Combat

How a fight works

Every combat action is one turn. You and the enemy trade blows, damage rolls between 70% and 130% of the listed stat, and health carries between turns. Ranged fights strike first, so a slain enemy never counters. Killing the enemy unlocks the next level. Dying restarts the same level with full health and keeps everything you looted. An even fight runs about 20 to 30 turns.

Melee and ranged

Melee uses the Sword, Shield and Heavy Armour. Ranged uses the Bow, Arrow and Light Armour. Both styles are always available and share the same Combat level. Ranged strikes first each turn and can crit. Melee cannot crit, but deals Thorns damage back when hit.

Hit chance

Both sides carry an Accuracy number. Yours is 75 plus your Combat level plus weapon accuracy, Sword adds 0.6 per level to melee and Bow adds 0.4 to ranged. Accuracy Mastery tree nodes and Accuracy trinket rolls raise it further, then all increased Accuracy sources add into one bucket. The enemy's is 75 plus its level. Your hit chance is 150 x your Accuracy divided by both Accuracy numbers added, so equal Accuracy lands exactly 75%. Levels and weapons move both hit chances in opposite directions. Hit chance caps at 100% and the enemy's never falls to zero. A missed turn still pays its loot. See the Accuracy page for the full math.

Crit, Thorns, Bleed, Regen, Accuracy, Damage and Health

• Crit (Ranged only): a critical hit deals double damage. Base 5%, Arrow levels add 0.05% each, and Crit Chance Mastery tree nodes plus the Increased Crit Chance trinket roll raise it further.
• Thorns (Melee only): when an enemy hits you and you survive, you deal flat Thorns damage back. It can land the killing blow.
• Bleed (Melee only): landed blows can open a bleeding wound, one stack per proc with no cap. Each stack deals 1% of the enemy's max health per turn and can land the killing blow. Raised by Bleed Mastery tree nodes and the Bleed Chance trinket roll.
• Regen, both styles: heals you for a flat amount at the end of every combat turn you survive, capped at full health. Raised by Regen Mastery tree nodes, Regen trinket rolls and the Toughness Engraver's Punch, and all increased Regen sources add into one bucket.
• Accuracy, both styles: raises your hit chance and lowers the enemy's. Raised by weapon levels, Accuracy Mastery tree nodes and Accuracy trinket rolls, and all increased Accuracy sources add into one bucket.
• Damage, both styles: Damage Mastery tree nodes add 0.2 flat damage each, after all increased and more bonuses. The 70% to 130% blow roll then applies to the whole stat.
• Health, both styles: Health Mastery tree nodes add 0.8 flat max health each, after all increased and more bonuses.

Drops

What boosts it

• Combat levels: +2.5% melee damage, +5% ranged damage per level.
• Damage gear: Sword, Bow and Arrow, +7.5% per level. Sword and Bow also add accuracy, Arrow also adds crit chance.
• Health gear: Shield, Heavy Armour and Light Armour, +7.5% per level.
• Cotton Wrap: +20% increased health while fighting.
• Passive tree, trinkets, Whetstone and server buffs.

Enemy levels

You pick the enemy level by hand, from 1 up to your highest kill plus one. Felling the frontier enemy unlocks the next level, and every lower level stays open for farming. Kills and deaths never move the level. Higher levels are stronger and pay better: every level adds +4% increased drop rates to combat materials.

Bosses

From Combat level 10 on, about 1 in 10 enemies is a boss: 2.4x health, 1.4x damage and 1.5x loot every turn. Slaying one always drops a Boss Cache, 10 plus 1 per 2 levels of rolls on coins, skill consumables and trinkets, and pays the same count in turns of bonus combat XP. A boss that kills you vanishes and its cache is lost. Bosses never appear while you are away. Boss Spawn Mastery tree nodes add 0.5% to the spawn chance each, with no cap.

Combat axioms

Three axiom nodes reshape the fight. Sure Strikes makes every blow land, but ranged cannot crit and melee cannot regen. Thorn Mail (melee only) silences your manual hits, never lets the enemy miss, and thorns hurt for flat plus 3.5% of the enemy's max health. Deadeye (ranged only) halves the base Crit Chance while crits deal x4 damage.

Vow oaths and covenant

At the tip of the Combat branch: pick either all drops become Azurite at Trade wealth value (2x and 3x procs stop) or 20% more global drop chance. Then pick either a free level in every piece of your active combat gear or a free Barracks level, each a 1 in 1000 roll per action. The Covenant of the Fifth Degree makes your Lumber Mill, Mine and Dock add 65% of their bonus to Combat drops.

See also