Combat Tactics

A collection of useful combat tactics.

N+1 / N+WM

If you delay each hit of your normal attack combo slightly, it is possible for the enemy's knockdown gauge to recover slightly, allowing one additional hit, commonly referred to as "N+1". You can also use fast-loading skills such as Stomp or Windmill to extend or finish the normal attack combo, referred to as "N+WM". It is risky to use against enemies with heavy stander, but N+WM is very effective in multi-aggro situations.

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  N+WM

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  N+1 (3+1, A 3 hit weapon doing 4 hits before knock-back)

Smashmill

Smashmill can be used against almost everything, except for enemies that do not knockback.

The first step is to corner the enemy against a wall, this can be done with just WM -> move a little closer -> WM, or other options such as windblast, using pets, etc.

Against enemies that knockdown, using Assault Slash is also a great way to get in range, one combo can be:

• Smash
• WM
• Assault Slash
• WM
• Smashmill (assuming the previous steps got the enemy close enough to the wall)

Once the enemy is cornered, you have to WM -> Smash -> Repeat. However, the trick here is to not smash as soon as possible, as you will cause the enemy to bounce, instead wait a bit, pay attention to the stability bar below the enemy, and smash when you see it decreasing. Do WM as soon as possible as the timing can be very tight here.

You can watch a recording of this being done here.

Other things you will see in this recording are:

• Handling aggro with pets.
• Using Smash against an enemy moving to attack you by causing a quick stun with a pet.

Smash + Flameburst

A giant-exclusive alternative to smashmill. As giants can wield a 2H sword with a guard cylinder, it is effective to use Smash and Flameburst in a similar fashion to smashmill. This is useful as there is no chance of causing a bounce, reducing the difficulty of execution, and you will not incur the HP cost of Windmill.

Magnum Spam

Easily done by elves, though humans can achieve this if their latency is very low.

As with Smashmill, you do not want to Magnum Shot as soon as possible, and timing is important, except for humans, who have a very tight window and might need to Magnum Shot as soon as their aim chance maxes out, or even before, making it risky for them.

For timing, watch the stability bar, and magnum shot when you see it roughly 3/4 full.

Elves can also magnum spam on the move and do not need to corner the enemy against a wall!

You can watch a recording of this being done here.

Fighter Combo against Heavy Stander

Attempting to attack with fighter combo against an enemy with heavy stander can be dangerous, as if they ping twice in a row you are in for trouble.

However, there is a way around this, with the usage of a pet, and starting with Smash, WM or Magnum Shot, other skills that cause enough stability damage could work as well.

• Smash or Magnum Shot
• Order pet to attack
• Start Fighter combo

You can watch a recording of this being done here. In this recording you will see:

• What will happen when you fighter combo against 2 pings.
• Starting the combo with a smash, you will see a successful full combo.

Smash against instinctive reaction

Using smash (or normal attacks, assuming no heavy stander) against enemies with Instinctive Reaction can be dangerous, however pets can come to the rescue again.

Simply have your pet attack first and quickly follow up with smash, timing is key.

Be careful about positioning as well, you don't want to be in the cone of AoE that the enemy will hit your pet with, you could get hit as well.

You can watch a recording of this being done here.