For Honor Beginners Guide

                                   For Honors Beginners Guide
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=====What is For Honor?======

For Honor is a Medieval-style fighting game within it's own niche.
Unlike fighting games with small, simple arenas and long chain combos; For Honor uses much larger, detailed maps than traditional Arena fighters and an equal focus on objective gameplay to fighting game mechanics as well as a more reaction based, short-combo system and a team-based aspect to the fighting genre.

If you didn't notice on first inspection, everybody in the general hates the game - and yet we can't stop fucking coming back to the thing. Whether it be due to the ABSOLUTELY UNPLAYABLE current patch, LITERAL SEWAGE-TIER new armour sets or THE. ABSOLUTE. FUCKING. CHIMPS. we're forced to play with; we'll usually be dragged back somehow.
We cordially invite you to join us in this waking hell that is playing For Honor, and hope you enjoy your prospective stay.



=====What should I do when I boot up the game first time?======

1. Choose your faction
Faction only affects the shape of your emblem and minor online rewards. Honestly, the shape of your emblem is the most meaningful impact, the rest is nigh irrelevant.
>Knights - Shield Emblem - Leddit retards that put everything on a Vultcano!!!1!!1!! on the map so they won't win ever, unless the devs rig Faction War again.
>Vikings - Circular Emblem  -  Leddit autists that win everything because they 'strategize' the faction war on leddit [TN: Have the most players by a long shot]
>Samurai - Square Emblem - Leddit spergs that think there's a bonus to being the underdog, when there isn't. They won't win ever unless devs rig Faction War again.
If you care that much about winning the effective sum total of literally nothing/ don't car about your Emblem shape, go Viking. Knights usually come second, followed by Samurai. The Wu Lin currently do not have a dedicated faction in the Faction War.

---Can I still play heroes from other factions if I pick my faction?
Yes. You can play any hero, regardless of your faction, as long as you own them.

---What if I want to change my faction?
There is no benefit to changing factions other what has been stated above, but in short:
If you change during pre-season, there won't be any reperussions.
If you change during the first Campaign (Round), you'll lose any rewards for that round, but the rest of the season will be fine.
If you change during any of the other 4 Campaigns of the Season, there will be no rewards, full stop, for you.

---Why is Faction War even important?
It's not.



2. After Picking your Faction
>Finish the Apprentice and Warrior trials.
Beat both on all A-Rank to get two Ornaments if you want them. If you ever need to brush up on a mechanic, don't be afraid to return to these at a later point.
>Beat the Story
Story mode is (in typical Ubisoft fashion) piss easy. Play the game on Realistic and there are under 5 enemies/bosses in the entire Story that should give you any modicum of trouble, all of which have some 'creative' way to get around - whether that be guaranteed damage items from much earlier in the level or just simple AI abuse. Just think outside of the box.
You will probably never touch this mode again, so take this into account if you want to choose a lower difficulty, since you will lose out on some of the stuff below. Also, see the OP for a Collectables Guide beforehand, for all the Viewpoints and Collectables. Even if you want to go in blind, there is an alternate variant in the same link that gives you a short list of hints.
Doing all of this will net you 10k Steel, 10 Gear crates along with a Headpiece+Embossing (Higher quality, shadowed/normal mapped armour decals) for each Hero - a pretty beefy and recommended start to the game.

Once you finish Story mode, go into the uPlay Club and go to the rewards section to claim a free passive Effect, some Symbols AND THEN a few expendables (Gear Crates, Champion Status etc)



3. Post Story mode / Pre Multiplayer
Base heroes are 500 steel each, assuming you got the Standard (not the Starter) Edition. In typical Ubisoft fashion, the basegame heroes do not need to be purchased to be played (only customized), but it's simply an ease of life purchase over having to faff around later down the line. DLC characters are either 10k or 15k and DO require purchase to be played.
Only use your experience in the Story mode as a general playstyle guide. In typical Ubisoft fashion, the Story mode is played on a different patch to live, so most characters are pretty different from their current-patch counterparts. On top, in typical Ubisoft fashion, the Story mode does not make you play every basegame hero once. You will not have played Conqueror or Shugoki at all, and only have ever played Berserker for a short amount of time during the Training trials. Use the Training Arena to play around with all heroes on the current patch.



4. Starting Multiplayer
Once you've beaten the Story mode, found a favorite hero and dressed them up nice and pretty; you can safely go into Multiplayer (where, in typical Ubisoft fashion, you'll get grinded out by Rep 200+'s in your first game).
When you open it up, you will see the current status of the faction war (which should be an almost entirely Red map - with a single, Yellow square on the Volcano) as well as the Orders sidebar. Orders are the 'Quests' of the game, with 2 simple Daily Orders and a choice of 6, more detailed, Contract Orders which refresh on two day cycle (aside from the weekends, where they refresh daily). Just pick the Contract orders that sound easy/relevant to you, you'll the the idea. In typical Ubisoft fashion, if half your Orders are in some foreign, indecipherable text/gobbledygook, just ignore it and it should fix itself.
Overall, just completing your Dailies and what you can of one set of Contracts should put your Steel income at roughly 1-2k Steel a day, with that obviously jumping up if you complete all the Contracts. This is the rough average Steel income you can base your purchases off from now on.
Gamemode activity varies greatly between mode. On an average day, Dominion (the 'default' gamemode) will have the fastest queue times followed by Breach (Grandiose in scale and a definite highlight for the first time when you jump into multiplayer. Highest rewards, but longest matches) and then by Duel (only need one other player to join, so proportionally quicker ques). Tribute, Deathmatch, 2v2 and most Event modes are usually ded outside of the start of a Contract order cycle (in which you'll have a short window where everyone jumps on to do the relevant contracts before ditching them for the above three modes)
Ignore the Faction War for the most pat until you figure it out yourself. As previously stated and in typical Ubisoft fashion, it's  irrelevant as a pissing match in the Micropenis Society. Either the Vikangz will win it, or it's rigged for that round by the devs.



5. How to not be a dead weight in Multiplayer
>Dominion
Stand on one capture point (not the minion lane) - the closest one to your own spawn if possible - then do nothing except stand there and intercept anybody who opposes you. When you boost a point (stand on it uncontested) the amount of score generated doubles, and you will gain passive Renown (Match EXP) toward your Feats (Skills). This isn't just a starter playstyle, this is genuinely how you win games at higher levels and a concpet alien to most of the playerbase (I know, playing the objective in an objective gamemode is how you win, shocker). Try to intercept an enemy just before they stand on the point, as you will still get health regen from it while boosting until they also stand on the point. If you get swarmed, don't feel bad about running away/dying. Just take the point back the second it's left open again, or steal another point while their dumbass deathball is distracted.

>Breach
The Breach Guide in the OP will do a much better job than this explanation can, but in short, focus on the Ram. Everything else is simply a side objective.
If you're an Attacker 'boosting' the Ram (uncontested with 1 minion) will move it at double speed and make it attack at triple speed. Be careful of the minions in this mode - unlike their counterparts in Dominion, these ones do not die in one hit and will kill you very quickly if you don't pay attention. Initiate guard mode with no lockon while dealing with them to reduce some of their damage.
If you're a Defender, try to make sure that the Ram is stopped as much as possible (no enemy or minions nearby) and camp the Cauldron above the gate when the Ram is docked. As an extra quick tip, try to go for executions and defend enemy corpses if possible - your win conditions are either destroying their Ram or depleting their spawn tickets.
If the Attackers ever get the phase 3, they've basically won it. As attackers; simply rush the Archer zone, then attack/swarm the Commander alongside a group of minions, repeat. As defenders, pray to jebus that you went for their tickets over their Ram and/or that they're retards that trickle in/don't take the Archer zone.

>Duel
lol just kill the enemy 3 times bro

>Other modes
>>>other modes



6. Hero Classes
The following is not a Walkthrough, it's a guide. Don't bitch that "this one interaction don't work so it all don't work". All heroes can do anything and everything to a degree, this is just what you should expect going into each category. There are more detailed guides in the OP Info Hub and on Jewtube (though make sure that for the latter, it's someone who knows what the fuck they're on about. The Information Hub in the OP might be a leddit creation; but it's good in the fact it barely has a single ledditors opinion in it, is mostly just data/numbers and the hero guide links are to people who play the game at a competitive level.)

>TANK
-Heavies
-Usually occupy midlane and walk with the Ram
-Characteristically slower, lower overall DPS but higher disruption. Paired with either a phat healthbar or chunky hyperarmour.
-Some form of minion clearance with wide, spammable attacks and (mandatory) has selfheal/sustain
-Generally spec into Tanky passives (Regen etc) to keep themselves alive independently

>FLANK
-DPS's ('Vanguards')
-Usually occupy the Side lanes (A/C point) and are more free to go for side objectives before while the Ram
-Characteristically higher damage, access to some disruption
-Generally spec into ranged/projectiles to deal with incoming targets and help out other points

>GANK
-Assassins
-Attack and assist on all 3 lanes where appropriate and are much more prone to take the side objectives when convenient (Flags, Ballista etc) before while the Ram
-Characteristically fast, dodge-y and have lower damage in exchange for bonus effects (Bleed, Hyper Armour etc)
-All have reflex guard, which means they can't really turtle too well as it runs out after a set amount of time.
-Generally spec into actives to buff themselves up before attacking

Hybreds are simply mixtures of two of the above.



6.5 Hero Concepts
The following is not a Walkthrough, it's a guide. Here is a general idea of what each hero's 'niche'/gimmick is. Again, all heroes can do all everything to a degree - this is simply what each hero is known for. This is only here because, in typical Ubisoft fashion, the in-game flavour text for each hero is woefully out of date and unhelpful. For the most part, these do not comment on overall hero balance or current bugs, as it can shift drastically between patches; with heroes such as Peacekeeper and Warlord at different points in the game each being contenders for the best hero in the game, then the worst hero in the game, then somewhere in the middle. The guide is trying to stay in-date, preese understan.

>Warden
Straightforward and Flexible DPS. Shoulder bashes and a nigh unreactable zone.
>Peacekeeper (PK)
Lots of bleeds, fast attacks and very good rotation.
>Conqueror (Conq)
The Limpet of the midlane. Hard to get kills, but equally stupidly fucking hard to kill if turtling and not going for damage. Shield bashes and no feints.
>Lawbringer (LB / Lawtist)
Parry hero with a beefy healthbar and good damage. Also very, very weak balancewise and in constant need of major buffs - it's all he's got bro.
>Centurion (Cent)
General cutscene gameplay revolving around knocking opponents down and jumping on them. Generally weak - but a successful combo punishes extremely hard, making him a demon for noobs until they git gud and learn his timings/dashing once backwards.
>Gladiator (Glad)
dude toes lmao. Very beefy stamina bar on top, but has the worst guard in the game.
>Black Prior (BP)
The offensive Limpet, trades the sheer 'nearly unkillable even in 3v1 situations' for being able to do damage while still being Tanky. Flips and Edginess.

>Raider
Straightforward and Flexible DPS. Stuns and Unblockable zones.
>Berserker (Zerk)
High damage, low health, stupid amounts of hyper armour. You should get the rest.
>Warlord
Bulky with very long throws. Has access to fullblock. Generally somewhere in the middle of Conq and BP.
>Valkyrie (Valk)
Superior block on the first light in a sequence, deflects and has a sweep that punishes well. Slightly higher damage close to a Vanguard, slighlty higher speed close to an Assassin and slightly higher survivability close to a Heavy - all arounder Hybred.
>Highlander
Large movepool and solid damage. Generally complex hero with lots of unblockables and good access to hyperarmour.
>Shaman
Made for ganking. If you're bleeding, she will pounce on you, there is basically nothing you can do and...you will pretty much die.
>Jormungandr (Mungo)
Stamina pressure, ludicrous hyper armour and a similar cutscene gameplay to Centurion. Same noob demon status, same counters.

>Kensei
Straightforward and Flexible DPS. Side heavies and soft feints.
>Orochi (Roach)
Lightspam=The Hero
>Shugoki
Fattest, slowest hero in the game. High damage, slow, variable heavies and a grab.
>Nobushi (Nobu / Nobushit / Waifu / Tranny)
Assist hero which utilises bleed proc - useless on her own and strong with a teammate. Hidden stance to 'avoid' attacks on reaction with iFrames. If a good Conqueror is a tank won't die because he chooses not to attack and can take a shitton of abuse, a good Nobushi is a odd hybred tank who won't die because (despite the fact she can neither deal damage nor take hits) you'll never land a hit on her iFrames.
>Shinobi (Shitnobi)
Most mobile hero in the game, and the ONLY hero in the entire game who should be playing the side objectives before the main objectives because of this. Fastest rotation without parallel, lots of dodges and some range for bullshit/offscreening opponents.
>Aramusha
Long attack chains (as in forever if you let him) along with a reflex fullblock. Another noob demon which becomes shit once you git gud and learn to parry or block the top after a side.
>Hitokiri
Executions, raspy whispers and unblockables. Beefy and has good hyperarmour on heavies (which can go into an infinite chain, but overall lacking in the range and pressure department.)

>Tiandi
Straightforward and Flexible DPS. Lots of dodges and has fat knockback (if he can land it)
>Nuxia
Traps (not the Nobushi types, a gimmick which ensures she can pierce guard if the player isn't attacking) which make her good at ganging up on one poor soul while they're in forced block frames.
>Jiang Jun (JJ)
A Hyper-Stamina Regen stance which has some iFrames, along with a few uninterruptibles on heavies.
>Shaolin
Teleporting and general monkey magic. Mobility and guard of an assassin, Damage of a Vanguard.
>[Space reserved for the final Y3 hero]
???



7. Customization
DO NOT OPEN ANY CRATES UNTIL REPUTATION 8. THEY'RE RARE AS FUCK AND YOU'LL BE WASTING THEM. Use them to roll for the final perk combo/s of your choice instead of having to grind matches. Also, as a general rule, don't fucking touch the armour customization system itself if you've just started (change your colour patterns/abilities all you want, sure, just leave the armour itself)

--What are Perks?
In short, Perks are essentially mini-Feats and are much easier to deal with than they initially sound.
You need 600 points in a perk to activate it - anything more won't do anything extra, anything less and it just won't activate. Each hero starts with 3 unlocked Perks to be able to activate, and can get 2 of them simultaneously with 6 of the same loadout 100/100 point armour pieces all maxed out. (This is generally where you should leave it until Rep 8). Afterwards, each Reputation will either raise the maximum rarity to the next tier, or will raise the minimum rarity to the current tier (alternating). Every 2 Reputation, a new Perk will be unlocked to be activated, corresponding to the colour rarity tier your maximum rarity is set to (so Blue->Purple->Yellow->Green). Reputation 8 is the point in which all perks are available to be activated, and the lowest rarity is Green; hence why every single Reputation before it is basically just a waste of Steel to invest in. At Green tier, you can also get a 3rd simultaneous Perk, depending on which ones you go for. Check the Perks Guide in the OP to understand how it works and what you can get together.
Related to Perks, Fashion is the secret, underlying hardcore endgame goal of For Honor. At each rarity of gear, a new set of /fa/ is unlocked to be scavenged from matches or crates. Ultimately, it doesn't matter if you get a bad perk set on a piece you like, as long as you have the piece, you can change future pieces into what you want provided they're of an equal or greater rarity (another reason why you should wait until Rep 8). In typical Ubisoft fashion, gear appearence is completely random, and there is no reliable way to unlock that *one* armour piece you want without grinding (which again, is why you save your Gear Crates even though they appear of little value)

---Why do some people have dots above their Armour Score? What do they do?
After you unlock the maximum level rarity gear at Rep 8, the game still increases the rarity tiers to include the dots or pips. Ultimately speaking, these do absolutely nothing and only appear above your Armour score once you have a complete set with them all upgraded to maximum. There is no combination of perks which requires you to have them, there is no pip-exclusive armour sets and there is no reason to have them outside of completionism and/or bragging rights. Then again - if you are out for completionism and/or bragging rights, there is equally no harm in going for them outside of having to wait a little longer to get your optimal perk loadout and having to spend a little more Steel to max them out.

---What are Executions?
Executions are stylish ways of killing an enemy, which can be initiated if you kill them with a heavy attack. They aren't all entirely for badmouthing opponents though; they play an important mechanical role of denying a revive and healing yourself. Some characters such as Hitokiri and Shaman (as examples) especially have execution-centric gameplay, with Hitokiri's feats playing an important role and Shamans perks/playstyle putting a heavy emphasis on them.
On top, not all Executions are the same. In typical Ubisoft fashion there are three hidden, major and varying details of executions - the TTK, Health Gained and TTUnlock (since you're a sitting duck until you're free again). Much more detailed information can be found in the OP, but in short for a beginner, bind the fastest TTK execution you have unlocked to the button you instinctively press.

---What are Effects?
Effects are purely cosmetic and add an external animation to your character on given triggers.
In typical Ubisoft fashion, unlocking an Effect only unlocks it for that singular trigger (Idle, Emote, Combat Emote or Execution) and need to be purchased 4 times to be used on all 4 triggers. On top, there are Effects tied to Outfits which require purchase of the entire Outfit to unlock (this however unlocks that Effect for all triggers)



8. General Feats Tips
>Try to keep usable feats on cooldown as much as possible (basically, if you have them, use them). For example, using a Smoke Bomb or Fire Flask to assist in clearing a minion wave is a perfectly fine tactic. Ideally you want feats to be charging up more than not charging at all.
>Many buff values are not given and can be deceivingly high or low. One good example of this is the difference between the miniscule Deadly Feat (118% for 3s after a hit) or the game swinging Morale Booster Feat (teamwide 150% for 30s) - both are simply labeled as attacks dealing more damage. Check feat values and your heroes general meta setups beforehand to avoid making such mistakes (check Feats Guide in OP).
>Regarding both Feats and Perks, in typical Ubisoft fashion, if there is a breakpoint set before an effect will activate and said breakpoint is completely bypassed; it will not be accounted for at all. They will *only* trigger once the value lies within the breakpoint region; making Feats such as Tiandi's Indomitable or Perks such as Last Stand almost completely useless.
>Many feats have secondary, equally potent uses. Arrow/Spear Storm deals considerable damage to the Ram on breach; Healing Banner can heal the Commander too. Ranged feats (Crossbow, Long Bow, Throwing Axe etc) can not only be used to catch low health enemies; but can maintain pressure while out of stamina. Think outside of the box, and don't in any way think you're wasting them.



9. Jewbisoft is trying to sell me shit, wat do?
>Buying Steel is a scam. Just don't.
>Champion Status is of negligible for the most part. You should never, ever purchase it with real money and only ever use Steel. In short, it's too expensive to benefit early grinding and once it becomes feasible to buy a year status (outside of a rare sale), you'll have leveled the heroes you care about to Rep 8+ long ago.
If you have lots of loot saved up for breaking down and plan on spending the next three days grinding out some For Honor Multiplayer, you can make back your some reasonable gain for the Steel without getting burned out and wasting it (provided you get all your Orders done, you'll roughly break even and get the bonus EXP/loot on top). Note: CHAMPION STATUS DOESN'T GIVE YOU ANY STEEL GAIN BONUS. IT IS PURELY FOR LEVELING AND GEAR LOOT.
>Marching Fire expansion is a questionable scam. It unlocks the 4 Chinese heroes for you (saving you 40k steel) and is the ONLY way to unlock the Arcade, which you'll either love or hate. The Arcade itself is a bonus mode which computer-generates Single Player/Co-op (lol, >>>implying you have friends) quests for you to do as well as a hand-crafted Weekly Quest. The Arcade can net you a few things such as exclusive Effects, Ornaments and decent Steel rewards. Be aware that the Arcade is not forgiving.
It is a *challenge* mode by the definition of the word, and can at times throw you near impossible bullshit (from 1v3 Lv3 Bots to an enemy with Unblockable/Uninterruptable). If you're gonna get it, don't buy any of the Wu Lin beforehand and either wait for a sale (recommended) or just buy it upfront.
>The Year Pass is a scam, but the least scammy scam compared to the above. It will unlock the 4 newest/unreleased heroes, saving you 60k Steel and will grant you access to any new hero of that bundle a week before others - as well as an exclusive Effect, 30 days of Champion Status and 5 Scavenger Crates. If you're gonna get it, wait for a sale. It's value however inherently decreases every day - so take that into account yourself.



10. Settings
>UI customization is mostly to your own tastes, but setting Fight to Minimal and turning off the Quick Chat Button is a nice way to trim fat. Another choice to keep or remove is the minimap - it takes up a disproportionate part of the screen, for the ability to see most enemies coming behind you. If you don't use it, turn it off. If you find your anus sore from surprise buttsecks, keep it on and try to utilise it for its' cost.
>Rotate the circle in fight controls a bit if you're using a controller. Your hands won't be perpendicular to the stick, it'll feel more natural. Alter everything else to your tastes.
>Another tip for controller players is to try to ensure all your active buttons are reachable without moving your hands. Setting Left bumper to guard break, Left Stick button to dodge and Right Stick button to feint is one way to do this - though you should always map a layout that you personally feel comfortable with.
-If you play on KB+M, bind Zone Attack and Guard Break to mouse buttons if possible.



11. Fighting
>The first thing you should do when taking a hero to 'main', is learn their basic maximum punishes. These are the most guaranteed damage you can do on an [X] (whether that 'X' be a Light/Heavy parry, Guardbreak, Wallsplat etc). It's useful to just keep a document with these on in another tab/on another device while you play. Don't worry about advanced/situational punishes (such as OOS CGB Splats - or Out-Of-Stamina Counter Guardbreaks into a Wall for those who speak English) or Option Selections (alternate, advanced things you can do instead of a single given input to cover multiple possible scenarios; such as a Zone attack input simultaneously parrying an incoming heavy or landing the damage if the enemy feints that heavy into a guardbreak).
Don't worry about learning all of them, but make it a priority to get your heroes basics down and make it a goal to get them all down in time.
>Stop rolling around like it's fucking Dark Souls. A full backwards roll should be your last ditch getaway card since it uses half your max stamina and can be easily punished on prediction.
>Guard Breaks aren't fucking OP. Learn what they are, what they do and their interactions.
>Your attacks still disrupt and hurt your own team. Don't fucking spam your zone attacks near them, it's annoying and can even teamkill.
>DO NOT INTERRUPT TEAMMATES PUNISHES. If you, for example, see a Centurion get a Guard Break into wallsplat don't just fucking light attack the enemy, you will be able to deal damage at the end of your mates punish.
>A 2v1 doesn't guarantee a kill. In many cases, trying to gang up on someone will just build their Revenge meter for free and make the whole situation worse as you fuck with your teammates timings and give your enemy a buff. Let them both fight and only watch for openings to punish when the enemy can't guard.
>With the exception of parries, every action in the game has a delay/windup. Switching stances, starting attacks, dodging and more - you can't rely on reaction times all the time. You'll always need a slight amount of prediction.



12. Gamesense
>Dying a lot? Buddy up with a teammate - as long as you know your boundaries it should keep you alive longer.
>Look up/down a ladder before using it. If an enemy is waiting for you, expect an instakill as you fall off ~to your doom~. Likwise, you don't want to slide down and instakill your Shinobi who was carrying the Shield Banner to your gatehouse.
>Enemy has formed an unstoppable 4-man ball of death? Is your current preferred objective occupied by said Deathball? Feel free to take uncontested objectives (whatever it may be) and backcap points even if you wouldn't usually gopher them. Even if your entire team keeps trickling into the grinder, as long as the entire enemy team is distracted it just means that you can take their objectives for nigh free.
>On the other hand, don't just walk into your death. Ganktraps and general deathball rotation isn't hard to predict, provided you have your brain turned on en-route to your objective.
>More times than not, regrouping or rezzing teammates is more valuable and reliable than ganking a low HP target (because that gank initiate can often lead to their entire team finally showing up from their rotate and giving you a 3v1 deepdick). Rezzes are naturally more valuable too since it cuts down overall team downtime and can save tickets in Breach.
>Likewise, it's sometimes more beneficial to wait and see the outcome of a fight before respawning. Not only does it mean you have the chance to be rezzed if your guys win, but even if they lose it means you won't trickle in as much and should respawn with your team.
>Want to bait an enemy into rushing an engagement? Start rezzing a teammate or clearing minions with your back turned to them and your camera watching them. If they take the bait, you will usually get the jump on them before their rushed attack lands.
>Running to a zone? Check if it's accelerated/going at +2 while you're on your way. If it is, somebody is waiting for you there.
>The best way to win in For Honor is to have No Honor. Playing fair won't net you brownie points. The AI can be abused, cheap moves make up the meta and environmental kills are instant 100% executions. Even if you want to play fair, remember that basically everybody else isn't.
>Some matches are straight up unwinnable if you join part-way through. Don't fall for the 'you can make it if you believe' ememe; just try to make light of the situation, take a hit on the nose and have a break if it's getting to you.



13. I'VE PLAYED THIS GAME FOR HOURS NOW AND I'M STILL SHIT. WHY?
The usual factor to this is wider understanding and gamesense. Sure you might have figured out your favorite hero, mastered their combos and feints and worked with all their maximum punishes (which is a priority if you haven't already - keep it open in another tab/on another screen while you play) but what about everybody else? As with every other fighting game (don't forget For Honor is indeed a fighting game first and foremost) the key mastery is not just knowing your own hero, but everybody else's. The same way you can't win at Mortal Kombat by just knowing everything about Sub Zero, your opponent will guaranteed make up 50% of each 1v1.

-Do you know what you should expect from a Lawbringers maximum punish off of a Guardbreak? Can you survive it, is it worth investing in the fight or backing away afterwards?
-Have you got the timing down for an Orochi's Heavy mixup?
-Can you parry a Highlanders back light yet?
-What should you do and be wary of if a Nobushi is supporting your enemy in a 1v2?
-What feat should you be wary of being active if the enemy has a Warden on their team?
-Do you know the three perks that a Shaman will probably be running?
-Do you know which lane you should expect a Jiang Jun to occupy-and if it's the same lane as you can you tell what his locked and sprinting initiates are, and from what directions they are going to be from?
-Do you know which of the above questions is a trick question?

Again, you might know yourself, but until you know your enemy you'll struggle in most matchups. This is just a case of experience - the more you play, the more you'll learn these things. Take solace in the fact that the guy who is beating you by just lightspamming now will not be learning this, and will get a brutal shock when everybody around him starts gitting gud, while he mashed the same attack again and again-forcing him to start from scratch.

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=====If you have any further questions or want to elaborate on any point, now you can feel free to ask the thread without the risk of being told to fuck off and read the OP. At worst you'll be called a speedreader for not reading this slow enough, at best...hey, some faggot might stop bitching about 100ms intervals that will toootally break the game as we know it and actually help you out=====