• Couched Lance

So, I've only really started with Mount & Blade, but it does look pretty awesome. Battles feel like largely a matter of chance to me though - I just sort of randomly ride around clicking on the mouse as I get near the enemy, hoping I kill enough to make a difference.Tournaments though. They're sort of a royal pain, even on the 1/4 damage ultra-easy default settings. I tend to get in this thing where I'll go round and round in circles on my horse, with the other guy behind me, trying to somehow make up enough distance that I have room to turn, charge, and build up enough speed to get the couched lance going, and have the right angle to actually be able to stick the other guy. Dodging them isn't too hard, it is just the keeping it from being ten minutes of chasing each other in circles that is frustrating - usually what ends it is we both end up running into a wall, and the AI seems to have a harder time clearing themselves away from the walls than me. This actually makes dismounted fighters even harder to deal with, since they don't get stuck on walls, and the difference in speed still isn't enough to make it easy to charge them.

Couched Lance

I've come to the conclusion I am probably doing something wrong in tournaments, so any advice is welcome.Also, the game tends to freeze up during tournaments for some reason - the action will freeze for about 10 seconds with sound, then about 5 seconds without sound, and then resume - which makes it a much greater exercise in frustration, especially because it doesn't tend to freeze elsewhere. Any tech support advice on that issue definitely appreciated.Any general gameplay advice in general is welcome, of course. I'm just sort of experimenting and I'm sure I'll figure out what builds I like and such in time, M&B:WB seems like the type of game that might have nonobvious interactions or pitfalls, or UI tricks that one only finds out about from having someone else point 'em out to you. I think I've read through most of the threads I could find on rpg.net on the game thus far, but if there's something you want to point out and emphasize in a previous thread, feel free. 1: Stay away from the steppe region with the Khergits, and the desert region with the Sarranids. The bandit units there ride horses and WILL slaughter you.2: In the early part of the game, running is the better part of everything.3: The costal region between Wercheg and Rivacheg spawns Sea Raiders. Also stay away from that region.4: Some good quests include taking out bandits surround a town.

Talk to the guild master to get those. Don't bother with escort missions until you are at a high level. Tournaments are going to be fairly tough until you have higher skill levels or just more personal experience. They're not intended to be balanced but to be challenges. I'll occasionally knock around in the arena between tournaments to grind weapon points.And it can come down to a dogfight in mounted/lance battles especially.

Sonic generations unleashed mod. You're just constantly circling and hoping to get angles or crossing your fingers the opponent 'stalls out' (gets hung up on a wall). Doesn't feel very heroic, does it? But that's just a downside of having this option given an AI tweaked for open battlefield combat. I'll take it.