COMBAT
-
or - That's it. I can't take it anymore. I gotta kill somethin'
The
Training Dummies and Sparring:
Training
with the dummies
Dummies:
Before you go off half-cocked into the sewers you should give serious consideration
to practicing at the training dummy in Leda's or Gilven's training school.
Here, with a little patience and perseverance you can earn a couple of
skill levels before you begin to hunt. Both trainers will charge you for
training so you should have a little coin on hand before you try to advance.
The
key to training with dummies is to remember that you aren't hunting. That
is, you aren't trying to kill the dummy and you needn't worry about it
getting fatigued and running away. For this reason you don't have to worry
about your success rate (the percentage chance to hit).
Your
success rate: You can set your attacks to whatever success rate you
like by manipulating combat postures and utilizing any manuveurs you might
know. I would recommend keeping your above 5% but no higher than 50% (or
else you might lose those little 1sp hits). Remember, the closer your hit
number (the number the computer "rolls" for you) is to your success rate,
the more sp's you get. For example, if your success rate is 45% and you
"roll" a 47 then you can expect about 14 sp's for that hit. The reverse
is true, however, so if your success rate is 45% and you "roll" an 80 then
you can expect, maybe, 1 sp.
Flucuating
success rate: Another little quirk unique to the dummies is that you
probably aren't the only one training with it. It can support up to three
people approaching it but other players with long weapons (quarterstaves
and spears) can attack it without approaching. And for every combatent
besides yourself working on that dummy you a +20% bonus to your success
rate. So, as other player characters come and go, you'll find your success
rate flucuating wildly. Remember that you can manipulate your success rate
by changing combat postures (berserk, aggressive, defensive, etc.) and
by using any manuvears you may have learned (for example, the gladius manuveur
"stab" has a higher success rate than the normal "attack").
Dummy
sp maximum: In order to prevent abuse of the training dummies the gm's
have capped the sp rate for the dummies at your skill's rank of 10. Which
is to say that, once your weapon's skill rank exceeds 10, then you can
expect a vastly reduced sp gain rate. Even at Rank 11 in your weapon skill
Rank you will see the amount of sp's any of your successful hits earn drops
sharply to a maximum of 1, no matter how close you "roll" to your success
rate. For this reason you should not train in your weapon skill Rank (or
in Armed Combat Manuveurs, either, for the same reason) beyond 10. At least
not yet. Training beyond 10 will be best done in the hunting grounds.
The
best way to avoid abandoning the ease and safety of the training dummies
as long as possible is to train in your basic weapon skill Rank to 10 and
learn all the manuveurs you want to 10 as well before moving on. I recommend
training to Rank 5 in order to make hitting the dummy easy enough to get
a regular supply of sp's. Then save up your sp's and learn all your weapon's
defensive manuveurs to Rank 5 (in case someone decides to try to bully
you before you get any serious Ranks). Then learn all the offensive manuvears.
Finally, increase your basic skill to 10 before focusing on your other
manuveurs to Rank 10 as well.
Training
by sparring
Sparring:
Another good way to earn a couple of ranks in your weapon is sparring.
Sparring is merely fighting with another character with your "practice"
command toggled to "on" (type practice). This will allow you to
fight normally but without inflicting damage on your opponent. In this
way you can both continue to "fight" each other without fear of getting
hurt and earn skill points while you do. Find another newbie willing to
spar, activate your practice mode and lay to it until you are completely
exhausted. Then go to the baths, lay in the tepidarium and type skills
to check how many skill points you have earned. If you have more the 5.0
(or however much for your specific weapon) then go to your respective trainer
and buy yourself another skill rank. Warning: if the guy you are sparring
is good enough, or physically strong enough, he might still cause you some
slight bruising and/or scratching which the game will not warn you that
you are receiving, though these mild wounds can be seen when you click
your status indicators (the colored lines on the bar) or type condition.
However, these bruises and scratches are just for show, they won't
cost you any health points and can't kill you.
Sparring
etiquette: DO NOT try to spar someone without getting permission from
them first. This includes, specifically, the staves move "sweep". This
is not only as rude as giving a complete stranger a wedgie, it's also illegal
(considered assault by any connie worth his salt). I can't tell you how
many skulls I cracked because some joker thought it would be funny to sweep
me while I was training with the dummy. And you can bet that, if any character
I play is around, I'll be sure you spend a few hours in jail for assault.
Seriously, this is my pet peeve. Fair warning.
The
practice command:
This command turns on and off your practice mode. Remember, when you are
finished sparring turn it back on! Otherwise you might later go
hunting only to find that you are not doing damage and have to turn off
your practice mode in the middle of a fight.
Hunting
and Armor:
The first
thing you'll need to know about hunting is where to hunt. The Directions
section of this site lists some of the easier hunting grounds where you
will spend your first few "weeks" in Iridine. The next thing you need is
armor and a quality weapon. The Money section should cover where to get
the coin for these items. If you don't want to spend the extra time to
earn the money for a higher quality weapon, that's okay. You can use the
one you start the game with, it just isn't as likely to cause as much damage
as a higher quality weapon can. It's just not as fancy.
All
this aside, the one and only top priority for you now is armor. You gotta
have armor. Below I have listed a three sets of armor that you should have
depending on the hunting ground you are hunting.
Armor
set # 1:
Leather
tunic (Venina's)
Leather
breeches (Venina's)
Glove
(Venina's)
Belt
(Venina's)
Leather
helmet (Harach's)
Heavy
hobnailed soldier's boots (Waike's)
Stiff
leather pteryges (Harach's)
Leather
arming jerkin (Waike's)
Leather
shoulder pterygyes (Harach's)
Leather
cuirass (Harach's)
or
Padded armor (Harach's)
Armor
set # 2:
Leather
tunic (Venina's)
Leather
breeches (Venina's)
Glove
(Venina's)
Belt
(Venina's)
Leather
helmet (Harach's)
Heavy
hobnailed soldier's boots (Waike's)
Stiff
leather pteryges (Harach's)
Leather
arming jerkin (Waike's)
Leather
shoulder pterygyes (Harach's)
Leather
cuirass (Harach's)
or
Padded armor (Harach's)
Left
bronze greave (Harach's)
Right
bronze greave (Harach's)
Phylax
(Waike's)
Armillus
(Harach's)
Armor
set # 3:
Leather
tunic (Venina's)
Leather
breeches (Venina's)
Glove
(Venina's)
Belt
(Venina's)
Bronze
helmet or Bronze visored helmet (Harach's)
Heavy
hobnailed soldier's boots (Waike's)
Stiff
leather pteryges (Harach's)
Leather
shoulder pterygyes (Harach's)
Left
bronze greave (Harach's)
Right
bronze greave (Harach's)
Phylax
(Waike's)
Mail
cuirass or Muscle cuirass or Lorica hamata (Harach's)
(I
highly recommend the Lorica Hamata out of these three choices)
Armillus
(Harach's)
As
a side note: For those paranoid about gettin' a lil' scratch, you can augment
yer armor with a number of other items.
You
can wear one of those leather helmets from a thug-alley brute under your
bronze helmet for a little added cranial protection. For that matter, if
you can find a wool cap or other such headgear, wear that as well. The
tunics and leggings you find lying around town can be worn one on top of
the other under your armor to absorb a good bit of damage that might get
through as well.
Experiment,
if you find something new that helps you, let me know about it in the Vino's
Vineyard/Sewer Dog Submissions Board. I'll be glad to let everyone know
what a brilliant guy you are.
Side
note Two: The Vetallun Armory offers many of theses items at greatly reduced
prices. I will get a list of items they sell and add the Vet Armory alongside
those listed above. You can count on the Vet Armory to sell it cheaper
than either Waikes or Harach's. I may also discover other shops where specific
items can be found cheaply so you may want to check the Iridine Shopper's
Guide section if you're looking for bargains.
(Thanks
to Aescapes for the correction to Armor set #3 and on input on Side
note Two above.)
Combat,
a how-to:
When you
first enter your chosen hunting area (probably the sewers) go ahead and
find your first kill. Simply wander around the hunting ground area until
you bump into something and get ready, whatever it is will probably be
as ready to fight as you are. When you have a rat or osecar in your sights
use the following commands to engage in combat (remember to watch your
red line, this is the amount of damage you have taken. Remember that it
sometimes takes a few minutes to find a healer and for them to stop the
bleeding. Give yourself time to be healed before you bleed to death.)
*To
engage a target: Approach <target> Ex: Approach
osecar
(This
is probably not necessary unless you are just eager. Most animal will approach
you if you give them a second.)
*To
attack a target Attack <target> Ex: Attack osecar.
Before
you can fight, however, you must be wielding your weapon. If you are not
already wielding then type : Wield <your weapon>. To stop wielding
your weapon you can type Unwield <your weapon> or simply put
it in one of your containers (this will unwield automatically).
Also
keep in mind that some weapons require two hands to wield (such as spears
and staves). You will have to drop torch or drop lantern
before you can attack <target>. Remember to get your torch/lantern
when you leave the area.
*Once
you are engaging a target just keep attacking until they do one of two
things:
-
Get worn out and attempt to retreat. In this case stop attacking and wait
until the moment they fully retreat. Then quickly approach again and attack
again. Then wait until they retreat fully before doing it again. Do this
because, if you attack just before they retreat fully, they may get away
and leave the area before you are allowed to attack again.
-
Fall unconscious. Just keep attacking until they breath their last breath.
Then put away your weapon, get your knife or dagger and start skinnin'.
*If
your opponent should get the better of you, you can disengage with the
retreat command. You can use the command string retreat <direction>
to escape to an adjacent area and avoid your opponent re-engaging you before
you get away (example: retreat west). Then run and find yourself
a healer.
Combat
Postures:
In
TEC there are five combat postures; berserk, aggressive, normal, wary and
defensive. You will begin the game in the normal combat posture
and will remain in that posture unless you change it. Each posture effects
how easy a target you present to your opponent and how easy it is for you
to hit your target.
Berserk
All offense, no defensive capability.
Aggressive
Mostly offensive, little defensive capability.
Normal
Equal attention to offense and defense.
Wary
Mostly defense, little offensive capability.
Defensive
All defense, no offensive capability.
To change
combat postures simply type the name of the posture you want and you will
change to that combat posture. Be aware, however, that this will take a
moment - usually about as long as it takes to strike an opponent.
Later,
when you develop defensive skills ("blocks") your combat posture will more
dramatically effect how well these blocks perform. Defensive postures will
increase the effectiveness of defensive skills, offensive postures will
decrease, or even nullify, defensive skills.
Factors that effect
your success rate
Lighting - Lighting strongly
effects your ability to hit in combat. If you are unsure of whether there
is enough light to make an artificial light source unnecessary use the
lighting command to get a vague idea of how much light is available.
A lantern has the same effect as two torches (i.e. maximum lighting). If
you have opted not to utilized the more expensive lantern then dropping
an extra burning torch (or having a friend along with his/her own torch)
might make all the difference in allowing you to see well enough to hit
with all your skill. A lantern adds -20% to hit, each torch adds -10% to
hit, in darkness. The maximum being -20% in regardless of what combination
of light sources you use.
Hunting groups - Each
animal or human you hunt is limited to three opponents approaching them
at one time. That means that only three people can approach any
one target at one time. But another person, in addition to yourself, gives
you (and them) a -20% bonus to hit. Meaning that if you have a friend with
you, and both of you are attacking the same target, you each get a -20%
bonus to hit! A Total of three combatents, including yourself, gives
you a -30% bonues. This makes most creatures huntable by a group of two
or three newbies. Consider that a group of three brand-spankin'-newbies
can waltz into the Dumps and hold their own, splitting the proceeds from
rat-stomach gems between them, so long as they all approach and attack
the same target.
* Thanks to Antaeus
for this sub-section!
* Thanks to Drexus Creshiando
for corrections to this sub-section!
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