Combat guides

The basics behind every fight — start here.

• Combat Basics

  How fighting works in Gloria Victis end to end — skill-based, directional, no auto-aim. The mental model behind every other guide here.

• Attack Directions & Power

  Directional swings, the charged power attack, feinting and interrupts — the moment-to-moment mechanics of throwing a blow that lands.

• Stamina & Endurance

  Stamina is the real health bar. What drains it, what happens when it's gone, and the discipline that keeps you on your feet longer than the other guy.

• Damage Types & Armour

  Slashing, piercing and bludgeoning versus light and heavy armour — why the right weapon for the target beats raw damage, and what armour penetration does.

• Armour & Shields

  The full armour reference — light, medium and heavy weight classes and what each is weak to, the four-piece set bonus, how armour trades damage and stamina for protection, light vs heavy shields, shield resistance, and unlocking every tier through Character Development.

• Blocking, Parrying & Shields

  Active, directional defence: reading the red/green block indicator, the four-attacks/three-blocks rule, perfect blocks versus turtling, shield and weapon block resistance and how each breaks, chambering to parry a blow outright, and shield versus a two-hander's guard.

• Kicks, Bashes & Feints

  The tools that crack a turtle: kicking to break a guard, shield-bashing in the press, and feinting to bait a block. How and when to open someone up.

• Health, Bandaging & Revives

  Health and regeneration, bandages and bleeding, combat mode, and being downed and revived — how to survive the fight and the minutes after it.

• Attributes & Builds

  GV has no fixed classes — every fighter is a freeform spread of STR/CON/DEX and ability points. The attributes, what each point actually gives you, weapon damage scaling by armour weight, the three trees, and the archetypes most players settle into.

Sword, shield, spear and close-quarters fighting.

• Weapon Types

  One-handers and shields, two-handers, spears, daggers and ranged arms — what each class trades in reach, speed, damage type and whether it frees a hand for a shield.

• One-Handed Weapons

  Axe, dagger, mace, spear and sword in one hand — directional damage by attack, armour penetration, and what each is best against. Figures are for crafted weapons.

• Two-Handed Weapons

  Axe, bardiche, guisarme, glaive, halberd, hammer, lance, spear and sword on the two-hander — directional damage, armour penetration, cleave and the cavalry arms. Figures are for crafted weapons.

• Weapon Lengths

  Every weapon's reach in in-game "units", from the 2.9-unit dagger to the 13-unit two-handed lance — who lands first, and why higher-tier weapons of a style run longer.

• Dueling & Footwork

  Winning the one-on-one: it's almost turn-based — attack after a block, control distance with footwork, and outlast the other fighter's stamina.

• Fighting Outnumbered

  Staying alive against several enemies at once — refusing the fair fight with terrain and chokes, not overextending, and knowing when to run.

Bows and throwing weapons — fighting at range.

• Archery

  Bows up close and at range — drawing to full power, leading moving targets, managing arrows, and what an archer actually does for the warband.

• Throwing Weapons

  Any one-handed weapon can be thrown — daggers, axes, spears, torches, sickles and rocks. No ability required, but they share one ammo pool with your arrows. Throw counts, range falloff, and slowing cavalry mid-charge.

• Surviving Archers

  Crossing open ground under fire — shields up, using cover and broken line-of-sight, and closing the distance so an archer can't kite you.

Fighting from the saddle.

• Mounted Combat

  Fighting from the saddle — what the warhorse brings, how mounted melee and the charge break formations, and how to bring cavalry down when you're on foot.

• The Couched Lance

  The cavalry charge proper — couching a lance at the gallop, the momentum it needs to land, and resetting for the next pass instead of bogging down.

• Mounted Archery

  Shooting from the saddle — kiting at speed, the arrow and accuracy trade-offs of firing while moving, and the Cavalry-tree abilities that make it work.

Fighting as a unit — formations, sieges, combined arms.

• The Shieldwall

  The line is the unit. Forming and holding a wall of shields, rotating tired fighters out, and fighting where numbers can't all reach you.

• Combined Arms

  How a warband actually fights — infantry, archers and cavalry each covering the others' weakness, with medics keeping the whole line on its feet.

• Sieges

  Attacking and defending fortifications — siege points and engines, ballistas, splash damage, holding a breach under fire, and the long grind of taking a castle.

• Callouts & Focus Fire

  Turning a group into a unit through voice — calling targets, concentrating damage, and the short, clear comms that win chaotic fights.