Combat Is Heavy and Reliant on Your Equipment
Combat in Kingdom Come: Deliverance may initially appear to be similar to something like The Elder Scrolls, but at its core, it’s functionally different. Battles can take upward of five minutes, as you square off with your enemy trying to get the advantage. Weapons and combat are heavy in Kingdom Come, your character moves deliberately, and each move counts. When you’re locked on to an enemy a six-point wheel appears, corresponding to different areas you can attack the enemy.
At this point, it becomes key to match where you’re attacking on the wheel, with how the enemy is blocking, or more specifically where they don’t have armor. Warhorse describes it as such, “How much damage I do is based on what kind of weapon I have, and what kind of armor he has. For example, if he has heavy armor on, you’re going to want to use a mace, because it’ll do more blunt damage. You can increase your fighting power, but it’s hard to become overpowered.”
Equipment is everything in Kingdom Come, and you’ll really need to consider your loadout before going into battle. You have 14 different slots for armor in the game, and you’ll need to make sure you have the right pieces in the right places. For example, putting plate armor directly on skin will put you at a huge disadvantage if someone attacks with a blunt weapon, as it’ll cause extreme damage with no protection. Because of this, you’ll need to put another piece of equipment on as a barrier. Of course, you’ll need to consider all of these same things for how you attack your enemies.
Another interesting feature we saw during the demo was when our character equipped a plate helmet. The slots and holes in the helmet blocked out your view, making it harder to see and coordinate your directional attacks in battle. At the same time, heavy plate armor significantly slows you down, whereas light armor gives you more speed and maneuverability. With just a short amount of time with the game, it wasn’t possible to tell if the combat will continue to deepen and prove engaging, or just manage to get more and more frustrating as you face stronger and more numerous enemies.
