Hei guys, Yin here I've always loved fishing rods, not for their ability to fish, giving you access to food, and an assortment of items; but I love it for PvP. The fishing rod, is the strongest weapon in close combat, don't question it. Fishing rods, give a slight knockback when hitting an NCP, or player. Why not use it for that? If the player is charging at you, fishing rod him before he comes to reach, and attack. If timed and done properly, you'll get the first hit every time. getting the first hit in a fight is crucial, as it can decide whether you need to escape, attempt to fend off, or continue. Once the trick is mastered, you can always get a great combo, giving you the motivation to continue to beat the opponent. This trick is rarely used, so in this servers situation, it will confuse the opponent, not realizing what got them. I just showed how the rod can be used as an offensive move, now I can show you how to use it defensively. even if you land a successful rod, still won't mean you will win. If the person seems to overpower you, you can step back, and fishing rod them while you move backwards, causing a break of sprint, and more time to escape. If you've truly mastered fast paced timing, run, and make a 180 degree turn, and hit aim the fishing rod toward the enemy, and turn back instantaneously. From a defensive perspective, it's a bit harder to pull off, depending on how wise and aggressive the other player is. This isn't as strong as an offensive attack, but it does just right. The other person is on the run? No big deal, as the rod is also perfect for trapping the player into walls, and other traps. If you are somewhat close, but not enough to reach the player, go a bit to the opposite side you want the person to trap (for example, if you want the player to hit a wall on the left, go to the right). Try and point the fishing rod to the player, and keep on hitting him as fast as you can, if done well enough, the player will crash into the obstacle, breaking his sprint, and giving the chance to hit him, or at least catch up to him. Now, the fishing rod is a great move for a team. By having one teamate in the front, the one with the rod in the back, the one rodding hit the teammate as many times, as fast as he can. This way, it boosts the other player. This can be used for chases, especially in water. However, be careful about the other person armor, as each rod hit breaks it's durability by 1. One misconception of the rod, is that it takes durability, making it very limited. This can easily be resolved. It's as simple as picking another slot after picking the rod (for example, if I were to use it offensively, I'd hit the person with the rod, in slot 2 or 3, then transit to my weapon to attack, which is always slot 1). This makes the fishing rod even more powerful, and it's a gamechanger. the only problem with transiting from slot to slot, is that it can slow down the process of fast paced rodding, so in cases such as trapping, just take the durability, it won't matter at the end of the day. After explaining how dangerous the rod is, it may seem to surprise you when you get attacked by one. No worries, it's safe if you know what to do. If you are charging, and the other player seems to rod you, make sure you know how they time it, and if it would work in a situation. if they happen to come a bit early, counter their fishing rod, with a fishing rod. That will always flip the table, and give you the upper hand. If they time it well, you might want to step back a bit, and attempt to counter if approached. If timed well, you can either squeeze your rod counter in, or attempt to recover. Odds are, if timed perfectly, you won't have a chance to run. Plus, if you want to charge in, stick with it, do the fight as aggressively as possible if you have to, in a n attempt to find the spot to combo them with. Another good strategy, that should apply for all close combat, is to attack from an angle, and zigzag, confusing the player, if they mastered straight forward rodding, but still new to the rod itself. If chasing someone, try and figure out how long they plan to run, their route, and how they'll use the fishing rod. If you know the player is going to run for a while, break away, odds are by the time you do get to them, somebody will clean you up, as the opponent most likely fought back in their final days. If you know their route has many turns, you have multiple opportunities to trap them. Use that. If they continue to use the fishing rod well in defensive gameplay, run off; it'll last long, making the same argument on you'll be cleaned up and exhausted. Being trapped? Not much you can do if they do it well, just try and break away from the trap, and find the fastest turn out of the trap. Considering you have limited moves to do in a trap, try to know your route beforehand, and think of where he could trap you. Make sure your route has minimal turns, and not many obstructions. If you do have an obstruction that you'll have to pass, move away from it when you get to it. Team coming? Just do your defensive game, with all the knowledge you can get from the defensive gameplay from the second and previous paragraph. You'll have to do your best, as the boost will affect the chase, so try to do the 180 degree rod as many times as possible, and find your ways out. In this case, it's two of them, and only one of you, so they will most likely run as long as they can, brace yourself for that. The rod is a dark weapon, and can really change the game. Hope you found this guide to using such helpful, and hope to see some players fend it off as strongly as they can. Good luck!
You can also use it to knock people into the air then hit them so you can knock them back farther and deal a little fall damage
It works for that, but I didn't list it since there is a high chance you'll be NCP'd if it actually works
