Combat

Engaging the Enemy

Most of your experience and character progression will be earned through fighting and defeating various monsters in combat. When you enter a room, you may see a monster inside. If the monster is aggressive, it will attack you immediately. Otherwise, the option to start combat is left up to you. You can attack by typing: kill <target>. Be aware that monsters of similar types will "assist" each other, meaning that if you attack one goblin in the room, all the goblins in that room will attack you.

Tanking

For non-aggressive mobs, the first group member to attack a mob becomes the tank. Aggressive mobs will randomly attack a member of the group as the group enters the room. Mobs will prioritize attacking group members who have set their default zone to the center zone (more on zones below.) But in this way, a warrior can position themselves "in front" of a druid and become the tank of aggressive mobs. The mob will only attack the tank with their attacks and targeted spells (area effects may still hit all group members so be aware!) unless another ability or condition forces them to switch targets. It is useful to plan out who will be tanking mobs as your party tackles greater challenges.

Skills and Spells

Combat skills are typically used simply by typing <skill> while in combat. For spells, you must type cast <spell> to use it. If you are outside of combat or you want to target something other than your current target, you can type: <skill> <target> or cast <spell> <target> to start combat using an ability or direct an attack at that creature.

Room Zones & Positioning

One of the most important concepts to understand in combat is room zones. Each room is divided into 3 segments known as zones. The 3 zones are referred to as the front, center, and back zones. The Room Zones window in the Mudlet and web client displays these zones with the front zone on top, the center zone in the middle, and the back zone on the bottom.

In preparation for combat, you can use the position command to set your default room zone as either "center" or "back". This will be the zone you start in when you enter a room. Note that you can't set your default zone to the forward zone since a hostile mob could intercept you prior to reaching that zone.

Once combat begins, you can move between zones using the forward and back commands. Be aware that by default, leaving a zone that is occupied by an enemy will incur an opportunity attack against you. If you are wielding a melee weapon, you must be in the same zone as your target in order to attack them. If you are wielding a ranged weapon, you can attack your target regardless of the zone they are in.

Many skills and spells interact with the room zones. A spell may only work in one zone and not another or perhaps it causes damage to an enemy when they move into a zone. It's a good idea to understand how your skills and spells work based on how they interact with the zones.

Healing and Recovery

Some skill and spells afford recovery of some HP or mana, but in general, healing requires rest. Outside of combat, use the rest command to have your character rest for 10 rounds (30 seconds). You can only rest in friendly structures. These include camps, outposts, and town. The amount of HP and mana you gain each round is based on a variety of factors but in general, a more upgraded and safer structure leads to faster recovery.

Death and Respawning

If you die in combat, you will immediately respawn at The Obelisk in the city. Your equipment and inventory stays with you so no need to retrieve it. Your HP and mana will be set at 1 and your Soul Stone will be drained. While the stone is drained, you can't recover HP or mana so you will need to wait for the stone to be restored its magic and then rest to heal before heading out to adventure again.