13.1 Combat Principles
Combat in Aetolia is handled differently for mobile vs. player combat and player vs. player combat. This document will explain, further down in it, why this is. In the meantime, however, it will briefly review how combat in Aetolia is resolved.
Player vs. Mobile Combat
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When you wish to fight a mobile, you may, generally, initiate combat with it simply by finding it and attacking it with whatever ability you choose to use. However, most abilities that do something other than just cause damage will not work against mobiles. The reason for this requires some understanding of how player vs. player combat works, but for now suffice it to say that creating an artificial intelligence that allowed mobiles to effectively deal with the hundreds of things a player can do to another player would be prohibitively complicated.
Once you have attacked a mobile, it will, in most cases, either attack you back, or run away. Usually a mobile will continue to attack you until either it begins to panic and runs away, or until you or it is dead. Be warned that some mobiles may loot your corpse of an item or two after they have killed you.
Player vs. Player Combat
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Player combat is an entirely more complicated affair. This is what our combat system is primarily geared to, and few, if any games, can match the intensity and complex nature of our combat.
It can be difficult to fully describe player combat, as there are so many different approaches to it. It is possible to fight with your goal as death of the opponent, crippling of your opponent, or even just as a demonstration or lesson.
Generally, the details of your offensive combat maneuvers will be covered in the help files for your class-specific skills, as this is where the majority of offensive abilities lie. Some of your defensive abilities (more for some classes, less for others) will also lie in your class-specific skills, but probably the majority of defensive equipment and abilities are available to everyone who has high enough general (i.e. non-class-specific) skills and enough money to purchase the proper equipment.
Player combat generally involves much more than simply inflicting damage on your opponent. Not only can individual body parts be damaged, with different, harmful effects resulting from enough cumulative damage on a body part, but there are hundreds of afflictions that can be inflicted on an opponent.
If we take the most general goal of combat, which is to kill your opponent, then combat can be said to generally consist of:
1) Locating your opponent or bringing him to you.
2) Pinning him into place so that he cannot escape.
3) Damaging him until he dies.
This is an over-simplification insofar as only with a very surprised or helpless opponent will you simply execute 1, then 2, then 3. Usually there will be much moving around, healing of the things that pin you, healing of the damage done to you, etc. Combat is therefore a give-and-take process. For many offences, there are defences, and for many defences, there are methods of removing the defences. There are many afflictions (the general term for anything that affects you in a negative way aside from damage), ranging from the classic web tattoo, to paralysis, to anorexia, to the aeon curse, which slows your movement through time.
EFFICIENT USE OF EQUILIBRIUM AND BALANCE
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Most of the damage and afflicting-dealing abilities in Aetolia, as well as some defensive and movement ones, will require that you have equilibrium and balance and will, after you use the ability, take equilibrium or balance away from you for a certain number of seconds. How many depends entirely on the ability.
Perhaps the single most important factor in mounting a successful attack against another player, and even against a mobile, is the efficient use of equilibrium and balance. When engaged in combat, you ALWAYS want to be making the most out of every second of combat. If you recover equilibrium and balance, and your opponent is in the room with you, there is mostly no reason not to immediately use another ability that will use these up, unless you wish to flee.
The process of being as efficient as possible in your use of equilibrium and balance is referred to as "chasing equilibrium" or "chasing balance".
PROPER HEALING TECHNIQUE
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Just as using most offensive abilities requires equilibrium and/or balance, many healing abilities or equipment have their own type of balance. These are often referred to as "healing balances". For instance, you are limited as to how often a health or mana elixir can be drunk with a beneficial effect. Since they both use the same "balance", you must choose which to heal while in the midst of combat.
A GENERAL NOTE
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As you read the following help files on combat, keep in mind that the ONLY way you will ever learn to attack successfully and defend successfully is to practice. Just like in any sport, reading and thinking about it will only get you so far. Reactions must be ingrained through experience, and strategies can only be successfully tested in the field.
Can you expect to ever become good at combat without dying over and over? No. The only path to greatness in combat is through repeated death. It is difficult, but then, all good things are difficult to attain.
