Combat

STUB

"Sefra's Winds, this article is incomplete! Maybe you can fill the gaps if you have an idea from your travels, Sehm."

Should you find yourself in a combat situation, the first thing you’ll need to do is prepare. This is a combat system designed around preparation, initiative and timing and there are three essential stages that build up to the decisive moment. Before you begin of course, you’ll first need to survey your surroundings for a worthy opponent. Putting your hand on your sword will cast a red circle about you, alerting you to anyone (or anything) within challengeable radius. You’ll also be able to see their Force and Ward numbers, which will help you decide if you want to take them on.

Might and Delight

Combat is a side feature in Book of Travels, allowing players to have a taste in dueling a foe with preparation and luck.

Preparation

Equipment

The Equipment that you wear will affect how you perform during combat, and the rate that you navigate around the world.

It is a must to have a sword to combat, if not you will be defeated at the 1st hit, no matter how much Ward you have.

Attributes

Force

Force is governed mainly by the qualities of your weapon. When you engage in a combat situation, Force is the stat that dictates the power of your attacks.

Ward

Ward is granted mainly by armour and protective equipment. Ward represents how much Force you can deflect from an opponent's attacks before you start suffering fatal wounds.

Speed

Speed is influenced by your Burden, as well as effects from various equipment. It affects your stamina and your ability to tie Knots quickly. In combat, Speed hastens your initiative and quickens your attack timer, enabling your to reach higher hit-probability faster.

Burden

Burden is the antithesis of Speed. It makes you slower, increases time to tie Knots and slows down your initiative. Burden is connected to your encumbrance, particularly armour granting high Ward, making you sturdy but sluggish.

What is Effective Speed?

The Speed stat is affected by the Burden stat, which does the opposite of what Speed does. Because of this, your effective Speed is your current Speed - your Burden.

Combat System

Initiating Combat

A battle can only commence only if it is initiated by you or the foe. You can do the initiation by clicking the Attack Button close to the enemy.

How fast the Initative Bar fills up is based on your Effective Speed

Battle

When Battle commences, your Combat UI will pop up showing your attack button as well as any Combat Skills you have learnt. On both you and foe, both and would be visible, and additionally you will see your combat meter

Foe Behaviour

The foes you meet in your travels all have different behaviours. Here are some categories of foes that have their own unique interaction during combat:

Duelists

Currently most NPCs available for duelling are Wardens with the exception of three NPCs. Duelists are not hostile and will not initiate combat until you do. They will never back out from a fight and will not flee combat. Since they do not battle out of malice and do it as a form of practice, you will not faint and lose Life Petals if defeated, thus giving a safe environment to get use to practicing the combat system.

If you win or lose a duel, you will get unique dialogue from the duellist, but you will not receive any Loot.

Hostile

NPCs who are Hostile will indicate their status. When you press tab and highlight their names, the nameplate have a red tint, indicating an immediately hostile status. Some Hostile NPCs are Muggers who will accept items in order to avoid combat. Other NPCs who are Hostile will attack immediately and you must Flee to avoid combat.

Muggers

Mugger NPCs will be immediately Hostile.

They will walk towards you and a request for you to provide them a certain amount of trade value for your inventory will appear on the screen. This characteristic is unique to Muggers. Once this occurs, you have two options:

1) Pay them

2) Refuse to pay which will trigger Combat.

You can click on the terrain to refuse to pay before the counter runs out if you do not want to wait. Once you enter Combat, there are multiple outcomes:

1) Victory: if you defeat a Mugger in real combat, you will kill them and Loot will become available to you and be able to be added to your inventory.

2) Mugger Flees: Mugger NPCs display some awareness of your own abilities as a fighter. If they feel that they are overmatched, they will draw their swords but then turn and flee. If this happens no Loot will be available to you, but you will have won.

3) Fainting: If the Mugger defeats you in Combat, you Faint. The Mugger will take whatever is in the first three squares of your inventory and you will wake up a small distance away missing one Life Petal and a significant amount of energy.

4) Flee: You may press the Flee button on the right hand side of your Combat Bar to leave the fight before it is concluded. If you will appear some distance away with the Status Effect "Wounded Confidence" which temporarily adds 2

Provoked Attackers

Some NPCs will not be immediately Hostile when approached, but will become hostile if you initiate Combat or if you affect the environment in some other way. Unlike Muggers, they will not demand money to avoid combat. Once they turn hostile, Combat is initiated.

The same 4 Combat outcomes are possible for Provoked Attackers as for Muggers.

Violent Spirits/Animals

Some Spirits are Hostile on sight. Some spirits are only visible if you have a way of Seeing the dead, but even if you cannot see them, they can initiate combat with you if they are hostile. Animals are visible but have the same possibilities of combat as spirits.

Other spirits, including most Shades, are Provoked Attackers.

1) Victory: if you defeat a Spirit in real combat, you will kill them and Loot will become available to you and be able to be added to your inventory.

2) Spirit Flees: Some Spirit NPCs display some awareness of your own abilities as a fighter and some do not. Some spirits never flee from battle. Others flee from battle if they feel that they are overmatched. If the Spirit flees, no Loot will be available to you, but you will have won.

3) Fainting: If the Spirit defeats you in Combat, you Faint. The Spirit will take whatever is in the first three squares of your inventory and you will wake up a small distance away missing one Life Petal and a significant amount of energy.

4) Flee: You may press the Flee button on the right hand side of your Combat Bar to leave the fight before it is concluded. If you will appear some distance away with the Status Effect "Wounded Confidence" which temporarily adds 2

Miscellaneous

Being in the beginnings of Early Access, Combat at this moment is still very buggy.