I always wanted to play DbtS - when it was released my comp couldnt handle it. Now my dreams come true but..... I knew the game isnt so easy to play, but I didnt know its so hard. You know.... losing half of my health fighting just 2 tiny kobolds isnt fun at all. Add 1 orc to them and I can hardly stay alive. So.... can you gus who played the game give me some clues how to fight properly? I mean: what type of strikes are the best? use blocks or not? how to move during the fight? There are some walkthroughs in the inet but there are no guides fo DbtS, thats why Im asking You. Thanks in advance.

Umm, pretty difficult question to answer really mate....
I'd say your best bet is to make sure you keep your mouse movements really smooth and fluid, then think how you would have to move your arm if you were the character.
so if you were going to try to chop a leg off, you could step backward, bring the sword behind your back (about level with your lower ribs) and then in one fluid movement, swing diagonally downwards toward the knee as you lunge toward the enemy.
one of the really cool things about this game tho is that everyone has a different way of fighting, and theres for and against arguments for each of them!
its going to be really good to see how the multiplayer aspect works when a few people have this....

Start of by setting the difficulty to "Squire". It's really no shame since the game is viciously hard. The best tactic is to simply constantly utilise "counterattacks".
For example, the Orcs usually do this jumping attack; walk backwards when he does that so you dodge the first swing then you instantly counter by doings a few chops yourself then back off again and wait until he does another attack.
In the end it's just "practice makes perfect"; it won't be long until you have full control over your sword-arm :)

Thanks guys. I discovered this tactics of counter-attacks being very effective by myself during the day but thanks anyway Yannos. Also setting difficulty to Squire was my first move today :) The third crucial thing was changing controls to "keyboard VSIM mode" (this arcade mode really sucks IMO) and camera type. After this, fights became much easier. And now...... i'm in 7th level so the end of the game is near. Another thing I discovered is that DbtS is so hard not only because of combat :) I got stuck twice and had to look in the walkthrough, I enjoy the game very much though

Héh yeah, I got stuck at the "Gears room". Pissed me off quite a bit! :-)

What I like to do is align myself with my foes so that they're on my sword arm side. When they jump at me, that's when I slash them and knock them away while their attack misses. When they raise their arm to strike (particularly the Ogre), I quickly move in just to cut them with the tip of my sword and back off before I get hit.
Basically, DBTS combat boils down to movement, positioning, and timing. It's all about where you are relative to the enemy, and particularly where your weapons and shields are, since they can get tangled up in each other in the most heated of battles. When your foe moves his sword and shield out of the way and leaves an opening, that's when you know to strike-however, most opening usually occur when they're about to swing at you themselves, so be prepared.

Regardless whether you use mouse or keyboard for the sword, the best is circle-strafing. Always keep on moving sideways, whether circle-strafe 100% or doing arc-circle-strafing (whereby you go opposite direction every so often).
Practice with default keyboard layout. WASD for your normal movement. QE keys for strafe left/right. Press and hold QD to strafe left but rotate right simultaneously. Do the same for EA key combination.
While you are circle strafing (or arc strafing), always swing your sword. I use keyboard sword keys so I repeatly bash keypad 5 or 6 or 4.
Press F3 to keep the health bars pernamently shown. Press F4 (or F5) to pernamently show compass.
Also, beginners tend to find the auto/director rotating camera dizzy or confusing. Press F key to fix your camera so it will pernamently sit behind your back (and not swinging to the sides during action scenes/battles).
That's about the best tips. Arc-strafing you rarely get damaged coz the AI enemies always attack running forward.

Correct, but if you were to try that on a human opponent, you'd probably get beaten down very easily. Too bad I haven't had the chance to try sparring against another person yet
Also regarding the 'F' button, I'm surprised so many people don't know about it. Just goes to show how many people really attempt to explore the various controls. It's sad to see people giving the game a bad rep just because they don't know that you can toggle the camera mode

Yes, the FR keys are useful because they have two different uses. In normal mode they are Fixed or Raised camera-modes (toggling to and from the default lowered camera rotating auto-director mode).
The other usage is when you are in glance or zoom mode.
Remember to use your CAPS for crouch and C to climb (during jumps). It's funny seeing them jump and arms up in the air... like puppets or mannequins..
Numpad INS key for glance or zoom (I can't remember which)