I've read FAQs. I've read trainers. I've watched Let's Plays on Youtube.

I still can't seem to get the hang of combat in this game.

I FINALLY beat the first "boss" in the knight story line by using the power potion - otherwise I'd still be getting my head chopped off in ten seconds flat.

People in the know - PLEASE humor me and help me out with these questions.

1. There is no way to strafe/circle strafe, correct?

2. There is no way to dodge and remain facing your opponent, correct? When I dodge left or right, my character essentially turns in that direction, does a little jump, and winds up incapable of hitting the opponent I dodged. Again, I'm ATTEMPTING to circle strafe and attack along the way, but the MOTHERF**KING jump-dodge thing is forcing me to wildly swing my mouse around to try and remain facing my opponent. I don't get it!!

3. Combos. I don't get it. They are displayed as Attack + Direction + Direction for example. I can't get them to work by doing all three buttons at once, I can't get them to work as three separate key strokes, and I can't get them to work doing the first two commands together followed by the third. WTF am I missing?

I'm PRAYING I'm just missing something because if I can't do something akin to circle strafing, I don't see sticking with this game much longer. The easier enemies I can just button mash and usually hack to bits but the death knight 1st boss and the 2nd boss? I feel like I have zero control over my character when I dodge - which is obviously critical to defeating them! AHHHHHH!!


Thank you in advance!

Points one and two, make sure you're using the "lock on" button (TAB by default) and that you're locked on the correct enemy. To circle strafe, just use the left and right sidestep buttons (A and D by default) without hitting jump and you'll circle the opponent.

Point three, this confused me also, but the trick is that the "+" sign on the F1 legend doesn't mean at the same time, but in succession, while the stuff that's together WITHOUT the plus signs is done at the same time. So [ATTACK + UP DOWN + ATTACK] for instance would mean:
First hit attack,
release attack, hit up and down at the same time,
finally hit attack again.

If you're still not able to do it, either you're holding a button down when you should release it, or your timing is off. You can generally practice the special moves without needing an enemy around, so you might want to do so. The first time you succeed at any move, you'll get a message along the lines of "New Attack: Some Cool Attack" so you'll know once you've done it right. The combo moves also cause a red special effect when you hit an enemy with them.

Edit: Also check the level requirements on combos. You can't do all of them right away.

awesome, thank you for your help!

i'd sort of discounted the "lock on" aspect because i had it checked to "auto" on the options menu. turns out that causes more harm than good because it also includes usable objects and things like that. either way, i'm definitely having more success holding down tab and circling enemies.

still have a LONG way to go before i'm comfortable with the combo system, but thank you for your pointers. i think i'll find a quiet corner to practice in for a few hours while i take a break from hotline: miami =)

I advise you to persevere. Once you manage to pull off your first combo, you'll have understood what the game is all about, and a new world will open up to you. :) I too struggled on the first level; I had to reload too often. The controls were a bit too clunky for me, but once I got the hang of them, trolls and minotaurs and even chaos knights were no match for me, as I was doing combos left and right. ;) Like the poster above said, the lock-on is the key. It should be used all the time in combat, while the no-lock mode is for exploration only.

I think you misunderstand. You lock onto the enemies (not objects) and your character will constantly face the enemy. When you press left, he will strafe to the left after locking. You can also press left and jump and he will jump to the left.

Look at an enemy and when he is selected, press TAB (default key) and it will lock on.

There are some combos for the life of me I can't seem to pull off.

I've learned to stick to a sword that I've had more success with because of that.

Although at some point I will have to drop that sword to get better ones.