Although Kingdom Come: Deliverance may look like a typical fantasy RPG on the surface, the game's mechanics are anything but. For starters, Kingdom Come: Deliverance's combat system is way trickier than something like you might find in your standard Bethesda RPG (no offense to those systems). Surviving long enough to win a fight in this game will require some strategic defense and players will want to master blocking to ensure they don't get sliced open.

Blocking isn't all that intuitive in Kingdom Come, but we've got some tips that will make the system feel a little more intuitive. First off (after downloading the day one patch), players will need to get used to using the basic block...

Blocking Placement

To block an incoming attack, players need to hold the left bumper. This will cause the character to raise his arms and prepare for the incoming blow. The location of the block is the tricky part.

Blocks are delivered in one of the five pointed-star locations that appear on an enemy when fighting them. If a blow is coming from the top, then the player will need to match that trajectory with their block. The hard part is that the game doesn't give much of a hint about the direction of incoming attacks.

Mastering blocking location has a lot to do with understanding strings and combos. For example, if a grunt attacks diagonally, then players should be prepared to block a an upward attack from that same direction. This takes a ton of practice, so try not to be discouraged if you get your teeth kicked in a few times.

Perfect Blocks

Perfect Blocks are a more advanced technique that actually let the player knock the opponent's blade away and hopefully leaving an opening for a counter attack. These blocks are unlocked when the player completes the combat training scenario in the main storyline.

Once unlocked, players use Perfect Blocks by triggering a block exactly as the enemy is starting to attack. A green shield icon will light up right as the attack would strike the player. The user needs to hit LB at that moment and block in the same direction of the enemy’s attack.

Perfect Blocks are very powerful and use up zero stamina in addition to blocking the attack completely. Immediately after the attack is perfectly blocked, there will be brief window to get in with your own flurry of blows.

That's all there is to it. The blocks are simple in principle, but do require a lot of practice to master the timing. Good luck!

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Source: Heavy