Lets look at the combat improvements in particular with power attacks since they got some interesting changes makes the whole fighting system way deeper now starting with blade and blunt weapons, youll notice they apply weakness effects around 30 percent at higher ranks, which is pretty significant for longer fights hand to hand got better too with power attacks draining more fatigue and even disarming enemies when you get good enough at it.

If youre into defensive play the shield mechanics are worth checking out, especially once you hit expert rank cause you can stagger enemies with bash attacks at master rank those shield bashes deal massive damage like 150 percent more than normal plus your equipment doesnt break down as fast when blocking. The general power attack damage is boosted across the board dealing about 20 to 30 percent more and some weapons got special effects like blunt weapons silencing enemies or giving you temporary damage shields at master level.

Tip while attacking try combining different debuffs its really effective especially when you stack weakness effects with fatigue damage good idea to practice the timing on shield bashes since theyre basically free crowd control once you get them down.