5 important tips when fighting…

5 important tips when fighting against…

Warden	Conqueror	Peacekeeper	Lawbringer
Raider	Warlord	Berserker	Valkyrie
Kensei	Shugoki	Orochi	Nobushi

Warden (/u/Newti)

On medium distance keep blocking left (or bait and be ready to block left). This blocks the very fast zone attack. A blocked zone attack ALWAYS leads to a free, non counterable GB and is a severe punish for the warden.
The top attack is only slightly slower than the zone. If you are in reach of the top attack, chose if you want to block top or left and be ready to switch to the other one in an instant. The top attack can only be punished by a parry.
If you parry any attack from the warden, you get a free GB. The only free GB you get from a block is from the zone attack.
Wardens love to feint top heavy attacks to bait you into a crushing counterstrike or cancel into a zone attack. Either just block top heavy strikes, or be ready to cancel your parry. Always watch the left side if they start any heavy attack.
If the warden randomly dodges or hits you with a light attack, expect a shoulder charge. The shoulder charge mixup is a topic on its own and a lot has been written about it. If you want to succeed vs warden it is important you fully understand this move/mixup. Your reactions are also somewhat class specific. Read this discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/CompetitiveForHonor/comments/5uzwsq/answer_to_wardens_vortex/

Conqueror (/u/Hound_NC)

He is able to interrupt his own dodge at variable times with a shield bash, allowing him to punish you for grab attempts while he is dodging. Every shield bash he lands will confirm a single light attack unless you initiate a dodge at the same time as he dodges. Avoiding the bash can be done by any class, even Lawbringer, but timing windows are tighter the heavier you are. Wardens, in particular, suffer against Conquerors for this reason.
A good Conqueror will train you to dodge on command using the above tactic. It results in a mix-up, wherein he will dodge, causing you to dodge by reflex, allowing him to grab you for a free GB. This can be avoided by unlocking and dodge rolling out of tight corners and away from walls.
The infamous Conqueror vortex is easily escaped. It consists of GBing the enemy, landing a side heavy, then following with a shield bash into another heavy until stamina is drained. If this is done in open space, you can block the incoming heavy. If he rams you against a wall, you will always take the heavy damage before having an escape window. Dodge roll away from a wall if a Conqueror gets you to stumble against it.
A Conqueror can parry fish you using his charged heavy attack, by using its step to close the distance, full guard, dodge to the side and shield bash you to begin an attack. Be wary of this; it is usually safer to dodge away from an incoming Conqueror charged heavy than to parry it.
Almost everything a Conqueror does is hellishly slow and designed to punish you for acting first, meaning that if you're under the regenerating HP threshold you can just stop attacking and react to his options to get your bar back. This is important because conq is one of the only classes in the game that cannot kill from a GB with a heavy. He needs another mixup after it. (/u/Eji1700)

Peacekeeper (/u/GeneralAnubis)

At medium distance, keep your guard high to prepare for her lunge attack. It can be parried for an uncounterable Guard Break, but it's safer to just block as the timing is incredibly tight. If you have a dodge+attack option (Orochi, Zerk, Nobushi, Valk, Kensei), that is the most effective punish to a PK's lunge, as it will also cover you for Tip #2.
Always be prepared for the GuardBreak after a lunge attack (whether you block it or not), as it is the most common followup. PKs who notice you following Tip #1 will likely begin to dodge forward + GB as well, so look out for that.
Don't let her stay in your face, you'll get spammed by light attacks. Anything you can do to get a hit in and disengage will help you avoid this. If you can manage to block the PK's light attack, almost all heroes have a small window there where they can sneak one of their own light attacks in. Capitalize on the amount of stagger that blocking her attacks gives you.
The Peacekeeper zone attack is the fastest move in the game and almost unreactable (pretty much only parriable on prediction and even that is hard). The zone attack will always come from your right, so set a high priority to block right when the PK is in your face. They will often end their onslaught with a ZA and then back out.
Most Peacekeepers tend to disengage with a back-dodge after an unfavorable trade or when they run out of stamina, be ready to press the attack with your own gapcloser if you have one, or try unlocking and doing a running attack or zone attack on them. The added pressure will usually make them panic, leading to more predictable behavior.

Lawbringer (/u/its_gooberTroy)

Unless his shove is used immediately after a block, it is punishable by dodging into an untechable GB. Same goes for a Long Arm after a shove.
If you are right up in the face of the Lawbringer, careful of his light overhead. It's his quickest move and likely his go to in close quarters.
Careful about dodging away. A lot of Lawbringers damage has to come from GBs. If you dodge a lot, a good lawbringer will grab you mid dodge for a guaranteed untechable GB. This is especially true when you are out of stamina and they begin the pressure with shove into a light mixup. Just stand your ground when exhausted and be ready to read the situation.
If he breaks lock on and starts sprinting block left and prepare to Counter-GB. He'll either try to spear you or to grab you. (/u/OFCOURSEIMHUMAN-BEEP)

Raider (/u/JustABitLit)

Keep your reaction time up. Raider may have some of the slowest heavies and lights in the game but stunning tap cancels are extremely fast and set Raider up for scary 20 20 20 20 20 situation.
If the Raider plays properly he'll start his heavies from the left or right then cancel into the tap (he doesn't want them blocking overhead if his fastest move is already an overhead). Block to Raider's input but if you notice his player model slightly rear back then block up. Parrying this move is very fast so I wouldn't recommend. Stunning tap cannot be canceled after starting so you won't have to worry about anything else afterwards.
If you have a parry habit, break it. Raider is able to so quickly feint and cancel to punish parries. Mostly just block. I would say parrying his lights are alright though, they aren't very fast and they're easily distinguishable from his heavies. Also his lights put him in range to be guard broken for free (against most characters), so then capitalize.
Raider has the most confirmed damage on a GB if you are out of stamina (he gets heavy + zone for 95 damage guaranteed). Therefore when you are out of stamina set the absolute highest priority to countering GBs.
If you're gonna dodge, then dodge backwards (/u/demalition90)

Warlord (/u/Ryanj3)

At long/medium range, default to top guard, but be ready to side dodge. The headsplitter leap always hits top and tracks well, so it's better to block the hit and dodge the shield bash that they'll follow it up with and punish then. Characters with dodge pokes can do this easily.
If they don't leap, they're probably headbutting, so side dodge and punish as you would with the shield bash.
Block right when fighting a warlord to negate: board and blade as well as their zone attacks. It will also negate their shield counter heavy combo as the heavy attack following a successful parry and shield counter will always stem from the warlords left. (your right) (/u/PhaedoUltio)
Block left to negate any of their light pokes. Block and stab , headsplitter leap combo, shield counter light combo and headbutt combo all end in a light stab that will always originate from the warlords right. (Your left) (/u/PhaedoUltio)
The Warlord can’t counter GBs when he is in full block stance.

Berserker (/u/Untimely_Eloquence)

Normal Blocking a light attack leads to a free guard break on all the characters not considered "long range" FIXED
Watch for the dash attacks as they cover a lot of ground. But they are easy to parry and punish
During their infinite chain heavy's can only come out of from sides while lights can go from any direction. If the berserk uses a top heavy, this will end the chain.
You can parry the zone attack on the last hit and it always comes from the left side. If you don't get a parry be ready for the quick light attack follow up.
Berserkers struggle to open up a defensive opponent. They almost exclusively rely on feints.

Valkyrie (/u/Dreadgoat)

At range, block up. Be careful trying to dodge or parry her lunge, it has excellent tracking and speed. Much easier to block, and you still get a free GB from that.
Don't try to parry her heavies. They are often not punishable even when parried, and you never know when it will be canceled into a shoulder charge. Block or dodge instead, especially if you have a dodge-attack.
Her first light attack can come out suddenly, but subsequent hits are slow. If you get hit by the 2nd light attack, most classes can’t dodge the following leg sweep! So make an extra effort to block the second attack in her chain. (If she goes into leg sweep any other way, it is dodgeable for everyone).
When she goes into shield tackle stance, back the fuck up. It's easy to dodge a shield tackle, it's hard to guess whether it's a shield tackle or a forward dash + GB, but the forward dash has significantly shorter range.
If she does Shield Slam you WAIT to dodge until you see yellow. If you have even just decent reaction you will dodge it, if you dodge immediately after Shield Slam you will be GBed into heavy-shield slam-Sweep/GB. Valkyrie has to commit to one, reaction always beats it. (/u/Shoebox_ovaries)

Kensei (/u/th30dor)

Always keep guard top. If it's not coming from the top, you have time for potty break, and then you can come back and parry that shit.
If you see a kensei dashing left, block right. If you see him dashing right, block left. His side attacks always come from the opposite direction of the dodge. Takes a bit of getting used to. They are easy to parry and are also not safe on block. So if you block a side attack, you get a free GB.
Kensei's attack options are shit, so prepare for them to faint a lot. If you see that juicy heavy attack coming for you, you can bet your ass it's a feint. Block in that direction, but don't commit to parrying (unless you know how to feint your parry).
Kensei's 3rd top finisher (the unblockable one) might seem daunting, but with enough practice and good reactions, it's completely punishable. The trick is to wait until the last moment to commit to something. The unblockable can be parried (wait until his feet leave the ground before commiting to the parry). If he faint's it into the side heavy, you see that from a mile away and can block/parry it. If he cancels into GB, you can counter GB. If he cancels into top/side light, you can block it.
A lot of the damage from Kensei comes from GBs. They can cancel into GBs and have a very long range on the grab. Be extra mindful about countering GBs when fighting a Kensei.

Shugoki

Never be sloppy on your finishing blow against him, especially if going for a Heavy Attack execution to prevent revive: if you miss the Demon Embrace will get you even if you're at max health. Don't be overconfident and get baited into it. (/u/Sebbychou)

Don’t try to cancel Demon’s Embrace or Crashing Charge with a light attack. If his armor is up, it will go through.
As of today, don't try to parry heavy (incl. charging) attacks from the Shugoki. They are bugged and if the shugoki abuses it, they are unparryable. (/u/Newti)
When you are out of stamina and the Shugoki knocks you down he will most likely do a fully charged overhead strike (its free and does about half your HP in dmg). However, once you get up, spam GB. He will still be in recovery and you get a free GB. Depending on the situation you can use this to get in a free hit (at the cost of longer stam recovery). (/u/Newti)
When the Shugoki runs at you, he will do one of three things: 1. Charge of the Oni. Dodge as soon as you see the yellow symbol on your screen. Don’t attack, as it will be absorbed by his armor. If he doesn't charge too far you can punish. 2. Try to grab you. If you try to dodge the charge to early, he will perform an uncounterable GB on you. 3. Stop right in front of you and parry any attack you throw out. Its a very powerful mixup; however, as long a you have stamina, rolling away is safe against all three options when in doubt.

Orochi (/u/Icantseeyoucantseeme)

Whichever side an Orochi dodges on is the side the attack will come from. Dodged right? Guard right.
Storm rush is very telegraphed, depending on which side the sword is drawn back on, determines the side it will hit you on. It is very parriable and you can punish this move easily.
His main mix-up is to feint a storm rush (or any other move) into either GB, top light or zone attack. GB can be countered normally, and you kinda have to guess between top light or zone. Top light does a lot more damage, so you should default to block that. The attacks have about the same speed and are both reactable with good reactions. (/u/Newti)
If they side-dodge and attack you regularly, you can easily parry them after feinting an attack. (/u/Newti)
All of Orochi's fast attacks (apart from the zone) come from the top. Keep your guard top and you should see the other attacks coming a mile away. One exception is the zone attack that comes from the right and is decently fast as well. (/u/kharingin)

Nobushi (/u/0Sunaipa and /u/shadow_of_a_memory)

Guard changes mid-chain can be recognized by when she brings the naginata behind her (switching to side) or tries to lift it above her head (side to top). This includes attacks coming from Hidden Stance, as all attacks are considered the 2nd part of a chain.
Cobra Strike hits for the same direction as the dodge, like most other Assassin dodge attacks, with the forward dodge hitting the top. Be wary that side dodges can also be a lead into Sidewinder Form which hits from the opposite side. Unlike other Assassins, Nobushi's dodge attacks can be performed at any point in the dodge, and opponents may try to bait you into protecting a certain side by dodging. However, her attacks have a glaring tell: doing any attack stops her dodge's momentum, so wait for her to suddenly stop moving then prepare to block.
Sidewinder Form, the side dodge heavy attack, is open to punishing on block and hit so long as they haven't dodge cancelled or tried to use Viper's Retreat.
All normal Light Attacks, Viper's Retreat, and the Kick are thrusting type attacks and are vulnerable to being sidestepped and punished. The Kick in particular has a long startup and poor recovery options. If at range, dodging may be preferable to blocking unless you want to parry
Parrying Light attacks (which includes Cobra Strike, the same-side dodge attack, and Viper's Retreat, the long-range poke) gives causes enough blockstun to get most, if not all, punishes in (e.g. top heavy). Parrying in general is a good idea as Nobushi's are very stamina-reliant and have very little of it overall.