RuneScape Forum Archive | Multiway Melee Fighting

heretic hary

Posts: 3,137 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Okay, I know this isn't going to be that great of quality, but if I try putting quality into something I can get OCD and spend months on a project that should take an hour. So I just threw this together from what I've learned from old fight books and my fencing classes.

First, there are two terms that are absolutely mandatory to know for anything past this to make sense.
Strong – the strong of the sword runs from the crossguard to the middle of the blade. Not the best in cutting power, this is great for making blocks and displacements. Displacements are made when you hit the strong of your sword against the weak of the opponent's.

Weak – the weak covers the middle of the blade to the point. Better at making strikes and doing damage by than the strong, this has a flaw: it's terrible for blocking, and if your opponent hits the weak of your sword with their strong, all the strength in the world won't help you. You can do the same to them, and knowledge of this is great for fighting characters who seem to rely on the merits of strength alone. (Although that part is really, really difficult when sweat won't let you get a solid grip on your sword.)

When swords or weapons cross, it's called a bind. Most binds will have a 'winner' of the bind who ends up displacing the other's sword, but some involve the bind being a tie: strong v. strong, middle v. middle, weak v. weak, etc. If this happens, slide your sword along their sword so your strong is at their weak, and decide what to do from there.

20-Apr-2014 13:02:27 - Last edited on 29-May-2018 03:42:52 by heretic hary

heretic hary

Posts: 3,137 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Red Ribbon”
The “red ribbon” is a technique found in both Asian and Eurpean martial arts, focusing around the idea that you want to take out the people on the ends first and not the middle. You want to apply this before the piling begins, as this is meant to help prevent being piled.

S= Sicarius
F=Foe
X=End point

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[ ][ ][ ][X][F][F][F][][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][|][-][S][ ][F][ ][ ][ ][ ]

“S” should follow the lines in the boxes next to him/her, and end up at “X”. In this way, the nearest “F” is between his friends and you, so they need to go around him to strike at you without you forcing their friend closest to you into one of their attacks. Since his back is turned to them, he doesn't know where they are.

By doing this repeatedly, you can avoid being piled. Moving to the edge of the line of “F”'s can be done while gaining momentum via spinning. The name “red ribbon” comes from the fact that the enemy is constantly moving, forming and deforming visible lines like a fluttering ribbon. The red comes from their blood.

The “Cover”
Before you have time to start the ribbon, your opponents may attack. Or you need to make a good defense while getting to one of the ends, and your opponents happen to be making attacks at the same moment of time, or very close together. In this case, you perform a sweeping movement with the strong of your sword at the weak of their swords, creating a “cover”. This actually works for stopping multiple attacks in one motion, I can testify as I've done it myself in real life.

This technique can be used further by keeping the point aimed at an opponent on the end you're going towards, and thrusting at them while keeping everyone's sword occupied with your strong at their weak in a single motion (again, I know that works from experience.)

20-Apr-2014 13:02:45 - Last edited on 20-Apr-2014 13:06:29 by heretic hary

heretic hary

Posts: 3,137 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Covers can also be done against one opponent, but that's going to be obvious to anyone reading this as we happen to have brains.

Breaking a Pile (Attempt)
Okay, now for the hard part: breaking a pile. This happens when the enemy is sneaky, you forgot to use the red ribbon, or they've simply outmaneuvered you.

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Yeah, it's a show on the minimap that's never a happy sight to see: 9-on-1 pile. The tactic I'm about to share was meant to deal with piles in which you're surrounded by four to six people, but many roleplayers (outside of the Sicarius) will cram together and not realize that they're in the swinging range of their friend. As Rai noted in a different thread, you want to use anything you can to keep someone from being able to launch an attack. This is echoed in the fight books that detail how to break this problem, if you happen to be so unfortunate. Here, it is possible that a cover can be overwhelmed.

Though, you’ll still likely end up dead, take hits, and other dire things.

The proposed solution is that you want to focus on breaking the ring through your dominant side, as you're stronger there. So if your right side is the dominant side, you want to perform a full body smash just as they intend to make a cut (not a thrust, if they do that, turn your body and make the attack to the fellow who is now on your right side, and be sure to do it as they are about to attack) to try and knock them sideways while using a small part of your sword to stop their weapon from hitting you. If you can, use one forearm to parry their weapon at the wrists or handle, while making a cover against anything else that might be deadly.

20-Apr-2014 13:02:52 - Last edited on 20-Apr-2014 13:07:04 by heretic hary

heretic hary

Posts: 3,137 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

[ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][F][F][F][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][F][ ][ ][S][F][ ][ ]
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So, the opponent should, if it works, be knocked down. Depending on how you made your cover, a pommel-back to the windpipe or face may have been executed for a finishing blow. The next part can be done if you feel that the red ribbon may not work, and actually works perfectly with the Sicarius armor style. It can also be done even if you didn't just break out of a pile

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[ ][ ][ ][ ][F][F][F][ ][F][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ][F][ ][ ][ ][ ][S][->]
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You run. Not retreat, but run away, feigning retreat. Not at your fastest speed, but enough to outrun all but one. As they run up to catch you, running as fast as they can, jerk yourself sideways and strike them as they run by, obviously in a way that will get them out of the fight. The idea behind this is that you pick off the enemy until the red ribbon can be used again, and win.

That's all I have for now, if other things come back to me or I feel the need to make this a bit more tidy, I'll do that. Hope this helps, and I'll try figuring out strategies for more than just melee multiway fighting. What I've given should allow you to also figure out strategies of your own for other scenarios.

20-Apr-2014 13:02:58 - Last edited on 20-Apr-2014 13:07:33 by heretic hary

heretic hary

Posts: 3,137 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Special Thanks goes to the following roleplayers for enabling me to write this guide and bring it here:
-Rai Sicarius
You probably won't read this, but in the two years of being in the Sicarius, I've acquired both a desire to learn and knowledge, in addition to experience from applying it. From being the person whose guide introduced me to roleplaying to teaching me lots of things I wouldn't have learned until far later, thank you.

-Ellen
Until you said in that thread that I should post the guides I had written for the Sicarius here, I felt that posting what I had written would be a violation of the Sicarius' trust in me, for various reasons. Thank you for clearing up my conscience so that I could post this here on the forums in such a simple fashion.

20-Apr-2014 13:03:05 - Last edited on 20-Apr-2014 15:58:53 by heretic hary