Here I present theory extracted from my main "Luke Puke's Dueling Manuscript".

The difference between the manuscript and the booklet is scope. The manuscript aims to intertwine a certain mindset with Mordhau's gameplay to inspire positive emotions and personal growth. The mindset, where technique contributes to tranquility and tranquility contributes to technique (thus, "T/T"). For the ones who wish not to hear of such nonsense, I've prepared this booklet, where I present dry theory exempted from any philosophy, abstraction, etc.

I hope you will find it useful. Enjoy!

Weapons are used to deal damage and drain stamina. To win, one has to deal greater damage than opponent's health. To deal damage, one has to pass through opponent's defense. One way to pass through enemy defense is to throw off his timing of block either through speed (fast weapon, drag acceleration/deceleration) or animation manipulation (feint, mophp, obscuring drag). This way seems to be the main focus for many. However, this focus proves inefficient against opponents who are experienced in defending themselves against these techniques. Does that mean a hypothetical player who has learned to block every hit is unbeatable? For someone who focuses purely on throwing off block timing - yes. For someone like you, who seeks to recognize other ways to manipulate your opponent, it is a matter of time and observation.

Without further ado, allow me to direct your attention to weapon stats. Specifically, to "stamina drain" and "parry drain negotiation". Stamina drain (SD) is your ATTACK value. This value is deducted from opponents parry drain negotiation number (PDN), his DEFENSE value, when you hit his block. The result is the amount of opponent's you deplete per hit. As an equation, it looks like this: SD-PNG = how much stamina your attack drains from opponent's stamina upon hitting his block. I will use an example to clarify:

Zweihander vs. Dagger

Zweihander stats:                                                                       Dagger stats:
Stamina Drain: 20                                                                      Stamina drain: 14
Parry drain negotiation: 13                                                         Parry drain negotiation: 6

When Zweihander hits Dagger block: 20-6 = 14 stamina drain each hit. 100/14 = 7.1, so it would take 8 hits for Zweihander to disarm Dagger, given no stamina was restored or used on other actions.

When Dagger hits Zweihander block: 14-13 = 1 stamina drain each hit. 100/1 = 100, so it would take 100 hits for Dagger to disarm Zweihander, given no stamina was restored or used on other actions.

This shows that in a "block-hit-block-hit" exchange weapon which drains more stamina per hit will disarm FIRST, given players hit each other long enough and there are no other factors influencing stamina. Other influencing factors will be examined later, now let's learn how to decide if your weapon drains more stamina per hit than your opponent's weapon or not.

Although Mordhau features a variety of weapons, each having unique stats, there is no reason to fret: weapons can be easily categorized by their stamina drain and parry drain negotiation stats. Here's a list:

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.__._._._._._._.

□ Small One-handed Weapons (Short sword, Dagger, Cleaver, Wooden mallet):
Stamina drain: 14
Parry drain negotiation: 7

□ Light One-handed Weapons (Arming sword, Short spear, Rapier):
Stamina drain: 14
Parry drain negotiation: 11

□ Heavy One-handed weapons (Warhammer, Falchion, Bastard sword, Axe, etc):
Stamina drain: 18
Parry drain negotiation: 12

□ Two-handed weapons (Zweihander, Eveningstar, Battleaxe, etc):
Stamina drain: 20
Parry drain negotiation: 13

There are few exceptions:
1. Blacksmith hammer acts like a heavy one-handed weapon, although it's a small one-handed weapon.
2. Mace acts like a two-handed weapon, although it's a heavy one-handed weapon.
3. Estoc acts like a heavy one-handed weapon, although it's two-handed weapon.
4. Wooden mallet and Lute stats are missleading. Despite their PDN, every weapon drains 30 stamina per blocked hit from them.

Note: to distinguish between "heavy" and "light" one-handed weapons, imagine holding a replica of this weapon in your hand. A short spear would not be as heavy as a handaxe nor would falchion be as light as a rapier.
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.__._._._._._._.

There is no need to memorize this table: once understood, information from it is recalled automatically. All you need is observation. The values can vary plus/minus two or one, but on practice it plays a little role. Instead of memorizing an excel table for exact values, you can apply the following thought chain:

"Enemy weapon type -> my weapon type -> which drains more stamina per hit?"

Example:
Is opponent's weapon two-handed or one-handed? -> one-handed -> light. My weapon is two-handed. So, I will deal more stamina drain per hit.


Information above is not enough without discussing the peasant class. One may wonder: "What about it? The peasant is for jokesters and trolls. Why should I bother with it?" I would like to insist that there is a good reason to bother.

Most two-handed peasant weapons have the following stats:
Stamina drain: 20
Parry drain negotiation: 15.

What this means is that Rusty shovel drains more stamina per hit than Zweihander. Peasant class weapons have stamina advantage compared to their counterparts, albeit with exceptions. Although peasant weapons do tend to have comparatively low damage, their stamina advantage may make it a menacing force in right hands. As for an example, peasant class has the weapon which drains the most stamina per hit in the game: Sledgehammer (SD 28, PDN 16). To contrast, Maul, the weapon which drains the most stamina per hit available for a normal class, has SD of 24 and PDN of 13. Sledgehammer can disarm any two-handed weapon with PDN 13 in 6 hits. It also worth to mention that peasant weapons have many hidden advantages, which can be successfully implemented in a dueling scenario.

This "the more you know" section is purposed to warn you not to underestimate peasant opponents and to bring your attention to peasant weapons. Peasants tend to be tossed aside due to their low damage and speed values. Although these values are crucial on massive battlefields, in a dueling situation they don't play as prominent of a role. In duel, peasant weaponry can be a practical choice, especially if you understand stamina management.


---Practical application---

Note: "Practical application" sections are optional to read. These sections give practical application examples of the knowleldge presented in their above written section. These examples will attempt to serve as tips, but by no means as an exhaustive lists of possibilities. You are free to skip these sections without missing any theory.

● Fighting against a weapon with the same SD and PDN stats: when faced against such weapon, it makes sense to punch first. This way, given you don't lose or use stamina on something else, you will disarm your opponent first in "block-hit-block-hit" exchange. This is especially useful in a fist fight.

● Fighting against a faster weapon: typically, faster weapons tend to have lower SD and PND values. This means that as long as you block and return hits, you will eventually disarm your opponent. So, there is no need to perform risky manuevers to throw off their block timing. Focus on defense. This is especially useful against Dagger and Rapier. When violently attacked by these weapons, don't lose your head, block, and hit back.

● Fighting against a weapon with higher SD and PND stats: this will be discussed in details in the next section. As for now, if you wish to increase PND value of a one-handed weapon, you can use shields. Shield block has unique PND, which can be checked in "advanced stats". So, please, if you are playing with Buckler and Rapier, STOP THROWING YOUR SHIELD AWAY IN HOPES TO DELIVER MINISCULE DAMAGE. This shield is there to give you extra PND, not a decoration.

Most actions in Mordhau affect your stamina. When you run out of stamina, you are at risk of being disarmed. Your stamina will begin to restore itself after about a second or two since it was drained last. It takes about a second to restore 25 stamina points (1 bar). The full restoration period, from 0 to 100, takes five seconds. In order for the restoration to take place, you should avoid getting hit or performing actions which affect stamina. Let's observe actions that affect and do not affect stamina:

Actions that do not affect stamina:

● Your attack if it hits opponent's block
● Your throw attack, whether it hits opponent, his block, or nothing
● Crouch
● Mouse/keyboard movements
● Sprint
● Getting hit
● Kicking opponent's block or environment (wall, obstruction, etc.)

Note: Although these actions do not drain or gain any stamina, performing them prevents stamina restoration. Avoid these actions if you want to restore your stamina (with the exceptions of "crouch" and "mouse/keyboard movements").


Actions that drain stamina:

Action - stamina points drain
● Opponent's attack if it hits your block - this value depends on SD and PDN of colliding weapons
● Jump - 10
● Kick if you hit nothing - 10
● Getting kicked - 10 (restores 10 stamina for opponent!)
● Feint - 10
● Morph - 7
● Chamber - 15 (except for small one-handed weapons: dagger, cleaver, short sword. For them it's 20)
● Dodge - 10
● Miss - unique to each weapon. I have not derived a clear system to assume values by mere observation. However, most values vary from 8 to 13. There is no need to deduce an exact number each duel, just keep in mind missing a hit drains about 10 stamina
● Combo - combo drains double of "miss" value whether the hit reaches opponent's block or not.
● Missing but hiting environment - half of miss value
● Sprint - although sprint does not drain any stamina, it prevents it from restoring. Avoid sprinting if you want to restore your stamina
Getting hit - same as "sprint"


Actions that gain stamina:

Action - stamina points gain
● Your attack if it successfuly hits opponent with:
Small or Light One-handed weapon - 5
Heavy and Two-handed weapon - 10
Peasant weapon - 5
● Kick if it successfuly hits opponent - 10
● Kill - 35 (not much use in a duel, but interesting to know)


Again, there is no need to specifically memorize any of these. Nearly every action drains 10 stamina, with the exceptions of morph, miss, and block. However, if you remember that morph drains 7 stamina points, and assume miss to be 10, and combo 20, that's good enough unless you wish to do precise math in your head.

Understanding how stamina works does not merely help you to be more aware of your actions, but also allows to analyze stamina use of your opponent. This analysis suggests preferable distance, pressure, and own stamina use. Allow me to elaborate.

As was determined in the previous section, weapons have diverse Stamina Drain and Parry Drain Negotiation stats; values which are responsible for calculating stamina drain per hit. Although these values can be used as a predictor to "which weapon is most likely to disarm first in 'hit-block-hit-block' exchange", duels are more dynamic than a simple comparison of stats. You may get hit. You may get kicked. You may try to use an action that drains stamina and fail to do any damage to the opponent. There is no certainty that your stamina will be used as effectively as you wish. On the other hand, your opponent may use his stamina carelessly. You may hit or kick him, regaining stamina back. In the end, the one who is able to put the right amount of pressure on opponent, whilst using stamina most efficiently, is the one to disarm .

To put pressure means to repeatedly hit your opponent in a rapid succession. In order to
decide the right amount of pressure, one has to have a more or less accurate estimation of opponent's stamina. There is no need to deduce an exact number, it's enough to approximate whether you have more stamina than your opponent or not. If you have more stamina then it makes sense to get close and put pressure. Remember, it takes only one-two seconds for stamina to start regenerating: pressure is used to prevent it and eventually drain stamina to zero. However, if you find yourself in an unfavourable stamina situation, it is advisable to create some distance, thus decreasing pressure on yourself, in order to regenerate stamina. How much distance is enough to ease the pressure is largely influence by weapon length and opponent's aggressiveness.

The longer the weapon the more distance is required to avoid being hit by it, and vise versa. Although sprint can be used to quickly close distance between the opponent and you, even a second is enough to restore some stamina. Another thing to consider is that while sprinting there is no stamina regeneration. This means, that if your opponent carelessly runs at you and you manage to restore some stamina, you may turn the tables and have stamina advantage. Or at least make the gap smaller. If you have longer weapon, use the distance advantange to "play it safe". When your opponent gets out of breath, you may get closer to prevent him from escaping your range. If you have shorter weapon, be very cautious of your stamina. Decide upon level of stamina you start to escape to regenerate your stamina back. This decision is influenced by opponent's aggression, weapon length, and stamina use. To determine these, ask the following questions:

● How agressive your opponent is - are you able to regenerate your stamina in peace or does your opponent put constant pressure?
● How long is your weapon compared to the opponent's - are you able to retreat early or do you have to sprint for your life?
● How does your opponent use his stamina - is he careless or is he conservative?

Based on answers for these questions, you can decide your strategy and own stamina use. Do you stay away or come close, do you use feints and morphs or do you conserve you energy, etc.
This is especially important if your weapon has lesser values of SD and PDN. In such case, you may put emphasis on delivering damage to your opponent through throwing off block timing, however, you should not forget about stamina management. In some scenarious, you may even have stamina advantage and be able to disarm opponent who uses a weapon with higher stamina drain per hit. You can spot this moment and apply pressure in the right time if you observe your opponent's stamina use.



---Practical application---

● Observe your opponent's actions carefully. Feints, misses, chambers, morphs, etc. Each of these counts as if you hit your opponent's block. It would take approximately 20 hits from a two-handed weapon to disarm another two-handed weapon. However, if your opponent actively uses stamina consuming actions, this number can go down very quickly. For this reason, you may try to disarm your opponent even if your weapon deals much less stamina drain per hit.
● Most of us have encountered the tactic where your opponent continuously feints until your nerves give up and you block. It may be very annoying and feel cheap, however, knowing stamina management can turn the tables around very quickly. Even if you got hit - your opponent wasted a lot of stamina. Put pressure! Soon enough this juggler will be unnarmed and at your mercy. Do not let "juggler-feinters" hit you and restore their stamina. Attack back immideately!
● If you try to throw off opponent's block through applying complex action combos, keep an eye on your stamina. Take a break after you drain much of your stamina.
● Allow your opponent to make mistakes. For instance, if you see your opponent hitting stamina draining combos on a safe distance from you, let him. Let him drain stamina, don't intervene until he is done. Sometimes the best action is inaction. But don't be inactive for too long: it takes 1-2 for stamina restoration.

The next two sections will focus on block-defense, whereas the section after will focus on mobility-defense. To underestand block-defence is first and foremost to underetand attack. This section will provide basic information about drag manipulation and provide practical advice how to mitigate "panic blocks". Disclaimer: I will use the term "drag" loosely here. Usually drag involves active mouse movement while attack, however, here I accept it as a certain timing position for the purposes of clarity. If you wish to learn more about drags and their offensive applications, please refer to other guides which specialize in them.

Every swing in Mordhau follows a curve. Doesn't matter the direction, it is always a curve. Some weapons trave a bigger curve, some follow a smaller one (these are defined by weapon length). Here's how it looks:


Idle
 
 
Wind-up
 
 
Release (attack)


When you touch the curve, you receive damage. To avoid receiving damage, you can block. Your block should be active at the moment when you touch the curve. The moment you touch the curve depends on your body position relating to the hips-turn of your opponent and weapon swing position (don't worry, pictures will make it clear). Manually controling this positioning is called "drag manipulation", or "drag acceleration/deceleration". Here's the list of hip positions:

Hips straight. Opponnent looks right at you.
 
 
Hips towards. Opponent faces you with the side he holds his weapon at.
 
 
Hips outwards. Opponent faces you with the opposite side he holds his weapon at.

 
 
Hips down. Opponent looks down.
 
 
Hips up. Opponen looks up.




When you move your mouse, you don't control your hands: you control your hips. Hips turn you around and change the position of your weapon related to your opponent. When you press "swing button", your hands perform a fixed animation. This animation cannot be sped up, it has fixed timing. However, this animation "draws" a curve. By moving your hips you are able to change at which point the curve crosses over opponent. It takes time for the curve to travel through space, so there are many points and timings it can interact with another player. The reference point is typically considered to be the "hips straight" position. If you hit your opponent "faster" than as if you were keeping hips straight position, then you perform a drag acceleration. If you hit "slower", then you perform a drag deceleration. I drew graphs to clarify this explanation. These graphs are visual representations of an idea and should not be treated as accurate timing predictors. There is no need to memorize them, only to "get the point". The white point with red outlines represents where the curve interacts with player:


[Normal swing] This graph represents at which point the curve will "normally", in hips straight position, interact with another player. It's useful as a reference.
Hips straight, swing from the left (right swing)
 
 
Hips straight, swing from the right (left swing)
 
Hips straight, swing from the down
 
 
Hips straight, swing from the up

 
 
 
[Accelerated swing]

Hips towards, right swing
 
 
Hips outwards, left swing
 
 
Hips down, upper swing
 
 
Hips up, lower swing
 
 
 
[Decelerated swing]
Hips towards, left swing
 
 
Hips outwards, right swing
 
 
Hips down, lower swing

Hips up, upper swing
 
 
From observing the images above, one may derive a couple of patters: 
1. On horizontal axis, speed is positively affected when slash comes from the same direction opponent is, and vice versa. For example, if your opponent is to your left and you attack with a left slash, you will perform an acelerated drag. However, if you attack with a right slash, you will perform a decelerated drag.
2. On vertical axis, speed is positively affected when slash comes from the opposite vertical direction which you are looking to, and vice versa. For example, if you look up and attack with a lower slash, you will perform an accelerated drag. However, if you attack with an upper slash, you will perform a decelerated drag.

From the denfensive point of view, it allows you to better anticipate when opponent's weapon curve will colide with you by observing hips position and direction of attack. If opponent turns his hips outwards and winds up an attack from the opposite direction to you (hips outwards, right swing), then you know to wait a little before blocking. If your opponent looks down and winds up an attack from up (hips down, upper slash), you know to react quick. If your opponent uses acceleration drag - react. If your opponent uses deceleration drag - wait. Normal drags usually cause no problems.

However, anticipation is not sufficient without observation. Opponent can feint or morph. Opponent can shift his hips while attacking, thus changing "speed" mid-air. These can make your anticipation to play against you and throw off your block. To prevent this, it's important to observe specific moment: the moment when weapon starts to go forward.

Refer to the first three pictures of this section: idle, wind up, release. These are stages of attack (including "recovery"; weapon coming back to idle). Your opponent can feint or morph ONLY during wind up stage. During wind up stage, a weapon goes backwards. As soon as the weapon goes forwards, it attacks. So, as soon as the weapon goes forwards it is impossible to cancel the attack or morph it. Before weapon goes forward, do not block. It will take time to build discipline to block only as you see a weapon going forward, but it's necessary to progress. You will meet highly skillful players who will play with your anticipation and throw off your block masterfully. In the beginning you may be seduced to only rely on your anticipation: it works against most opponents. However, if you wish to stand a chance against very experienced fighters, it's necessary to learn this discipline. I dare you to lose all your ranks just to learn this one thing and I bet you it will be worth it in the long run.

However, anticipation is not sufficient without observation. Opponent can feint, or even shift his hips while attacking, thus changing "speed" mid-air. These can make your anticipation to play against you and throw off your block. To prevent this, it's important to observe a specific moment: the moment when weapon starts to go forward.

Refer to the first three pictures of the previous section: idle, wind up, release. These are the stages of attack (including "recovery"; weapon coming back to idle). Your opponent can feint or morph ONLY during the wind up stage. During the wind up stage, a weapon goes backwards. As soon as the weapon goes forwards, it attacks. So, as soon as the weapon goes forwards it is impossible to cancel the attack or morph it. Before weapon goes forward, do not block. It will take time to build discipline to block only after you saw a weapon going forward, but it's necessary to progress. You will meet highly skillful players who will play with your anticipation and throw off your block masterfully. In the beginning you may be seduced to only rely on your anticipation: it works against most opponents. However, if you wish to stand a chance against very experienced fighters, it's necessary to learn this discipline. I dare you to lose all your ranks just to learn this one thing and I bet you it will be worth it in the long run. It is certainly not easy. Unfortunately I cannot provide a detailed instruction how exactly to spot the exact moment. However, if you conciously put your attention to the fact, you will gain the necessary skill and knowledge yourself. To help you a little, I will offer a little fact: attacks are loud, feints are silent .

When a weapon goes forward, character screams. Every "YEAAAH!", "UAAAA!", "HUUUAH!" you've heard indicated that an attack was initiated; a weapon went forward. It's is a tremendously helpful thing to keep in mind if you are not visualy sure whether a weapon goes forward or not. Nevertheless, relying completely on this audio signal is not sufficient: if your opponent attacks with a stab or an accelerated drag, your reaction to the sound will most likely be too late. Visual observation does not mitigate the need for anticipation, but makes anticipation more accurate . It's when you combine both visual and audio observations you begin to better deflect oncoming attacks.
 
 
 
Having said that, I do admit that defense theory is inexhaustible. What I've written here is by no means enough to grant you perfect defense against every opponent. Practice is the key to mastery. I strongly encourage you to be observant and spot countless factors I have missed. I would be very thankful if you could teach them to me.




---Practical application---

● Underestanding how to speed or slow down a drag on horizontal and vertical axes allows you to manipulate your drags in sophisticated manner. Try combining knowledge from vertical and horizontal slashes!

Armor allows to take more hits, thus allowing for more mistakes. However, armor also decreases your mobility. But what exactly goes away with mobility? Your control of distance. This means:

● It's harder for you to put and escape pressure.
● Opponents with longer weapons or no armor will have an advantage over you.
● It's harder for you to evade oncoming attacks using movement. For example, stepping out of your opponent's weapon range.
● If you get disarmed and have no back up weapon, every advantage of having armor nullifies.

What are the advantages of having armor? The advantages are:

● You have more time to learn your opponent.
● You can tolerate more mistakes
● You can learn more from your opponent (since you will make more mistakes compared to if you had no armor).


An important question is "How good is my defense?". "Is my block-timing solid?". The better your defense skill, the more offensive tactical advantages you can enjoy. In dueling, it's just you and your opponent; there are no archers or backstabbers. If you can successfully deflect most of the hits most of the time, you can loosen up your armor and move more freely. If you are still struggling with blocking or your opponent gives you a hard time throwing off your block, you may want to use heavier armor.

All the same applies for your opponent. If your opponent wears heavy armor and wields heavy weapons, a light armored class may exploit all the advantages of mobility: you use stamina more freely, put a lot of pressure, escape at your leisure to recover. You may even attempt to dodge opponent's hits using movement (although, it can be very risky). Again, these advantages nullify if you cannot block attacks of your opponent most of the times.

In any event, it's a balance between security and freedom. There is no right answer with such diversity of skills. If you like to adapt your class to the opponent you are facing, I'd recommend to make different armor classes with different weapon lengths (e.g "light class short weapon (for the most aggressive playstyle) to "heavy class two-handed weapon" (for the most defensive playstyle). If you play one class, I'd recommend to learn to adapt to all kinds of playstyles and overcome inherit class disadvantages.

The last issue I would like to adress is the usage of kick. Kick is a powerful attack and many are tempted to use if offensively. Such usage is not very effective, since kick is mostly a defensive move. I will explain as to "why?".

Kick has a very limited range. So limited that if your opponent takes two steps away you will hit the air. Worst part about it is that the opponent will most likely hit you back. To hit someone with a kick this someone has to "hug" you; be so close you would smell his breath in real life. Kick is designed to kick out intruders from your personal space and cool down careless opponents who sprint towards you.

Many may argue that a kick can be used offensively combined with a jump. Indeed, a jump-kick may work against an inexperienced opponent. However, against an experienced opponent, a jump-kick is an extremely risky move. The main reason lays within how easy it is to counter: with a kick back! It doesn't matter if your opponent kicks, attacks with weapon, feints: your ground-kick is faster. Either you will block his kick or kick your opponent out of attack. One way your opponent can trick you is by stopping mid-air, so you are the one kicking the air and he is the one slashing you with his weapon. However, this happens only if your opponent jumps from afar. In this situation, it's recommended to step back and either use your weapon (to hit defenseless opponent) or do nothing (and let your opponent waste 20 points of stamina).

All in all, kick is a risky offensive move but it can be a viable defense move in some situations. It can be successfuly used:

● If your opponent was very close to you and began to get closer as soon as he initiated his attack.
● If your opponent carelesly sprints on you and will get very close before his weapon goes forward.
● If your opponent runs circles very close around you.
● As a last resort. For example, if you have no stamina left (it restores 10 stamina per hit for you and drains 10 stamina from your opponent).


I would not recommend to use kick unless it is necessary. Unsuccessful kick may leave you defenseless.

To conclude, this theory does not claim superiority over any other theory or one's ideas. In this guide I put my experience into words in hopes it will help someone. I may be mistaken somewhere or the whole thing might seem like garbage to you for one reason or the other. The reason I took time to wrtie these things down was that I love sharing my experience with people. When I did so on Ranking Duel servers, many were interested in what I had to say. I do not aim to capture "the ultimate truth" or "write the best guide". The goal is modest: inspire an idea which will make your gameplay bettter. And, hey, if you've read this guide and at least one thing made you think: "Huh, I will experiment with it", then it was all worth it.

I would like to thank everyone who scrolled this far. I want to thank everyone I had a pleasure to duel, to thank every friend I made on Mordhau dueling servers, to thank every person I chatted with there, and to thank you, the reader. I also want to thank Kevain for the inspiration to undertake this work. I want to thank Solace for his believe that this work was worth all the struggle. I especially want to thank my best friend Lawrence for assisting me all the way through.

And if you are a stranger I met sometime in Mordhau and you managed to remember my name - thank you for stopping by. I hope you had fun dueling with me. Because I certainly did.

















Notes: proof reading was not conducted yet. Maybe other day.