Level 4 Is Tough! (Spoilers Ahead)

[AndyMatches]

Hello everyone,

So, I had finally made it to Level 4 a couple days ago and "cleared" it last night. After quite a few debacles involving multiple skeletons having their way with my heavily armored yet poorly trained hero, I managed to kill all the skeletons, trap the Ogre/Troll/Death Machine in the first room, and explore around in peace. I had read somewhere about a trap you can use against the Ogre, but I didn't want to spoil it for myself by looking up exactly where it is.

Spoiler

I found the pit but I wasn't sure whether I needed to move the lumber first, or if its weight would crush the lumber and it would fall through. Either way, I haven't tested it out yet.

Unfortunately, I still need to go back to Level 3 to get the

Spoiler

helmet behind the secret shelf/door

because I got the Level 4 checkpoint before venturing back to fully investigate Level 3.

It's a little bit of a bummer that you can't "reuse" checkpoints by traveling through them again if need be. I understand the developers' intent in making the game more difficult and requiring you to do things in a more thoughtful manner than just plugging along holding down LMB. The game actually reminded me a lot of Dark Souls when I first began, which is one of my favorite games. However, I did like that Dark Souls allowed you to "reuse" checkpoints by resting at a bonfire again and your actions, such as opening doors or collecting loot, were persistent through death. I would be fine with having enemies reanimate if I left an area if it meant I would receive the checkpoint again! (Of course, I defer to the judgment of the Bare Mettle team to create the game the way they intend.)

Ultimately, my question is this: what have you all found to be your best techniques in combat? (especially for a beginner like myself). My biggest problem is when facing shielded enemies, such as the skeletons. I have tried to practice in the arena, but I always manage to lose to the second shield user (square shield) because I am having a lot of difficulty with properly executing backhanded swings. My forearm hits right into the enemy's shield virtually every time, unless I get lucky. I play a pretty defensive style with a sword and shield, probably because I'm not that skilled at this game yet. I tried using two-handed weapons to see how I liked them, but I get killed pretty quickly without using the shield and having it auto-block for me.

Thanks!

 

[NachoDawg]

What I try to do in fights is backpedal when the enemy swings, and then try to time my own swing to hit them once their swing has gone past me. The back-hand really is the best anti-shield move in my opinion, as you aim often higher than an normal RTL swing. A trick I like to pull is doing a over-head strike (double click) and aim at the side and then hit them in the leg. This includes timing it so your mouse position changes mid-strike to cut into them at a diagonal angle

 

[Suggett66]

As Nacho said, i do the same thing with a two handed weapon, i never rely on the auto block and instead opt for just backing up all the time and moving in when the enemy has a made a swing for me.

 

[Hedgehog-of-Fog]

I'm performing the same trick as Nacho and Suggett, it always works... well, almost.

Also I'm often using axe against shield-bearers: right-and-forward (or just forward but aiming to the shielded side of the enemy) dash + "long" RtL-swing make a good three-quarter-round hit in the back or head of the enemy.