Hi Backers,
Before you read on, please be aware that we are fully aware that some classes have more combat capabilities than others. It's all balanced out by each class being able to do different things. Although the sorcerer has a lot of combat spells, he is limited in other things he can do, and the rogue might not have power moves like the brigand, but he can sneak around and break into houses. So the game itself is balanced, when you look at it as a whole.
Please also be aware that some of the numbers we're using below, like cool downs and mystical power regeneration are fluid as we haven't fully tested it all with every possible enemy. In short, some of this stuff might change in the final product.
We've made a lot of changes and additions to the combat system works since Demo 1.0 and I wanted to let you all know what we've done and give you first-hand, insider knowledge on the process.
As you know from Demo 1.0, the combat is turn-based, with a 3 second timer so that if you don't take your turn, the enemy gets another go at you. And you'll remember that there are four attacks, Swing, Hack, Slash and Block. This is all still the same, although we've made some changes to the formula that operate these attacks as we've made some major changes to our stats. But that's for another time.
Each of the three sub-classes will have their own tailored combat GUI because each sub-class has their own special moves. And each of these moves is a learned move - by which I mean you have to complete a quest or a task in order to be able to operate that particular skill. We are also handling escaping from combat differently for each class. Until you pick a sub-class, you won't be able to escape from combat.
Brigand
The Brigand sub-class is able to learn a move called "Furious Anger" which is an attack that is unblockable by your enemy. It's generated by successfully blocking 3 times during combat, which gives Mr Roehm the power to belt the crap out of his opponent. This is lethal to enemies and well worth learning. But it won't be easy! Kurdt has some hard tasks for you to undertake before he'll teach you that!
To escape from combat, you'll have the ability to bull-rush your opponent, basically shoulder charging him and running over the top of him.
Rogue
The Rogue sub-class learns to use a bladerang, which you can throw at your enemy to inflict some damage and would stun him for a short period (long enough so you can attack again.) Although it can't be blocked by your enemy, it does have a cool-down period so the player can't spam the attack over and over. Ian might be willing to teach you this, or point you in the right direction, for a price.
To escape from combat, you'll be able to learn to throw smoke bombs at your enemy, confusing him and giving you time to escape.
Sorcerer
My personal favorite (because Jeremy and myself spent a LOT of late nights working up the GUI's for this) is the spells. "Flaming Vengeance" "Icy Shards" "Nature’s Blessing" and "Plague Carrier" are your four main spells for combat.
Flaming Vengeance and Icy Shards are simple casting spells, which will damage your enemy, but some will only work on certain types of enemies that other's won't work on. Plague Carrier does damage over time, useful to cast at the start of combat because it does very minor damage but does it every so many seconds. And Nature's Blessing is a basic healing spell.
The interesting thing we've changed is that we've removed mana completely from our game. Every magic using game has mana! How boring! We've instituted something called mystical power which works as a cooldown for spell casting. After you cast each spell, you will have to wait 10 seconds before you can cast another one.
Later on in the game, you'll be able to learn the ability to speed up your mystical power regeneration, as well as learning how to cast your combat spells at a more powerful level.
For escaping combat, you'll be able to cast "Windstorm" which creates a whirlwind around the enemy allowing you to escape.
As a special sneak peek, he's a screen shot of the sorcerer's combat screen!
NOTE : If you're wondering why throughout this post I've referred to sub-classes, it's because Mr Roehm is a rogue. He then specialises in either thievery, magic or more rogue skills.
