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The combat system is easy enough so that a first-time player can go into combat and do well, but at the same time it is complex enough so that even experienced players will always have new aspects of combat to master.
Overview
The combat system used in Hercules and Xena: Alliance of Heroes is an engagement combat system. This means you must approach and engage an enemy, or the enemy must approach and engage you. If you are in the same room with an enemy, but you are not engaged, you can attack from a distance using missile weapons. To fight hand-to-hand or with a hand-held weapon (called melee combat) you must advance on the enemy. Similarly, if you want to get out of the combat before either you or your enemy is dead, you must retreat or withdraw from the melee.
Advancing and Retreating
The ADVANCE command allows you to advance on an enemy. For example, ADVANCE SKELETON would cause you to advance on a skeleton in the room with you. It takes several seconds to advance on an enemy, so you may see a message that says "You begin advancing on a skeleton." And several seconds later a message that says, "You advance to melee range on the skeleton." Once you have finished advancing, you can start attacking the skeleton.
The RETREAT command allows you to retreat from melee combat.
Type RETREAT to start retreating from combat. Retreating, like advancing, takes several seconds to accomplish, so you may see a message that says "You begin to retreat from the battle." Several seconds later you may see a message that says, "You retreat a safe distance from melee combat." Note: If you are retreating from an enemy that is beating you, you have to act quickly to get away once you have retreated. The enemy will probably try to engage you in combat again by advancing on you.
Automatic Attacks
If you use the ATTACK command, then the system will take over and automatically manage the combat situation for you. It will try to determine what, if any, weapon you have to use. It will automatically advance on the enemy, automatically launch attacks, and if you are in immediate danger of being killed, it will attempt to retreat from combat.
The automatic attack system is great, especially for new players. However, it only uses basic combat actions. Automatic attack also only launches a attack once every other turn. For example, if it takes you four seconds to swing a sword at your enemy, ATTACK will swing your sword once every eight seconds. It is done that way to allow you to insert other attacks and other actions during the intervening turns.
Using the automatic attack is a great way to introduce yourself to combat, and it is fine for low level combat situations. However, as your character gains levels and you gain experience conducting combat, you will probably want to manage combat situations for yourself.
To stop the automatic attack system, type STOP ATTACK. This suspends automatic attacking and turns complete control of the combat situation over to you. CAUTION: If you stop the attack, it does not cause you to retreat from combat. You will still be in the same combat situation. That means if you were engaged with an enemy, you will still be engaged with that same enemy.
Manual Attacks
Automatic attacking is great at low levels and when you don't know the combat system very well, but at some point you are going to want to manage combat situations yourself. This means you will want to attack manually. When you attack manually, you are NOT going to use the ATTACK command. Remember, ATTACK starts up the automatic attack system. Instead, you are going to use commands for the various combat maneuvers.
Combat Maneuvers
Combat maneuvers are specific forms of attack that you use during manual attacks. The maneuvers your character knows depend on what skill levels the character has mastered. There is a different set of combat maneuvers for each combat related skill.
Brawling
Punching
Jab, Reverse Punch, Hook Punch, Back Fist, Elbow, Ridge Hand, Palm Strike, Haymaker, Lunge Punch, Hammer Fist, Spinning Back Fist, Flying Punch, and Finger Strike.
Kicking
Front Kick, Crescent Kick, Round Kick, Side Kick, Hook Kick, Sweep, Spinning Crescent Kick, Spinning Side Kick, Spinning Hook Kick, Flying Side Kick, and Spinning Sweep.
Throwing
Forward Throw, Ground Sweep,
Reverse Throw, Clothesline, Arm Bar, and Reverse Arm Bar.
Grappling
Tackle, Body Slam, Head Butt, Arm Lock, Leg Bar, Full Nelson Hold, Bear Hold, and Strangulation Hold.
Weapons
1H Weapons
Jab, Swing, Lunge, Reverse Strike, Pommel Strike, Windmill Strike, and Spinning Strike.
2H Weapons
Jab, Swing, Lunge, Reverse Strike, Pommel Strike, Windmill Strike, and Spinning Strike.
Acrobatics
Tumbling
Vaults, Cartwheels, Flips, etc.
Your character starts off knowing only one or two combat maneuvers in each skill. As you advance your character's skills, he or she leans new combat maneuvers. For example, at level 1, your character probably only knows the JAB and SWING maneuvers from the 1H Weapon skill. But if you put a lot of points into weapon training, he or she should soon learn the LUNGE maneuver, and so on.
To use these maneuvers, type them in as you would any other verb. For example, to attack a skeleton using the JAB maneuver, type JAB SKELETON. If a combat maneuver has two words that name the maneuver, type the two words together as a single command. For example, HEADBUTT ZOMBIE. Of course, as with any other verbs, these commands can be abbreviated, but we recommend you use the full name of the command to prevent confusion over what you mean. Do not try to memorize lists of all the possible combat maneuvers from the very start. The odds are that you only know one or two attacks from each list, so only learn the attacks you know. Then, when your character learns a new combat maneuver, add that command to your vocabulary. This will make it a lot easier for you to learn combat.
Melee Attacks
To get into a melee combat situation using manual commands, you will need to remember the following:
- ADVANCE to close on your enemy before you can start attacking.
- Use combat maneuver commands to attack. Do not use the ATTACK command.
- RETREAT to withdraw from a combat situation.
Combinations
As your character advances his or her skills, you will find that specific combinations of combat maneuvers will give you advantages over certain opponents. A Combination is a series of attacks of that use a specific set of combat maneuvers in a specific order. For example, Jab, Jab, Front Kick, Haymaker. When these Brawling Maneuvers are used in this specific order against some enemies, the final attack of the combination will be especially effective. It will hit more easily, and when it hits it will do more damage.
The preliminary attacks (Jab, Jab, Front Kick) must be successful to set up the combination. If one attack in the combination is unsuccessful, or if you use an attack that is not part of the combination, the combination will not be effective. The overall success of the combination relies on successfully doing the attack maneuvers in proper order. There are many possible combinations. Learning which combinations are effective and which are ineffective is up to you. You have to experiment with your combat skills, and it will probably help if you share the results of your experiments with other players.
Missile Attacks
Missile attacks are attacks that are launched from a distance. You still have to be in the same room as your enemy, but you do not have to be engaged to launch a missile attack. Missile attacks are done using bow and arrows, spears, throwing knives, and other weapons that are fired or thrown.
To launch a missile attack from a weapon such as a bow, you need to also have ammunition. You can simply hold the bow in your hand and use the FIRE or SHOOT verb. For example, FIRE SKELETON or SHOOT ZOMBIE. The FIRE or SHOOT verb will look to see what kind of weapon you are holding, and it will then look through your inventory for appropriate ammunition. If you have ammunition for the weapon, it will load the ammo and fire it at the target.
If you want to use specific ammunition in the weapon, simply hold that ammo in your other hand. For example, if you have some regular arrows and you have a gold arrow that does special damage, and you want to use the gold arrow specifically, hold your bow in one hand and the gold arrow in the other hand, and then FIRE or SHOOT the weapon.
You can also throw weapons at your enemy. For example, if you have a dagger you want to throw at a skeleton, hold the dagger and type THROW DAGGER AT SKELETON. Note: Any time you shoot or throw weapons, there is a chance that you will damage either the ammunition (when shooting) or the weapon (when throwing.) Damaged ammunition and weapons cannot be bundled.
Health and Injury
Health in Hercules and Xena: Alliance of Heroes is a simple matter of Health Points and Hits Left. Your character and the monsters he or she encounters all have a specific number of Health Points. Your character starts the game with a certain number of Health Points. The number of Health Points is determined by several of the character's basic stats. You can increase your character's Health Points by training in the Health skill. Monsters and creatures also start with preset number of Health Points, but they don't get to train to get more points.
When you hit during combat, you will take damage depending on the skill of your opponent, the weapon used, and your opponent's strength. It works the same way in reverse when you hit your opponent. That damage is subtracted from your Health. You can see what your current health status is by typing HEALTH.
- Good Health means you are uninjured.
- Slightly Injured means you have taken less than 20% total damage.
- Moderately Injured means you have taken 20% to 40% total damage.
- Severely Injured means you have taken 40% to 60% total damage.
- Deathly Injured means you have less than 40% of your health left.
- Dead means, well, you're dead! What else is there to say?
You can also look at your opponent during combat. For example, if you are fighting a skeleton and want to see how it is doing, type LOOK SKELETON.
Healing just takes time. You will heal naturally if you take things easy for a while. Alchemists, and possibly a Priest or Priestess of some alignments may be able to help you out. Alchemists can create healing potions, and the Priest or Priestess may have a ritual which will help.
Poison and Disease
You can be poisoned and you can catch diseases. It should be obvious if either of these happen. Aside from losing Health Points, poisons and diseases may have other effects on your character. You should seek out an Alchemist as soon as possible and try to get cured of the poison or disease before the effects become permanent, or before you die.
Death
Sooner or later, no matter how good you think you are in combat, everyone dies. It is a fact of life that none of us can ignore. However, just because we can't ignore it, doesn't mean we can't have some fun with it. In Hercules and Xena: Alliance of Heroes, when you die you go to Hades. Hades is one of the names for the underworld, and it is also the name for the God of the Underworld. You may also hear the underworld called Tartarus, the Elysian Fields, or by other names. Those are actually specific areas within the Underworld. Tartarus is one of the places where bad people go, and the Elysian Fields is one of the places for good people. However, you are not going straight to Tartarus or the Elysian Fields. When you die, you go to a central, general area in the Underworld.
From here you have several options open to you. You can decide that your don't want to try to recover your character. In that case, you may REROLL to start a new character. Your old character will be carried off to Tartarus or the Elysian Fields, depending on what he or she deserves. You may want to keep your character however, so you still have a couple of options open. You can try to get out of the Underworld and make your way back to the surface world. You can do this on your own, or you may have friends that can come to rescue you. Either way, the trip out is not easy. There are several possible paths out, and the way is filled with dangers and puzzles.
If you don't want to try to make your way out, you can use the DEPART command. If you DEPART, you will immediately be sent to a temple or shrine that is dedicated to your deity. Things are never that easy though. If you DEPART, your Impudence score will shoot way up, and you will suffer some consequences. You can do things to lower your Impudence and clear up the consequences but that will probably take some time to do. You will be much better off if you prove your worth by making your way out, either on your own or with the help of friends.
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