This Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Combat Guide will acquaint you with all of the basics of melee combat so that you have an idea of what to expect as you dive into the game. Everything from the mechanics to the characteristics of your weapons will be covered.
Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Combat
The combat mechanics in the new Warhammer are quite complex. As such, the Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Combat Guide can come in really handy as it can help you with numerous different aspects of combat in the game.
There are many different things to watch out when playing as a melee fighter in the game so it can be quite difficult for new players.
Your normal attack is pretty much what you would expect. Tap the attack key to perform it. You can repeatedly tap the key to initiate a combo. You can also chain your attacks together as well for dealing extra damage.
The charged attack can be done by holding down the attack key for a certain duration. This attack is slow but ends up dealing more damage. You can also chain these attacks together if you memorize the timing well enough.
A block will protect you from enemy melee attacks. You will have 360-degree protection but all attacks outside of your field of view will use up more of your stamina than usual.
A full shield means you have 1 stamina while a broken shield means 0.5 stamina, and it will recharge eventually.
Push will interrupt an enemy’s attack. You can do a push by pressing the attack button while you are blocking. The strength of your push depends on your weapon and it works in a 360-degree arc.
You can also do a push swing combo if you continue to hold the attack button while the push finishes. The best weapons to push with are the ones with the shields.
Weapon Effects
Damage is quite obvious; it is the amount of damage that an enemy takes. Armor and headshots can have an effect on the damage values.
Impact is something that scales with hero power and affects the amount by which the activities of the enemy are disrupted when hit.
This also depends on the type of enemy you are facing and what was the action that the enemy was performing when it was hit. Hits which have a larger impact will stun enemies for longer and may even knock them away or down.
Cleave is how many enemies are hit by your swing.
You have a certain amount of cleave and each enemy that is hit by hit subtracts a certain amount from it. Once it is zero, the swing will not hit any more targets. Cleave depends on the type of enemies hit, their armor and your weapon.
Speed and Stamina are quite self-explanatory. Dodge Effectiveness is the ability of your weapon to dodge enemy attacks.
If you dodge with lighter weapons, you can move larger distances than heavier weapons. If you keep on dodging constantly, each successive dodge will cover a smaller distance as well so watch out.
Remember that if you do a headshot, you will deal more damage than your usual amount. Unless your enemy is the Chaos Mauler, which has armor on its head but not on its body, a headshot is the way to go.
Critical strikes will also deal more damage and it occurs randomly. It has a base chance of 5% but can be increased using bonuses, passives, talents and trinkets.
Classes
Mercenary Class
It is the default class in the Vermintide when you are in the prologue of the game. Paced strike is the passive ability of the mercenary and it will increase the damage for a little while.
Battle Wizard Class
This one is an interesting class which is the mixture of magic and weapons. In this class your hero will have a sword as well as a fire-based power where you can throw fireballs.
Ranger Veteran Class
This class will have a war hammer as well as a crossbow for ranged attacks. The survivalist passive ability of this class will double your reload speed and ammo capacity for a while.
Waystalker Class
This one is for those who are good with ranged weapons and do not want to engage in melee fight so often. It has a crossbow with a very high fire rate.
Witch Hunter Captain Class
This can be the best class for many players in the game. It is basically a Jack of all trades class as it has sword for melee fights and a dual wielding pistol for ranged attacks. These pistols have decent range as well.
How to Fight
All the classes in the game will start with a standard melee weapon. It can be a one-handed sword or two-handed battle axe. Now, it is solely your choice to make the most out of what you can wield and how to use both your hands with the class you choose.
If you get a combo of ranged and melee weapons, you should use your ranged weapon to take some enemies out from afar before getting closer and engaging in melee fight.
Also, when you are overwhelmed it is very easy to forget about your block ability and this can cause you lots of damage. Right click will do the blocking with your melee weapon (Detailed breakdown below)
Healing items are another important aspect of your overall success. The green bar below screen is your health that can change to brown and red as it decreases. Always keep an eye for healing items as you make your way through the game and make sure you and your teammates as well are healed fully before entering any battlefield.
Blocking
Blocking might not seem important when you are playing on low difficulty but it becomes essential at higher difficulties.
Press the right button to trigger block with your melee weapon and then you can find an opening and press right button to push your enemy back.
These high difficulty levels come with high damage as well and now it will take very few melee attacks from your enemy to knock you down. Blocking is an effective way to lower that risk.
When you are blocking, you will be in a state where you will be able to avoid damage completely from normal attacks. And if you have multiple enemies attacking you out of sync, blocking can save you from a lot of extra damage.
When you have one enemy you can just wait out their attack sequence in blocking and then you will have an opening to attack.
The important part is, it can be your last resort when you are just milliseconds away from getting hit. So, keep an eye for enemies and block whenever you think it is inevitable.
One thing to keep in mind is that you can keep on blocking attacks as long as you have stamina. And when you run out of stamina you will have to step back
Combat Tips and Tricks
Remember that the enemy can either attack you while standing, which is slow and easy to dodge or while running.
Running attacks are quite fast and have a longer reach. You need to move away if you see an enemy charging you as the attack can come as a surprise, even when you are expecting it.
The best way to avoid being damage is to keep on hitting the enemy. As long as you have a good enough impact, you will be able to prevent the enemies from hitting you for quite some time, as you will be staggering them.
Remember that you should use a combination of blocking, pushing, and dodging to ensure that you are not taking a lot of damage.
Protecting yourself is far more important than being able to deal tons of damage so master that before you move onto advanced attacking techniques.
Mix your attacks as well. It is best if you try to manage your stamina in the middle of fights. If you feel the heat getting too much for you to bear, then retreat and recharge your stamina before going in.
Try to have a mix of normal and charged attacks depending on the enemy for the maximum damage output as well.
For example, a charged attack vs a slow enemy would be great but agile enemies would probably not be hit by hit that often and would instead deal more damage to you.
