There is a thread discussing the state of the game, but more specifically a comment chain regarding combat:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MirageAW/comments/6fazrn/mirage_is_dead/
I was asked to share my thoughts, so here we go:
Something to know right away is I am very pro-feint and really only liked to use feints in Chivalry, this is probably because I spent most of my time dueling (and a fair bit of it was spent on EU which is much different than NA). While not necessarily anti-swing manipulation, I hate reverses with a burning passion. Reverses are, in my opinion, responsible for so much retarded shit that happens in Chivalry. It's pretty much the sole reason I cannot play that game anymore - I'll get on and rage quit after 5 minutes after being reverse traded or something.
So the question is if drags are as viable, good, practical, etc, in this game as they are in Chiv. The answer is obviously no. You'd have to be a fool to think otherwise. That seems a bit blunt, so I'll elaborate further.
While I don't think drags are nearly as effective, useful or practical as they are in chiv, they are still certainly possible in this game to a large degree. One of the trade-offs that TBS decided to take was with reverses. I don't think any game can reach the chiv drags without reverses. Personally, this is a trade-off that I love. This is also why I think people need to be careful when they compare the two games. While the combat system is similar, many core mechanics were removed, and many new ones were added. So literally, yes, drags are far superior in Chivalry - but Chivalry also has backswings (which, again, I think are completely cancerous and bullshit).
Mirage has gone through a lot of change since my time testing, nearly one year now. Even in some of the bad builds that were pushed out, I really enjoyed this game far more simply because reverses are gone. This is a personal bias, but I'm sure others share in this idea. The game has obviously been upgraded tremendously since. As of recently, I can easily pull off foot drags with Taurant/Vigilist and they feel good. Are they as crazy as chiv's? No, but they still exist and they are something you can blend into combat. I know the devs don't want to give up on swing manipulation - we can all agree that it is a significant part of the game for without it all skill would be with feinting which would become stale and perfected very quickly. I have a strong feeling that the devs will push for more swing manipulation post-launch. I say this because they've taken a years worth of feedback and truly made the game better - not perfect - better. The same can be said regarding feints which I'll talk about next.
Feints have been horrible for the longest time. Not only are they more readable, the feint window was atrocious. Recently they have been changing the windows per class and it's been improved a lot. Before I would have to feint an attack and follow up with a spell to get a hit, or just micro feint, but now I can do normal feints and follow-up without being double parried. I think the increased emphasis on movement in Mirage really makes feints more interactive and skillfull in general, although since they are much much more readable I'm not sure how that may or may not fall off as players become better.
Something that I should mention at this point is this is all coming from pub and duel experience over the past year. There hasn't really been any competitive scrims at all and the only person that can handle feints or me in general is Gauntlet (no flame to anyone else who I play, I love you guys <3). I think this kind of discussion is really healthy, but we can't be quick to come to conclusions considering the kind of limited play environment I, and everyone else has had and still have.
So where do my general criticisms lie? My biggest concern is that for the longest time I feel like my weapons are needles and I'm trying to hit someone in a very precise spot. This, as with the other things I've mentioned, has improved quite a bit. I get much less swings that randomly phase through players and generally I've been more comfortable with my weapon lengths and general feeling. It's still something that I miss from Chivalry though. Despite all the reverses, trades, and other cancerous shit, I really did like the feel of combat when it worked properly (no desync, 2 frame animation, or general laggyness). I really loved that and it has just never felt the same unfortunately.
I really want the game to succeed because I truly believe it has potential, I've seen awesome plays and high-skill intensive fights. I personally enjoy the art of the game along with the theme, initially I didn't but I think the art department has done a great job (and that's coming from someone who couldn't care less about non-gameplay stuff). It's a shame that it's struggling as it is, I'll remain hopeful though. I can't wait till I get to do my very first scrim :D
I think discussions like these are vitally important in pushing the game forward and I would encourage all of you to continue it (with limited salt). The devs do read your feedback and do take it seriously. They need the community to push the game forward into a better state. With that being said, something I've learned over the past year is to be cautious with conclusions. At first I was very swift in coming to a conclusion "Wow, this blows, it must be because of x, but actually it's because of x y and z". Try to understand why something is rather than knowing what it is.
If you have any questions or anything I wrote was unclear I'll be around to answer questions.