Combat

#Information

The fight resolves WHEN the outing ends, not while it runs, and it is deterministic: the seed is fixed at the start, so the same sheet with the same seed always gives the same result. That is why the client can show you the fight without making anything up, and why nobody can reroll it until it goes their way.

Each crossing goes in turns: you strike first — as many times per turn as your attack speed says, carrying the leftover fraction — and the creature answers once. Evasion and crits roll against the same seed. Between crossings you rest a little, and that is the whole of it: no potions, no starting over.

Armor does not subtract damage: it divides it. With armor equal to the constant, a hit lands at half; with double, at a third. That keeps armor from ever making anyone invulnerable no matter how much stacks up, and makes the first piece worth more than the tenth.

How many crossings comes from the outing design minutes, not from how long it takes today: a patrol is its crossings even if a test shortens it. Toughness rises with the level the outing asks for, each creature varies a little with the seed — so two patrols are never the same — and dungeon ones hit harder and take more.

Every creature belongs to a family, and the family is not decoration: it is the knob that lets a weapon hit harder against the undead, a mission count vermin, or a dungeon of spirits demand magic damage. While the wolf and the skeleton are both just "a creature", none of that can be written.

Falling is not dying: it is coming back early. You are paid for the part of the road you did — gold and experience for what you dropped — and NONE of what was promised for reaching the end. That is why better gear does not pay "a bit more": it pays arriving.

What you fight with is decided by the WEAPON you have equipped, not by your class. A wizard holding a sword hits with the sword, and is wrong to. The three styles have to feel different without any of them being the right one.

#The math

Every combat calculation, with the real numbers. There is no second hidden formula: these are the ones the server runs, and the values come from the same catalogue the game uses.

The order of an incoming hit is not a detail: first ARMOR, which divides; then RESISTANCE, which takes a percentage of what is left; and last BLOCK, which is a roll on the whole hit. The other way round, resistance would be worth less the more armor you had, and two defensive pieces would compete instead of adding up.

Defenses are capped, and not for tidiness. A character you cannot hit farms without limit, and in a game with a real economy that is not a fun problem: it is a printing press.

# Melee

The one that was always there and the yardstick for the other two: hits hard, hits at normal pace, and eats everything that comes. It uses your physical damage, no discount and no surcharge. If you do not know what to bring, bring this.

It hits with your sheet physical damage, no discount and no surcharge, at one hit per turn of base speed. It has no opening advantage: the creature arrives on the first turn and from there both trade blows until one falls.

What moves it

What to carry

Physical damage·Crit chance·Agility·Attack speed·Strength

Who hits like this

Weapon

The trade-off for having no trick is that EVERYTHING improves it. Ranged gives up damage for speed and the mage pays mana per blow; melee collects whatever the sheet says in full, so every point of physical damage, crit and speed feels equally good. It is also the only one that eats every blow, which is why it appreciates armor the most.

# Ranged

Hits more often and softer, and opens every crossing with a FREE shot: the creature takes a turn to arrive. Against a big slow one that round of advantage is half the fight; against a fast one it is not enough and the damage cut shows. It is the style that wins before it starts, or does not.

It trades damage for hits: each arrow lands for less but they come more often. In damage per turn it sits barely above melee, so the real difference is not there: it is in the turn the creature takes to arrive.

What moves it

What to carry

Evasion·Agility·Move speed·Health·Crit chance

Who hits like this

Weapon

That free turn is the whole advantage and it is enormous against what hits hard and slow: one blow less taken per crossing, multiplied by every crossing of the outing. Against fast things it is not enough, and there the damage cut shows. And since it splits the same damage into more hits, creature armor weighs more on it: armor divides EVERY hit, so dividing many small ones leaves less than dividing a few big ones.

# Magic

Hits with MAGIC damage, which is the whole other road of the sheet, and every blow costs mana. When mana runs out you fight with the staff, which hits for half: running dry has to hurt. It is also the only style that uses the spells you have equipped, up to two.

It hits with MAGIC damage — the sheet whole other road, the one intelligence moves — and every blow spends mana. It is also the only style that casts the spells you have equipped: one per turn, before the blows, and always the most expensive one you can pay for and that is ready.

What moves it

What to carry

Magic damage·Mana·Intelligence·Mana regen·Cooldown

Who hits like this

Weapon

The spell choice is not random and is worth knowing: it casts the most expensive one that fits in your mana and is off cooldown. The healing one only casts below 60 % life and the shield one only if no shield is up, so carrying one of each kind does not waste turns.

Mana is the mage hourglass: it is spent per blow and per spell, and between crossings it comes back in the same fraction as life. With full mana it hits harder than anyone; dry, it hits for half with the staff. That is why maximum mana and its regeneration are not decoration on the arcane line: they are how many crossings it lasts before turning into a bad warrior.