So the most effective way to deal with those heavily armored guys is definitely going with maces and other blunt weapons, since they'll actually do some damage through all that plate armor. I learned pretty quickly that trying to slice through metal with a sword just doesnt work that well in this game, its actually pretty realistic that way.

From what i've found, each weapon type has its own thing going. Maces are absolute beasts against armor but yeah theyre a bit slower to swing around. Axes are pretty decent all-around, which makes them really nice early on when youre still figuring things out. Swords are super quick and great for fancy moves like master strikes, but good luck trying to cut through plate armor with one of those.

Something that really helped me out was keeping different weapons ready to swap between, depending on who I'm fighting. Like if i see some heavily armored knight coming at me, i'll switch to my mace right away. But if Im dealing with someone in lighter gear or no armor at all, thats when the sword really shines. The crossbow is pretty handy too, just remember to keep it in good shape or itll give you trouble when you need it most."