Defensive Mechanics

Combat offers three defensive stances that form a rock-paper-scissors triangle, plus a universal fallback. Choosing the right defence against the right attack type is essential.

Defend

The universal fallback action. Defend reduces all incoming damage by a flat percentage and costs no resources. When a combatant runs out of stamina and mana, they automatically use Defend (action exhaustion fallback).

Counter

Counter anticipates a physical attack and avoids it entirely. If the opponent uses a magic attack or spell instead, the Counter is wasted and the defender takes full damage.

• Cost: 35 stamina
• Avoids: physical offensive actions (light/normal/heavy attack, physical skill attacks)
• Wasted against: magic spells, DoTs, debuffs

Ward

Ward raises a magical barrier that resists magic attacks. If the opponent uses a physical attack, the Ward is wasted.

• Cost: 30 mana
• Resists: magic damage spells, magic DoT applications
• Wasted against: physical attacks, physical skill attacks

Rock-Paper-Scissors Summary

Defend is always safe but offers less protection than a correct Counter or Ward. Skilled players read their opponent's patterns to choose Counter or Ward at the right time.

Channeling Vulnerability

Certain actions (Heavy Attack, Devastating Blow, Titan's Wrath, Meteor Strike, potion use, heals) mark the user as channeling. If an opponent hits a channeling target, they deal bonus damage:

This makes high-damage channeled abilities a calculated risk. They deal more damage but leave you vulnerable if the opponent attacks on the same round.

Action Exhaustion

When a combatant has insufficient stamina and mana for any action in their template, they automatically fall back to Defend. Defend is free (0 stamina, 0 mana) and always available, ensuring combat never stalls.

Constants Reference