The Simple Guide To Dueling In Different Games

This is not really a “Combat Guide”. I am writing this up for people interested in Dueling in games such as Mount and Blade or War of the Roses. These games tend to have special game modes or server where you are meant to Duel. It’s a method of practicing between each other, and in the case of War of the Roses gaining experience and coins as well. The purpose of this guide is to introduce you to the common etiquette of Dueling on most servers, so that you won’t do something that might be kick-able or ban-able.

“En garde!”

Dueling on Private/Public Servers

A Dueling server will either have a specific game mode active or it will have “Dueling Server” written somewhere in the description. Dueling maps tend to be very open, so that people can clearly find a challenger and then begin dueling as soon as possible.

Rule number 1, unless it is clear that people have started to RDM (Random Death Match) do not attack anybody. People who fight in pairs are perfectly normal. It is sometimes possible that a few people are fighting each other, or that one person is fighting multiple enemies. Usually if it’s not a pair it means somebody is either trolling or Death Matching. Do not get involved in such fights however, it will just add to the confusion.

Just to make it clear, Team Death Match and Death Match differs from dueling by turning group or free for all fights into 1 vs 1 fights. There might be exceptions to this, such as dueling in groups (so like Team Death Match) the main exception being that you cannot just run up to a guy and smash his head in without any warning.

Let us say you see a free fighter, how do you commence a duel? The simplest way to do this is to stand in front of him and raise your weapon in a defensive manner. If you have a shield then cover yourself with it, that is normally the first signal to start a duel. If your opponent wishes to duel he will then repeat the signal back to you, and some players might make a “nod”.  Once both players have signaled each other, and they stand a short distance away, the fight can begin. Different games might have different ways of signaling each other. Observe how others do it and then follow suite.

Unless specifically stated there is usually no weapon restriction of any type. After all one of the purposes of dueling can also be to test new builds/equipment sets. Ranged weapon would be the main exception here, usually anybody taking bows or crossbows (sometimes javelins too) desires to “snipe” at duelers, thus disrupting fights. Unless you have agreed to a sniping duel with somebody focus on melee classes/weapons. The same applies to cavalry. Unless there is meant to be a duel among cavalry men do not grab a horse, you could by mistake ram into dueling players.

After defeating your opponent you can move on to the next one. In War of the Roses you normally do not execute your opponent, instead you let somebody from his team revive him. Executing your opponent can be viewed as too “coin hungry” or simply in bad taste. Letting your enemy live means they will do the same and thus your own team will also benefit from reviving downed team mates.

You are not obliged to congratulate your opponent after a fight, although it never hurts to write a simple “gf” (good fight). After all, the purpose of duels is to train, practice and have fun. There is no need to be grumpy about losing.

It is obvious that trolls or “RDMers” might appear. You might be dueling somebody, or your opponent is suddenly attacked by somebody from your own team. If your opponent is attacked you should, at the least, disengage, to let him fight the new enemy. You could help your opponent but depending on the server settings and game you could come one step closer to a kick. In turn if your opponent is honorable he will let you fight the culprit that attacked you in peace.

Normally if there is a troll, or if a few players have decided to “gang up” against other players you should state it in the chat and unless a fight breaks out, do not start one. Although it is tempting to be the Texas Ranger you might just cause a spiral of never ending violence. If there is an Admin he will deal with the problem himself.

Dueling is usually not about the number of kills or points. It’s practice against living players, first and fore most. The main difference between this and a normal multiplayer game is the number of players you might fight against at the same time. Still, if you can swiftly defeat one enemy in a 1 vs 1 then you should eventually develop the skills to fight multiple enemies.

Or… If you do not care about the training you can at least kill a few people… or earn some gold… Who said it’s only about the practice?