I played Chivalry one time, shut it off in the middle of one of my matches, and never played it again. When the Chivalry 2 beta rolled around, I was hopeful for something new in the FPS hack and slash genre. I gave it a download and immediately fell in love. I’ve actually been improving in Chivalry 2, so I’m going to share a few basic tips I’ve found that keep me alive and moving up the leaderboard.

Always W.I.N. when you play. What’s Important Now means to evaluate your position and react accordingly. Maybe you just got a nice swing on an opponent, and one more will finish them off. But keep your eyes peeled for more incoming enemies! You want to get that killing blow AND stay alive. “No dumb bastard ever won a war by going out and dying for his country. He won it by making some other dumb bastard die for his country.” Trading one for one just makes you even, you want to get ahead whether that’s an extra kill, or even just connecting with an extra strike or two. Don’t charge in too far forward, you’ll just get enveloped by enemies and become the guy dying for his country.

Don’t go anywhere solo. This follows the previous point. Where your teammates go, you go. This is a little easier when grouping up because you can see the giant nameplates above your friends. Staying with the herd gives you someone to watch your six, backup in case you fall, and more than one target for the enemy to focus on. Concentrating everyone in one place allows people to slip past you to complete objectives, or just flank the crap out of you.

Give your teammates some space. You don’t want to be close while they’re trying to lop a head or arm off. Friendly fire happens a little more in this game than most, but it’s still better to avoid it. Consequently, you’ll want your teammates out of your way when you’re trying to off with an enemy’s head. Just not TOO far away. If you see two allies trying to smack down an enemy, consider finding another nearby instead of joining and adding to the confusion. It’s a delicate balancing act throughout the whole game. These first three tips are all very much interrelated.

Know where the resupply box is. Often you’ll be taking a few hits before you finish off your opponent. You will naturally heal back about 40% of your health, and your bandage will heal back the rest. You can only carry one bandage though, so you’ll want to run to the box and snag another bandage before you go back into combat. Additionally, knowing where the box is can help you win the game. Tournament Grounds is the perfect example. Denying the enemy access to the Resupply Box keeps your team topped off, and the enemy team has to make risky moves to try and push you back. A well supplied army has a major advantage.

This is probably my biggest tip. Watch all the cinematics at the start of the battle (sometimes they are actually different, even for the same faction) and take part in the lore of the game. Maybe you refuse to rob the church in Coxwell, or lecture your friends about how evil the Agathians REALLY are, the game has a very rich setting and visuals you can take advantage of. Do something reckless, or maybe something cool like you’ve seen in the movies, or even YOLO in after a friend in over their head so you can die together! I get a lot of my fun from Chivalry 2 just from talking about the backstory or picking up chickens and throwing them at people. The silliness goes a long way with this game. Why so serious anyways?

Hopefully now with these tips in mind, you too can top the lists in Chivalry 2. Whether you’re laying Siege to Lionspire, or fighting in the open fields of Wardenglade, remember your training. I still find myself being too aggressive sometimes, but when I focus on following these tips, I find myself cleaning up my kill-death ratio and climbing the leaderboard. Do you have any good tips for me to add? Leave ’em in the comments below. NOW GET BACK IN THERE, AN’ DON’T STOP SWINGIN’ TILL THEIR ‘EAD COMES OFF!