When you attack your weapon goes through 3 main phases called Windup, Release and Recovery.
is before your weapon deals damage. The windup times can vary from a dagger with 0.4 seconds windup to a maul with 0.7 seconds windup. If you are “winding up” and your opponent strikes you – your attack will be interrupted. Each attack (slash, overhead, stab) can have different windup times. For all the timings as well as damage values per weapon refer to this spreadsheet. Though not updated since latest patches (e.g. windup was increased to a minimum of 0.4 in patch 29).
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QSu7OrUYQ4kHaHHpoF3ReG8ggFpyMaUFDXoImaqdzWQ
Whenever you are facing a opponent with a faster weapon – say a MAA stabbing with the broadsword you need to either make good use of your weapons length by making space to prevent them hitting you during windup or prepare to parry. A common situation is an archer right in your face who is constantly swinging at you and you are unable to strike – you need to parry and use a riposte. If you parry and miss there is a parry recovery time which can allow the dagger to hit you again during it – so sometimes you have to eat a dagger hit to get a chance to parry again.
is the phase your weapon deals damage. If your weapon is already hitting the character model this can be instantaneous – you will often see people striking with an overhead, dragging down (perhaps with their nose to the ground) to speed this up. Or you might see someone with a slow weapon dragging in the opposite direction trying to hit you at the very end of the release phase – typical of vanguards with the Zwei or knights with the messer or maul. You have to look at the overall movement of your enemy and avoid parrying too soon when you are facing a slow weapon.
is the phase where the enemy is unable to attack or parry after attacking. For the Zweihander this is almost a full second ! For that reason good players will avoid this completely by performing the combo. MAA will often force the opponent to miss by using the dodge and then sprint forward to strike during recovery.
attacks are executed by clicking another attack as soon as your first one has started. The game is forgiving so you can for example just keep left clicking your mouse and it will swing back and forth. You can only combo twice in the same direction i.e. 3 left to right swings or 3 overheads in a row. The stab you cant combo twice in a row but you can alternate it with other swings – so for example you can do overhead, stab, overhead, overhead, stab, swing. A common beginner mistake is to run towards an opponent expecting them to be in recovery only to run directly into their combo. If your weapon is parried or strikes an object then the combo is stopped so be prepared to follow up with another action.
is something you occasionally see good players use effectively. They are in middle of comboing when they feint (right click or Q) and quickly right click again to parry. This is invaluable if your first attack missed – instead of falling into recovery you combo the first attack and then feint and parry. Note that spears cannot be comboed.
are the biggest issue with new players. Any time you miss it uses up stamina, and if you use up all your stamina you will be stunned when parrying the next attack – which is basically a free hit for your opponent and of course if you miss and are not comboing you leave yourself vulnerable in recovery. While there is no official guide to weapon length, when you wave your mouse over each item in the weapon selection screen it shows you a rough guide to the “reach” of each weapon. It is not very accurate so it takes just practice with each weapon, and of course different attacks will have different effective strike ranges.
while considered by some as not being very chivalrous is effective. There is a short feint window while you are in windup which allows you to cancel your attack by using Q or right click and then follow up with an immediate attack. It is less effective at a distance and deadly at close range allowing you to strike while they are in parry recovery.
is your main goal. If you can force your opponent to miss or parry too early you have a huge advantage. Common tactics are to keep sprinting while attacking, constantly moving forward and around your opponent. If they have a short or slow weapon it can force them to miss. New players will often stand still or slowly back up while parrying which makes an easy target. Good players will keep moving forward to prevent being an easy target. One fun way to force a mistake is if you can clearly see the player is swinging from left to right use the crouch along with some upper body movement and their weapon will pass over your head while you wind up your attack.
when facing more than one opponent is where you attack one, rapidly change direction to a new opponent and attack them. If you are in the middle of a attack you are constrained by a cap on the turn speed, but otherwise you can change direction as fast are your mouse allows. For multiple opponents you can also queue up parries so you can parry one and then other. Good players are used to this so try to time your attacks with your companion to avoid it (and dont attack at the exactly same time unless you are hitting from behind). Because the spear, brandistock, fork have no combo ability it is best for vanguards to do a quick sprint in a different direction, turn quickly to strike a chasing opponent.
are where you “queue up an attack” by clicking your attack immediately after clicking your parry. If the parry is successful then the follow-up attack occurs immediately. The animation is different so will strike a little faster than a normal attack though best used with an overhead or stab. Compare the Zweihander normal overhead versus a riposte overhead. If your opponent does parry you they can’t feint a riposte so if the attack comes quickly you know you need to quickly parry. It is very effective when facing multiple opponents to riposte off of one persons attack into a different direction which can often surprise an incoming enemy.
is a common tactic to throw opponents off. If you attack and miss (or hit) turn your back you can hide the fact that you are doing a combo and then surprise your opponent – same for an initial attack. If you parry your opponent you can do some rapid upper body movement that can catch people out into parrying early aka the “panic parry”.
can raise your game. There are a few options. One is to take a shield which can effectively allow you to become immune to feints as you can leave your shield up during the attack so if they feint you are still protected. Another is to use a longer weapon and keep enough distance between you and your opponent. When the attack is further away you dont need to parry quickly. One of the biggest mistakes by new players is constant backpedalling. Moving backwards is slow, and if you are standing there just waiting to parry you leave yourself vulnerable to feints. You can of course just focus on attacking first so you strike during their feint – more effective if you have a faster weapon. Another option is if you find yourself caught in a I’m about to be feinted situation you can do a fast kick to interrupt their attack. Also if you crouch and lean back you can buy yourself a little extra time before having to commit to a parry (it is also effective in general to parry multiple attackers).

have pro’s and con’s. While protecting against feints if you leave your shield up too long a heavy kick (holding down F for a little longer than a quick tap) will stun you if your shield is still up. When facing a shield user it is generally most effective after you parry to follow up with a heavy kick instead of another attack. Overhead to their head and at the same time move around them to combo to their back if you can. One downside of the shield is the lack of the ability to riposte (you can of course combo). The main pro is additional protection against archers (sometimes handy to have it on your back to protect against your own teams archers) though usually it leaves your feet vulnerable. For swords which can be used either two-handed or one-handed with a shield (press 2 to switch between) the two-handed attacks will be slightly slower but do more damage. Note that blocking attacks with a shield uses up more stamina than parrying with a weapon.
have their place but you really need to be on even ground otherwise it will often miss. Apart from stunning a shield user (hold down the F key) you can also use them to interrupt an opponents attack and throw them off their stride, following up with your attack immediately. One great use is that if your opponent is almost dead you can do a quick kick (tap F) for 3 damage or a heavy kick for 5 damage – these attacks are unblockable so they cannot parry them. The kicks also create space between you and your opponent so even if you cant kick them off a ledge, if you are facing a short weapon it gives you a chance to get out of range if you are quick.
is a big part of the game, you need to be able to distinguish what your opponent is doing. This comes with practice but overall you need to be able to tell what kind of attack they are doing and parry (if that is your goal) at the appropriate time for the attack. Eventually you become familiar with the reach and speed of each weapon and you can compensate if they are sprinting at you or backpedaling. Parrying is easier than it used to be but sometimes you do need to turn a little more to the left or right to block a side attack. Look at how the opponent moves and get ready if they constantly switching direction.
is important in team games, less so for duels. When you are in first person you have a smaller field of view than 3rd person (L will toggle). However in first person you can better aim your parries and attacks and 3rd person can obscure some body movements from your opponent depending on the angle. It is a matter of personal preference really. Some hard core players use first person but play with 140 FOV (set in the console using FOV 140) but it creates a fish bowl look that can be off putting to some. Regardless in team games you need to be heavily aware of your surroundings and know when another enemy is on the way to help out your target so you can be prepared to target switch or move so that only one can reach you at a time.
Hit trading while viable in duels is not really desirable in team games like TO or TDM as it will leave you vulnerable to the next attacker. It happens when you are both in the release phase of a swing - damage is scored against both players. If can hit to kill just before they strike you then you take no damage. Some call this the caveman meta and obviously only good if you have the heavier weapon
can be changed. A common one to change is the vanguard sprint attack. By default once you have sprinted long enough (slight animation change after 5 seconds or so) your next left mouse attack will cause a charge which may or may not be desirable. MAA dodge attack could be changed and if you dont have a middle mouse button you need to rebind the projectile camera if you want to follow catapult or arrow shots. You can combine keybinds so for example make your forward button execute alternate attacks.
handy to change is video settings to optimize your FPS (FYI reducing ragdolls will eliminate the length of time bodies are kept on screen, decals for blood). The FOV (field of view) is a personal choice but a good starting point is going to the max 120 and then also changing your mouse sensitivity to 40 or so.
can be opened with the tidle key ~ (press again to close). You can see which players damaged you for how much when you die. On dark maps you can enter the command gamma 3 in order to brightn things up. For the some commands see https://tornbannerjira.atlassian.net/wiki/display/CHIVCOM/Console+commands

is the class most susceptible to melee damage. Regarding bows and arrows it used to be worth taking a broadhead arrow in order to one shot other archers with a torso hit but this was changed (spreadsheet shows older values) so in general it is only worth taking the Bodkin. Crossbows while they leave you vulnerable while reloading (unless you hide behind something) deal more damage and the bolts fly further. The heavy xbow while the only ranged weapon to one shot a knight in the head but has a reloading time that is not really worth it. Note the actual damage is a little lower than on the spreadsheet. The biggest issues new archers have (apart from missing) is waiting until the last moment to fire their arrow, missing and then being fully vulnerable with their bow out (since you cannot parry, kick or do much but be hit). Some weapons will one hit an archer to the head but if anyone combos while your bow is out you are pretty much dead. Either dont miss or switch to your secondary earlier. Of the secondaries the shortsword is popular (two stabs to the vanguards head will kill) but depends on your preference, overall the sabre using overhead attacks is a good choice. Having said that the dagger when comboed can throw opponents off because they strike so fast.
When faced by an archer the safest choice is to run away behind a building but you can certainly try to zig zag or wait until they are about to fire then use a small movement left or right to dodge. Apart from shields vanguards can take some smoke bombs but unfortunately they obscures you as much as them. The best tactic if you want to go archer hunting is to flank them and strike from behind since they will likely be in first person and not see you coming. Remember even if you cant see the archer you should never be running in a straight line at any time on the map. If you are meleeing someone with an archer behind them obviously try to keep your opponent in between you and the arrow. When meleeing an archer use your longer weapon to your advantage and avoid backpedalling.
are almost a class of their own. They strike very hard when thrown. Try to keep an eye on where your missed throws land so you can pick it up if possible. Of the three the short spear has the largest number to carry (6) and can still two shot a knight in the chest. The heavy javelin deals more stabbing damage but is a little slower. You can mix things up with an overhead which throws a relatively fast shield strike. The biggest mistake with javelins is waiting too long and missing with the thrown spear which leaves you very vulnerable to be hit, or to still have your javelin in the ready to throw position while a vanguard charges you.
The sling is a fun weapon which allows you to sprint while ready to throw. Note that the damage is variable so it takes a few seconds before your pebble or bullet is at maximum damage (noted by the crosshairs coming together). They have less range so it is generally better to take the bullets over the pebbles for the better damage.

biggest advantage is the dodge to force opponents to miss, then using their footspeed and fast weapons to strike quickly in response. Being able to quickly flank an opponent, running around their side to strike outside their parry. Of the weapons probably the broadsword stab has the most range. Shields might be useful for dueling but they use up more stamina when hit and when added to the stamina cost of dodging you run risk of using up your stamina quickly – a common issue for new players who use the dodge too much. Really it is a get out of jail free card to use as needed. You can no longer dodge back and forward instantly which makes it easier to deal with – opponents need to be ready to feint their attack and if they pursue the MAA aggressively can force then to use up their stamina. In team games try to avoid multiple opponents as you really cant take the damage.
have more speed than the knight and some great weapon choices. The Zweihander is great for dragging (e.g. looking up while attacking with an overhead) to punish panic parries. The charge while a little unpredictable when used with a sword can be dragged behind an opponents parry if you land a little past them. The swords overhead ripostes are quite fast which can catch newer players out.
Of the spears the brandistock is the most versatile. The overhead is a deceptively slow thrusting attack which does a lot of damage, can be dragged and has great range. When mixed together with a stab riposte it can throw opponents off easily. There is no combo possible for the spears group so keep moving and use the range to your advantage.
have the deadly maul which can one shot any class to the head and if you miss combo with a stab to finish them off. You will see some players use the spin around while winding up and hit you with the overhead by crouching and leaning back at the same time. Even if they miss you have to be watch out when the weapon comes back around into its full release. The maul is a great weapon as long as you use combos to avoid the long recovery.

The knights can take the most punishment and are great against piercing weapons, the sword of war is perfect if you use a lot of stabs, the longsword a little better for the overheads and the messer is one of the greatest weapons for dragging. The flails while not as effective (you are forced to take a shield) do give you give you a fast shield bash which can surprise players.

These tips are for attackers – of course defenders you can see how to counter them.
Attacking team can flank and destroy the two barriers before the cart gets there. Note with this map you really need to be right behind the cart to keep it moving at a good pace otherwise you lose time when it stalls. For releasing the bridge move ahead and get ready to cross and get up to the wheel quickly before Masons get there. Note on the second to last state you can destroy one of the wells with two hits from the catapult.
Attacking team can easily get all the objectives from the one campfire on the right – destroy the windmill and stalls quickly then run from there to drop 3 or 4 torches on the house. This map is good for flanking to the left and can be fun to use their ballista.
On the 3rd objective head directly to the door holding the peasants on the left side as that is easier for them to defend. Note you can get an early jump on the king, a little one on one duel if you run up the hill (assuming you are confident your team will succeed in getting the peasants without you).
The first objective is a little brutal with a weaker attacking team, but dont give up as it only takes a small number of hits on the wall to bring it down. As with all ballistae use – fire it once then get off it until it is fully reloaded. For the second objective run up the sides and try to free the prisoners while masons are distracted. When freeing the prisoners try to get up to the top level of section A and free those first otherwise it is an easy bottleneck to defend.
When attacking on the first objective keep to the left at get torches that you can quickly hit a few buildings to speed up taking the village. Attacking archers should keep defenders off the ballistae when pushing the cart – use it and their castle wall to avoid too much archer damage.
Attackers should flank as best they can to keep the cart moving, use smoke to protect the rear (or blind archers behind the cart) for the end of the second objective. The third objective can be done quickly if two people are ready to run to the dual objective as soon as the corpses are dropped in the well. For the final objective run to C as fast as you can to get early hits on the door. If failed you can still flank all the way around to the right and get a maul or brandistock hits to work it down.
Apart from breaking the bottom of the tower the optional objectives are really not optional if you want to complete the map in a time. Burning the granary can be a pain – you need to get the torches thrown up high to register as a hit. On that objective you can always push the cart a little to distract the defenders (and if you are extremely lucky you can push it far up the hill before they notice). When breaking out the king keep left and down the stairs to get some hits on the lock if the defenders are not paying attention.
For the first objective keep left and try to sneak past the defenders to drop a torch on the fire. If you are unnoticed you can move behind the pyre and then just focus on running around it and just hitting anyone who starts stomping on it to interrupt them. For the final objective you can alternate between up top or down below to get to the ballistae – use smoke or firepots to protect the person firing it.
Fairly straightforward, the main tactic is in the final objective to take the main outpost before the chieftains since chieftains are easy to kill.
This map is pretty easy for attackers, you can use the catapults (middle and right) to knock down the drawbridge quickly, as well as ballistae (though those leave you a little exposed to return ballistae fire) or even just hit the drawbridge (while moving out of the oil dropping). If the defenders are smart they will destroy the catapults at the end of the first objective – but really if they lose the first objective it is hard to not to lose the game.
You generally need to stay on top of the canons, the right one is easier. The main tactic is the final objective. Use the torch to light the sconce near the main library and use that one to light the other one. Once you have torches near the library use it to set the books on fire. The library is easiest to defend so try to get that one first.
Probably the trebuchets are easiest to defend and break down the wall. The main trouble is the market – you need to burn the white stalls and keep left to sneak around and burn the 3 sections (watch out for bots). The final section with the king hit the locks but the objective progress doesnt really show until after some of the chains are freed
For shooting the ballistae you are aiming at either side of drawbridge at the small grey square boxes to progress it. With the statues you can do some good flanking but the last objective is a little hard – remember you can pick up the flag and the flag bearer was bugged recently so you dont really know who has the flag. If you have the flag just get over and jump on the very fast ship.
Not many tactics, you can flank to the left and come up behind their team, perhaps go kill some archers but that is a long way to go.
Some flanking but the main tactic is when breaking the cages also free as many peasants as you can along the way as they are the next objective. You can flank the king but again it is a long way to go.
TO games are about the team, there is no I in team. One of the most helpful things to your team is not help them kill the enemy. So if you have flanked and disposed of your opponent run up behind the enemy and help a team mate - try not to hit your friends as that doesnt help at all.

Hopefully for newer players ready to raise their game this will help, certainly not comprehensive nor am I an expert in the game, this is just based upon my experience.