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Swordsman | Archer | Blacksmith | Mage | Ninja

Blacksmith Class-Specific Strategies

The class-Specific strategy section will be divided into three subsections to detail the specifics of an individual fight.

The three sections will be:

a.) Approach - The time from when you identify your target to when you are in melee range
b.) Fight - The time from when you arrive in melee range until your defeat your opponent
c.) Finish - The time when you defeat your opponent

Versus Mage:

Approach: Your approach on the mage is the key to defeating the mage. There is one very important thing to remember when approaching a mage. STRAFE. Never run straight toward a mage, circle in toward him by pressing W+A or W+D. The mage fires most of his spells in a fairly straight line and strafing toward him removes the vast majority of risk in approaching the mage.

Fight: The key to fighting the mage is by using single swings with strategic jump attacks. Only swing twice at the mage if you KNOW you will connect both times. Strafe around the mage or chase him (which is what you will be mostly doing) but do not swing twice, unless he just cast a spell (and even then there's may be a better option, such as gripping). Swing once whenever you get close and keep following. Occasionally he will cast tornado and blow you away, in this situation refer back to the Approach above. Whenever he stops to cast, you can jump attack if he's alone, or hammer spin if he has friends near. If you are skilled at gripping, then by all means attempt a grip after he casts as you have enough time, but if you are too far from the mage you will do the 360 hammer spin, leaving you wide open when it's done. Chances are you'll see the ice spike from this point if you miss the grip. Mages penetrate armor with their spells, so you must be sure NOT TO BE HIT BY MAGE. A skilled blacksmith can take out a mage without soaking a single spell.

Finish: I finish most magesprimarily with jump attack or possibly hammer spin (ONLY spin if you are sure it will hit, a dizzy Blacksmith can be taken apart by a griping mage). Also be careful hammer spinning by ledges as it is easy to knock your prey down and away from you, preventing you from scoring. Watch for the mages armor to pop off and start looking for the finish If a mage starts running without trying to cast at you, chances are he is very close to death and you can start one-swinging while chasing. Also keep in mind that mages can heal with special orbs they place around the map. They may be running to one of these, or a health pickup.

Versus Archer:

Approach: Your approach on the archer is again the key to defeating this class. The archer has a less complex approach method, but that does not mean she is easier to defeat than the mage. First off, remember that you are the Blacksmith, the biggest baddest tough guy on the field. Pay special attention to that first verb, BIGGEST. That's right, archers love to shoot at Blacksmiths because they are large and easy to hit. Expect to see many arrows coming your way when you are opposing a lot of archers. Fortunately for you, Blacksmiths have the secret weapon here, the infamous Walking Guard. The Walking Guard will allow you to approach Archers with very little risk, so long as you can time your defenses well. They have a one second delay inbetween each shot, so the general strategy is: Run straight forward for one second, block arrow, run straight forward, block arrow. This is accomplished by holding W the whole time, and tapping shift as necessary with your pinky. Never stop moving during the entire approach. Put the pressure on them. They have two choices as you close into melee range, they can run away or they can try to get one last shot in, either way you want to jump attack at the end of your approach. If they stay and shoot, you will jump over their arrow and crack their skull. If they run, you will chase and use the one-swing strategy. The first jump attack will, most of the time, knock off an Archer's helmet. Once this happens, look at that blond hair as your hammer's bullseye. Get proficient at knowing exactly how far away you can be to connect with the jump attack. You want to jump as soon as you can during your approach. Special note: So, why not strafe you may ask? Well against noob archers, strafing is very effective, but once you get up in levels you will notice the skilled archer can hit you fine when you strafe, unlike mage, so you will have to block anyway. Making an approaching inward-spiral circular path (like the mage) will take you much more time than a straight forward path, so straight forward is the ideal choice against the seasoned archer. It puts pressure on them and gives you the quickest approach possible against this class

Fight: Most of the fight against archer is kiting. Very few archers will go toe to toe with a Blacksmith. Thus the approach of this class is still relevant in this section of the fight. You will be chasing the archer's back when you are not following the approach strategy above, so use the same one-swing strategy as you would use when chasing a mage. Also note that archers like to jump over the horiz one-swing of the Blacksmith. If you see your archer opponent repeatedly doing this, adapt by getting close enough to swing but not swinging, prompting them to jump, and then wait til they are on their way down and one-swing wack them. Unaware archers are also your best grip practice. Run up behind an archer shooting at someone else and grip them. Then follow the tactics above.

Finish: Most of the archers I kill fall to a jumping hammer smash. It is a ruthlessly powerful attack against weakly armored foes and it takes the same amount of time to execute as it takes the archer to fire one arrow. The majority of the archer battle will be approach, with a little chasing, then more approach, then more chasing, until you finish them with your approaching strategy or a one-swing on the chase.

Versus Ninja:

Approach: The good and bad news. You wont have to approach ninja very often because they will more often than not try to sneak up on you. The bad news is that they love to come in for a rear grip. Grips are the ninja's most powerful attacks and a skilled ninja will go for the grip a lot. If you are fighting a ninja that did not sneak up behind you, your approach strategy is very similiar to that of the archer. Move steadily straight forward, blocking their shurikens as necessary, until you can jump.

Fight: The ninja is a fast melee attacker. They have a bread and butter four hit combo, which many inexperienced ninjas will open up on you with. Just block all four attacks and then open into your combo of choice. It is very difficult to hit ninjas with a jumping hammer smash, because they are so quick, so rely more on your one-hit swing strategy for this fight during the chase, and open up on them if they attack you and are blocked. Remember your reactive strategy, wait for them to make a move and then respond to it. If they stand toe to toe, fight them as you would a fast Swordsman, reactively block and counterattack. Whatever you do, do not spin attack unless you get crowded. The long delay gives a ninja optimal time to land a high-damage grip. If they disappear, back away under guard (S+shift) until they reappear and attack, then counterattack. When they get low on life, they will usually escape instead of die, which is not the worst thing in the world, because their ranged attacks are not too deadly (unless they catch you and a lot of teammates in a shuriken cone). This is different from the mage in that you should never let a fleeing mage get away, because he's not trying to escape, he's trying to shake your attention so he can cast on you. If you do let a ninja get away and you start fighting someone else, keep one eye over your shoulder to watch for the grip. If you see the ninja approaching while you are in melee and can't respond, let lose with a 360 hammer spin or power up your special attack (360 also). Against the ninja, timing is critical!

Finish: As stated above, the ninja finish is fairly difficult in comparison to the other classes. Just keep an eye on their armor and position yourself for a good combo. USe one-swings until you feel confident that you can connect with a two-hit or hammer spin. Hammer spins are effective for finishing a ninja, but don't use it unless you know you got it! (or prepare to be backstab gripped)

Versus Swordsman:

Approach: There is no approach to swordsman because they want to approach you also. Most of the time the two of you run up to one another and begin fighting. However once in a while, you will catch a swordsman who likes to use daggers and wait for you to approach him. If this is the case, use the archer approach strategy and break his head while he switches back to sword with a jumping attack, then proceed to the Fight section below.

Fight: The Swordsman fight can be a long and tough one, if both competitors are skilled. The main differences between the swordsman and the Blacksmith are that the Blacksmith has more armor/life, but the swordsman hits harder. The difference that settles the fight in the Swordsman's favor is that he can attack considerably faster and more often. Due to this fact, you will have to play reactive against Swordsman. Wait for them to swing and block, then decimate them with your own combo. Their bread and butter will be a three hit combo. Make sure to block all of these hits before you go on offense. If you see their sword ignite into flames and thrust up into the air, back away without guarding, because their attack will break your guard anyway and guarding slows down your backup speed. After they attack with this combo, which is three consecutive unblockable hits, then you can move in for some damage with a thrust attack, combo, or possibly a grip. Jumping hammer smashes will work against swordsman on occasion, just be conservative with them and learn when to attempt one. Be very weary of their wakeup attack, they get up very quickly and have a pretty threatening range with this attack. I recommend against using the 360 hammer spin against Swordsman, as they can get up and wakeup attack you before your spin delay ends. (the dizzy effect)

Finish: The Swordsman will be one of the tougher classes to finish. You just have to stick with them and keep them from escaping. They run quite a bit faster than Blacksmiths, so if they decide to flee you may just have to accept it. The good thing is that swordsman are usually pretty brave and tend to fight to the death, so the chase happens less with them than most other classes.

Versus Blacksmith:

Approach: I prefer to use a thrust attack in my approach if the Blacksmith is fighting someone else or standing still, but this is slightly risky if you do not time it well. If the Blacksmith is moving, stay away from the thrust and try to get in for a one-hit or two-hit to knock them down. Since Blacksmiths are slow, the spinning hammer attack works pretty well as an opener with accurate timing. (and you are invincible while performing it) This is ill-advised if the blacksmith has friends that are nearby but outside the radius of the spin.

Fight: Since there are no class differences to play off of, the better and more patient Blacksmith will win, simple as that. Fight Blacksmith like you fight Swordsman, wait for them to attack and then waylay them after you defend. Personally, I avoid fighting other Blacksmiths because it will be a long fight and chances are one or both of you will be distracted before it ends. Blacksmith versus Blacksmith one on one can be some of the most enjoyable fights you participate in, but they are simply not practical for scoring kills or winning the game. The best thing you can do to a Blacksmith when he has friends that he is protecting, is to use the spinning attack to knock him off a ledge and kill his friends instead. A strong tactic of a good blacksmith is to protect the team's mage. This is when spinning hammer sees the best use. There is nothing like knocking the bodyguard far away and killing the mage he is protecting.

Finish: This fight will be a tough finish, just use whatever power moves you have at your disposal. Watch the huge blacksmith for his shoulderpads to fly off, then you know you are getting close. Use jumping smashes, thrusts, or hammer spins to finish.

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