Which Technique To Take First?

[Bullethead]

NOTE: I hope I'm using the correct terms here. It's my understanding that a "skill" is one of the broad categories (close combat, armor, etc.) and a "technique" is the specific item you can learn within the skill. Anwyay....

I just got the game yesterday and noticed that I can select a single technique in the close combat skill during character creation (for the dungeon, not the arena). I've also read enough in here and seen enough gameplay videos already to know that this is a new feature introduced just before I got the game--previously, everybody had several techniques to start with and got no more.

So, we have a choice of 4 techniques at present:
* Remise: 2 attacks in rapid succession
* Feint: Restart a stopped attack
* Fend: Stop an attack to parry
* Riposte: Quickly counterattack after a parry

I've tried all but Feint and haven't noticed any real difference in my effectively. Of course, I totally suck at the game and have never gotten past the 2nd zombie, nor the 4th Novice Arena opponent. But I figure most of that is me, so that eventually one of these techniques might prove most beneficial to a new character. I'm leaning towards Fend as sort of a safety net as I seem to die mostly when I'm trying to attack, but I also like Riposte, my favorite move from back in my fencing days. What say you old-timers?

On a related note, I can't really even tell whether Remise and Riposte are passive, automatic things, or whether they just let me attack sooner than the default animations allow. How was it back when you always had these techniques?

And finally, why is that none of this is available in the arena? That would be the best place to test them out I think, but for now we can only use them in the dungeon.

 

[Buggeroo]

Welcome on board

To begin with, you only select which technique to train, it doesn't take effect until you've played a while and earned enough xp. Some of this xp will be saved so in later playthroughs you will be able to start with some techniques active.
As it is right now, all techniques are active in the arena, which is why you cannot choose any.

 

[Parco]

For more experienced players feint is the skill usually trained first and remise last (at least for me), feint gives you almost the same ability as remise, you can quickly swing the opposite way after executing a swing though it require an extra click compared to remise, also with feint you can chain more than just 2 swings making it more powerful than remise.
for beginners i would recommend riposte. riposte is in my opinion better than fend in the start because if youre going to play defensive you still to want finish off your opponents fast, so its better to wait for an attack to block it and then counterattack than depending on being able to defend against an attack in middle of your own attack, which might very likely fail and end up getting yourself killed. if you choose riposte in the start then fend is a good second pick as those 2 abilities compliments each other.
If you feel you need/want a easy second swing or have trouble executing the LtR swing then choosing remise in the start isnt a bad choice.
as already mentioned the skill wont take effect until you earned enough xp, press k and you should see the yellow/orange bar representing the xp in the skill youre currently training, when it is full then your skill becomes active and you can choose a new skill to train, you will see a + sign in bottom right corner when a new technique can be trained.

 

[-Tim-]

for beginners i would recommend riposte. riposte is in my opinion better than fend in the start because if youre going to play defensive you still to want finish off your opponents fast, so its better to wait for an attack to block it and then counterattack than depending on being able to defend against an attack in middle of your own attack, which might very likely fail and end up getting yourself killed. if you choose riposte in the start then fend is a good second pick as those 2 abilities compliments each other.

I would not recommend Riposte for beginners. For beginners, trying quick counterattacks is too ambitious and exposes you to the risk of mistiming your counterattack by initiating it too early, resulting in not blocking the incoming attack in the first place and getting hit. This got me killed more times than I can count. I'd say start with Fend for the exact reason mentioned in the opening post.

If you feel you need/want a easy second swing or have trouble executing the LtR swing then choosing remise in the start isnt a bad choice.

This is a good point, making Remise a solid alternative for a first technique.

Of course, this is just based on my own experience. Much depends on individual preference. Techniques can serve best to fill the gaps in your own skill, I find. I you want that little extra edge to pull off perfect and unblockable counter attacks, go Riposte. If you really want those two linked slashes without having to click twice, go Remise. And so on.

 

[Bullethead]

Thanks for the replies. OK, don't expect to see any difference until after whacking a few zombies. When I live that long, then I'll report back .

OK, so I take it Remise is an automatic thing without having to click for the 2nd attack? If so, then why doesn't it happen all the time in the arena? What triggers the 2nd attack?

All the other techniques require input, right? Fend seems easy enough, just release the left button. But what about the others? With Riposte, do you start holding the left button down before or after you block the incoming attack? Every once in a while in the arena, when using sword and buckler, I start a RlL just before, and end up blocking and attacking simultaneously, which is often effective, although I can't make this work reliably, and it seems to not work that way with 2-handed weapon.

And what of Feint? I suppose that's hold briefly, release, hold with the left button, but the initial hold has to be long enough not to register as just a click so you don't do the overhead attack by accident? Or does the overhead attack require a double-click and hold? I'm not even sure on this from either the guide or playing.

I expected some difference in opinion on which technique to learn first as I can't even make up my own mind .

It also seems to me that some techniques are better for some situations than others. If you're 1h facing a slow 2h, then Feint and Remise might be best, whereas 1h v 1h might favor Fend and Riposte. Also maybe the same if you're 2h vs 1h.

 

[Murf]

IMO, Remise is the best one for a new person to try and get., you are already used to it from the arena, and being without it, when you are used to it, sucks.