing his collection with me. I've been wanting to play this game since a few years and got the time to do so now. Like the other comment said, this video is a step up from the past ones and I kinda wanna see more!

[@helicalgoose]

Watching your past videos, this one seems to be a step up from the past ones and its quite good improvement. I like the direction! I like the investigation into going to different corners of the map and finding out NPCs behave differently attack wise, when in any logical sense this shouldn't happen. My initial guess, which could be wrong but could be worth further testing is that the NPC is sort of looking at the terrain behind the player to choose its own attack. What I think is that some attacks might not happen because the NPC is thinking that it might fall off a cliff or not be able to complete a combo so a clinch is favored or something along those lines. The arena looks rather flat, so I am guessing the corner you happened to choose does not have an immediate or near immediate elevation change. The reason I am thinking this way is mostly dealing with NPCs fights in the wild. Any elevation change really messes with their combat or path-finding. Enough ranting from my side, best of luck, I look forward to more KCD content :P

[@TrialBySquire]

Thank you for the comment! I definitely see the effect of elevation on the AI. Not just the log piles and such but even small bumps of rock in the wilderness. Backing up (at slower speeds) seems to make them want to advance and clinch, especially against objects like in the video. I was getting clinch locked like crazy by Father Goodwin when I was in a corner by his church. I noticed holding up a shield can stall out the AI at times, especially if you get it up before they are in attack range. At times I'll be behind a shield with no combat reticule and I'm unable to manually lock on until I briefly lower my shield first. During that time the enemy is pretty much just making eyes at me. It's all pretty fascinating! I love breaking this game. My first playthrough I saw only the image the developers projected. I was scared to crime or attack or otherwise make mistakes. I'll tip my hat to you for pulling back the curtain enough to get me peeking. I hope to draw your interest again in the next video!

[@wewakethedragon]

Thank you so much, This was so informative for me, I appreciated your efforts in making it easy to understand as the game does not give you tips like this.

[@TrialBySquire]

Happy to do it! I'm glad you enjoyed. I agree the game can be light on information. I found while doing this video that 2/3 of what the game says defence does isn't even true. 🤣 Good luck on your playthrough! 🍀

[@steveford4498]

Released a month ago on Nintendo Switch plays well, keeps things short and sweet too. Thanks for the info as It's all a bit rusty after 6 years

[@TrialBySquire]

No problem! It must be weird to be so immersed on such a small screen 🤣.

[@michaelwolejszo6445]

You got yourself a sequel coming.

[@TrialBySquire]

It's very exciting! I don't think I'll be covering much of the pre-release news (which is probably dumb of me) but I'll for sure be breaking that game apart as soon as I can get my hands on it! I'll still be covering this game in the meantime.

[@sweatyvetter]

For those who wanna play a game without playing the game 😂 I love this! And god damn the mechanics in KCD are sooo janky!!

[@TrialBySquire]

Or for those who play too much! I mean, on your tenth playthrough it might be nice to take some time to talk to Chat while getting your defence up instead of the usual grind.

[@martinross5496]

What do you mean by AF?K you keep saying it

[@TrialBySquire]

"Away from Keyboard". Just meaning that you can get it started and then walk away while the game plays itself. You'll get experience without having to actively play the whole time

[@JMD_Ikonix]

Jumped back into kcd recently and i havent even gone hunting with hans yet and my defense is already level 15. All i did was train with bernard and do the tourney a handful of times. For whatever reason defense is super easy to level, i wasnt even focusing on power leveling it. I recommend just training with bernard normally, that way u will also level up ur weapon and warfare skills alongside defense in a fairly reasonable amount of time.

[@TrialBySquire]

@@JMD_Ikonix yeah, as long as you're blocking, perfect blocking, and master striking the levels come pretty fast. I agree the best approach is tourney, which is why I recommended getting to like level 5 and then just going to the tournament. However, it's nice this can be used to only level defence for challenge run reasons. I may well do a "self defence only" run where I'm not allowed to attack and only master strike/block.

[@jrea424]

So the secret is to play the game? Amazing..

[@TrialBySquire]

@@jrea424 almost feels like an exploit, if you ask me...

[@JMD_Ikonix]

@@jrea424 imagine playing a game Normally. Couldn't be me

[@AkrabSouls]

Thank you !

[@TrialBySquire]

Of course. Happy to help!

[@jd_actual]

i can master strike on my pc right after i learn it. on my ps5 it seams impossible i dont get it. anyone have any info on this. i want to finish the play-through on ps5 before 2 comes out. i play on both ps5 and pc depending on if i want to be on my couch or not just an fyi

[@TrialBySquire]

Very strange. My only guess would be differences in input latency but it shouldn't be THAT noticable. Is it still a problem after training defence up a few levels? Because, by then, it should be pretty easy to land a master strike, at least after a sprint and turn. Otherwise, idk. I'm having no issues on Xbox and that's the only platform I've played this game on so far.

[@jd_actual]

@@TrialBySquire yea man idk its super weird. i thought it was input latency at first .if it is isnt not so bad where i can notice it, but could be part of it. i think it might be frame rate. thats my only other guess. i have a video on this channel from one of the tournaments from when i was on pc you can see i have no trouble doing master strikes. on my ps today i even got my defense up to 16 and still no luck maybe one out of 50plus tries. its super frustrating. i like playing on my couch sometimes lol might have to abandon my ps and just get a super long hdmi cable idk

[@DarthDaddy-cg6ro]

Thanks.

[@TrialBySquire]

Thanks for watching!

[@trismayer]

doesnt work

[@TrialBySquire]

@@trismayer how so? If you block you get XP. Nothing too special is going on in the process.

[@xD4RKxRYU]

Works fine for me

[@Garry-u5v]

If you know you know

[@TrialBySquire]

@@Garry-u5v I know you're a legend for watching that far into the video. Cheers! 🍻

[@alanphelan9108]

Take off your armour before training

[@TrialBySquire]

A good tip. I usually train long before I get my "real armor" but anyone who spreads training out should definitely do that. Behind Bernard is a container that's a good place to keep "training armor" in for when using real weapons in training. Better than hauling it around, taking up space.

[@alanphelan9108]

@@TrialBySquire use no armour and if you get injured then train combos with Bernard and you get your health back.

[@TrialBySquire]

@@alanphelan9108 yep. Combo training will also remove bleeding and, I think, poison. You seem to stay drunk, though ..

[@punished_venom_snake]

What a cool guy, I'm subscribing

[@TrialBySquire]

Thanks, Mom! 😋 Seriously, though. I appreciate.

[@justinstrong9595]

So i noticed that on ps5, getting a master strike with bernard is IMPOSSIBLE. I spent HOURS trying. But i can masterstrike people even in full plate armor

[@TrialBySquire]

That's crazy! PS5 Bernard OP. At least it's not broken against everyone...

[@justinstrong9595]

@TrialBySquire it's more that bernard constantly has you in essentially a corner. No matter where you are you aren't but 3 or 4 meters from the edge of the training fenced in area, so he's always able to get a strike in before you can masterstrike. I've been beating dudes I couldn't even touch before since I learned it. I was almost ready to uninstall the combat is so infuriating when it doesn't work in this game. I really hope they make it less clunky in the second game. I don't want it to be EASIER, just to make more sense and feel smoother. When the combat works it's AWESOME, when it doesn't, it's literally intolerable. 3 to 4 person combat is basically impossible. On Nest of Vipers i literally couldn't even touch the sentry guards to get in so I just had to sprint in and set the arrows on fire before rushing back out and escaping into the woods.

[@justinstrong9595]

@TrialBySquire it's obnoxious because I REALLY like the game. I'm a history buff and appreciate the care given to everything, from tradesman like smiths properly dropping the hammer on the anvil after hitting a sword making a "tink tink" instead of just drop blows most fantasy games do, to the bath houses and inns along long roads, I love it all, but my god the combat is basically just a masterstrike battle

[@TrialBySquire]

@justinstrong9595 yeah, I agree with that. It does stink that the most reliable way to succeed is not to attack but to counter. Sure, you could just never learn master strike but that doesn't stop NPCs from using it on you, afaik, so that's a bummer. Would have loved "no master strike" to be a hardcore option one could toggle