Combat

Some basic info on combat.

Commands

attack - Make a single attack on a target. Can also use the kill verb to the same effect.

batttle - Auto-attack any hostiles (or specifically-targeted characters/NPCs) until you stop or become exhausted.

fire - Fire a ranged weapon at a target.

barrage - Auto-fire until you stop or become exhausted.

hurl - Hurl a weapon such as a throwing knife at a target. You can tell which weapons can be hurled with the examine command.

cast - Cast a spell or held wand at a target. You must either be channeling elements that can be used for attack (pyromancy, hydromancy ,etc.) or specify an attack spell (learned via guilds).

trance - Auto-cast with a wand or channeled elemancy until you stop or become exhausted.

position - You can change your position to avoid, ranged or engage. Avoid and ranged will have chances to outright avoid melee attacks (avoid more than ranged), while engage will have you right up there in the fray.

tactics - Choose from various tactics that adjust your offensive and defensive capabilities.

flank - Attempt to move behind the target in order to severely hinder their defense. This only works if the target is currently distracted by someone else's attack, and so is only useful in groups.

press - Attempt to press a determined attack on the target, preventing the target from leaving the area or attacking anyone besides the attacker.

guard - Guard the target, attempting to intercept any incoming attacks on that target. This will result in the attack being directed toward the guardian instead. If the character being guarded makes a melee attack, they will move out from behind their guardian and will no longer be guarded. Ranged attacks can be made while being guarded, however. A single character can be guarded by multiple people at the same time.

Numbers and Calculation Info

When attacking, you'll see something like the following: (M: 155 D: 80 B: 130 P: 60)

M = Melee offense. Mainly affected by General Combat skill, as well as skill in the wielded weapon type.

R = Ranged offense. Used in calcualations for firing bows/flintlocks, hurling weapons, casting magical bolt spells, etc. Hurling/bows/flintlocks are affected by Marksmanship and skill in the weapon held, casting magical bolts is effected by Spell Aiming.

D = Dodge defense. Ability to dodge any attack, mainly affected by Dodge and General Combat skills.

B = Block defense. Ability to block any attack, as long as a shield is in hand, mainly affected by Shield Use skill.

P = Parry defense. Ability to parry melee attacks. Cannot parry ranged attacks. Mainly affected by skill in the weapon type used.

Here's what's happening in the following formula: (M: 155 D: 80 B: 130 P: 60)

• The attacker's melee roll is a roll of 0-155
• The defender's dodge roll is a roll of 0-80
• The defender's block roll is a roll of 0-130
• The defender's parry roll is a roll of 0-60

To reduce screen clutter, the actual roll results are not shown.

If the attackers melee roll is higher than all of the defender's rolls (individually, not combined), the attack will be successful and proceed to strike the defender. Only one of the defender's rolls need be higher than the attacker's melee roll in order to successfully defend against the attack and not be struck. Some may wish to work on all forms of defense, while others prefer to focus on one defense type and get it as high as possible.

Combat Styles

Single Weapon, Free Off-Hand

You get the full offensive benefits from the weapon you're wielding, most importantly multiple strikes per attack (examine a weapon to see how many strikes it can land). This applies to both one-handed and two-handed weapons (for instance, the staff is a two-handed weapon with multiple strikes easily possible per attack). A good weapon style for weapons that 'flare' or have other special effects upon striking, since it has a chance of occurring on each additional strike. A purely offensive combat style.

Weapon and Shield

A more defensive combat style. Shields are an excellent way to add to your defense, and unlike parrying, shields can block bolt attacks (fireballs, arrows, etc.). Shield users will be the ones who live the longest, but will have trouble dishing as much damage. There will be a chance to shield bash on attacks, based on shield skill.

Two-Weapon Combat

Wielding a weapon in each hand - a good mix of offense and defense. You don't get multiple strikes per weapon, but you are nearly guaranteed at least 2 strikes per attack (one for each weapon) and you also get extra parry chance for holding the second weapon in your off-hand. Note that you cannot parry bolt attacks (fireballs, arrows, etc.) and will have to rely on dodging such attacks instead. This style is good for heavier and less-well-balanced one-handed weapons such as handaxes, since it's difficult to land multiple strikes with them individually, and holding two of them almost guarantees two strikes per attack.

Ranged Combat

Wielding ranged weapons or casting spells has the advantage of being able to attack from the 'ranged' position, granting you a chance to outright avoid melee attacks. If you get struck by a melee attack, you will be pulled into the 'engage' position, however. Bows require being at 'ranged' position to fire, and firing will automatically attempt to move you back out to range. Another excellent advantage to ranged combat is the ability to snipe from hiding without revealing yourself (based on your stealth skill).

Examining Weapons

When you examine a weapon, you will be able to determine the following:

• which weapon skill its effectiveness is based on
• how many hands are required to wield it (in the case of 1.5-handed weapons, they can be used for more damage if you keep a free off-hand, but can also be wielded one-handed for less damage while you hold, say, a shield or secondary weapon in your other hand)
• how many strikes per attack it can land (melee weapons only)
• the weapon's balance, determining how easy it is to land multiple strikes (melee weapons only)
• whether it will grant a bonus/penalty to parrying, dodging, or blocking (melee weapons only)
• how heavy a draw a bow has (bows only - light draw = less damage, more speed, heavy draw = more damage, less speed, average draw = balanced)