Chivalry: Medieval Warfare: Complete Guide

This guide covers melee combat fundamentals (swings, blocks, feints, drags, combos), the four classes, game modes, and how to keep playing now that the official servers are gone.

Researched September 2026 — current as of the post-shutdown state: official servers went offline 8 April 2024, community servers and offline bots remain. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status notice: Torn Banner shut down the official servers for Chivalry: Medieval Warfare and its DLC Chivalry: Deadliest Warrior on 8 April 2024, after announcing it on 7 March 2024. The game is still sold and playable. Unofficial and community servers still show up in the server browser, and offline play with bots still works. The active successor is Chivalry 2 (released 8 June 2021; on Steam since 12 June 2022). Owning Chivalry 1 on Steam gives you the Horned Helmet in Chivalry 2.

Quick Start

• Find community servers. Open the server browser, clear the "official" filter, and sort by player count. What's left of the community tends to gather on a few busy Team Objective and Free-for-All servers.
• Practice offline against bots first. Offline play lets you learn swing timing and your weapon's reach without getting farmed.
• Every attack has three phases: windup, release, recovery. Only the release phase deals damage. You can feint during the windup, and recovery is when you're open to punishes, so don't swing into a raised block.
• Blocking is directional. Face the incoming weapon. A block only covers what's in front of your view, and stamina drains with each blocked hit.
• Stamina is your life bar in duels. Run out and your block breaks and you're staggered. Don't throw pointless feints when you're low.
• Learn the three swings: slash (wide arc), overhead (vertical, slower, hits harder), and stab (fast, narrow, long reach).
• Pick Man-at-Arms or Vanguard first. They're the most forgiving ways to learn footwork and reach.
• Kick breaks turtles. A kick interrupts a player who's holding block.

Controls and Core Techniques

Default bindings can vary by version. Check Options → Controls. These are the actions you'll use:

Action | What it does

Slash | Horizontal swing. Wide arc, good in crowds.

Overhead | Vertical swing. Slower, more damage, narrow arc.

Stab | Straight thrust. Fastest release with the longest reach.

Block (hold) | Parry in the direction you're facing. Costs stamina per hit.

Feint | Cancels your windup to bait a block or parry

Kick | Short-range shove that interrupts blocking

Alternate / special attack | Weapon-specific, such as shield bash or Vanguard sprint attacks

Combo | Press attack again at the end of a swing to chain the next one faster

Jump / crouch / sprint | Movement. Sprinting uses stamina.

Man-at-Arms dodge | A quick sidestep or backstep (a Man-at-Arms ability)

Voice commands / battle cry | Team calls, and a morale-style yell

The techniques that separate new and veteran players

• Drag: Turn your view against the swing direction during release to delay when the blade lands. This throws off parry timing.
• Accel: Turn with the swing to make it land earlier than expected.
• Feint → real swing: Start a swing, feint when they raise their block, then attack right after their block ends.
• Combos: Chaining swings shortens the windup of the next one. Use it after a hit or a successful parry.
• Riposte: A parry that lands at the right moment lets you counter-attack fast. Punish every blocked swing you can.
• Footwork: Most duels are won on range. Step just out of the enemy's reach, let them whiff, then step in with a stab.

Classes

Class | Armor / speed | Weapons | Best for | Weakness

Archer | Light / fast | Longbow, Warbow, Crossbow, Javelins, sidearms | Picking off distracted enemies, shooting kings in objectives | Loses almost every melee fight

Man-at-Arms | Light / fastest | One-handed weapons plus shields, Dodge ability | Duels and flanking. Learning footwork. | Low health, short reach

Vanguard | Medium / fast | Long polearms and greatswords (such as the Glaive, Halberd, and Greatsword) | Reach, sprint charge attacks, zoning groups | Big swings get parried and punished

Knight | Heavy / slow | Large two-handers (such as the Longsword, Battle Axe, Zweihander, and Maul) and heavy one-handers | Tanking, big objective pushes | Slow. Kited by Archers and dodging Man-at-Arms.

Unlocking weapons: you unlock new weapons in each class tree by getting kills with the weapons before them. Early picks are still competitive. Unlocks mostly add variety.

Picking a loadout

• Fast weapons (short swords, daggers, most one-handers) win trades because their windup is short. They're great for learning riposte timing.
• Long weapons (spears, glaives, halberds) control space. Hold the edge of your range and punish anyone walking in. They struggle when someone gets inside your reach.
• Heavy weapons (mauls, big axes) punish blocks with heavy stamina damage and can kill in very few hits. Their slow windups are easy to read, so pair them with feints and drags.
• Secondary and tertiary slots matter. A shield on Man-at-Arms makes blocking arrows easy. Throwing axes or javelins let you finish runners. Check what each class's secondary options are and match them to the mode. A shield is good for objectives, a throwable is good for FFA.
• Weapon stats (damage, windup, release, recovery, reach, stamina cost) are shown in the loadout screen. Compare windup and reach first. They decide most duels.

Game Modes

Mode | Summary

Team Objective | Multi-stage scenarios such as pushing a battering ram to a gate, raiding a village, killing the enemy king, or siege weapons. The signature mode.

Team Deathmatch | Two teams fighting for kills

Last Team Standing | Round-based team elimination with no respawns

Free For All | Everyone for themselves

Duel | 1v1 on duel maps. The best way to learn mechanics.

King of the Hill | Hold a zone

Capture the Flag | Classic CTF

Factions: the Agatha Knights and the Mason Order. Team Objective maps set one side attacking and the other defending.

Team Objective tips

• Siege weapons such as catapults, ballistae, boiling oil, and battering rams win objectives. Man them when your team pushes.
• Escort the ram and form a line in front of it. A Knight with a shield at the front slows defenders down.
• Archers should shoot defenders who are busy fighting, not the ones watching them.
• When there's a king to kill, flank with Man-at-Arms while the team holds the front.

Playing After the Shutdown

• Server browser: The official servers are gone, but community-hosted servers still show up. Check at EU and NA peak times.
• Host your own: You can still host through the game, or use the dedicated server tools and set your own rotation and mods.
• Offline with bots: Good for practice and quick fun. Bots don't play Team Objective like people do, though.
• Mods and Steam Workshop: The game shipped with Workshop and mod support, and some community servers run custom maps.
• Chivalry 2 is the live successor, with crossplay on PC and consoles and a much bigger playerbase. If you want regular matchmaking, go there.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Spamming attacks. Every swing you throw can be parried and punished. Swing when they're in recovery.
• Blocking too early. Blocks are timed windows, not a shield you just hold up. Watch the windup and block into the release.
• Ignoring stamina. Low stamina means a broken block. Back off and recover.
• Fighting three people at once. Back up so they get in each other's way, use wide slashes, or retreat to your team.
• Picking Knight to learn the game. It's slow and unforgiving against good players.
• Standing near your own team's swings. Friendly fire is on in most modes, so watch your arcs in crowds.

Advanced Tips

• Stab-feint-stab is one of the hardest patterns to read, because stabs have the shortest windup.
• Mix drags and accels so your timing never gets predictable.
• Hold your block toward an enemy's weapon, not their body, especially against overheads coming in at an angle.
• Man-at-Arms dodge gets you out of combos and resets bad spacing.
• Kick shield turtles, then swing into the opening.
• Throwing weapons and javelins are great finishers on fleeing low-health enemies.

FAQ

Is Chivalry: Medieval Warfare still online? Official servers shut down on 8 April 2024. Community servers and offline bot play still work.

Can I still buy it? Yes. It's still on Steam, and the store page explains the server situation.

Should I play Chivalry 2 instead? If you want a full playerbase and matchmaking, yes. It's the active successor, with crossplay. Chivalry 1 is still great for its duel community and classic maps.

What is Deadliest Warrior? A standalone DLC spin-off released 14 November 2013, based on the TV series. Its official servers were shut down along with the main game's.

Which class is best for beginners? Man-at-Arms for footwork, or Vanguard for reach and forgiving stabs.

How do I stop getting feinted? Watch the windup instead of reacting to the first movement, and only block when the weapon actually starts its release.

Sources

• Steam: Official Server Sunsetting announcement (7 March 2024)
• Steam store page: Chivalry: Medieval Warfare
• Wikipedia: Chivalry: Medieval Warfare