Takes advice when sacrificing first two in combat (7)
I believe the answer is:
listens
'takes advice' is the definition.
(to listen to advice is to accept it)
'sacrificing first two in combat' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'first' could be 'ist' (ist resembles 1st) and 'ist' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'lens' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'when' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for listens that I've seen before include "Follows advice" , "Lends an ear" , "Hears with intention" , "Pays attention to sounds" , "Heeds" .)