Combat
Ordinary expedition, Arena and guild-war fights run for up to 15 rounds and resolve automatically on the server from your gear and attributes. Dungeons and raids use the same strike rules inside a separate tactical, round-by-round action system.
The style triangle
Your equipped weapon sets your style. Beating the matchup is worth +3 to hit, losing it −3.
melee › ranged › magic › melee
How a swing resolves
- Hit chance starts at 80 %, moves 2 points for every point of Skill over the defender's Agility, then takes the triangle modifier — clamped to 50–95 %.
- Crit chance is 5 % plus 1 % per 4 Skill, capped at 35 %. A crit deals ×1.5 damage.
- Damage is your weapon roll plus half your style stat, then reduced by the defender's armour. Half of an odd number rounds down on your minimum and up on your maximum, so a single point is never wasted — it widens the top of your range.
- Initiative goes to the higher Agility; Skill breaks ties.
- Unarmed is a 1–3 melee fallback — always carry a weapon.
When the rounds run out
Most fights end when someone falls. If both are still standing after 15 rounds, the fight is decided on the spot: the win goes to whoever has the larger share of their own maximum health left. A dead-even share goes to the defender.
Share, not raw damage. A fighter with a much larger health pool can take more total damage and still hold the greater share, so the winner of a decision is not always the one who dealt the bigger number. Your battle report says so directly whenever a fight is settled this way. Dungeons and raids do not use this rule — there, running out of rounds is a defeat for the party.
Tactical dungeons and raids
In a dungeon or raid, you choose an action each round and, where the action needs one, a target. Your equipment sets your role and therefore your action bar: a shield makes a Tank; a tome with an active healing art makes a Healer; other setups use the Damage kit.
Momentum is the tactical resource, capped at 5. Basic actions build it; stronger attacks, taunts, heals and shields spend it. A cooldown counts rounds before that action can be chosen again.
| Role | Action | Momentum | Cooldown | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damage | Strike | Builds 1 | — | A measured blow. Builds 1 Momentum. |
| Guard | Builds 1 | — | Brace behind your guard: take 50% less this round. Builds 1 Momentum. | |
| Focus | Builds 2 | — | Line up the strike: +10 hit next round, but take 25% more this round. Builds 2 Momentum. | |
| Unleash | Costs 3 | 2 rounds | All-in blow: ×2.4 damage but −10 hit. Costs 3 Momentum. | |
| Tank | Strike | Builds 1 | — | A measured blow. Builds 1 Momentum. |
| Brace | Builds 1 | — | Shield wall: take 55% less, generate threat from every blow blocked. Builds Momentum as you are hit. | |
| Riposte | Costs 3 | 2 rounds | Punishing counter: ×2 damage, +5 hit, double threat. Costs 3 Momentum. | |
| Provoke | Costs 2 | 3 rounds | Force one enemy to attack you for 2 rounds. Costs 2 Momentum. | |
| Challenge Roar | Costs 4 | 5 rounds | Force every enemy to attack you for 2 rounds. Costs 4 Momentum. | |
| Healer | Smite | Builds 1 | — | Sacred bolt. Builds 1 Momentum. |
| Mend | — | — | A small mend. Builds no Momentum — the honest floor. | |
| Suture | Costs 2 | — | A strong heal. Costs 2 Momentum. | |
| Mending Light | Costs 1 | — | A lingering heal over 3 rounds. Costs 1 Momentum. | |
| Sanctuary | Costs 3 | 2 rounds | Heal the whole party. Costs 3 Momentum. | |
| Aegis | Costs 2 | 3 rounds | Shield a target from the next blows for 3 rounds. Costs 2 Momentum. |
This is why tactical combat can heal in the middle of an encounter: Mend, Suture and Sanctuary restore health, Mending Light persists over several rounds, and Aegis absorbs incoming damage. Consumables are still not actions on this bar.
What armour is worth
Armour has diminishing returns and is measured against the attacker's level, so a set that carried you at level 5 is worth far less at 40. Damage reduction:
| Armour | vs level 5 | vs level 20 | vs level 40 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 50 % | 29 % | 18 % |
| 100 | 67 % | 44 % | 31 % |
| 200 | 80 % | 62 % | 47 % |
| 400 | 89 % | 76 % | 64 % |
Penetration and damage reduction
Armour penetration does not add damage. It takes its share off the defender's armour before the table above is read, and because that curve flattens, the damage you gain is always smaller than the number printed on the item. Against 200 armour at level 40:
- 6 % penetration is worth +2.9 % damage.
- 35 % penetration is worth +19.7 % damage.
Penetration from every source — arts, sets, gems, talents, weapon type — is added up and clamped at 35 %.
Damage reduction — the “% less damage taken” carried by warding gear, armour sets and talents — is a different thing entirely. It is not armour and it does not touch armour: it is a separate multiplier applied after mitigation. That is why it never suffers armour's diminishing returns, and why 2 % is worth exactly 2 % whether you stand in 40 armour or 400.
Every style also has a Battle Art — a passive that shapes each swing for free. See Bosses for what you will be swinging at.