[X] Plan: Keep It Simple
-[X] Stance: Prayer For Perseverance, Clever Deflection, Darting Strike, Perfect Footing, Faulty Ground, Giant-Killing Blow
-[X] Tactics: Open the fight with Darting Strike to take the fight to him at the top of the hill. From there fight conservatively with normal attacks, Audrey can fight all day and he can't, let him try to feel her out as long as he wants, throw in a Darting Strike once per a turn to try and bait him into spending his shield. When he starts spending big enough amounts of Ealdor to be threatening stop spending Fervor on Darting Strike and fight defensively. Use Clever Deflection on threatening attacks and if his shield is gone or he cannot defend himself with it then follow up the opening provided by Clever Deflection with Giant-Killing Blow. Repeat that combo as opportunity arises whenever he commits to a big strike with Ealdor and the Fervor to spend on it is available, keeping Prayer for Perseverence in mind. If he realizes he's being attritioned and flees then either run him down with Darting Strike or trip him with Faulty Ground. If Audrey is ever overwhelmed by the bandit's offence then use Faulty Ground to disrupt him and regain control, follow up with Giant-Killing Blow if his shield is gone or he can't defend himself with it. If Audrey is completely overwhelmed and in serious danger then instead use Faulty Ground to disrupt his offence and retreat.
I'll throw my hat into the ring.
The advice given in the combat rules is that, generally, Audrey's best bet against opponents like this is to outlast them.
I'm taking that to heart.
Opening with Darting Strike is for the initiative bonus and also to meet him on level ground at the top of the hill just in case him charging down the hill or fighting us from higher ground would give him a bonus.
This is a pretty simple and low key Rote so it's unlikely to give Audrey away as a Squire. She was never going to pass herself off as a mortal so not using a Rote at all might even be more suspicious.
From there, he wants to fight cautiously because he doesn't realize she's a squire, so let him do so, the longer he drags the fight out the better. If we're lucky he'll obligingly eat some attacks on his shield and let us take it out of play, but if he eats our attacks with his Hama field and armor then that's perfectly fine too.
We're a Squire, our baseline is better than his and we can outfence him so long as he isn't burning Ealdor.
Throwing in a Darting Strike once a turn is so he believes that Audrey is burning herself out trying to hurt him. She's not, Darting strike costs 3 Fervour and Prayer for Perserverance 5 while Audrey's replenish is 10, she can literally keep this up forever. If we're lucky he'll make the fatal mistake of believing that he can attrition Audrey and he won't ramp up.
Hitting him just a bit harder once every turn alongside her normal attack will hopefully also get him to spend his shield. Even if he doesn't, Audrey replenishes all the spent Fervor each turn, so it costs her nothing to try and hit him just a bit harder
Once he either realizes he's not making progress or thinks that he can overwhelm her he'll start spending Ealdor. When he spends enough to be threatening Audrey should bunker down and try to outlast him.
The prepwork of the previous steps will have depleted his reserves, and between Hama, decent armor and focus Audrey can take a good deal of damage.
I admit I don't know if "fight defensively" is a command that has any mechanical effect, but the goal is to weather him burning his resources, while also opening him up to counter attacks with Clever Deflection
Giant-Killing Blow is our biggest attack. It's also too expensive and too big a card to risk being nullified by the Bandit's shield.
We only want to use it if we're sure that it's not going to get blocked and I don't know if being opened up with Clever Deflection means he can't use his shield or not, though Audrey should definitely know, which is why that bit of the plan is worded that way.
Hopefully we'll have successfully baited him into spending it already and we won't have to worry about that.
I'm actually saving Faulty Ground as something of a safety net.
The intention is that if it turns out we've miscalculated or suffer terrible luck and Audrey takes more damage than is comfortable she can interrupt the bandit's assault by tripping him onto his face and either regain control, or if things have truly gone south, retreat.
Perfect Footing is here for insurance in case the Bandit has any tricks.
This plan lacks Limb Breaking Hold, but it's not planning on getting into a grapple, and if the bandit turns out to be the one to try to initiate a grapple with us then that probably constitutes a significant change in circumstances that would start a new tactics vote.
I don't see how going to the ground prevents defensive fighting, especially since our fighting style leans more tactical and might be well served by handy access to pocket dirt.
70 damage is a lot, but I'm not sure it will actually do more than a faulty ground+ limb breaking hold after accounting for Armor and Hama. Those two attacks deal 30 damage that ignores both of those.
In addition one big swing can't really crack a Hama field, while at least some damage will likely get through to his health the Hama field will only be reduced in value by 10 no matter the attack's strength.
There's also his shield to consider. I'm not sure how openings work, but if we need to contend with his shield as well then that further favors multiple attacks.
The "being defensive bit" that I take issue with is the implication, with how the plan is phrased and the use of Faulty Ground, that we will let go after breaking his arm and scramble for our sword or try to fence with our knife
If that wasn't the intention then it wasn't clear to me
The solution to the Hama and Armor is to not go straight for the Rotes, but to degrade the Hama and Armor first with normal attacks
At two attacks per a turn, we can chew through it fairly well, especially for as long as he fights conservatively
If you're worried about the shield then going for hand-to-hand/knife probably isn't a good idea
Shields require two charges to stop our two handed sword, whereas they absorb unarmed and one handed attacks for only one charge
There's no mention of Limb Breaking Hold bypassing shields, so I have to assume it doesn't
Similarly unarmed attacks and one handed weapons deal half damage
Edit: Nevermind, Limb Breaking Hold does generally bypass shields
That's my bad for somehow missing that
I'm still fairly certain we don't have to resort to dropping out sword to get rid of his shield though
And it may not be worth the half damage on all other attacks
This post seems to be primarily about Limb-Breaking Hold, so I'm a little confused why it quotes Plan Being Tricksy which does not involve that Rote.
I'm not sure either honestly
I think I just had it in the quote block and forgot
