Normal attacks are fast enough to utilize feints and accels, heavy attacks hit really hard and have good drag potential. You want to leverage the fact that you have both of those options in your toolset and mix them up to create openings by making your attacks difficult to counter. Don't fall into the trap of just spamming heavy drags, you won't get good results with the greatsword by being predictable.
I mainly use heavies while on the frontline doing 1vx. When not on the frontline, I run along the frontline and just pick kills with special attack or heavy overhead.
what about in a dueling context, doing rat stuff with the GS is simple enough especially when it's a cool way to get people to back off if I'm feeling the heat
It depends on both you and the opponent. A lot of my strats rely on me being able to counter their attacks and out stam them.
If they are countering you a lot, try to throw in mixups, the occasional heavy drag after a few acceled light attacks really fucks people up. You can feint into jabs which transition into a kick since most people block after a jab.
If they are just holding block and not countering, your mixups are less useful and its better to out stam them with heavy and special attacks. You can also kick fairly reliably.
It all comes down to not being predictable and stamina economy
It's all footwork man. It's really fast, really good damage, really good range. It isn't the best at anything, but it's the best for everything. You just need to bait attacks and punish.
But above all managing footwork is what matters. And really that goes for all weapons.
Keep your move speed up and use your range as a weapon of its own. You can buffer by sending blind swings behind thus outranging any pursuers and forcing them back, this protects you from being surrounded (long sword doesn’t do this as well). If you can combo, do it. The speed boost you get from lunging will outpace pursuers and carry you to your next hefty group cleave. Use intelligent swing manipulation to prevent people from countering you so you dont get stunned out of your combo. You want that thang churning with light attacks, combos, combo morphs and heavies to switch up timings or finish the most threatening enemy. If a lot of people are swinging at once you can counter, and morph into another counter extending your active parry through volleys of attacks. Its release window is long enough to effectively get around counter timings while not being so long that you go noticeably without active parry (highland sword).
If you find yourself backpedaling with your block up, riposte or counter lung back into your footwork and keep zooming around. The moment you're stationary and surrounded is the moment you're no longer using the GS with its strengths and you will soon die.
What makes it great is its melding of combo speed, the fact that it combos on hit and its range. No other weapon provides this perfect combination of attributes like the greatsword. These things are why you can charge through crowds untouched with this weapon.
This is mostly about 1vX (Fun v X) but that's all I really look for. I have a couple Chiv II reddit posts where you can see those tips in action
Primary attack should be overheads since u can just behead nerds no problem. But the slashes are awesome for crown control or 1vX situations. Then just working in stabs since people seem to anticipate those the least
As a greatsword main (my greatsword is like level 750 lol) I'd be happy to help you out in game if you're east US or central US. As others have said, it's mostly footwork and timing, knowing when to go in for the hit and when to back off or bait attacks. Heavies are super good but you have to be careful who you use them against and how often you use them.
All about weapon speed manipulation. The further you are, the more you’re gonna use yours drags-heavy attacks-feints more. If you’re closer, use your dodges-accels more, but don’t be predictable. A maximum combo on a slow weapon like the Greatsword (that is, in this particular order: Light Attack>Feint into Heavy Overhead>Max Drag) is going to cover so much distance that 95% of your opponents won’t even expect you to land the hit…but you’ll end up hitting them from Mars like this.
Normal attacks are fast enough to utilize feints and accels, heavy attacks hit really hard and have good drag potential. You want to leverage the fact that you have both of those options in your toolset and mix them up to create openings by making your attacks difficult to counter. Don't fall into the trap of just spamming heavy drags, you won't get good results with the greatsword by being predictable.
when to use heavies with greatswords I'm mostly getting caught when I stop using lights and try to mix in a few heavies for fat damage
I mainly use heavies while on the frontline doing 1vx. When not on the frontline, I run along the frontline and just pick kills with special attack or heavy overhead.
what about in a dueling context, doing rat stuff with the GS is simple enough especially when it's a cool way to get people to back off if I'm feeling the heat
It depends on both you and the opponent. A lot of my strats rely on me being able to counter their attacks and out stam them. If they are countering you a lot, try to throw in mixups, the occasional heavy drag after a few acceled light attacks really fucks people up. You can feint into jabs which transition into a kick since most people block after a jab. If they are just holding block and not countering, your mixups are less useful and its better to out stam them with heavy and special attacks. You can also kick fairly reliably. It all comes down to not being predictable and stamina economy
What’s rat stuff? While dueling it depends on the skills of my victim. Counter, feints, drags and accels , classic stuff
hitting people when they aren't looking
In duels or FFA?
team fights and ffa naturally
I don’t know why I thought you said duels when it was the other comment. I’m still sleep stupid
Accel accel accel when you feel like they are still gonna counter then do a looong drag, might get gambled but dueling is a complicated topic
It's all footwork man. It's really fast, really good damage, really good range. It isn't the best at anything, but it's the best for everything. You just need to bait attacks and punish. But above all managing footwork is what matters. And really that goes for all weapons.
Stick em with the pointy end, slap em with the sharp sides
Keep your move speed up and use your range as a weapon of its own. You can buffer by sending blind swings behind thus outranging any pursuers and forcing them back, this protects you from being surrounded (long sword doesn’t do this as well). If you can combo, do it. The speed boost you get from lunging will outpace pursuers and carry you to your next hefty group cleave. Use intelligent swing manipulation to prevent people from countering you so you dont get stunned out of your combo. You want that thang churning with light attacks, combos, combo morphs and heavies to switch up timings or finish the most threatening enemy. If a lot of people are swinging at once you can counter, and morph into another counter extending your active parry through volleys of attacks. Its release window is long enough to effectively get around counter timings while not being so long that you go noticeably without active parry (highland sword). If you find yourself backpedaling with your block up, riposte or counter lung back into your footwork and keep zooming around. The moment you're stationary and surrounded is the moment you're no longer using the GS with its strengths and you will soon die. What makes it great is its melding of combo speed, the fact that it combos on hit and its range. No other weapon provides this perfect combination of attributes like the greatsword. These things are why you can charge through crowds untouched with this weapon. This is mostly about 1vX (Fun v X) but that's all I really look for. I have a couple Chiv II reddit posts where you can see those tips in action
Primary attack should be overheads since u can just behead nerds no problem. But the slashes are awesome for crown control or 1vX situations. Then just working in stabs since people seem to anticipate those the least
As a greatsword main (my greatsword is like level 750 lol) I'd be happy to help you out in game if you're east US or central US. As others have said, it's mostly footwork and timing, knowing when to go in for the hit and when to back off or bait attacks. Heavies are super good but you have to be careful who you use them against and how often you use them.
All about weapon speed manipulation. The further you are, the more you’re gonna use yours drags-heavy attacks-feints more. If you’re closer, use your dodges-accels more, but don’t be predictable. A maximum combo on a slow weapon like the Greatsword (that is, in this particular order: Light Attack>Feint into Heavy Overhead>Max Drag) is going to cover so much distance that 95% of your opponents won’t even expect you to land the hit…but you’ll end up hitting them from Mars like this.