Chivalry Medieval Warfare Weapons and Items Guide

Chivalry Medieval Warfare Beginner’s Arsenal Guide by Ruckus

New to Chivalry? Need to know what your new, shiny blade does? Looking for your new favorite weapon? In this guide I tell you what weapons are good, what not to use, and how to use them.

Introduction

After about 8 months of rigorous battles in Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, I have tried many weapons and fought against many more. Many weapons are good, some even overpowered, while others shouldn’t even be used at all. In this guide, I’ll show you the basics of each weapon and tell you how to use them properly. Nothing fancy.

Upon joining a server or practice game, you will have 2 teams to choose from. They are:

The Agathian Knights – These guys had full control of all of Agatha for a long time, until the Mason Order decided to rise against them. They lost their king, and now they’re trying to piece their dying kingdom back together. Mainly made of royalty and noblility.

The Mason Order – Led by Malric Terrowin, the Order brings hope of a new, changed land for the lower-class citizens and rules with intimidation and fear.

In Chivalry, there are 4 playable classes you may choose from. They are:

Archer – A long-ranged expert, using bows, crossbows, javelins, and a sling to fight from a distance. Has nearly no armor. Not strong in close quarters combat and uses a dagger or shortsword in melee. Crossbow archers come with a pavise shield, or can opt for additional ammo instead of the shield. Backstabs do additional damage. Little armor and is usually an important target for the opposing team to take out.

Man at Arms – A close-ranged fighter optimized for hit and run kills. Does not have much armor. Can use swords, maces, axes, or a quarterstaff. Comes with throwing knives, a fire pot, or a shield of your choice. Good in close quarters, but has little armor and generally is more suited for a one-on-one confrontation or to team up on enemy forces. Can dodge quickly out of the way to avoid attacks, and in some cases, begin an attack.

Vanguard – A well-armored close-to-mid ranged fighter who uses slow, long-reaching, heavy melee weapons that do heavy damage while remaining a safe distance away from the enemy. Can use greatswords, spears, polearms, or a polehammer. Comes with throwing axes, throwing knives, or a smoke pot. Can charge into battle using a sprinting attack that does massive damage. Vanguards are slightly weaker to pierce-based damage such as arrows.

Knight – The most heavily armored class, a juggernaut who uses large, mid-ranged weapons to cripple his enemies. Can use greatswords, axes, maces, or flails. Comes with throwing axes or a shield of your choice (except with flails; flails are always paired with a buckler shield). High armor means high survivability which means killing other classes should not be a problem in a small skirmish. Has higher resistance to swing damage and uses lower amounts of stamina when blocking compared to other classes. Has a lower blunt resistance.

As an Archer, as you could expect, you’re usually away from the heat of battle in the back, shooting a rain of arrows down on your foes. Your main 3 primary weapon types are Bows, Crossbows, and Javelins/Throwing Spears.

Bows

Bows are your best friend as an archer, reloading quickly and shooting quicker. They do good damage at a long range and have no major cons or pros.

The Longbow

The Longbow is your first bow, which you have from the beginning. It is average in almost every aspect. It is fair in speed, range, and power. I, personally, believe this is the best bow, as it has plenty of range and speed to satisfy your arrowslinging needs. It is also powerful enough to take down most classes in 2-3 arrows (without headshots).

The Shortbow

The Longbow’s little brother, who you unlock second after 25 kills with the Longbow, is less powerful and has a shorter range than it’s bigger counterpart, but shoots faster to balance these downsides. If you want to shoot quick and close, choose this one. It still does a fair amount of damage and the range is still fair game for sniping.

The Warbow

The big daddy of them all. More powerful than both the Longbow and Shortbow, this thing is a force to be reckoned with. It can take out smaller classes in one shot and bigger classes in two. The downside is that its speed is reduced. If you’re the kind of guy who just wants to blow your enemy into smithereens, this is your kind of bow.

Crossbows

Crossbows are your other best friends as an archer. They are more powerful than bows, but they have to reload after every shot and leave you vulnerable. They also have a longer range to boot, along with faster projectiles.

Crossbow

The standard crossbow. Not much to say about it other than that it is a very powerful single-shot weapon. The only big downside is how slow the reloads are. It could definitely be worse, though!

Light Crossbow

As Shortbow is to Longbow, Light Crossbow is to Crossbow. The Light Crossbow reloads much quicker than it’s larger counterparts and still has the stopping power of a crossbow. Its range is also reduced, like the Shortbow’s.

Heavy Crossbow

Remember when I said it could get worse? It just did. The Heavy Crossbow as you might expect is very, very powerful and has a longer range than the other two. It is the closest thing you’ll get to a sniper rifle in this game.

Javelins

Javelins are very powerful, mid-ranged weapons that are the Archer’s main close-ranged firepower. If daggers and shortswords won’t do, go for the javelins! Throwing these things are a little tougher than aiming a bow, but if you manage to hit someone, they’re either dead already or running away in fear. Javelins come with a buckler no matter what, so get used to using it.

Javelin

The good old plain javelin. Not much to say other than “it’s a spear, throw it”! Most smaller classes will die in one hit.

Shortspear

A faster, less powerful version of the javelin. Notice a recurring theme in all the weapons so far?

Heavy Javelin

A monster to deal with at close range. It’s a good melee weapon in CQC, while also being a great throwing weapon to boot. One hit from this baby and people will be running for the hills. If they aren’t dead, that is.

And finally, what you’ve all been waiting for…

THE SLING

This thing is totally worth all those stones you picked up to use as ammo. Not only does it have unlimited ammo (if you use Pebbles), but it does ABSOLUTELY NO DAMAGE! Isn’t that fantastic?
In all seriousness, the sling is terrible. If you want to use it, use its other ammo type, the Lead Ball. They do more damage (which isn’t saying much) and you have 20 of them, which should last you long enough.

Moving on, secondary weapons are your only source of melee combat unless you’re using a javelin. Get used to using them, because you will be a lot.

Daggers

Very fast, but very short range and low damage. Have unique parrying animations. Get good with these and you’ll love them. It is important to know how to parry effectively to use a dagger.

Broad Dagger

The Broad Dagger is, as such, a broad dagger. It is fast, short, and weak, although strongest in its class. Chaining stabs together in a non-stop flurry of attacks can be very effective, as the enemy might lose their cool if you attack them so much.

Hunting Knife

An even faster, weaker, shorter Broad Dagger. The shortest weapon in-game except for your bare fists.

Thrusting Dagger

Best dagger for unleashing a surprise stab on your foes. The thrusting dagger is best for stabbing enemies instead of using overhead attacks or slashing attacks, as implied by the name. Fastest speed of the daggers, tied with the Hunting Knife, but has more damage and reach.

Small weapons

Small weapons that aren’t daggers. Each of them works differently, so I can’t really categorize them together as one weapon type.

The Shortsword

A classic shortsword. Short, as the name would imply. Fair damage and speed.

The Saber

Long reach, fast speed, but not so damaging. Stab damage is not as good as one would think. Overheads and horizontals are much better.

The Cudgel

Faster than daggers AND more damaging with a longer range too? Yes please! The third unlock in the second class of Archer’s secondary weapons, the cudgel is ridiculously fast and does good damage too. It also does blunt damage, so it’s great to fight knights with. A very good secondary.

Tertiary Weapons/Consumables

All classes have a third class of weapons, usually throwing weapons. The Archer, however, is different.

The Buckler Shield

The Archer’s only shield. Can only be used with a javelin, and you are forced to use it with a javelin. A reliable shield, but it is small and is not great for blocking projectiles. It can block melee hits well but it costs a lot of stamina to do so.

The Pavise Shield

Can only be used with Crossbows. It cannot be used as a conventional shield. It is a placeable shield that is used to cover your body while you reload. It is fairly reliable, but you can still be shot in the head by a skilled archer, and melee classes can charge you at close range to break your shield or kill you. It IS breakable and can be picked up once placed.

Extra Ammo

Only for crossbows. You can, in place of your pavise shield, opt for extra crossbow bolts, increasing your ammo count to double.

Broadhead Arrows/Bodkin Arrows

Broadhead arrows do more damage to Archers/Men-at-Arms, and Bodkin arrows do more damage to Vanguards and Knights.

Man-at-Arms

As the Man-at-Arms, you are usually not far from the heat of battle, but not in the middle of it either. You move faster than the other classes, making you a perfect hit-and-run class. Your specialty is fast, light melee weapons for quick but deadly stabs and slashes. Your weapons of choice are swords, hand axes, and maces.

Swords

Swords are pretty much the average melee weapon in this game. They don’t excel in any one area and usually are fairly balanced.

The Broadsword

Pretty average. Good for stabbing knights and vanguards. Fast and deadly, with a decent reach.

The Norse Sword

Faster, but weaker than the Broadsword. Less range. A fairly reliable sword that does well with stabs, just like the Broadsword.

The Falchion

Powerful and yet still quick while giving up some range, the Falchion is definitely a good choice. It comes with blunt AND swing damage, so Knights should not be nearly as much of a problem as they were before.

Axes

Axes have a much shorter range than swords while doing more damage and being faster. They all have swing/blunt damage, so they’re better for taking out Knights than swords. Quick overheads are hard to anticipate, so use them wisely.

Hatchet

The hatchet does a lot of damage, is quick, but is much shorter than other weapons. In fact, it is the shortest non-dagger weapon in the game besides fists. They also come in a throwing variety for the heavier classes.

War Axe

Sacrifices speed for range. Has a small spike on the top for piercing damage on stabs.

Dane Axe

Even less speed with less damage too, but the reach is increased considerably. If you aren’t comfortable with using a short axe, use this one. Almost as long as swords while doing more damage.

Maces

All of the maces do blunt damage, and some have pierce damage. All-in-all, they’re the mix of Axes and Swords. Sort of short, pretty good damage, and high speed.

Flanged Mace

Has blunt damage only. Good for overwhelming enemies quickly in a flurry of attacks. Considered a “berserker weapon” by many for this reason. High speed, high damage. Low reach.

Morning Star

Higher range, less speed, and less damage than the flanged mace, but has blunt and pierce damage.

Holy Water Sprinkler

Yes, you heard me right, the “Holy Water Sprinkler”. Very quick, sacrificing damage and reach for speed. Also has blunt and pierce damage like the Morning Star.

Special weapon

The Man-at-Arms has a special weapon, similar to the sling of the Archer, except it is not a total piece of garbage.

The Quarterstaff

The Man-at-Arms’ only two-handed weapon. As such, you cannot use a shield alongside it. It does only blunt damage. It is extremely quick, but has lower reach and damage. The horizontal swings are much faster than both the stab and overhead attacks.

Secondary Weapons

Refer to “Archer” section, Man-at-Arms secondary weapons are identical

Tertiary weapons/Consumables

Like the archer, who had the pavise shield and special ammo, the Man-at-Arms and other classes have special tertiary weapons as well.

The Oil Pot

Exclusive to the Man-at-Arms, the oil pot is a consumable throwing item specifically useful for lighting multiple enemies on fire and doing damage over time. It does more damage than one would expect.

The Buckler Shield

Usable by the Archer, Man-at-Arms, and the Knight, the Buckler is a fast shield capable of blocking hits near instantly at the cost of a small sized shield and high stamina cost. It does a poor job of blocking arrows from afar, but is good for melee fights, as it can block effectively. Keep an eye on your stamina, though, for it will drain quickly with each hit.

The Heater Shield

Much slower than the Buckler shield, but it is bigger and costs less stamina to block with. It is effective to use to block any form of attack.

Throwing Knives

Coming in a pack of 4, you can throw these knives to do a fair amount of damage. They are a bit tricky to aim, but if you land a hit, you have an instant advantage. You can refill these, like arrows, throwing axes, and smoke/oil pots at an ammo chest.

Vanguard

As a Vanguard, you should try to use your longer range to your advantage as much as possible. You have the longest weapons in the game, so why shouldn’t you? You’re armored, so don’t be afraid to take on other Vanguards and Knights. Your 3 main weapon types are Greatswords, Spears, and Polearms.

Greatswords

Average. They are good in all 3 stats, having no distinctive pros or cons aside from the usual speed issues of Vanguard/Knight weaponry.

Greatsword

The most average of them all. Slow, heavy attacks make timing important. Could be slower. Your reach is long enough to hit most people while remaining a safe distance away, but don’t rely on swinging your sword around forever.

Claymore

An iconic sword used in many games. Much quicker than the Greatsword. The speed helps get those important sprint attacks to come out faster, and definitely helps with crowd control.

Zweihander

The Greatsword, but even more powerful. Of course, it’s slower. It also has a slightly longer reach.

Spears

These are the longest weapons in the game, so make good use of the reach. Often does low damage compared to the other Vanguard weapons, but in turn has ridiculous reach and higher speed. As one could assume, very good with stabs/thrusts.

Thrusting Spear

The longest reach of any melee weapon in the game. Very stab-heavy playstyle, like other spears. Lower damage than polearms and greatswords, but makes up for it with the speed and reach.

Fork

An eating utensil. Makes for a poor excuse of a weapon. A slight speed advantage over the spear, but less damage and much less range. I wouldn’t recommend using it.

Brandistock

Higher damage, slightly less range, and lower speed than the Thrusting Spear. The speed difference is not terrible and the range difference is nearly unnoticeable. I would use this if you can afford to get 100 kills with the Thrusting Spear (god forbid you actually used the Fork).

Polearms

Strong with a long reach, and somewhat sluggish. Spears’ roid-raging cousins. Stabs are still fair game with these monsters.

Bardiche

The most powerful and longest polearm is the first one you get. It is the third longest weapon in the game and has the power of a Zweihander. It is also faster than the Zweihander. The only problem with this weapon is its tendency to teamkill because of its huge reach and high damage, so watch where you’re swinging! (trust me, it gets real annoying to get teamkilled by someone with this thing 10 times in a row)

Billhook

Shorter range and lower damage for greater speed. Sort of an “all-rounder” weapon. Not too bad in any one stat.

Halberd

Nearly the same as the Billhook, but has more range and less speed. Stabs are sort of implied at this point, what with the giant spike on the top.

Special weapon

As with every weapon, the Vanguard also has a special fourth weapon class. This weapon being the Polehammer.

Polehammer

A polearm hammer. What more could you ask for? It does both blunt and pierce damage. Blunt on horizontals and overheads, pierce on stabs, as you would expect. It is also very powerful and has overall good range and speed. A very good anti-knight weapon.

Tertiary Weapons/Consumables

Throwing Axes

Remember the Man-at-Arms’ hatchet? That, but you can throw two of them. You come equipped with two of these, and they both do heavy damage, even to knights. They have far less range than the throwing knives, though, so make sure you’re not trying to kill someone across the map with a throwing axe, because it will fall short of your intended target.

Smoke Pot

420. Remember the Oil Pot? This is the Smoke Pot. It makes a thick smoke that works as a nice cover to prevent yourself from being shot by archers so much. You can also throw one into a crowd to start some confusion. There aren’t many other uses for this.

Throwing Knives

You get 4. Fast, painful, and overall annoying.

Knight

Knights are heavily armored and incredibly durable warriors that excel in close combat. Their primary weapons consist of b*stard swords, hammers, and heavy axes. They are special in that they can block with less stamina and have more health than the other classes. Their secondary weapons are swords and maces, and they are the very same ones that the men at arms use as a primary weapon. For the most versatility, I reccomend you take one blunt weapon to take out knights and one bladed weapon for everything else.

Primary Weapons

Heavy Axes

These weapons are hard hitting and excel in taking out the other classes with ease. They are a bit slow to swing and their range is so-so, though. These weapons are exclusively for knights.

The Double Axe

The hardest hitting of all the heavy axes as well as the starting twohanded axe, the Double Axe delivers devastating overhead and slash attacks that will plow through your enemies. The range and speed of the weapon are pretty low though, so be sure to get up in their face and time your attacks carefully. Stabs don’t do that much damage, as one would expect. Watch out for polearm wielding vanguards!

The Poleaxe

The Poleaxe is a versatile weapon that does Blunt (overhead), Pierce (stab), and cutting (slash) damage. It deals a good amount of damage, and has a decent speed and range, and can 2-shot anything below knight from full health. (It can also 2-shot knights if you get 2 overhead headshots on them). Stabs do slightly less damage than the other two attack methods. This is the second weapon in the twohanded axe tier.

The Bearded Axe

This weapon is the king of counterattacks when it comes to axes. Overheads are very fast, and if you block an attack and overhead immediately after, your attack will be nearly instantaneous. The bearded axe is great for fighting one opponent at a time, and can 2 shot the 3 weaker classes. The range is slightly less than the poleaxe’s, but shouldn’t be too big of a problem. Stabs with this weapon do little damage. This is the third weapon in the twohanded axes tier.

Heavy Blunt Weapons

These weapons specialize in devastating blunt power at the cost of range and speed. All of these weapons can two shot knights, and one of them can instantly kill up to vanguards if you’re accurate with it. These weapons are exclusively for knights.

The Warhammer

It’s a hammer, you hit stuff with it. Slashes and overheads are fast and devastating, and kill anything in 2 hits, but the weapon is barely longer than a dagger. All attacks dealt with this weapon do blunt damage. Stabs dont really do anything for obvious reasons. This is the first heavy blunt weapon you start out with.

The Maul

Quite possibly the most entertaining weapon in the game, the maul deals the most damage out of any weapon in the arsenal. Overheads that hit enemy heads will instantly crush their skull and leave you giggling like a schoolgirl. The only class that cannot be instantly killed by a maul is the knight. The maul deals nothing but blunt damage, and is also the slowest weapon in the arsenal. The range isn’t great either, but its definitely manageable. Stabs suck though, but why would you even bother with those when the next kill is one overhead away? This is the second weapon in the heavy blunt tier.

The Grand Mace

My personal favorite of all the primary weapons, the grand mace has slightly less damage than the maul with more speed and range. Slashes and overheads can still twoshot any class, and the stab is somewhat viable. The grand mace is unique in that it is the only twohanded weapon that deals the “blunt/pierce” hybrid damage, both of which are great for ramming through armored targets. However, I reccomend using a broadsword or norse sword as your secondary weapon, because men at arms and archers are kind of difficult to kill with it. This is the third weapon in the heavy blunt tier.

The Bastard Swords

These blades are unique in that they can be used with a shield, onehanded, or twohanded. onehanding or using these weapons with a shield makes them deal slightly less damage, but its hardly noticable. These weapons are great for cutting down men at arms, archers, and vanguards, but fall off when fighting other knights. For this reason, a mace should be chosen as your secondary weapon if you wield one of these as a primary.

-To change the manner of wielding, press “1” on the keyboard to switch between onehanding with a shield and twohanding. To onehand the weapon without a shield, you must have a shield as your third weapon. Press 2 to swap to your secondary, then press 3 to put the shield away. Then press 1 twice to bring out your primary and switch to onehanded mode.

The Longsword

The first and most balanced of the Bast*rd swords, the Longsword specializes in slashing and overhead attacks. It has considerable reach, a good speed, and twoshots up to vanguards. The stab deals pierce damage, but doesn’t deal as much damage as the other two methods of attack

The Sword of War

The Longsword’s little brother. This weapon is faster than the longsword at the cost of some damage and reach, but it is different in that it specializes with stabs and overheads. Slashes with this weapon are lacking and should be used only for crowd control. Stabs deal pierce damage which helps when facing vanguards and knights. This is the second weapon in the Bast*rd sword tier.

The Messer

Some weird combination of cutlass, falchion, and bast*rd sword, The Messer is the powerhouse of these weapons. It deals swing/blunt damage and specializes in overheads and slashes. It offers decent speed, high damage, and slightly low range. Stabs with this weapon are lacking and shouldn’t be used often. The Messer may be seen as an axe-type weapon, given the spot-on similarities.

The Special Weapons

Knight has not one but TWO primary weapons in its fourth tier. These flails specialize in being unpredictable, hard-to-block weapons that throw enemies off-guard, and when using one a buckler MUST be chosen as your third weapon.

The Flail

The flail is the least predictable weapon in the game, as well as the fastest knight weapon. These two factors, when combined with the weapon’s dependable blunt damage and short range, make it a beast to be feared and respected. Stabs with this weapon come in the form of shield bashes, akin to the ones javelin-wielding archers use.

The Heavy Flail

It’s basically a flail that hits harder at the cost of speed. I wouldn’t reccomend using it, as the regular flail’s sheer speed and unpredictability are the reasons why it does so well.

Secondary Weapons

Knights’ secondary weapons are the primary swords and maces. Visit that section for more info.

Tertiary Weapons / Consumables

Knights have two shields that only they can use, as well as the 2 throwing axes that vanguards can use. Knights may also use a buckler, but only when a flail is equipped.

The Kite Shield

The choice of aggressive knights, the kite shield offers lots of coverage and fast guard and recovery times. It takes slightly more stamina to block with than if you parried with a weapon. This will deflect most projectiles when raised.

The Tower Shield

A more defensive alternative to the kite shield, offering extreme coverage and minimal stamina consumption for guarding at the cost of slow guard and recovery times. It is impossible to be hit with a projectile from the front if you crouch and block with this shield. When standing and blocking, only the most experienced projectile-bearers will be able to hit you.

Conclusion

So many weapons, so little time. Every class is different, so it’s worth trying them all out and seeing which one you like. All of their weapons are worth checking out (except for that darn fork). If you enjoyed this guide, please give us feedback! We’d love to improve it as much as possible in order to give you the full detail of each and every weapon. Leave a comment if you wish, and rate/follow for more guides like this (for other games too)!