Daggers are specially made for stabbing combat, good at getting through the chinks in chain mail.
This page page serves as a guide to fighting with melee while using a stabbing technique, specifically as it applies to World 42 role-playing. Any valuable contributors are welcome to add, especially as new content or ideas come out in-game.
The Basic Concept of Stab Melee[]
When wielding a melee weapon that operates primarily for stabbing attacks, the main goal is usually to deal direct damage to a critical point on your opponent's body. A knight fighting with a stab technique would most likely make use of the weapon's sharp point to pierce through an opponent's defenses and create a wound, whether it be by slipping through weak points and openings in armor or by piercing straight through softer defenses. The end goal is usually to stab through a vital organ like a lung, heart, stomach, brain, etc. or to create several deep puncture wounds through which the enemy might hemmorhage. This is not the technique that is going to break bones or cause handicap and bruising; most damage brought about with this approach will be through bleeding and organ rupture. Reach is an important factor in stab melee, as greater distance allows for greater defense while using this attack style.
In general, this is the, "quick, clean kill," melee style.
Offensive Methods[]
The ways to combat an enemy with a stabbing weapon are really only limited to the creativity of the player and his character. That being said, here are three examples of common techniques for attacking with the stabbing style. These include attrition, disabling, and piercing.
Attrition is the most basic of these three styles and is the easiest to perform for less experienced characters. The concept of this method is to put enough wounds on the opponent to sufficiently best him. As such, the locations and depths of punctures and cuts delivered aren't important in comparison with quantity and severity; fighters using this technique aren't making art, they're making wounds. The only real goal of attrition is to survive the fight long enough that the opponent is exhausted by the blood he loses through his numerous wounds. A character fighting defensively would exhaust his opponent as much as necessary and then take his chance to flee. A character fighting to kill would at that point progress to a more aggressive technique like piercing (seen below) to finish the fight off.
Disabling is a more skilled, precise style and is perhaps the most artistic option. This technique favors more advanced fighters with studied training and those assailing victims who are unaware or subdued. The concept of disabling is to pierce into key areas that have significant hindering effects on the victim. A knight attempting to disable his enemy would, for example, insert the point of his sword into an enemy eye socket or through his sword-holding hand. Such attacks would intend to puncture, if not remove, body parts critical to whatever the knight wants to stop his opponent from doing, like gripping a sword or seeing what he's doing. Swordsmen who find themselves in combat against heavily armored foes would adjust this pointed technique to hit a weak point in armor, like under the arm, instead of a specific body part. A character fighting defensively would most likely disarm or hinder the movement of his opponent before proceeding or fleeing. A character fighting to kill would most likely aim to disable function of critical vessels, as in the piercing method.
Piercing is an alternative to the disabling style that favors quick fights and strong fighters that aren't aimed towards mercy. The concept of piercing is to stab entirely through a point of contact and create a deep wound through the body of an enemy, causing damage to critical areas. This takes a strong, confident thrust and an impressive feat of strength, when considering the thick hide, bone, and other bits that have to be successfully punctured. However, when successfully done, such a stab could combine the end goals of both above techniques; it would result in heavy bleeding as well as giving the opponent a substantial disability, if not shock. Swordsmen who find themselves in combat against heavily armored foes would necessarily adjust their desired points of contact to weak points in the armor or else face significant difficulty; it's hard enough to pierce leather and sinew without having to punch a hole in a plate of metal. A character fighting defensively would most likely pierce a non-vital bodypart like a wrist or foot before taking the opportunity to flee, and a consciencious character might consider taking measures prevent the opponent from bleeding out. A character fighting to kill would most likely aim for a larger or more vital bodypart like the heart or neck in order to maximize bleeding and create wounds that would be difficult for a healer to restore quickly enough.
Defensive Methods[]
- Many stabbing weapons like daggers have a good crossguard, use this to parry sword attacks.
- Small stab weapons can be concealed for self-defense.
Defending Against It[]
Stabbing weapons do not stab through solid sheets of metal, so wear them instead of chain linked metal to have a better defense against getting stabbed.
Stabbing Weapons[]
This is a list of all melee weapons in Runescape that can be used with the stabbing technique. Not all listed weapons are ideal for the strategy, but may still be used.
- Daggers
- Shortswords
- Spears
- Pickaxes
- Rapiers
- Longswords
- Spiked Maces
- Halberds
- Scimitars
Common Mistakes[]
This category addresses traits or actions that players, often new ones, give their stab-style fighting characters but that aren't actually accurate or otherwise realistic scenarios for someone using this attack style.
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Other[]
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Gallery[]
