I just got addicted to Conan Exiles last week after trying it on Xbox Game Pass and then moving on to PC and running my own server just for me. I like the PvE elements and not interested in PvP, and want to build in peace.
Restarted a few times and tried different things. First building randomly at noob river, then checking up a bit and tried running to Teliths Island and building there. Was fun but here comes my problem: I suck at the combat in this game. I’ve beaten all of Dark Souls, Sekiro, Bloodborne etc but they are easy compared to this game!
Now my newest game I build at the sentinels at noob river for easy access to iron, started taking thralls etc. But I still struggle with combat as soon as it is more than one enemy or if I try to use anything without a shield.
2 or more enemies just stunlock and overwhelm me basicly. Would love to play with daggers but that makes it even harder against several enemies.
Any tips, hints, videos to help me? I just feel like I need to get the combat to click for me somehow. The thralls just end up dying…
And any tips for how to manage to knock down a thrall when there are several npcs? If I try to kill the others first I just end up killing the one I want to catch too, and trying to knock out all of them is very hard. One-on-one truncheon rocks with stunlocking enemies
Seriously, any help for pve combat? If I google I just find hints for PvP and that seems way different.
Fighting multiple enemies can be quite difficult, especially when your low level and have weak gear. Even at high level it can be dangerous if you get surrounded and stuck against a wall or terrain
There is a kind of rhythm to the different weapon types. You can’t cancel animations except by rolling and that takes a lot of end, so you need to learn the weapon and their strengths and speeds. Once you commit to an attack you must finish animating before blocking, so a bit of prediction is necessary
Some attacks will stagger you, but they will also stagger NPC. Try out light and heavy combos and mixing them together. Try fighting with and without a shield as well because this game treats shields as an offensive tool as well as a defensive one. You’ll have different attacks with a shield equipped
For knocking out thralls in a group you can learn to make blunt arrows and shoot them from a safe distance.
Eventually when you have the timing down you’ll be able to run in with a thrall both armed with truncheons and knock out the whole camp
This. I never use a truncheon, ever. Bow with a blunt weapon fitting and blunt arrows allows you to KO any potential thrall with virtually no danger. Even on the Siptah map running surges, which can go south pretty quickly when you’re running solo, I use the bow method because it allows me to keep distance so I don’t get swarmed.
In general, combat is largely dependent on your level/attribute distribution and gear. Weapon wise, I actually find daggers to be one of the easier to use against a group of enemies as long as there are no shields involved. You just drop a couple of attacks and back flip out. Using a spear and utilizing its reach is another “safe” option. But really, its all about making the enemy commit an attack and capitalizing on the opening they leave. There’s no reason to trade blows with anything in this game.
Welcome to CE! If you are looking for dagger fighting tips I can offer a few (for PvE, PvP gets more complicated).
You can use your lights to stagger smaller enemies yourself (this will be changed slightly in the future). A useful tactic is to stack bleed through heavy attacks then abuse this stagger to give yourself free DoT damage from bleed.
You are familiar with Dark Souls games, CE has I-frames in the dodge roll too. Get some practice on the timing and you will be much more evasive in combat. The backflip is good for creating large space.
Poisons are very useful on daggers. Spend some time with alchemy and try and find poisonous creatures to experiment with.
Some weapons have super/hyper armor. Watch for these and learn to respect them. Remember you are at a reach disadvantage with daggers - use your lunge attack (first light) to confirm into a combo. If you miss you can roll or backflip.
With daggers you are at a disadvantage to numbers given their very one directional attacks. You will just have to kite and try and peel off enemies the best you can. Abuse your bleeds/poisons.
For knocking out thralls in a group you should consider blunted javelins or arrows. Its the easiest way besides just having a thrall do all the smacking.
Since I’ve never used blunt arrows, I am not sure what level you have to be to learn that feat, but since you are at noob river, the easiest way to get a one on one is to go into the river and wait for the thralls to leave then try just enticing them one at a time.
Trying to knock them all out at a lower level usually ends up badly.
I like the hammer for multiple enemies as it has a nice spin attack that hits several times. The heavy attack is hard to aim but when you get used to it, it works great, you can hit two to three guys with it.
The hammer sprint attack kind of sucks though, always sending me away from enemies. XD
Dodging and kitting to not let them surrounds you. One hit then dodge / move. If with your moves you can get one isolated, then you can try a combo. Of course too often you’re too short on stamina for that.
Managing stamina carefully is very important so you never run out it.
Personally I prefer to use daggers against more than one adversary. Because the backflip is the best way to avoid being surrounded and it gives you some space to kitte them. And if used the right way it can bring you just in the back of one adversary to deliver one or two bleeding attack then backflip away.
You can use arrows from the rivers edge or a tall rock to kill the ones you don’t want, then knock out the remaining thrall. If you are trying to melee them all at once then yes, you will usually end up killing the one you need.
To be honest, I havent personally knocked out a thrall in years, I let my follower do it. I can stand there with a shield and block them while she beats on them, or just kite around while she beats on them.
Once she pulls agro on the one I want, I kill the rest myself.
So there are so many gameplay videos to watch, you can see how other gamers fight successfully against odds.
Check
Wak4863
Firespark81
In essence what you want to do is dodge their attack combo, like walk in a circle usually does the trick. When they finish their combo, they will pause for a moment. Once you recognise this moment, attack with your combo. But, attack combo one time then step away, walk the circle, wait for the pause, then attack combo. This works with knives and two handed sword. Just repeat this pattern and you will win the fight.
Solo vs multiple enemies
Tricky. You pretty much can only attack like one hit, not even a full combo, then dodge out. Walk in circles until you see an opening, one attack and dodge right away again. This is a much longer fight, but, you asked for it so…
What I do:
Use a Thrall. They take a lot of the beating away from you.
Use a shield plus single hand legendary weapon, with bonuses. This gives you much better control over the group of enemies you are fighting. You simply strike and lift the shield, repeat.
Use a spear. The reach on the spear can push the enemy backwards, giving you the space to attack without being hit in return.
Avoid large groups. Or alternatively draw one or two across to you carefully, to break the group down first, before diving in.
The combat has many flaws atm, just like thralls (AI has never been good actually).
Tips:
Scan the area carefully and only advance if you’re sure you can handle the upcoming fight.
At npc camps you’re going to have a hard stunlocking time when engaging over 2-3+ npcs.
Give your thralls food, they heal from food.
I would personally invest in some grit, so the chances of running out of stamina is less likely to happen (perk 3 grit gives you even 10% damage reduction).
Don’t just pick the strongest weapon, pick the ones suiting your play style the best.
Keep in mind some weapons counters players and creatures.
The current state of the combat needs to be addressed and need some awareness:
Yes. It’s called unpredictable movement. It’s harder to do now, because of the removal of animation canceling (cancel to get out of the slow attack animation, in order to reposition). Players with bad aim can be dodged easily like this. If they have good aim, it does not work obviously and then you are pretty much dead without the long old roll.
