Yeah I only got the game yesterday as well, and was getting constantly killed for hours lol.
I'm pretty sure it's just me continuing to hold right click when countering that throws them, if I just tap it then it will counter but not throw. Can anyone confirm this? (I'm still a n00b)
Although I wouldn't recommend throwing someone when there's several other guys around you with swords about to slice through you lol. But if you get a chance where you break a group of them up (or you're only fighting one) then it gives you enough time to finish it and still be ready for the next attack.
As for getting the right timing for defending and attacking, I've just kind of got used to it from repeatedly fighting but it's still a bit of guess work really.
I don't know if any of these tips will be useful, but here's what I do:
I find that if you jump and left click, you're pretty likely to take someone out in one shot with little risk of getting hurt, although this almost feels like cheating a bit (I did this with the very first guy in the group of 4) Although I maintain that it was still harder than it looks, if you load up with 4 guys WITH weapons and try to jump kick the group, one of them will manage to slash you in mid-air unless you get the timing and positioning right.
It also took me a while to learn the valuable lesson that as soon as you're on the floor for whatever reason, press crouch as fast as you can to roll back into standing (I'd also hold the direction key opposite to where the opponent is to put distance between you, and not get kicked while down).
When someone has a sword, if you run quickly towards them dead-on and left click it seems that you can always get a blow in before they can slice you due to the slowness of the weapon. So I always make my first approach an offensive one. But if there's a group you need to be ready to very quickly dodge other incoming attacks, so this works best if you can get up to one of them quickly before the others get close enough to hurt you.
I also use A/S/D a lot (and tend to have the habit of right clicking while I press them) to keep dodging sword attacks, but they will get you sooner or later so it's best to get away and make another approach for the next attack.
Generally being head-on with an armed guy is a bad idea (apart from when you want to do a quick first blow as I explained above), so I always try and stay around the back of them, or at least the sides.
There's a technique that seems to work quite well for me where I'll run towards a guy with a sword and then when I get close just go slightly left of him missing his first slice and getting to the side of him, then if you quickly press 'd' to go right while left clicking you can do a good kick straight into his side without risk of being cut. But as before, if you're fighting a group you'll need to quickly back off or roll away before another one comes from another angle and gets you.
Oh also, in general I seem to be a lot more offensive when they have swords, because they're slower and you can't block a sword slice (only dodge) my moves are usually side stepping to get around them (any angle but dead-on) while left clicking. But if I'm fighting un-armed guys then I usually do about a couple of right clicks to every left click as they're attacks are faster (but blockable) and after a second block it usually seems to be the best time to land a good kick/punch, then I'll run over and kick them when they're down to finish them off.
Those are some tips I feel work for me, but if anyone else who's had the game longer wants to weigh in then they'll probably know more than me.
