Guides:Fighting Skill Tips

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About Combat Rating

The fighting system in Wurm makes use of a term called 'Combat Rating (CR)'. This is value for which each opponent's difficulty is based. You gain 1 CR per 10 overall fight skill (in PvE) and then additional CR depending on whether you have the height advantage or are mounted on an animal, or lose some if not at optimal range to the target or on un-even ground.

How to Train your Fighting

The most suggested and more practical way for a beginner player to train their fighting for skill is as follows:

Create a practice doll. Equip a shaft and right click the practice doll and select 'Practice'. This will make you start to attack the doll and periodically increase your overall fighting skill. This is not immensely fast, and will only work till you reach 20 fighting skill. Make sure the doll doesn't break: remember to examine it often to see whether it needs repairing or improving.

Make a weapon. Creating a weapon will require access to a forge (if you are new, you may be able to use a forge and mine at the starting point) and the related equipment. It is advised you stay away from combat until you have a high quality weapon and a decent skill in the chosen weapon.

Train your selected weapon skill. The easiest way to train your weapon skill is to simply go out and chop down a lot of trees with it. This will work until 20 weapon skill. Only blade weapons apply for this method, as in nos, and short sword is an exception also. Any other weapon must be trained through combat with other creatures. You gain more weapon skill when you do more damage, so things to consider when training weaponskill is your weapon QL (higher ql = more damage) and the animals you are killing (tougher animals = less damage done). To primary train weaponskill you should focus on weak creatures such as rats, cats, deer, horses, cattle.

Create your equipment. Cloth armour is the easiest and simplest armour type available to make in Wurm. However, it provides next to no protection and is not recommended for combat. Leather armour would be a lot more appropriate, however leather is obtained through killing wild animals, which could prove to be difficult for some. So going straight for chain armour is the safest bet, especially since mining iron ore will increase the strength skills.

How to Train your Fighting Further

Once you have gone through the above guide, and wish to continue training fighting, then the following section would be advisable.

The mount. A mount is an animal such as horse which is leadable by rope and can be ridden on for increased movement speed, or in this case a boost in Combat Rating. Using a mount effectively gives you an additional 10 Fighting Skill (1 CR) and makes fighting a lot easier. A good example in this case is that using a mount would allow you to kill a scorpion with a reasonable amount of health left afterwards.

Use a shield. A shield allows you to block incoming attacks from creatures, how often being based upon your skill in the type of shield you have chosen to use. The easiest way to train the shield is to gather a number (2-3) of pigs or another weak animal and attack them all at once. This method will allow you to reach 20 shield skill with general ease. After that it is advisable to use penned dogs.

DO NOT turn your back on the enemy. In Wurm, there is a penalty to your chance to parry, dodge or avoid an incoming attack from an enemy if you turn your back, and to a lesser degree from the sides. If you are fighting something, you want to be directly facing it. Later on when you feel more confident in your fighting abilities, you may wish to use this penalty against the creatures you face. All things in Wurm must obey the penalty, so if you can make use of it to your benefit, do so.

Raise your skills efficiently. There are several skill levels which are important to aim for in regards to fighting related skills. As you know, every 10 fight skill you gain 1 CR, so a player with 19 fight skill is no different to a fighter with 10, always go for the rounded number.

Other skill levels worth mentioning are:

30 and 50 weapon skill: At 30 and 50 weapon skill you will gain 1 second off your attack timer, and an increase in the damage you deal with the weapon in question as well as the chance to hit.

40 skill in parryable weapons/shields: Until you hit 40 skill in a parryable weapon/shield, you cannot parry while you move. This makes you vulnerable when moving and as such you can suffer greatly while retreating from a fight.

Tips to further help fighting: Team Tips

Tanking. This is a method where one player, the tank, fights defensively, while the people he fights alongside with fight offensively. The tank takes all the damage, while his friends thrash out as much damage as possible.

Weapon Variations. More people means a larger variation of weapon types you can hold between you, allowing you to get the most of your enemy's weakness.

Behind Attacking. The players that are not taking damage should attack the creature from behind. This decreases the creatures chance to parry what it cannot see and allows you to focus much easier.

Height Advantage. The tank should always get a height advantage over the enemy. There are two levels of height advantage: one is obtained at 20 steep and the second is obtained at 40+ steep. Note: This is the same advantage you get when using mounts, so using both will not give you any more benefits.