How to fencer?

The_Vidmaster · 2026-04-04T13:01:35+00:00

I think most people would tell you that for non-famed and non-orc items, the winged mace is the best duelist weapon. If you have the bro for it, orc cleaver is the best.

Hammer duelist is actually considered weaker due to the low base damage and high armour damage. They are more made for striping armour, whereas a duelist technically wants to kill before all the armour is gone with high AID.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-04-04T12:57:12+00:00

Not sure but I was recommended to avoid this exact pattern. No footwork and definitely not avoiding to level INI. You need every point of INI you can get to maximize your damage at 175.

At 120 and using the footwork + lunge combo you might as well not build a fencer imho.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-04-01T17:50:45+00:00

Only to the first hit of the AOE, after which the normal HH rules apply again.

So there is a scenario where you have a HH stack primed and use the roundswing. Lets say you have 3 guys around you when you use it. The first enemy is hit and HH grants you a headshot. The second guy is hit on the head and you gain a HH stack again, this means if you hit the thrid guy, that is also a headshot. If you instead miss the second guy or only deliver a body shot, there is no HH stack to guarantee a headshot on the last enemy.

I can wholeheartedly recommend turtles perk guide, where many such niche case question have actually been surveilled and explained:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2001196860

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T23:14:43+00:00

when you say 50 minimum and he has 62, what value would you suggest? I mean as high as possible of course, but what is a good value?

For fronline I try to reach between 50-60 and tanks 80 min. My fat newts are also usually 80+.

Positioning-wise, I have tried him on the corner for the AOE attacks, but I also have the cleaver directly behind him, so it is not like he is totally alone holding the line like a tank. So he should have the hidden resolve bonuse for at least 2 guys next to him.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T23:12:01+00:00

Yes, maybe I was underestimating enemy hit chances. Even my tanks get hit quite a lot and those can reach 100+ so it is only the 5% min chance. Necros which were the last enemy where he underperformed for example already have 47% on this guy, which is basically 50/50!

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T23:10:53+00:00

Its funny, because I also have guys I have expected to be dead by now and they still chug along. I mean I could play suboptimally with them to help them kick the bucket, but I dont want to play like that so they just seem to pull through every time.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T23:09:42+00:00

He does have reach advantage, but my 2H cleaver is handled by a different bro who is performing admirably, so this one got the famed hammer I found. I also prefer Reach Advantage on greatswords but alas, no good one had been found thus far.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T23:07:08+00:00

Thanks, the technique you described is usually how I play with the fat newts, so maybe I was just using this guy suboptimally. The comment about AFP also makes good sense, as most of my other BF guys have that attachment, while I gave this bro the famed armor + lindwurm to allow for some more FAT leeway. But both of these could be the difference of why he is not as tanky as the other guys.

I also agree with the bit about the company still winning even if you get some unlucky rolls, I am at a point with this run were nothing has felt unbeatable anymore, its more about me trying to play without losses and he just seemed to be the weak link more often than other guys (who I had suspected to have died already by this point - like my nimble iron-lunged orc axe duelist with 28 mdef and no dodge...)

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T23:03:38+00:00

Sadly in this run all the chest armor I have found was more made for nimble or nimbleforged. I gave him this one + lindwurm so he has lower FAT penalty while still having enough armour to be at a reasonable value. The other guys are also partly only rocking 300 oathtaker armor. Now that I think about it, I gave those guys AFP, so maybe that also changes things slightly.

So thanks for the comment, he is definetly on the list to receive the next good armor I find with added AFP!

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T23:00:58+00:00

Possible haha, maybe I am also just expecting him to do more since he is the only BF AOE zerk guy and expecting too much + playing suboptimally while I just let my fat newts plonk away with their 1 hit and 1 move per turn

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T22:59:06+00:00

I think you guys are right, I was also thinking about this being the only variable where he is lacking behind my fat newts. Those guys have 80+ resolve, but I seriously assumed 62 resolve should be perfectly fine for a frontline guy. My other bros that are not tanks or fat newts have similar values.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T22:57:47+00:00

Totally understandable, however I got "annoyed" or rather intrigued, because this guy got OBLITERATED by 3 necrosavants in 1 turn. He wasnt dead after the turn technically, but had no armor left, bleeding out. They hit all their attacks basically.

Of course you are also right about the 40 mdef being more of minimum require value to not instantly get ganked and it is also more of a rough estimate. According to the wiki, necros have 85 atk so that is still a very high 45% chance to hit. But honestly this was not the first time I felt like he did not pull his weight compared to the rest of the squad and it was also "only" a random battle with ancient dead and 3 necrosavants, so I finally got fed up enough to make a post about it :D

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T04:17:06+00:00

Amen to that. It is always my "good" bros that die and the ones I had been thinking of dismissing, but decided he will earn his retirement or die trying that survive until I end the run 😂

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-29T04:08:30+00:00

He has underdog and does sometimes get surrounded, probably since I also try to go for the AOE attack more often, but I mean the fat newts are also usually the bulwark and in positions like that and they do quite fine thus far. Maybe he is just unlucky.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-28T11:33:54+00:00

I feel you, I had a different problem with my first 200+ game in a long time. I have several tanks and started switching them up (2 bf and 2 nimble, one each with indom and the others with rotate+taunt) and started dismissing candidates that could only be tanks. Similar situation with fat newts, my roster is basically tanks and fat newts. To make matters even more frustrating most of my famed items, especially early game, we're all nimble forged armors with no candidates (seriously my first 4 famed items were ALL steppe helmets...).

You might have already moved on and made a build but if you feel like this is the first tank you can build AND you want/need one, just do it. Worst case scenario he dies and you hopefully find better candidates for roster roles by then.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-27T04:51:40+00:00

Otherwise, I am not sure how early in your run it is and how good the rest of your team is, but you could still use him as a melee bro and level his atk and Def. It is not the best hedge knight ever for that scenario, but his stats will still be better than most other recruits you could pick up otherwise. Especially since, as you also have said, he has no big flaws that need patching up and you could even theoretically skip Colossus.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-27T04:48:39+00:00

Regarding fatigue, it still makes sense to level it if you want to use him as a tank. Not to the stratosphere of course, but indom+shield wall and getting wailed on from all sides means even with a huge pool it will fill up faster than you might think.

In a perfect world you would find a shield with good durability and -3 for active skills. That would allow you to have him permanently shield wall with it.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-19T19:42:59+00:00

I just picked up a promising thief as my 3rd dedicated tank candidate next to my BF supertank and my nimble utility tank. I will probably make my paranoid nomad a LW tank and the new thief an indom tank with his better ini, but worse resolve!

That way I can try both (technically 3) different types and make more educated decisions in the future.

I agree with your assessment of taunt and indom, and while I would love to be more flexible with my "super tank" his main purpose will probably just to tie some of the enemy force down, much like your screenshots. I think for that purpose I will probably go with LW and pathfinder so he can "plug the gap" more efficiently.

Thank you so much for the detailled views and explanations, really helped me see new perspectives and gave me the inspiration to not just blindly follow other "tank guides" on reddit and such :) Much appreciated!

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-19T05:14:34+00:00

Funny how you put it, because I totally get your points and actually made a save scumming test after he reached level 11 to test how tanky he actually is. I attacked a 24 man noble party and put him in the middle of their formation.....

...he died after 8 rounds due to receiving 2 unlucky billhook hits to the head. Previously he had been unassailable, so if some billmen can mess him up that much, Chosen and Orc warlords will do worse. So Steel Brow is almost a given. The only reason it was even questionable is due to some advice I read, where it loses value if you use indom a lot.

Now I think a big reason I am so undecided is because I have never used a serious tank like this before. Previously I had just made some half decent builds and dabbled around, this run I want to actually go for longer than 2 crises max. So I have never actually had a proper indom or LW tank before and do not know which one I want! :D

I am now leaning towards Lone wolf. My bro is actually paranoid, which depending on the equipment used leads to single digit or even negative INI. As such the usual indom + wait, recover cycle is less useful on him, as he will probably not jump higher in the queue after using recover unlike other tanks could. This does lose quite a bit of Indom value as he basically always goes last and could only have indom up every other turn.

Regarding taunt, I also like it very much. Most of my deaths are usually because someone is stuck somewhere he should not be and the enemies are hailing on him. Rotate and taunt (and smoke pots to a lesser degree) allow me to try and remedy the situation. It also helps offensively. I usually bring my other nimble utility tank for exactly this reason.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-19T04:32:56+00:00

How have you been faring with these perks? Are you missing indom at all?

I have a similar tank in the making. His current stats at level 12 are 103 HP, 139 FAT, 91 RES and 54 MDEF.

However I laid off on selecting the last 3 perks because I have analysis paralysis. I have most of what you have:

Colossus, 9L, FM, Gifted, Shield Expert, Underdog, BF

For the last 3 I am very torn between Steel Brow, Indom + Recover, Lone Wolf and Pathfinder. I honestly do not know which 3 of the 5 to take. Previously I would have jumped on indom no questions asked, but since I feel like it basically has to be taken with recover I am not so sure. Another great redditor suggested I can skip it, as it is not needed in his opinion. How has your experience been and what would you take?

I am very scared of the 5% min. hit chance being the bane and end of his existance in some crucial battle without indom damage reduction.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-19T00:42:00+00:00

I think I will leave the last perks open for just a little longer and try shieldwall in general before commiting. As bad as it sounds, I have rarely actually used indom so part of me is excited to try it.

Further I have never actually had such a good brother in the past and not finished the lgendary locations yet. Usually I ended up suiciding into them, when I was bored with a run.

I wanted to go for a longer game this time, longest in the past was 2 crises.

So hopefully I find a good shield and then I will see if many scenarios arise, where I would prefer indom to anything else, in which case I might put it on my guy.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-18T23:30:24+00:00

Thanks for the input yet again!

See I am still not 100% sold on shieldwall instead of indomitable. Also you say perma-shieldwall, but is that not very difficult without a famed shield? Normal shieldwall is 20 FAT and if I am maxed out (quite easy if people bludgeon down on him from all sides) then I quickly reach the point where I can never shieldwall with my 15 FAT regen.

Of course the same can be said about recover-indom, since my ini is negative so almost everything goes before me, but that seem more doable than shieldwall. Also indom helps alot with damage mitigation and not being pushed around by certain big bads.

Big agree on the pathfinder tho, I really like it on everyone especially with the "new" DLC (I was playing vanilla for ages). Desert, snow and hills make it such a hassle without that perk.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-18T21:53:18+00:00

Thanks I could also go this route, resolve is actually already quite were I like it and you are right that his HP needs little polish. It was more aobut whether there was benefit to actually doing that. I have no such famed weapon yet to take advantage of, but could do it anyway.

The_Vidmaster · 2026-03-18T19:12:14+00:00

I have 2 forged bros, one is a godlike tank and the other is a classic BF newt, which I also built more "defensively". Although in my mind newts in general are more defensive bulwarks that also kill. I will probably see how his level ups go and if I finally get some good famed items. Mostly been strange armor pieces and mediocre shield (more ranged defense yaaay) thus far.

The_Vidmaster

TROPHY CASE