The Handbook
Combat
Combat was rebuilt at the end of August and again through September. Timed blocks, a poise bar, a dodge on double tap, crowd control that can be resisted, and stamina as the thing that actually decides a fight. If you learned to fight here before that, most of this is new.
What changed, and when
0.70.21, 28 August. Valhalla Combat went in, blended with Mereth's own systems rather than replacing them. TK Dodge came with it, and so did Improved Camera, which is why you now have a body in first person and the animations that go with it.
The fortnight after rebuilt the pieces around it: poise and stagger, crowd control with diminishing returns, a target lock that stays locked, stamina returned on a clean hit, stances, and a dual wield block. The tuning is still moving, and the patch notes say so in as many words, so treat specific timings as current rather than settled.
The one thing to know first
Stamina decides fights now. Not health. Blocking, bashing, dodging and power attacks all draw on it, a clean unblocked hit gives half of it back, and at zero you are not out of options, you are out of defence. Watch your own bar before you watch theirs.