Mount&Blade/Arena

The arena is intended to provide a balanced sampling of many weapon types in the game. When you start an arena match you will be wearing a particular team's color. The idea is to defeat anyone who is not wearing your color.

You will spawn with a weapon from one of the categories (these weapons are always of a special "Arena" type). Just like in a regular battle you can pick up weapons from fallen enemies if you don't like the weapon type you have spawned with. Fairly often you'll start on horseback. Even if you don't, try to get one; if an enemy is knocked off his horse climbing on it yourself is a very good idea.

Arena types

Each arena focusses on a particular type. Some focus on horseback combat, others on one-on-one battles, and still others favor a large three- or four-team melee. The more opponents you have the more money you will win if you place a bet.

If your team wins you will earn a small amount of money in addition to the amount you bet (if any). If you are knocked out or quit with Tab you won't get any money.

Betting

In arenas other than Zendar you can place bets in the amounts of 10, 25, 50, or 100 denars. Every time you win a match you bet on the odds against you winning will lower, meaning the payouts will become lower over time. Losses, however, will raise your winnings if you come back from a string of failures.

Because of this it's not always best to quit a fight just because you didn't end up with your favoured weapon. Also if you placed a bet you'll lose your gold, whereas if you keep fighting you might actually win after all. You can't die in the arena and there's no penalty for failure other than losing your bet, so you can fight without as many worries.

One way to abuse the arena betting is to invest money in deliberate losses in an arena favouring four-sided battles. The more 100-denar bets you lose the lower your odds of success will go, and the higher the rewards if you win a bet. Eventually the odds will reach the point where you win about 1500 denars per match. If you lose a match trying to claim this large sum you will lose only the 100 denars and the loss will push the prize sum even higher. After a few wins the winnings will start to decrease, at which point it's time to start losing again. With this strategy you can make good money from the arena even if you only occasionally win.

Team strategies

As with a regular battle, you can use party commands to order your men around. In the case of three- and four-sided battles it is a good idea to pull your men back towards a corner (using F1 or F2) and then simply wait for the other teams to fight it out. The occasional mounted fighter that rides away from the main battle can be overpowered by your men. If the battle starts moving towards you simply move your men further away. Once there is only one other team left the survivors will head towards your team, at which point you can probably just order a charge (F3) to finish them off.

One-handed sword

The most balanced weapon. It trades damage and range for overall speed. You also have a shield, making archers less of a threat.

On foot

On foot you're most vulnerable to mounted fighters, so learn to dodge and use the shield effectively. Archers are especially easy to slice up; just advance while blocking and come within melee range. You can swing your sword faster than they can draw an arrow, so once you're within striking distance they aren't a problem.

Unhorsed lancers are an especial annoyance; you'll need to deliberately sacrifice some health in order to get within their range and lay into them. Once you've smashed their shield they're helpless.

On horseback

On horseback it isn't as effective a weapon, however the horse's speed bonus as well as the ease with which you can flee combat more than make up for this. Watch out for knights couching their lances against you; not even a braced shield can stop you or your horse taking devastating damage.

Two-handed sword

Sacrificing the blocking capacity of a shield, the two handed sword has superior reach and power compared to its single handed counterpart. Using this weapon gives the player a considerable advantage when using this weapon in swinging motion. This weapon is best used for laying waste to horsemen from the sides and infantrymen with inferior reach.

On foot

Steer clear of archers unless they're distracted, or side step often to get within melee range. Dealing with infantrymen requires timing and a rough estimate of superior reach, against horsemen the trick is deliver blows from the side of the horse as it charges by.

On horseback

On horseback this weapon has superior reach to its single handed counterpart, but suffers from a 25% speed and damage penalty for being used single handedly.

Lance

On horseback

If you've still got your horse the lance is the king of arena weapons. Your turning speed may not be the best, but you can keep taking passes until you get it right. Don't bother with the normal left-click attack, instead just ride the horse until the lance drops and becomes couched; if the tip hits someone in this state you'll deal incredible amounts of damage even if you have no lance experience whatsoever.

If you miss an enemy don't slow down and poke at him. For mounted enemies you may need to use the stabbing attack, so slow down and aim accordingly. However getting them within range of a couched tip is still the ideal. Especially watch for riders that have collided with walls; they'll take a few seconds to turn around and get up to speed (especially if they ended up in the gateway) giving you a good chance to run them through.

Be especially careful of losing your horse. If you lose it, you're probaly done for.

On foot

The lance has the same principle as a spear: Superior reach but poor speed. Using it effectively on foot requires you to holster your shield and use it with two hands. The trick with using the lance effectively is to keep your distance and wait for an enemy opening to strike. Its reach allows you to put an end to the charge of an enemy horseman with a well placed stab.

The lance is a poor infantry weapon overall and is only effective for taking out cavalry.

Bow

If you specialise in melee combat this is the worst weapon to be stuck with. The biggest threat is from those on the ground (especially if you're also on the ground). Mounted enemies aren't that much of a threat as you can often move out of the way as they come towards you.

On horseback

Having a horse makes being an archer less of a problem as it allows you to flee danger easily. Just stay back, aiming and zooming as necessary. Your arrows aren't unlimited so remember that right-clicking cancels a nocked arrow. You can negate the usual mounted penalties by stopping the horse completely before shooting. Watch out for both mounted and ground enemies sneaking up and damaging you or your horse. Other archers aren't much of a problem as you can probably dodge them (and their aim isn't very good anyway).

Against mounted enemies the first thing to do is kill their horse (unless you're confident enough to get frequent headshots). This makes them a lot more vulnerable both to you and your teammates.

On foot

If there's an ally on the ground stick with him. He'll draw some attacks away from you and also help fend off attackers.

If it's a horseman with a lance you've got a chance. His weapon is slow to move. However once you're within his range he's got you; once this happens it might be best to switch to your fists and beat him up. As your fists have a quicker reaction time it's probably easier to do this than shooting arrows inbetween attacks.

If it's a swordsman things get more troublesome. Really you need to shoot them before they get within melee range, and break their shield if possible. While you can get in a few lucky headshots, once they start hitting you you may have a hard time drawing further arrows. Ideally, grab a sword (and possibly a shield) from a fallen foe so you have something to use if foes start coming too close. You may also want to hunt for quivers dropped by defeated archers to ensure your supply of arrows does not run out.