Combat
Party Play & Turn Order (Beta)
⚠ BETA. Party Play & Turn Order is a new combat system and this is its first public build. Numbers, roles and rules here will change as we hear from you — tell us what feels good and what does not in Talk or on Discord. Everything on this page is live in dungeons only for now.
In a dungeon, a fight is no longer "your hit, its hit". It is a turn order the whole party shares: everyone pulled into the battle waits their place in one queue, the enemy takes its turn between yours, and it strikes whoever has earned its attention. That gives the party something to be: a Tank who holds the enemy, a Healer who keeps everyone standing, DPS who open the enemy up, and a Buffer who keeps the enemy's eyes where they belong.
The turn order
- One queue. A strip above the combat log shows who acts next, then who follows — your partymates and the enemy's turns included. Quicker characters (more agility for their level) come round more often; the strip tells you how much quicker you are.
- Your turn. You have 20 seconds to choose a command. Let it run out and you defend instead: you take 10% less damage until your next action. Let it run out 5 times in a row and you are dropped from the battle (engage again to rejoin, last in line).
- The enemy's turn resolves immediately when it comes up — if it is next after your action, its blow lands in the same moment as yours. The next player's turn then begins 5 seconds after the enemy's — the countdown waits out that pause and then runs its full 20 seconds, every turn.
- Acting out of turn is refused. The queue is the truth — if the enemy is mid-swing, your click simply waits.
- The battle is remembered. Step off the tile and you are still in the queue; walk back and engage to carry on. Nothing resets the order except the enemy falling or leaving the dungeon.
Party battles: pull-in
- When a member starts a fight, every partymate within 3 tiles in the same run (alive and active in the last 2 minutes) is pulled into the same battle — the same 3-tile rule that shares EXP. You get a whisper telling you so.
- Arrive later and you join last in the turn order. Being there from the start is the reward for being there from the start.
- Members in range may act from where they stand; a fight your party is in shows as a gold ⚔ on the dungeon map, and your panel offers a way back to it.
- Your party stands beside you in the arena. When it is a partymate's turn you see their action play on their figure, and the log names them.
Threat: whom the enemy strikes
- Damage you deal becomes threat, point for point. Healing a partymate earns 0.5 threat per HP restored to them.
- The enemy always strikes the threat leader. The strip shows who it is watching and everyone's threat.
- Every enemy turn, everyone's threat decays by 20% — attention has to be kept, not banked.
- A taunt puts you at 125% of the current leader (plus 100) and braces you. Old brace abilities (Unbreakable Line, Shieldguard) count as taunts too.
Heals and buffs reach the whole party
In a party battle you never pick a target. Every healing ability restores its percentage to every member of the battle, each by their own maximum HP. Party songs and party magick likewise reach everyone who is pulled in.
The trinity: roles and abilities
Every class has been given at least one ability for a party role. They recharge in rounds, not minutes, so they are meant to be used every fight. (26 abilities.)
| Role | Class | Ability | Level | Recharge | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tank | Death Knight | Grave Call | 15 | 4 rounds | taunt: the enemy turns on you; you brace (−10% damage taken until your next action) |
| Tank | Fighter | Challenge | 12 | 4 rounds | taunt: the enemy turns on you; you brace (−10% damage taken until your next action) |
| Tank | Gladiator | Arena Roar | 12 | 4 rounds | taunt: the enemy turns on you; you brace (−10% damage taken until your next action) |
| Tank | Lancer | Vanguard | 15 | 4 rounds | taunt: the enemy turns on you; you brace (−10% damage taken until your next action) |
| Tank | Paladin | Bulwark Oath | 12 | 4 rounds | taunt: the enemy turns on you; you brace (−10% damage taken until your next action) |
| Tank | Runesmith | Rune of Warding | 15 | 4 rounds | taunt: the enemy turns on you; you brace (−10% damage taken until your next action) |
| Healer | Astromancer | Starfall Mend | 20 | 5 rounds | party heal: 20% of EACH member's maximum HP |
| Healer | Mimic | Borrowed Grace | 20 | 5 rounds | party heal: 15% of EACH member's maximum HP |
| Healer | Minstrel | Chorus of Mending | 20 | 5 rounds | party heal: 15% of EACH member's maximum HP |
| Healer | Paladin | Lay on Hands | 20 | 5 rounds | party heal: 20% of EACH member's maximum HP |
| Healer | Tamer | Pack Bond | 20 | 5 rounds | party heal: 15% of EACH member's maximum HP |
| Healer | Warlock | Blood Tithe | 20 | 4 rounds | party heal: 12% of EACH member's maximum HP |
| DPS | Archer | Mark Target | 15 | 5 rounds | expose: enemy defence −20% for the whole party, for 3 of its turns |
| DPS | Archer | Fade Back | 20 | 4 rounds | shed: your own threat falls by 50% |
| DPS | Hexblade | Rend Armour | 15 | 4 rounds | expose: enemy defence −20% for the whole party, for 2 of its turns |
| DPS | Magician | Arcane Fracture | 15 | 5 rounds | expose: enemy defence −20% for the whole party, for 2 of its turns |
| DPS | Magician | Veil | 20 | 4 rounds | shed: your own threat falls by 50% |
| DPS | Necromancer | Wither | 15 | 5 rounds | expose: enemy defence −20% for the whole party, for 3 of its turns |
| DPS | Pugilist | Pressure Point | 15 | 4 rounds | expose: enemy defence −20% for the whole party, for 2 of its turns |
| DPS | Rogue | Expose Weakness | 15 | 5 rounds | expose: enemy defence −25% for the whole party, for 3 of its turns |
| DPS | Rogue | Vanish | 20 | 5 rounds | shed: your own threat falls by 70% |
| DPS | Skypirate | Chain Shot | 15 | 4 rounds | expose: enemy defence −15% for the whole party, for 3 of its turns |
| DPS | Skypirate | Smoke Bomb | 20 | 5 rounds | shed: your own threat falls by 60% |
| Buffer | Astromancer | Eclipse Veil | 25 | 5 rounds | shroud: every other member's threat falls by 40% (yours is unchanged) |
| Buffer | Minstrel | Lullaby | 25 | 5 rounds | shroud: every other member's threat falls by 40% (yours is unchanged) |
| Buffer | Warlock | Shadow Cloak | 25 | 5 rounds | shroud: every other member's threat falls by 30% (yours is unchanged) |
Shared rewards
A kill in a dungeon now pays the whole nearby party: the reward gains the +10% party bonus and is split evenly between the killer and every member within 3 tiles, exactly as in the overworld. A partymate far below the enemy's level receives less EXP (the power-levelling guard); gold is unaffected.
A good four: a Tank taunts on the first turn, the Healer's heals cover the whole line, DPS expose the enemy and shed threat when they pull too hard, and the Buffer's shroud hands the enemy back to the Tank. Watch the strip — it tells you who the enemy is looking at before it moves.
Beta feedback: the turn window, the defend value, threat decay and every ability number above are first-pass and will be tuned from play. See also: Party System, Dungeons.