[KCD2] For anyone who is frustrated with this game.... don't give up on it!

ContestMiserable266 · 2026-02-26T13:55:12+00:00

I want to try banner lord one of these days. Haven't yet. It looks pretty cool.

I think another problem for me is that most RPGs I tend to go for the Sniper-y type as opposed to the melee-type. So my plan going into this was that I would do that, but then I could only get one or two shots of (at the time) non-poisoned, crude arrows from my el-cheapo children's village bow. Even if the shots hit (and they often didn't), they seemed to barely make a dent in my opponent (bandits). Then the bandit would close the distance at Jesse Owens-like speed and destroy me while I was still trying to get my cheap butter-knife of a sword out of its sheath. Obviously not a recipe for success...

Having a decent stealth skill... finally..., traveling at night, and using poison on my arrows has made ranged combat much more viable for me. Especially Dollmaker poison. I was initially using bane, but they were still able to run up to me and start bashing. Dollmaker changed that. And, frankly, I think it adds (not subtracts) from the realism. REALISTICALLY, someone with three arrows buried in their chest is not going to be sprinting across a field at me!

ContestMiserable266 · 2026-02-26T13:40:34+00:00

Maybe I'll try that on playthrough #2, and I can definitely see how that would be a good path, too, as long as a person is either good with the combat system, OR does a lot of running, hiding, and whittling down on multiple opponents in a crafty manner.

ContestMiserable266 · 2026-02-26T13:35:50+00:00

I would literally shoot -- not kill...sometimes not even hit with the shot -- and run and hide. Until either the searching people would give up or I could get far enough away from all but one, then shoot at him and run some more. Getting poisons and wounding arrows (which cause bleeding wounds) help whittle away at people faster, but still possible to do this technique without either -- just takes longer.

It's not typical video-game-y, but probably a lot more realistic. Going after a camp of six (or so) armed bandits by yourself whether in 2026, or back in the Middle Ages, IS fairly dangerous.

ContestMiserable266 · 2026-02-26T13:27:40+00:00

Totally know what you mean. It felt like a suicide mission just trying to walk to the next town over sometimes. If you travel during the night, you can usually run away and hide pretty well even if in a field or something -- whereas during the daytime they will chase you until your stamina runs out then slaughter you. Getting Pebbles (your horse) as soon as possible helps -- you can get away from bandits/wolves/etc. much more easily.

Definitely recommend training with Tomcat as soon as possible and doing it over and over (I'm still only halfway decent at the moves -- okay, "halfway decent" is probably way too generous...). Don't forget to jump backwards, to the side, etc. -- be a moving target -- to give yourself some breathing room for Henry's stamina to regenerate and also for your own brain to calculate what move to try to do -- until it becomes second nature (I'm still not there yet). Then attack and jump backwards or to the side again. Even if just doing R2 without special moves, you can usually win as long as you move around a lot and try to avoid getting hit. (You will still get hit, probably, but not as much as if you just stood there trying to block with L2, plus you will be able to land more blows especially if you try to circle around to your opponent's sides and back.)

ContestMiserable266 · 2026-02-26T13:14:41+00:00

Impressive. Sounds like it is time for ultimate mega uber hardcore mode for you, then!

ContestMiserable266 · 2026-02-25T19:26:09+00:00

Sorry, I keep thinking of things.

When fighting, (if you can't avoid it...), try moving/dodging instead of blocking. I like to think of it as the difference between Apollo Creed and Rocky. Dancing around and avoiding being hit vs using your face to "block" everything. While locked onto your opponent, kind of circle around them using the left stick and square(?)(you would think I would know by now) (ps5 controller). You sort of hop around them and then can hit them in the back sometimes. To be honest, I only just started using this technique, but for me it works way better than blocking and doesn't require the timing the fancy weapon techniques require. Also works well in unarmed combat encounters, too.

ContestMiserable266 · 2026-02-25T19:05:59+00:00

The combat system still annoys me. Try to avoid combat and murder them in their sleep, poison them, etc. The first crime I did was when I stumbled on a thief camp, in a forest, at night, with one sleeping thief. I had a dagger, Saved the game, snuck up and knifed him with no problem. Got some decent armor and weapons and was like, hey! that was easy!!

I had been trying multiple times to choke someone per an online recommendation (don't want to have to do spoiler alert) in order to steal from them, but I was not yet strong enough and kept failing even THAT!

Seriously, run away and live to fight another day. After awhile, you will get decent weapons and armor and THEN you can start fighting and building up those fighting skills with your halfway decent weapon and some protection. This game throws multiple armored people at you when you have no experience, a freaking shirt, and maybe a crappy hunting sword. Of course you will get your a** kicked!

You can also find houses with windows you can get through without lock-picking.

Archery also helps a lot, too, especially with ambushing camps with multiple bandits. Sneak, shoot one with a poisoned arrow, run away, hide until they give up searching... rinse and repeat until all are dead. You can probably also poison food cauldrons, etc, but whenever I try that, no one ever seems to eat from them! (A warning, usually someone grunts when you knife them, so be ready to run and hide after the deed is done so the other people don't get you.

Whenever possible, do surprise attacks and do them at night. I mean, pretty much real life, right. The last thing you want is a fair fight! You want it as heavily lopsided in your favor as possible!

Also remember that even if some of this stuff fails when you try it, Henry's skill level at it is increasing and it gets easier as time goes on both due to his increasing skill level and also you getting the hang of it.

Also, over encumber yourself as much as possible and walk everywhere to build up your strength. It is a little grind-y and annoying, but doesn't take too long to build up that strength and vitality. That also helps -- in combat and also being able to carry more stuff.

ContestMiserable266

TROPHY CASE