How do duels work in Reigns?

When in a duel I can attack, which moves me forwards, and defend, which moves me backwards. If I defend, sometimes I can use a "special" move on the next turn. However, I can't seem to consistently deal (or avoid) damage regardless of the combinations of moves I make.

How do I win a duel?

Solution 1:

I also couldn't find any duelling guide online (appunwrapper has some major findings on Reigns).

That said, I suspect that it is a combination of anticipating what your enemy is going to do (attacking vs defending) and with the two, somewhat random moves you get, trying to hit them in the exact position (the little bullet points under the fighters) where they will be.

Often, it will pay off to defend first (play more defensively) and use the special move you often get afterwards.

Solution 2:

I tried various tactics on this and I think I came to a conclusion that the two dots in the middle are the ones you should always try to land on/end your turns on. Whenever you're hit on them, you don't get killed.