Combat

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Introduction

Although not the primary focus of DragonRealms as some may argue, combat is for many guilds and players an integral part of experiencing DragonRealms. DragonRealms has a wonderfully intricate and diverse combat system. Given the sheer amount of information needed to truly succeed in combat, however, many players new to combat (or the game) are initially overwhelmed. The purpose of this page is to serve as a guide for combat at all skill levels.

Note that this guide will deal primarily with standard critter-hunting. For tips on Player versus Player (PvP) combat, refer to individual guild pages. A PvP guide may be forthcoming at some point.

This guide will be divided into three sections:

• The Beginner's Guide is intended for those entirely new to combat. Included information will be a break-down of weapon and armor appraisals, information on balance, position and fatigue, a break-down of defensive skills (and how they're used) and STANCE points, hiding and stalking syntax, melee weapons versus ranged weapons, among other things.

• The Intermediate Guide is intended for players familiar with the standards of combat and seeking more in-depth information. Included information will be a break-down of weapon types (strengths and weaknesses), the mechanics of defense (and how to maximize said defense), magic resistance, fighting multiple opponents, fighting stealth critters, creating macros, among other things.

• The Advanced Guide is intended for players intimate with all the functions of combat. Advanced users know the strengths and weaknesses of their weapon types, how to use their spells, weapons and abilities to maximum effect, and how to choose their opponents to learn the skills they want. The Advanced Guide deals primarily with the art of power-gaming: how to keep as many skills mind locked for as long as possible, how to maximize damage formulas for your weapon(s) or abilities of choice, etc.

Beginner's Guide

Welcome to combat! Combat in DragonRealms is fun and challenging; however, I remember as a young player how overwhelming combat could be at first. This guide is meant to help players completely new to combat, whether they be a transcendent Moon Mage or a Commoner fresh out of character generation. Let's start from the very beginning, which is...

Getting Started - Combat Skills

Offensive Skills

• Weapon skills (examples being light edged, longbow, two-handed blunt, etc.) represent skill at attacking opponents with any chosen weapon category.
• Brawling represents skill attacking an opponent while unarmed. Brawling is a very versatile weapon class, and has the distinction of being the only attack skill in the weapon skillset that is Empath-friendly. Brawling can be learned without damaging an opponent via the commands CIRCLE, BOB, and WEAVE.
• Offhand skill represents the ability to do damage with a weapon in the left hand, or via dual wielding.
• Target magic represents skill with magic that directly damages the enemy's vitality. Those wishing to directly kill an enemy with magic (as opposed to disabling them with magic and finishing them with a weapon) will need to train the target magic skill.

Defensive Skills

• Evasion skill represents your ability to twist out of the way of blows. Usually mandatory for anyone interested in combat, as it is weakens your foe's attack power more per rank than the other two defense.
• Shield Usage skill represents your ability to block oncoming attacks with your shield. Highly recommended for everyone, and almost mandatory for those wishing to engage in scenarios like PvP, invasions, etc.
• Parry Ability skill represents your ability to block oncoming attacks by deflecting them with your weapon. As per GM Ssra, parry is (supposedly) the most powerful defense at melee, so anyone planning to wade through a sea of foes should consider training this skill.
• Armor skills (Cloth Armor skill, Leather Armor skill, Bone Armor skill, Light/Heavy Chain skill, Light/Heavy Plate skill) represent your ability to maneuver and hide in the respective armor category. Eventually your skill in an armor will also contribute to the protection your armor provides you.
• Perception skill represents your ability to spot hidden targets, particularly those trying to attack you from hiding. Mandatory for anyone interested in PvP or fighting foes that like to hide. Recommended for anyone, though, as it is a great defense against theft.
• Multi Opponent skill represents your ability to handle many foes at once. Training this skill will significantly add to your ability to handle many opponents at once without getting obliterated. I would say mandatory for anyone not interested in hiding as a primary method of fighting.

Stealth Skills

• Hiding represents your ability to hide from your foes. Those interested in being stealthy characters should know that all guilds besides Rangers and Thieves have a significant penalty for hiding at melee range. A great skill for anyone to train, though only mandatory for Thieves and Rangers.
• Stalking represents your ability to follow someone from hiding via the STALK command. A great skill for stealth characters to train, as advancing on a target while hidden only to have your target leave the room can be incredibly annoying.
• Backstab (Thief only) represents ability to attack a target with a light or medium edge weapon from hiding. Backstab can be initiated via the BACKSTAB command and ignores shield and parry.

Getting Started - Equipment You Will Need - Explanations

• A weapon: There is little substitute for a good weapon at your side. Magic is amazingly versatile but has definite limitations; a weapon in your hand will be equally deadly no matter how poor the mana in the room is. The great thing about DragonRealms is that the experience system allows one to do almost anything they want; as a result, nothing on this list is absolutely necessary. Non-combatants wishing to learn only Parry and not a weapon class itself can substitute parry sticks for weapons. A break-down of all weapon classes, with positives and negatives, will follow shortly.

• A shield: Just like weapons, a shield is not necessary. However, though parry is a more effective defense at melee, shield is a fantastic and versatile defense (especially against ranged weapons). Magical barriers can fall unexpectedly. Hiders can be pulled into the open without warning. A shield will always be there for you, however, like a life-long friend. While it is not necessary, NOTE THAT IF YOU DO NOT TRAIN SHIELD YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. Shield is all but mandatory in DragonRealms during PvP or invasion scenarios; only one or two characters have succeeded in DragonRealms without either shield, hiding skill, or both (and they only succeeded because they have 1000's of evasion ranks). The only good excuse not to train shield would be to focus on power-training hiding. Even then, it is still a fantastic idea to train shield too!

• Some armor: Though armor will be detrimental at first (especially for those choosing to train plate armor), eventually it will be a great benefit to any fighter - particularly those in melee combat. Armor assists players by absorbing damage from any attack that manages to break your defenses... and attacks WILL sometimes break your defenses! Choosing an effective armor class for your character sometimes requires one to balance many factors. Recommended armor, by guild, will follow shortly.

General Combat Information

Let's take a look at the basics of combat. Let's pretend you have, for the first time, picked up a weapon and some armor about which you are clueless (that discussion will follow shortly) and wandered into a hunting area.

Combat Ranges

All combat is divided into three different ranges: missile, pole, and melee. To demonstrate these three, let's take a look at our first opponent, who has just entered the area:

A ship rat just arrived.

We now have our target! Ubiquitous though he may seem, he can be deceptively deadly if you go in swinging with a terrible set-up. Now, in order to engage in pole or melee combat, one of the opponents (you or the rat) must ADVANCE <target>.

The ship rat begins to advance on you!
The ship rat is still a distance away from you and is closing steadily.
>
The ship rat closes to pole weapon range on you!
>
The ship rat closes to melee range on you!

Weapon and Armor Appraisals

Choosing the right equipment for your character is one of the most important decisions a new combatant faces. Before making an informed decision, however, those wishing to enter combat should first be familiar with the basic terminology of combat. First, let us APPRAISE some weapons and armor to understand how to differentiate the value of one piece of equipment from another. Take, for example, this fictional weapon appraisal:

A broadsword is a melee-ranged heavy edged weapon.

You are certain that the broadsword can do:

Poor Puncture Damage
Heavy Slice Damage
Fair Impact Damage

You are certain that the broadsword is fairly balanced and fairly suited to gaining extra attack power from your strength.

The broadsword is made of metal.
You are certain that the broadsword weighs 21 stones.
You are certain that the broadsword is worth exactly 5 dokoras.

The first line indicates two things: the weapon class of the weapon being appraised (which skill it will teach when it does damage) and the range of the weapon.

Combat Messaging

You'll notice information in brackets below each attack you or an opponent makes. This information is a summary of how the attack affected your character. We'll go over each message in detail.

Vitality

Vitality is a verbal representation of your hit points. Each attack that damages you reduces the number of hit points you have by a certain percentage. The levels are:

>100% invigorated
100% none
99%-90% bruised
89%-80% hurt
79%-70% battered
69%-60% beat up
59%-50% very beat up
49%-40% badly hurt
39%-30% very badly hurt
29%-20% smashed up
10%-9% terribly wounded
9%-1% near death
<1% in death's grasp

Spirit

When you are brought back to life (either via departing or Resurrection) it takes a little while to regain your full spirit health. Spirit health affects the time before you depart. Some Cleric spells cause the caster to lose (Aesrela Everild) or gain spirit (Vigil). There are also plans for Spell vs. Spirit contested spells. The levels of spirit, with none being default, are:

mighty
none
shaky
very shaky
weak
very weak
drained
very drained
cold
very cold
empty
desolate
nonexistant

Fatigue

You lose some fatigue with each attack you make. If you are using a weapon that is suited for your character's stats the loss will be regained before you even notice it, but you can lose noticeable amounts of fatigue from either using a weapon too heavy for your character or swinging a light one too often. The combat messaging levels are:

>100% energetic
100%-90% none
89%-80% winded
79%-60% tired
59%-40% fatigued
39%-30% worn-out
29%-20% beat
19%-10% exhausted
9%-~<1% bone-tired

Balance and Position

There are several levels of balance and position. The base is <solidly balanced> with <no advantage>. You can either gain or lose balance depending on the types of attack you choose; some combinations are balance positive, some are balance negative, and some are balance neutral. Stuns cause balance loss, which in turn reduces your effective defense. A stun will automatically drop your balance to very badly, with more severe stuns dropping your balance further down the scale as the stun continues. From best to least they are:

Balance

incredibly balanced
nimbly balanced
solidly balanced
slightly off balance
off balance
somewhat off balance
badly balanced
very badly balanced
extremely imbalanced
hopelessly unbalanced
completely imbalanced

Position is the relation between your opponent's balance and your own. From best to least they are:

overwhelming 
in dominating position 
in excellent position 
in superior position 
in very strong position 
in strong position 
in good position 
in better position 
have slight advantage 
no advantage 
opponent has slight advantage 
opponent in better position 
opponent in good position 
opponent in strong position 
opponent in very strong position 
opponent in superior position 
opponent in excellent position 
opponent dominating 
opponent overwhelming you

Intermediate Guide

Damaging Hits:
Light,
Good,
Solid,
Hard,
Heavy,
Very Heavy,
Extremely Heavy,
Strong,
Powerful,
Vicious,
Massive,
Awesome,
Demolishing,
Spine-Rattling,
Earth-Shaking,
Devastating,
Overwhelming,
Obliterating,
Cataclysmic,
Apocalyptic,
Annihilating

Some say Strike, some say Hit. These are essentially the same. These are "roughly" in the right order. There may be more.

Advanced Guide

The following is a theoretical process for how attacks and defenses are calculated:

• Based on skill and a random number, an Offensive Force/Factor (OF) is generated. The random number is open ended, in that a high enough "roll" will cause a second "roll" to be made and added to it, allowing for critical successes.
• This number is bonused by the user's Agility as modified by the weapon's balance.
• The number is compared to the defender's Evasion, with an appropriate amount of OF subtracted based on the contest.
• The remaining OF is compared to the most effective of the two other defenses (Parry/Shield) and it is reduced, but to a lesser extent than Evasion.
• The remaining OF is compared to the other defense, again with a lesser reduction.
  • When/if Shield is checked and fails to stop the attack, there is a random chance based on the shield's size for it to be in the perfect position and automatically stop the attack.
• The remaining amount is bonused by the attacker's Strength as modified by weapon suitability.
• OF is directly converted to damage based on weapon stats for damage and the attack maneuver used.
• A body part is selected to receive damage.
• Armor subtracts a straight amount from the OF based on ?Protection?.
• Armor removes a percentage of the OF based on ?Absorption?.
• Damage is applied to the body part.

From this we can immediately extract a number of important points.

1. Evasion is often the most important defense, as the defense that will reduce damage the most per rank.
2. Shield, as it stands, is far more useful than Parry.
3. With this system, the balance of the weapon is more important than its suitability, because balance adds to OF, which increases the chances of a hit AND it is later converted to damage.

Sudden Death Rolls

There is a problem that more powerful hunters will encounter, and that is creatures getting a lucky hit that is instant death if it lands on a critical location.

This is mainly due to one factor: the amount of damage required to destroy a body part is static regardless of stats or circle. This results in situations where 99% of the OF is countered, but the remaining amount is enough to destroy a vital body part.

The GMs have indicated that they intend to decouple OF from damage directly, without being specific about how they intend to do it.

Bugs

The system to give blunts Force Of Impact (i.e. successful hits do more damage to equipment and are more unbalancing) either was never coded or does not function correctly.

Both shield and parry CAN be used, but it will only message the most effective.

Notes

Weapon balance determines parry suitability.

Protection grows with ranks, absorption doesn't.

Also See

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