Fighting with your fists
An empty weapon set raises your fists. Punch with the mouse, kick with V, chain blows into combinations.
Press 1 or 2 on a weapon set with nothing in its hands and you raise your fists. Press it again to lower them. Knuckles raise the fists too, and hit harder.
Punches and kicks
Flick the mouse just before you strike, exactly as with a blade. Left Mouse punches, V kicks:
| Mouse movement | Punch | Kick |
|---|---|---|
| Down | Jab, then cross | Push kick |
| Up | Uppercut | High kick |
| Left | Right hook | Right round kick |
| Right | Left hook | Left round kick |
- Moving forward while you strike steps into the blow: it reaches further and hits a little harder.
- Crouched, you throw low jabs, rising uppercuts and low kicks. Crouch and punch upwards for a launching uppercut, or kick upwards to sweep the legs.
- A blow cannot be cancelled once thrown, and you cannot throw the same blow again until your fist or foot is back in guard. A click during a blow is remembered: the next one follows as soon as it can.
Combinations
Some blows flow straight into the next. Keep pressing in the right direction while the first is landing:
- Jab (down), cross (down), jab (down), and on.
- Left hook (right), then right hook (left).
- Stepping in: jab, cross; or a right, a body hook (right) and a finishing kick.
Guard and footwork
- Hold Right Mouse to raise your guard. It covers your head: a body shot or a low kick goes under it. Crouch to guard low.
- With your fists up you move on your toes: circling, backing off and guarding are at a walk. Push straight forward to run in.
- Double-tap A or D to dodge aside. A dodge costs 12 stamina.
- Jabs are cheap in stamina and kicks are dear. Fists are quick but light: a blade still hits harder.
- Round kicks land with the shin, so they work even up close.
Hits and knockouts
- Struck with your fists up, you reel the way the blow came: a light blow is a flinch, a heavy one staggers you. Moving, striking or guarding shakes it off quickly.
- Thunderstrike, Battering Ram and a leg sweep (crouch and kick upwards) knock the target down. They fall the way the blow sends them and are back on their feet after about four seconds. See Knockdowns and being thrown.
- A raised guard covers the head, so it does not stop a sweep: the kick goes under it.
Unarmed powers
Unarmed Combat powers (Brutal Punch, Thunderstrike, Crane Technique and the rest) and the Dawnweaver's forms strike at once: use the power and you throw its own move straight away, whatever direction you last chose: a crane kick, a spinning backfist, an axe kick. Empty hands count as Unarmed Combat.
Some bandits fight with their fists too, bare or in knuckles. They mix punches and kicks, chain combinations, raise their guard and dodge.