Categories: Guides

Mordhau 15 Tips and Tricks for New Players – A Beginner’s Guide

Competitive, medieval hack ‘n slash game Mordhau has been garnering some serious attention ever since it hit the Steam store on April 29. That being said, the game is not entirely friendly to new players. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll likely find yourself on the wrong end of a broadsword before too long. With that in mind, we have provided a quick guide to some important tips and tricks to finding success in Triternion’s Mordhau.

Pay attention to your stamina meter. When you run out of stamina, your parries and chambers will end in you being disarmed. Consequently, your opponent will earn a free hit on you. Most movements within Mordhau will drain your stamina. That being said, you can commit to a basic slash or stab attack for free.
Sometimes you can attack from ladders. If you equip a one-hand weapon, you can use the weapon while climbing any ladder.
Watch out for ballistas. A single hit from a ballista will take you out of commission, so be wary.
Watch out for catapults. Similarly to ballistas, strikes from catapults will kill you in a single it. However, these siege weapons deal AoE damage.
Light horses often win when jousting. If you are going to joust with a fellow player, choose a light horse and a lance. This combination will usually give you a decisive edge.
Make sure to utilize your horses. Simply bashing enemies with charging horses can be incredibly effective. That being said, horses do not regenerate health so you will want to quickly exit the dense portions of the battlefield after you dish out some damage. Beyond that, look out for polearm wielding enemies. These weapons can dismount you from your horse.
When couching from a horse, keep your speed up. The amount of damage you deal when couching from horseback is affected by your speed. The faster your horse is traveling, the more damage you will dish out.
Make sure to utilize your perks. The highly effective perks you will want to utilize are Second Wind, Bloodlust, Tenacious, Hunstman, Ranger, Friendly and Dodge. A list of each perk in order of point cost can be viewed below.

Perk	Point Cost	Description
Acrobat	1	Jump Stamina cost reduced by 50%
Fireproof	1	Reduces fire damage by 80%
Friendly	1	50% Damage reduction to dealt and received team damage
Cat	1	Reduces fall damage by 50%
Scavenger	1	Killing enemies causes them to drop everything they are carrying, including holstered equipment
Ranger	1	Allows you to move 15% quicker while aiming a bow or crossbow
Wrecker	1	Melee damage against structures increased 50%
Smith	1	Repair effectiveness increased 50%
Tenacious	2	Passive Health regeneration is 40% faster
Second Wind	2	Stamina gain on hit increased 30%
Bloodlust	2	Health on Kill increased 50%
Fury	2	Stamina on kill increased 66%
Brawler	2	Increases Fist damage
Huntsman	2	Projectiles deal 200% damage against enemies wearing a quiver
Rat	2	Crouch movement speed increased 10%, Footstep volume reduced 75%
Rush	3	Instantly get a movement sprint boost upon killing an enemy
Flesh Wound	3	Fatal melee and projectile damage, except for headshots, does not kill you immediately, but 5 seconds later.
Peasant	8	Restricts equipment & wearables to things a peasant would use & allows you to spawn with makeshift weapons
Dodge	10	Jumping backward or to the sides will perform a dodge instead of a jump

Never forget your helmet. Armor is optional in Mordau. That being said, headshots are fatally dangerous so you will want to pick up a helmet quick.
Some weapons can be thrown. Pressing the “R” button will allow you to utilize an alternate grip for most weapons. That being said, pressing “R” will throw any weapon that does not have an alternate grip.
There are console commands. If you are an admin within the game, then there is a list of console commands that you can use to your advantage. To use a console command, simply press the ‘, ~ or “End” key. A full list of the console commands can be viewed below. Some of the commands can only be used in single player, such as “ChangeSize x.”

Console Command	Result
adminlogin <password>	Must be completed in order to use any other command
adminlist	Shows the current admins
adminadd <STEAMID64>	Adds a new admin to the list
removeadmin <STEAMID64>	Removes an admin from the list
changelevel <map name>	Changes the map
restartlevel	Restarts the map
addbots <integer>	Adds bots to the map
removebots <integer>	Removes bots from the map
kick <user name / steamid64>	Removes player from game
ban <user name / steamid64)	Bans player from game
unban <user name / steamid64)	Unbans player from game
banlist	Shows list of currently banned players
exit	Exits the game
disconnect	Removes you from the server
demorec name	Records a demo
demostop	Stops recording demo
demoplay	Plays the demo
Stat FPS	Shows the FPS counter
slomo <value>	Using a value of 0.5 will grant you 50% speed, will using a value of 2 will grant you 200% speed
Slomo x	Will change the speed of the game
PlayersOnly	Freezes all of the bots active within the game, but can be entered again to unfreeze the bots
ChangeSize x	Changes the size of your character
m.ShowCrosshair 0	Shows crosshairs, but can be untoggled to hide crosshairs again
m.inverseattackdirection 1	Inverts attack controls

There is friendly fire. If you accidentally strike an ally during a game, that ally will take damage. Consequently, you are going to want to be careful with your offensive strikes.
Pay attention to proper etiquette. While not officially enforced within the game, many players have come to show signs of respect to one another through certain actions. Check out a list of acceptable actions down below.

Action	Response
Victory or Loss	Always congratulate your opponent wit a quick “GG” or “GF” comment.
Challenge	When challenging an opponent, bow or flourish your weapon to signal to your enemy that you’re ready.
Battle	Always watch out for your fellow teammates. Even against all odds, many players will risk themselves to help each other in team modes.
Disarm	During a duel, let your opponent pick his weapon back up after you disarm him.
Skirmish	When it comes down to the last opponent in skirmish mode, let the player duel it out to the death rather than ganging up on the player.

Remember to take advantage of drags and accels. You can increase or decrease the speed of your attacks by turning towards or away from your opponent during the attack. Turning towards your opponent will accelerate the attack while turning away from your opponent will create a dragging effect and slow down the attack. This is an advanced technique and will likely take some time to master.
Try to goad your opponent into doing a “panick parry.” The combat within Mordau is largely about reading your opponent. With that in mind, there will be plenty of times when your opponent will erroneously parry one of your attacks and leave themselves exposed. Try to use your footwork and feints to goad your opponent into panicking and using his parry ability too soon.

For everything Mordhau, check out Mordhau Guides Portal – Anything and Everything Mordhau.

Hunter Boyce

Hunter Boyce is a writer, which probably seems pretty obvious with "author" prominently displayed. He mostly writes about video games. However, he was previously a mixed martial arts news writer. When not writing about people pelting each other in the face or about leveling up in the latest RPG, he tends to spend his time as a web producer in Atlanta. You can shout all of your MMA and video game related quandaries at him at @SomthinClever on Twitter. Feel free to make your demands to him in ALL CAPS. He loves that.