Unofficial tips for a swashbuckler

Seven · Swabbie Posts: 61 **151 Gold** -

feel free to add to the list, the fencing is surprisingly deep at higher difficulty levels, and quite tense too and everyone has a tip or two that can really help out for those of us who need it (namely me Wink

)

*meant for usage in swashbuckler difficulty level*

*ahem, never duel a ship with a significant gain in men than you, 30+ is something i would hesitate to take on, though doable, 50+ thus far has been suicide

*in the case of even men against a tough opponent, taught after leaping or ducking a swing, makes your men fight harder, don't try it after a parry, if he stabs again he'll nail you in mid taunt

*watch the motion of his hands, hand swings right is overhead slash, hand swings left is low sweep

*when in doubt, mash parry and thrust, this worked especially well for me when i was put on the defensive, i can ruin his momentum and maybe regain a bit of balance

*thrust often, only sweep or slash when an opening is readily available (ie, you see him sweep low, counter with slash, he slash, you sweep) with upgrades you can hit him a microsecond before he gets you

*back and forths are fun, watch hand motions to anticipate next move (me and lafitte went 5 exchanges without touching swords, just jumps and ducks)

*after jumping or ducking, counter with the opposite (ie if i jump, i hit sweep right after, if i duck, i hit slash, works most of the time, thrust seems to meet either a counterthrust or parry...not good)

*don't be afraid to be cheap, mass 150 crew and rush his ship after one good salvo of grape shots, then wear him down, concentrate on countering and taunting, then when his men drops down enough, go on the offensive, throw in a thrust here and there to keep him off his momentum

my chart: by far not the best, but worked for me thus far, i hope it helps you

attack : counter

thrust : parry followed by thrust, or counterthrust twice
sweep : jump and taunt, jump and slash, parry and thrust (a single counterthrust for me hasn't been very effective, they always parry it)
slash : duck and taunt, duck and sweep, parry and thrust

combos (varies, watch his hands)

thrust : parry, thrust thrust (one of the 2 thrusts usually gets him, as long as he doesn't parry, if he does, switch immediately to parry thrust parry)

sweep : jump, taunt, parry thrust thrust (usually the parry will throw off watever he has coming after the taunt, and go from there)

slash : duck, taunt, parry thrust thrust - same story

i hope this helps someone, now i need help, so contribute Very Happy

PiratesFan · Rigger Posts: 1689 **23509 Gold** -

I am in the same boat on fencing... everything else and now that I figured out dancing you can screw up dancing and still get an ok if you finish it off fine .... Laughing

sucks for those who do perfect and screw up at the end but if you do perfect and end perfet good rewards...

I know you said its harder to get items but I have lucked out on a few from dancing and got to choose swords and a tavern guy gave me the loose shirt for quicker fencing... let me tell you these are a must to make the normal fights much easier... and make the tougher guys a little more manageable.

Other than that I haven't gotten to far in swashuckler cause I am finishing off a journeyman that I started to enhance my skills I have learend from playing swashbuckler and for sanity checks.

Seven · Swabbie Posts: 61 **151 Gold** -

PiratesFan · Rigger Posts: 1689 **23509 Gold** -

actually there is only 2 swords but I stopp in every town and check in the back with the tavern guy and if it is one of the nationalities that I am helping I speak with the guv to get a chance to dance with the daughter to impress her so she gives me a gift.. do this very early on and you will have alomst all the items before you are 30... (Blank) the crew... and if they get antsy attack a few easier ships along the way.. swashbuckling you can't exactly fight pirate hunters all the time although it does get the adrenaline running.

Seven · Swabbie Posts: 61 **151 Gold** -

PiratesFan · Rigger Posts: 1689 **23509 Gold** -

I normally go with the cutalss all the time ... maybe partial to it cause of this site and the fact that the cutlass was more damage on the old pirates... to see it as a defense weapon baffles me but hey I am doing much better with it Very Happy

DeepQantas · Powder Monkey Posts: 39 **135 Gold** -

Damage?

I thought the only difference between the swords were speeds

Rapier - Attack moves are fast, defense moves slow
Longsword - Middle ground
Cutlass - Attacks are slow, defenses are fast

Cutlass basically makes it easier for you to block any incoming attacks. I found that the rapier was often too slow so even if I pressed the right button, the attack came through.

But it also depends on your enemy. His rapier vs. your cutlass seem to make for the most dangerous fights because when his attacks, you both move so quickly you need almost superhuman reactions.

Rapier vs. rapier isn't as bad since you can keep more on the offense that way. If your speeds are otherwise evenly matched, your thrust will go through his sweep or slash.

PiratesFan · Rigger Posts: 1689 **23509 Gold** -

In the Original version of pirates if you took a cutlass to battle and landed hits with it ... you knocked hmm back further which I assumed was from more damage from the cutlass or the higher difficult of getting a hit in with it ... Just an old pirate talking about his first experience vs. new experience

You are quite accurate for this version of the game