If the movie Fight Club taught us anything, it’s that bored, frustrated, marginalized men will find purpose in punching each other in the face. Fortunately for us dwelling in the present day, we have video games to distract us from our societal woes, but for peasants in medieval Europe, an impromptu bout of fisticuffs was probably a welcome distraction from daily life. Prove to the hired hands that you’re the baddest brawler at the Lower Semine Mill during the task Melee at the Mill in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2*!

Page Breakdown¶

Starting Melee at the Mill¶

To start this quest, head to the Lower Semine Mill southwest of Semine and talk to Hired Hand Hensel, who should tell you about the fisticuffs bouts staged here. Talk to Miller Kreyzl to confirm and he’ll begrudgingly allow you to join in, telling you about more fights at the Zhelejov Wagoners’ Inn should you manage to prove yourself superior to his Hired Hands. If your Unarmed skill is low, don’t worry too much - most of the fighters here are pushovers, and the buy-in per match is only 10 groschen. You should be able to defeat the foes you’ll face in this quest with a low-level Henry, but if they’re giving you trouble, you can always just walk around while overencumbered to level your Strength and Vitality, which will make things easier.

Keep in mind that unlike some fist fights, you can’t cheese these matches by wearing armor - you’ll be stripped down to your breeches for each match.

Defeat Hensel¶

When you’re feeling frisky, to find Hired Hand Hans, who will be your first opponent. Wager 10 groschen and you’ll be teleported to the fighting pen and thrust into combat with Hensel. Hensel is, frankly, a pushover, and it’s hard to really strategize against him for the sole fact that he’ll probably forfeit after taking a punch or two. Just block his attacks and counterattack until he quits to win your first bout of fisticuffs.

Defeat Malik¶

Rest up if you took any damage against Hensel, then seek out your next foe - Malik. This is a much more worthy foe, so we’ll discuss the general strategy for these early fights. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated - you probably don’t have any combos learned at this point in the game, so victory comes down to three things: 1) perfect blocking and countering enemy attacks, 2) pressing your advantage whenever you land a strike and 3) stamina management. Basically just try to perfect block and counter every attack thrown at you and if you land a punch, keep swinging until the enemy blocks or dodges. If your stamina ends up going below half, consider getting some distance from your foe until Henry catches his breath. Getting caught by an enemy when you’re out of stamina is perhaps the easiest way to lose any fight, and boxing doesn’t stray from that rule.

If you can defeat Malik, you can be relatively comfortable in your prospects, as most of the upcoming fighters weren’t much more difficult, although given the randomness of fights in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 your mileage may vary. After the fight, talk to Malik and he’ll offer to train you in Unarmed, Thievery, Stealth and Drinking, all basic-level, 100 groschen each. This is a good chance to earn some Unarmed EXP if you have the cash to spare - it’ll come in handy for completing this questline.

Defeat Vira¶

Thrash Malik, rest up, then find Vira and challenge him to a brawl. Despite his pre-fight attempts at intimidation, we didn’t find him difficult at all - Malik gave us more trouble, but that could just be a matter of performance on our part. In any event, the same strategies apply - we caught Vira with an early punch and just kept swinging until he fell, crowning ourselves the champion or Lower Semine Mill in the process.

Return to Miller Kreyzl and tell him you battered his workers to complete the quest. Miller Kreyzl will ask if you want to represent him in the fights at the Zhelejov Wagoners Inn, and you’ve no reason not to accept. He’ll fork over 125 groschen, but before you get excited, just know that 100 groschen will be spent on entering the fights at the Zhelejov Wagoners Inn. Still, between the bonus Kreyzl gave you and the amount you won beating the hired hands, that’s a smooth 55 groschen and some Unarmed EXP. The next quest in this questline is [Wine, Women and Blood].