The Patterns Introduction For those who don't know me, my name is Drake (Haze) I have been playing Mount & Blade: Napoleonic Wars since 2015, I started to play competitively in 2016 and I am the most titled player of all time in this game, I retired early 2018 after dominating for years everything both in group- fighting (with AllStars and FrenchTouch) and duel tournaments, I played a few more tournaments after that but informally, I coached some players and some teams and gave medals to people who were unable to go threw group stages before that. You can find a short recap of my career by checking the following sources : https://nwcommunity.fandom.com/wiki/Drake_/_HaZe https://steamcommunity.com/id/haze809 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_gtbH_ONP7iV8moky511Kg I’ve been asked dozen of times by players who are now considered as top players by most and some others considered as legends like ExtaZz94, LeBrave, Fotin, Cr3a, Tiberias, Troister, Fwuffy, Muha, Owindd, Kennedy, Maharbaal, Vade,SharZ, how to become better ? I often answered by saying : “The question is not how to become better, the question is how to become the best ?” The goal of this e-book is to propose a simple and yet sophisticated way to bring you to the highest level possible in Mount & Blade: Napoleonic Wars, you’ll find advices, tutorials, and a new way of thinking and adapt your play style depending on the situations both in group-fighting and duel, I fairly believe that Mount & Blade : Napoleonic Wars is not only about personnal skill but also about mind set, this is what you’ll discover if you read this e-book entirely. Table of Contents - Chapter 1 : A basic introduction to group-fighting - Chapter 2 : A new way of thinking - Chapter 3 : How to redefine your playstyle - Chapter 4 : Follow the Patterns Before we start talking about the game, I would like to thank my teammates and people who pushed me over the top during all those years, people with whom I won after hundreds hours of hard working, I won’t name them they’ll recognize themselves. Sincerely, Thank you, Drake. Chapter 1 A basic introduction to group-fighting After spending thousands of hours on Mount & Blade : Napoleonic Wars, I realized that a very few people really understand what is a group-fighting, if I had to give a proper definition of it I would say that : “Group fighting is a type of format that includes at least 4 players (2vs2) and which requires a lot of personal skills (about 80%) and teamplay & communication (about 20%)” It’s a simple definition, but I noticed that only 1% of players were able to understand it correctly. Most of the players, well known players or newcomers to the competitive scene must find their definition of what a group-fighting is but unfortunately for them they never manage to find a good one. If you want to see what is a perfectly executed, flawless and an absolute controlled group-fighting I invite you to watch this video entirely : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAAK82lBjWs You must pay attention and be very concerned by movements, the patterns used, and to the self- control I have during the whole match, if you need to, do not hesitate to watch the video with 0.5 speeds. Chapter 2 A new way of thinking I’ll try to explain to you, the simpler I can, why duels are far more relevant than duels in Mount & Blade: Napoleonic Wars, and why it is way more accurate to judge a player on his duels abilities than his group-fighting abilities 1) The extra-influence by other players in the final results. Depending on with who you are playing, if they are in good shape, if they are skilled players or not, you might show a totally different skill level depending on that. How many times did I see players who were usually playing in the best teams joining average teams and be one of the least efficient players in their team, I also saw players who were considered as average, reaching finals and winning tournaments when they left their team and joined a better one, everyone can understand that. 2) Why is group-fighting very similar to duelling. In fact, whether you want it or not, group-fighting is a compilation of one versus one situation. What happen in group-fighting is the result of 2 dependant sources that influence each other at a given time T, Player A and Player B. You can kill only one person at a time, you will and can impact only one skeleton hitbox at a time, there's very fast 1v1 everytime. The group-fighting and duel are simple semantic to refer to combat type, the combat takes place in the very same materials, with the same rules, regarding speed, precision, blocking. Your mastering is globally the same, now the ending results might differ because of variables, which develop differently in group-fighting or duel situation. 3) Why is it more accurate to judge a player skill in duel. Individual skill list, means having an individual point of view, means we need to reduce the scope to one individual action. In term of who's better than who, that means we get to see what people execute technically reduced to their own self only, without extra player influence, and then evaluate the viability and quality of the say moves and skills in the final results of the contest. It's the basis of the game melee, but in group-fighting, you got a multi-source influx to decide who's winning. You can't extrapolate accurately individual mechanical skill from an individual contest, group-fighting skill doesn't exist, same for duel skill. There's only one set of skill, which is your melee habits/pattern of bayonet handling and capacities, and regularity executing these capacities which you operate in both of theses combat format, since we operate the same movements every time in very short moments whatever the format. The personal skill is in fact vastly more tested under duel situations than group-fighting situation, both can be interesting, in fact group-fighting is a set of very fast paced one on one situations, long story short, your list is fatally flawed by a partial ignorance of the actual skill nature (which is indivisible). My point is also to say that group-fighting is a mostly, not totally, but mostly flawed scope for judging mechanical game skill mastering accurately such as blocking, kicking, chambering, speed, range with way better solutions existing to do it accurately well. Though, group-fighting can be used as the top (and unique) way to judge others type of non- technical competence, behavioral competence, like teamwork, but this very list doesn't only do that, it tries to judge what it can't: it's flawed. T = time, understand even if you're 1v2, the coded game mechanics, consider can do only one thing at a time, if a person get stabbed twice, he can take both stabs at T1 and T2 but he can also take both stabs at the same time T1 A and T1 B, the game doesn't allow multiple action at time T1 for one given person, each one has a decision to make at any given time T. The difference in group-fighting is you can be impacted by the multiple-influx in the ending results, you can be impacted by 2 sources (players), at time T1 A and T1 B, that's mean, you have one T1 to defend yourself, but others people have 2 T1 to kill you. Whatever the T1 skill moves you apply, you will not have an accurate judgement of your T1 move since by the nature of the game, you can't answer properly the 2 opponents T1 moves since the game doesn't allow you to, and you inevitably die out. It doesn't give you the environment to safely judges your basic mechanical abilities and skills, as “boring" as duel might eventually be, one on one situation are the basis for a safer view. I heard people talking about a group-fighting skill ceiling, that's the best thing being brought yet, well, it just has nothing to do with my whole argumentation, however, in the behavioral area, group- fighting has a great skill ceiling, simply because of mathematics, having more players, and more combination of possibilities, multiply by thousands the outcome possible of what will happen, but that come down to reality possibilities, that can't really be shaped by your individuality since it's a group based format. If I want to keep on mathematics, I can say that mathematics valid one on one aspect, since 100% of the contest ending results, are the consequences of both individualities, remembers the list is a competition of individual player guessed abilities. Other than one versus one, the individual point of view can't be accurately seen because it will be impacted by thousand of variables, than even the opponents in the lists will not be able to shape, but that's not the biggest point. The actual biggest point is that whatever happen in group-fighting, it's the result of mechanical actions induced by your mouse from your neo cortex reflex, the fact that group-fighting mathematic allows more possibilities doesn't make it unconnected to the only way, humans in Mount & Blade: Napoleonic Wars. It can influence a group-fighting, through individual mouse-action drive by your body motor skill. These motor skills coming from your brain, are the same both in the duel and group-fighting combat type, because there's only one way the game understand your mouse orders, whatever the format. I've talked of one on one situations, didn't say an 1 hour FT duel would be the best options (not at all), but even that it's far, far better than any group-fighting to judge individual mechanical skill, I have given hardly deniable arguments. If you want to make a list in which you are the best player based on recent tournaments win, it's alright once again, because that can relate to a checkable and coherent truth I can check myself, in a context I agree too. But the mechanical skill's area is something different, hugely falsely viewed by many players, and it undermines the game, people would be better if they understand that, they would improve their own and friend's level. Think and train slightly differently, we would have more competing duelists if lots would realize the importance of some skills tool they have to bring/develop rather than deni on duels. People like me are here just to bring you closer to a more polished truth when it's come to the underlying realities of this game I've performed and studied more than many. I didn't make the other list, nor asked everyone to. Doing what I do, I help getting this game better, players more aware, fact right placed, and the ones that want to make fun of French people by telling fake news, don't listen at them. You guys are free to believe whoever you want. Duel's exigent and require in fact vastly more technical skill and pattern mastering than group- fighting to be relevant, but say that is against the usual Mount & Blade: Napoleonic Wars group- fighting player base, while some (not a lot) critics can be justified for the most part your perception of the duel thing is biased. Chapter 3 How to redefine your playstyle Another very common mistake that newcomers make, is to try to create a very fancy playstyle, with a lot of feints, a lot of good looking moves, understand this immediately: this playstyle is not suiting the current meta and you are already reducing your potential. Your playstyle which includes mainly your movements, mouse movements and skeleton movements has to be as pure as possible, you need to burn away all impurities, all the useless moves, all the useless stabs, all the good looking moves that are in fact a very little efficient. If you want a quick idea of what a flawless playstyle is check this video, once again, I recommend you to watch it with 0.5 speeds. https://youtu.be/qwiXG8HZTJo Chapter 4 Follow the Patterns I’ve been mocked a lot because I was the first player to introduce the recursive moves that I now define as patterns The patterns are all the movements, all the attacks and all the feints you do instinctively after you have trained them for years, ask a good player that you know, does he need to think when he grounds-stabs? When he feints? When his chambers? Of course he does not or else he is not even close to being a true pattern master. When you practice a move a hundred times you can do it without even thinking about it, what you need to understand as Jean from All Musculation said is: “There is no better patterns, there is your patterns” It would be very presumptuous of me to ask you to copy my patterns, do not even try you can’t, patterns are inherent from each player, each player has his own patterns, of course, there can be some similarity in each one of them, but most of the time they are very unique. I would also recommend you to practice more, I used to launch my game and practice a single move for multiple hours alone on a server, I tried to be as close as possible to the 10000 hour rule. The 10000 hour rule is just the idea that it takes approximately 10000 hours of deliberate practice to master a skill. For instance, it would take 10 years of practicing 3 hours a day to become a pattern master.
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