Assassin's Creed 4: the 5 best tips for sword fighting

Nothing works in Assassin's Creed 4 without sword fighting. Here are five tips on how best to defend yourself with the blade and what other fighting techniques are important.

Sword fight tip 1: counter, counter, counter

• The golden rule of sword fighting in Assassin's Creed 4 is: counter as much as possible. Always watch out for a red-framed exclamation mark above the opponent's head, whose attack is about to be countered. With a simple keystroke (Xbox: B key; Playstation: circle key), Edward then performs a counter maneuver - with the chance of directly killing, stunning or throwing the attacker.
• With stronger opponents, you often have to first break through their defenses at the push of a button in order to land a hit with the sword. As soon as this is possible, a corresponding button display appears above the opponent.

Tip 2: use smoke bombs in Assassin's Creed

• Smoke bombs are a tried-and-tested method - and cheap at 75 reals per bomb - to keep an excess of opponents and pursuers at bay. Groups can quickly become confused and foggy and are no longer a problem for Edward.
• If things get too hot, you can completely paralyze groups of persecutors while escaping with smoke bombs.

Combat tip 3: use the moment of surprise

• Rather than head straight into the open fight, it is often better to avoid it first and use Edward's Meuchel repertoire as far as possible
• Often you can silently kill two enemies standing side by side by sprinting at them from behind and holding the attack button (Xbox: X button; Playstation square button). This even starts from the beginning if the path is short enough and you can surprise your enemies.
• Assassinations are also a good alternative to open sword fighting. They are always possible from an elevated position. When positioned correctly over one or a maximum of two opponents, the corresponding button display appears.

Combat Tip 4: Avoid large groups of opponents

• With the help of signal bells, guards call for reinforcements. Therefore, you should sabotage them before the actual sword fight by simply cutting the cord in the bell (Xbox: B button; Playstation: circle button). This will save you a lot of excitement.
• Did the alarm go off and half the enemy base is on your heels? Flee! In such a case, escape is always preferable to sword fighting, as the enemy's attention level quickly drops back to normal and you can then start a new attack.

Tip 5: Don't rush to buy sword upgrades

• You should initially save your hard-earned reales for important things (such as ship upgrades) and not immediately invest in better sword sets. With the techniques mentioned above you get through the game very well over long distances, better blades are just pure luxury.
• If you would like to buy a sword set, make sure that it has roughly the same values ​​in the attributes damage, combo and speed (from 3 upwards). Suggestions would be: French duel swords, privateer cutlass or the officer rapier.

Here's how to lower your wanted level in Assassin's Creed 4.