Overview

The spear is a weapon specialized in medium to long-range combat. It has exceptional range compared to any other melee weapon, able to reach up to 15 studs in length when at its maximum thrust distance. However, it has significant drawbacks by way of speed and close-range capability. It is best used as a chasing tool to poke someone who runs away from you or to ward off players who try to chase you instead.

General Combat Tips

• When in combat with any weapon, make sure that you have shiftlock enabled. This gives you more control over your weapon and makes it easier for you to hit your enemy, avoiding the need to constantly readjust your camera as you turn. Do not use first person either as you'll be unable to see what's around you.
• When in combat with a sword, keep in mind that its (large) damaging hitbox does damage on touch to any body part. This means you want to spam your lunge attack at all times in combat while moving your mouse left and right so as to 'cut' through the enemy's body hitbox, ensuring you are hitting the maximum amount of parts possible as the sword goes through. For more tips on this, look into generic swordfighting combat.
• When using a spear, keep in mind that the thrusting animation does not hit your enemy if they are too close to you - this is due to the very small hitbox on the tip. The spear is best used when chasing someone for the longer range or when trying to ward someone off as they chase you, forcing them to relinquish distance so they aren't poked to death while you walk backwards.
• When using ranged weapons in combat, don't. Lag and constant strafing/jumping make it almost impossible for any shot to hit unless you are quite literally breathing down the neck of your enemy, in which case you should be using a melee weapon. Ranged weapons also slow you down when reloading and also while you aim, giving the person distance to run away from you and disengage or to get closer to you as you hopelessly try to hit them.
• Using armor is paramount to your success, as well as shields, together. Never use one or the other separately, as their defense/DR bonuses need to stack to be able to give any meaningful protection. Even Volcadon armor or shield, when worn separately, aren't powerful enough to protect you effectively from someone using a full copper set plus weapons.
• Hiding your armor and shield is a good strategy to test the character of any given person, or just to get them by surprise when they aren't looking because of the 'noob' impression.
• Experienced players will often retreat when they are in a losing fight. It is up to your discretion whether it is worth it to chase or to ambush them somewhere else where you have the advantage. Inspect your surroundings - are there boats they can use to escape, catapults, other enemies, etc.? Look around and pay attention before making a decision.
• In regards to ambushes, it is always best to have the advantage before entering combat. If you must attack someone who is always surrounded by friends and/or takes care not to leave their backs open for attack, lie in wait until an opportunity arises and engage in combat when they least expect it. Such tactics will almost always end up with the person panicking, and if not, with a severe health point disadvantage which you can then exploit in order to win the duel.
• Never go straight up to an experienced player, full armor and weapons in view, expecting to win any fight. They will be prepared to do all it takes to force either a tie, a very close win/loss or retreat, none of which are good for you especially when they have allies around.

Strategy

Considering the spear is classified as a medium to long-range weapon, it should most often be used when you feel you need the extra range to kill your enemy. There are a few caveats you have to work around with this weapon, however:

• It has a custom animation. This specific animation brings the spear tip back a bit, then thrusts it forward. Knowing this, do not attempt to use the spear at close range, as the tip will never touch the enemy if they are sticking to you with a sword.
• As mentioned before, you should use this while you are chasing someone who's already weak and can die to a few pokes of the weapon. Keep in mind that the enemy can also thrust their spear (if they have one) while walking backwards, forcing you to back down. This will be worse with lag.
• The sword shake technique also works with a spear, but it is significantly harder to make use of. Your only window to do this is when the spear is at its maximum range, and only for a few ms. Use this carefully - while it may be useful to finish off a low health opponent faster, doing this is likely to end up slowing you down in the long run if in a chase.
• Animations such as the Mage run and jump are able to keep the spear still, which may be useful if you are close enough to an enemy and have to make do without a sword, as you can move the camera left and right to damage them similarly. The differences in animations can be seen in the examples below.