And I really do mean totally suck. In game modes like uhc or classic duels (sword + bow + rod on mostly flat terrain), I find that I struggle to even hit opponents - typically the server says that I have a melee accuracy of 5-10%, compared to about 50% for the people I get matched with. Usually these games wind up with me and the other guy exchanging a few bow shots (which I do okay at) and then running at each other; I click the mouse a lot and then die after landing almost no hits.
I get that the usual answer to this is practice, but these abysmal results make me think that there's some fundamental game mechanic that I just don't get.
How can I actually do damage to the opponent in pvp?
