Very good video! The 3d renders are so good I have no idea how you even do them. One thing worth mentioning that this video missed is that there is a stagger mechanic that will happen sometimes when blocking. This is exactly how the stagger system works as described by the developers when they introduced it: "Blocking/Parrying item have a blocking rating. Attacking weapons have an impact rating. The blocking player will stagger heavily if the impact power exceeds the blocking power. The blocking player will stagger modestly if the impact power and the blocking power are equal. If the blocking power is greater than the impact power, then the blocking player will simply block the attack like the previous playtest." It's worth mentioning that handle/hilt hits seem to be unable to stagger a shield (If you have any examples of handle/hilt hits staggering pls lmk). This is actually makes the strategy of getting up in their face so effective. Although be warned there are definitely counters to this strategy such as jumping or shoving your camera inside of their model which bypasses their blocking volume. The buckler seems to have a higher blocking rating than all other off hand shields which is actually a pretty big upside in melee combat.
Dresboni the absolute goat, this is all great info - I briefly mentioned it after the barb scene but couldn't find a good way to describe it in detail like you have. This comment summarizes it up perfectly so I'm going to pin it, you are awesome man!
@@ryan6daysaweek My pleasure, keep up the great informational content. Do you have a discord? I'd like to ask you some questions about ur editing if that'd be ok.
As a Wizard main, I will tell you, you don't even need to do this. Let them take 4 years to cast their 25 damage if directly hit fireball while you finish your degree and buy a house while you sneeze on them accidently and COVID kills them
Can you make an update on this video? The buckler right now will actually interrupt the attack animation of things like the champion. Not sure if this is a bug or intended.
Personally i dont use shield beceause playing agressive is meta atm even if you block attacks you arent doing anything other than that needs more defensive options
The renders are really well done (as is the rest of the video) Do you have any info about getting the models for the current iteration? I would like to work with them but I'm having trouble getting info on how to get them for EA
"shield hitbox is very accurate" also " you can bury yourself inside the enemy to bug the hitbox" shield hitbox is dog shit in dark and darker, as a chiv vet.
Its a shame the buckler just isnt as viable as the other two shields cause ive seen so many blue and purple tier bucklers with godly modifiers which i ended up losing cause i didnt know how to block that well, a shame.
My method is to high block everything since hed taps are devastating compared to leg hits, and combined with a falchion high mobility builds have no chance.
I would love more videos about commonly misunderstood mechanics. Whether it be certain skills/perks. Or even something like a general movement or armor guide. Anyway, great video.
some mob attacks are quite unreliable to block up close due to their weapon hitbox activating too late (past the shield). If you want to block downward pve attacks more reliably then you will need to crouch and move backwards as you are look up. For side swings, move far away and in the direction that the mob is attacking in. Though more often than not, it is usually just better to completely dodge the attack unless you blocking for another player
Yo those character model renderings and diagrams were insane well done! Great video and super informative. I have subbed and will be watching any other videos you put out on topics like this! Thanks
coming soon, there was a bit of a rework since this video got released as now the pavise may be knocked down by damage but I will definitely have an updated guide out
I love the longsword so much. The riposte is so good. Iam just trying to be more consistent with the blocking. I take the successful block buffs with the perk of "next block is always successful". This riposte attack is so fast and one shot
Very nice video. Learning how to block each PvE enemy types few swing animations makes it hard not to play a fighter. As I became untouchable by PvE during this playtest. And 1v3's were just, THAT EASY.
10 months later and it's yet to be perfected, died many times when I block and the sword just clips through the shield even If I know I'm blocking the entire weapon.
Just like everything else in Dark and Darker the game not only makes it miserable to learn the blocking mechanic, it also folds it by being extremely janky. It's honestly my biggest gripe with the game right now: horrible inconsistency. You can try to block normal creeps the same way every time and it will work "usually" - but never in full. The most blatant example is the Zweihander wielding skeleton while trying to parry it with the Longsword. The first time you parry it works, the second it phases straight through. Even looking at the replay you can see it phase through your sword like it was never there. The Buckler is basically 100% unusable due to the jank - especially against arrows who regularly just phase through it entirely. You need the big chonky hitboxes on the shield to arm yourself against the jank - and even then not always.
New to the game from coming over from dungeon borne and this helped alot. im noticing this game is alot less forgiving to new players and this helped alot!!!
Great video, but the shields still don't work for me. I don't know what it is with netcode or bugs but 95% of the time PVP attacks just sail right through unless I am blocking for multiple seconds before they swing.
This is cool but can u show some examples against non 2h players? Waht is the point of blocking anyone with a one hand if they can just attack again? What do you do? Is there hitstun? How does it work? I like how this game uses the physical models and hitboxes to calculate hits, but its missing many of the rudimentary aspects of melee games to outplay opponents. I'm playing cleric and I understand the challenge of blocking with a buckler but then what? They just swing again despite me doing something difficult. Where is my opportunity at a counter play against a rogue or a someone stabbing me a rapier?
I love running default fighter without the shield, a lot of it comes down to your personal preference and how you play in general, I have a lot of time in a game named mordhau, in that time I've trained myself at least decent slasher footwork, this game has many mechanics of a slasher and if you play slashers you will find a good amount of skill transfers over
this is something I have considered - I might just do the solo maps since there is only 1 variation at the moment. Is there a particular map you have in mind?
Sometime the angle of the shield is not enought. Versus vertical attack of skeleton you take damage even if you block right. To counter this, you need to move to the left with block. Right side do not work.
There are only two ways to attack with the shield currently: 1.) If you are using the Lantern Shield (Bard/Fighter), you can quickly press 'Right-Mouse Button' immediately after a successful block to activate this shield's riposte ability. This can be done twice as it has a 2 hit combo. 2.) If you are on the fighter class, you can equip "Shield Bash" as one of your two skills and if you are currently holding a shield you can activate that skill for a brief low damage attack that slows. This animation is different for each shield type. As it currently stands, I don't recommend using this ability as it will deal less damage and have a shorter effective range than attacking with your main hand weapon.
I would never reccoment anyone using buckler shield. If you block with buckler, you will experience some sort of stun, which negates the whole point of blocking in the first place. If you were going to use a shield, either round shield or heater. For newer players I would recomment sticking with the round shield more as it has better visibility that the heater shield. Heater and round shield are the only worth shields to use. As for Pavise, it's quite situastional but not bad at all. It gives lots of armor even if you get hit and you can push rangers if not mages with it. Alas, you can still be set on fire, or be llighting striked
Yep. I found this so frustrating. Even when you know to block directionally, hits still sometimes go through blocks anyways, because as soon as you get in a fight it's just pure chaos and people flying around. With most people even will experience and great gear you still just have to come in swinging at some point and it's really just about trying to hit him while also dodging or stepping out of the way of the opponents attacks. I feel like this game is 30% actual combat skill, the other 70% is teamwork communication, using the environment to your advantage, having better gear and utilizing buffs, shrines and potions optimally. Even if you're the most skilled trio ever you'll get pounded by guys who roll up with full blue/purple gear because the reality is you will also get hit alot and they will just damage so much more while soaking up your huts
This was really made. That must have been laborious to make. Congrats man. On the subject, I rarely see any buckler users. I myself never tried because it stops no arrows at all
thank you Adriano and same, I tried buckler a few times for it's movement speed but having the larger surface area of the heater/round shield to deal with rangers is just too beneficial to give up
@@ryan6daysaweek For real though keep up the great work I wish I could share this to my friends but I’m Japanese so they won’t understand it sadly… :/ This is so good that Im willing to do translations for it xD
I wish there was a good way to practice this type of blocking while the game is down. Unfortunately even games that have close combat mechanics like mordhau don't have directional blocking.
If sword hit shield, it bloc, if don't, it don't. THE WEAPON HITBOX HAS TO COLLIDE WITH THE SHIELD FIRST STOPPING IT'S COLLISION, IF NOT IT WILL STOP LIKELY AGTER HITTING YOU, have fun all❤
I despise blocking in the game. I do not think it's done right. People can say user error all they want. If this system has this many people frustrated than it is not translating the users natural intuition properly into the game and requires that you adapt to a unintuitive system.
Agreed, I'm fucking SICK of losing fights I know for a fact I would have won if not for the shitty block mechanics and the even shittier learning curve behind it. I'm fucking SICK of fucking dagger wielders getting fucking 3-4 stabs on me in the time it takes me to get one SWING out (not even a confirmed hit, just the attack thrown) and not even being able to block or get a semi safe opening on them. I'm fucking SICK of being stuck in a losing battle against anyone wielding a bow or ranged magic and not even having the speed to run away from them without them chasing men down. And I'm even more sick of not being able to search down those same little shit stains in the lobby because I only got their character name and no (known) way of finding their account name to call them out on their pussy play style.
Nice guide! One thing not mentioned here is that there are actually two things that can happen when you block an attack. Theres a "light" impact and a "heavy" impact, the shield visibly moves off screen and there is a long delay before you can attack after a heavy impact. I assume this is done by heavy axe or two handed weapon swings
the scenes in this video were done in blender with some minor touch up work after! Still learning how to optimize it all since it takes forever to generate each frame haha
Very good video! The 3d renders are so good I have no idea how you even do them.
One thing worth mentioning that this video missed is that there is a stagger mechanic that will happen sometimes when blocking. This is exactly how the stagger system works as described by the developers when they introduced it:
"Blocking/Parrying item have a blocking rating. Attacking weapons have an impact rating. The blocking player will stagger heavily if the impact power exceeds the blocking power. The blocking player will stagger modestly if the impact power and the blocking power are equal. If the blocking power is greater than the impact power, then the blocking player will simply block the attack like the previous playtest."
It's worth mentioning that handle/hilt hits seem to be unable to stagger a shield (If you have any examples of handle/hilt hits staggering pls lmk). This is actually makes the strategy of getting up in their face so effective. Although be warned there are definitely counters to this strategy such as jumping or shoving your camera inside of their model which bypasses their blocking volume.
The buckler seems to have a higher blocking rating than all other off hand shields which is actually a pretty big upside in melee combat.
Dresboni the absolute goat, this is all great info - I briefly mentioned it after the barb scene but couldn't find a good way to describe it in detail like you have. This comment summarizes it up perfectly so I'm going to pin it, you are awesome man!
@@ryan6daysaweek My pleasure, keep up the great informational content. Do you have a discord? I'd like to ask you some questions about ur editing if that'd be ok.
@@ryan6daysaweek added u, u can delete
Alternative counter: now 🪓 have an alternate attack, for a shorter range vertical 90 degrees swing
1:03 this 3D swivel made me gasp video quality like that is exactly why I subbed!
ty for the kind words State of Missouri
Reminds me that just being up in a staff wizard's grill makes their staff clunk on you before the cast animation plays out, cancelling the spell.
As a Wizard main, I will tell you, you don't even need to do this. Let them take 4 years to cast their 25 damage if directly hit fireball while you finish your degree and buy a house while you sneeze on them accidently and COVID kills them
@@morrisgreg2176 real
I always love technical vids on Dark and darker
Can you make an update on this video? The buckler right now will actually interrupt the attack animation of things like the champion. Not sure if this is a bug or intended.
Everything’s feels blockable, only the vertical attack from the skelly axeman kinda always is a gamble. Couldn’t find a persistent way there
Personally i dont use shield beceause playing agressive is meta atm even if you block attacks you arent doing anything other than that needs more defensive options
The renders are really well done (as is the rest of the video)
Do you have any info about getting the models for the current iteration? I would like to work with them but I'm having trouble getting info on how to get them for EA
actively equipped means that you get the bonus even if the shield is on your back?
actively equipped means that you are currently holding the shield in your hands, so when on your back the bonuses are not applied
when is longsword guide coming?
"shield hitbox is very accurate" also " you can bury yourself inside the enemy to bug the hitbox"
shield hitbox is dog shit in dark and darker, as a chiv vet.
Additional Tips:
1. Never use buckler (EVER)
2. Crouch and aim your shield up to cover more of your body
Its a shame the buckler just isnt as viable as the other two shields cause ive seen so many blue and purple tier bucklers with godly modifiers which i ended up losing cause i didnt know how to block that well, a shame.
what if you just got really good with the buckler
@@IowaMan idk, what if rogues played without using double jump?
@@sawritall4292 kekw
well according to the pinned comment the buckler actually has good value
They should just fix the shield.
My method is to high block everything since hed taps are devastating compared to leg hits, and combined with a falchion high mobility builds have no chance.
I would love more videos about commonly misunderstood mechanics. Whether it be certain skills/perks. Or even something like a general movement or armor guide. Anyway, great video.
Its amazing how XQC is always used as "bad" example in any game lmao
Why can mob swings completely go through my shield even with perfect blocking
some mob attacks are quite unreliable to block up close due to their weapon hitbox activating too late (past the shield). If you want to block downward pve attacks more reliably then you will need to crouch and move backwards as you are look up. For side swings, move far away and in the direction that the mob is attacking in.
Though more often than not, it is usually just better to completely dodge the attack unless you blocking for another player
Yo those character model renderings and diagrams were insane well done! Great video and super informative. I have subbed and will be watching any other videos you put out on topics like this! Thanks
this video is literally the best video on YT to explain the blocking mechanic in DaD.
the 3D renders are perfect dude. thanks for the work.
when pavise guide? found out it's extremely useful but I wanna see how to get the full use out of it
coming soon, there was a bit of a rework since this video got released as now the pavise may be knocked down by damage but I will definitely have an updated guide out
I love you, I play cleric and I think I'll have some trouble fighting. ill defiantly try to hit the hilt with my shield when I'm doing PvP.
I love the longsword so much. The riposte is so good. Iam just trying to be more consistent with the blocking. I take the successful block buffs with the perk of "next block is always successful".
This riposte attack is so fast and one shot
That perk isnt great for longswords. The difficulty is making ut contact with enemy weapon, not triggering the successful block
Very nice video. Learning how to block each PvE enemy types few swing animations makes it hard not to play a fighter. As I became untouchable by PvE during this playtest. And 1v3's were just, THAT EASY.
Thanks Ryan, that is good video
10 months later and it's yet to be perfected, died many times when I block and the sword just clips through the shield even If I know I'm blocking the entire weapon.
the "stuffing" technique just blew my mind. this was very helpful thanks
Just like everything else in Dark and Darker the game not only makes it miserable to learn the blocking mechanic, it also folds it by being extremely janky. It's honestly my biggest gripe with the game right now: horrible inconsistency.
You can try to block normal creeps the same way every time and it will work "usually" - but never in full. The most blatant example is the Zweihander wielding skeleton while trying to parry it with the Longsword. The first time you parry it works, the second it phases straight through. Even looking at the replay you can see it phase through your sword like it was never there. The Buckler is basically 100% unusable due to the jank - especially against arrows who regularly just phase through it entirely. You need the big chonky hitboxes on the shield to arm yourself against the jank - and even then not always.
New to the game from coming over from dungeon borne and this helped alot. im noticing this game is alot less forgiving to new players and this helped alot!!!
Great video, but the shields still don't work for me. I don't know what it is with netcode or bugs but 95% of the time PVP attacks just sail right through unless I am blocking for multiple seconds before they swing.
This is cool but can u show some examples against non 2h players? Waht is the point of blocking anyone with a one hand if they can just attack again? What do you do? Is there hitstun? How does it work?
I like how this game uses the physical models and hitboxes to calculate hits, but its missing many of the rudimentary aspects of melee games to outplay opponents. I'm playing cleric and I understand the challenge of blocking with a buckler but then what? They just swing again despite me doing something difficult. Where is my opportunity at a counter play against a rogue or a someone stabbing me a rapier?
I love running default fighter without the shield, a lot of it comes down to your personal preference and how you play in general, I have a lot of time in a game named mordhau, in that time I've trained myself at least decent slasher footwork, this game has many mechanics of a slasher and if you play slashers you will find a good amount of skill transfers over
Would yu consider making a map guide? Dont see many on yt and yu describe things thoroughly
this is something I have considered - I might just do the solo maps since there is only 1 variation at the moment. Is there a particular map you have in mind?
@@ryan6daysaweek mainly the crypt and how it changes from the different types
Sometime the angle of the shield is not enought. Versus vertical attack of skeleton you take damage even if you block right. To counter this, you need to move to the left with block. Right side do not work.
Blocking in this game is actual dog shit, and learning how to circumvent the garbage doesn't make it good.
Did you ever make another video on this? Can't find it
How do you jabb with youre shield on pc witch button!?🤔
There are only two ways to attack with the shield currently:
1.) If you are using the Lantern Shield (Bard/Fighter), you can quickly press 'Right-Mouse Button' immediately after a successful block to activate this shield's riposte ability. This can be done twice as it has a 2 hit combo.
2.) If you are on the fighter class, you can equip "Shield Bash" as one of your two skills and if you are currently holding a shield you can activate that skill for a brief low damage attack that slows. This animation is different for each shield type. As it currently stands, I don't recommend using this ability as it will deal less damage and have a shorter effective range than attacking with your main hand weapon.
@@ryan6daysaweek Ok, i see thanks!😉
that hilt blocking thing is huge, I cant wait for this game to come back
I would never reccoment anyone using buckler shield.
If you block with buckler, you will experience some sort of stun, which negates the whole point of blocking in the first place.
If you were going to use a shield, either round shield or heater.
For newer players I would recomment sticking with the round shield more as it has better visibility that the heater shield.
Heater and round shield are the only worth shields to use.
As for Pavise, it's quite situastional but not bad at all.
It gives lots of armor even if you get hit and you can push rangers if not mages with it.
Alas, you can still be set on fire, or be llighting striked
Blocking always felt a little bizarre but this clears things up quite at bit. Awesome video!
thank you Biscuit, thank you for checking out the vid!
good vidya
thank you SpudHunter, trying my best to depotato myself and friends here so we aren't as easily hunted haha
Great vid
hm good but it hard for me about block attack i only dead xD
2;25 is not normal, not normal axe have any hitbox and pass throught
Just trying to watch all your videos now since your a Chad. We appreciate you
Yep. I found this so frustrating. Even when you know to block directionally, hits still sometimes go through blocks anyways, because as soon as you get in a fight it's just pure chaos and people flying around.
With most people even will experience and great gear you still just have to come in swinging at some point and it's really just about trying to hit him while also dodging or stepping out of the way of the opponents attacks.
I feel like this game is 30% actual combat skill, the other 70% is teamwork communication, using the environment to your advantage, having better gear and utilizing buffs, shrines and potions optimally. Even if you're the most skilled trio ever you'll get pounded by guys who roll up with full blue/purple gear because the reality is you will also get hit alot and they will just damage so much more while soaking up your huts
great points and I definitely agree that team fights are won by stronger communication opposed to individual skill
Blocking in this game is worse than mount and blade.
This was really made. That must have been laborious to make. Congrats man.
On the subject, I rarely see any buckler users. I myself never tried because it stops no arrows at all
thank you Adriano and same, I tried buckler a few times for it's movement speed but having the larger surface area of the heater/round shield to deal with rangers is just too beneficial to give up
Had no idea heater shield gave so much DR just from being in your hand, thats crazy man
Gotta respect that Barb’s kamikaze finisher
AYOOOOO THIS IS SO UNDERRATED!!! I've never seen any DaD video this good... You need more peoples attention with this good content.
thank you PIXEL, your kind words mean a lot and I am glad you enjoyed the video!
@@ryan6daysaweek For real though keep up the great work I wish I could share this to my friends but I’m Japanese so they won’t understand it sadly… :/
This is so good that Im willing to do translations for it xD
Great video Ryan, glad to see other small creators doing great work and enjoying Dark and Darker!
-Graham
much appreciated, thank you Graham!
is this Randall from Clerks narrating?
nice video
Thanks powder!
great video! trash game mechanics
What a great video. The 3d visualization made it top tier.
what are you using to edit these videos?
Love the Piano soundtrack to this
Kinda feels weird when youtubers say they want to see you in the dungeon in this game x_x
group meeting in Morioh's dungeon on April 14th
Amazing work earned a sub for life, I’ve always instinctively backstopped when blocking, now I know there’s a time to forward
my man you got the sneaky info. impressive work as always mr. 6 a day keep the baddies at bay
Young Papa but ages of wisdom, bless me with your swag
I wish there was a good way to practice this type of blocking while the game is down. Unfortunately even games that have close combat mechanics like mordhau don't have directional blocking.
same, I still haven't found any game that has a close resemblance to Dark and Darker combat - even with its slow paced style
chivlary: medieval warfare. The better mordhau
If sword hit shield, it bloc, if don't, it don't. THE WEAPON HITBOX HAS TO COLLIDE WITH THE SHIELD FIRST STOPPING IT'S COLLISION, IF NOT IT WILL STOP LIKELY AGTER HITTING YOU, have fun all❤
Great vid !
It would be amazing if you would do a blocking video to most all common used weapons. Cheers great vid!
I despise blocking in the game. I do not think it's done right. People can say user error all they want. If this system has this many people frustrated than it is not translating the users natural intuition properly into the game and requires that you adapt to a unintuitive system.
I don't agree or disagree but I do think it should be a little more forgiving g
Naw, the realistic blocking is perfect, just needs a ton of polishing currently.
Agreed, I'm fucking SICK of losing fights I know for a fact I would have won if not for the shitty block mechanics and the even shittier learning curve behind it. I'm fucking SICK of fucking dagger wielders getting fucking 3-4 stabs on me in the time it takes me to get one SWING out (not even a confirmed hit, just the attack thrown) and not even being able to block or get a semi safe opening on them. I'm fucking SICK of being stuck in a losing battle against anyone wielding a bow or ranged magic and not even having the speed to run away from them without them chasing men down. And I'm even more sick of not being able to search down those same little shit stains in the lobby because I only got their character name and no (known) way of finding their account name to call them out on their pussy play style.
Nice video
Good breakdown on block mechanics.
Been practicing a lot with it so I can continue the fight instead of evading all the time.
Nice guide! One thing not mentioned here is that there are actually two things that can happen when you block an attack. Theres a "light" impact and a "heavy" impact, the shield visibly moves off screen and there is a long delay before you can attack after a heavy impact. I assume this is done by heavy axe or two handed weapon swings
Is the Buckler considerably worse than the other two? Or is it really that fast to justify using it?
Also, what are the block speeds?
I'd also like to know this
Beautifully made.
Thank you joma, glad you enjoyed it!
Very informative!
Thank you Erich, love those sunglasses btw
Wth is this level of production? Your explanations are perfect. Thanks for t he info
thank you for the kind works 1luk, that made my day
Another great vid. Cheers sir.
I'm curious, did you chroma out those models from gameplay? Or are you using UE5 to render DaD game files?
Actually, I think I can answer my own question based on your previous data mining vid. Seems likely that it's the latter of the two. ;)
the scenes in this video were done in blender with some minor touch up work after! Still learning how to optimize it all since it takes forever to generate each frame haha
The angle diagrams are amazing
I despise the blocking in the game...
Coming back here to get a refresher during alpha test 5.
good stuff!