by Letters » Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:18 pm
I appear to have gone and forgotten my password to get in the guest lounge and go check the guy out, but assuming you just want some speech that will be set off by a prog, here we go.
Fighting styles
"There are two main fighting styles, which we call DUAL-WIELDing and SOLE-WIELD-ing. Dual-wield encompasses the use of a weapon in one hand and a shield in the other, as well as using a proper weapon in one hand and a smaller one in the other. Sole-wielding involves using just a single weapon, without a shield, whether you are holding it with one hand or both."
"When sole-wielding, you can GRIP a weapon with BOTH hands, so you can hit things harder, though if you want to free up a hand, simply GRIP the weapon with a SINGLE hand again."
"Knowing a style skill will both help to make you more effective when fighting with that style, as well as when fighting against others using that style."
"If you are sufficiently skilled - at least Talented in a given style - then you will gain the ability to use certain special commands. When sole-wielding, you can WARD away your opponents - this will put the person you were fighting off-balance, as well as forcing all but one of your attackers away from you, giving you perhaps a moment's respite before they attack you again. But be careful - you can be left off-balance yourself. When you have a shield in hand, you can attempt to BASH an opponent with it, potentially bruising them. Be even more careful when trying to bash an opponent, since it can cause you to fall over, and be entirely vulnerable."
Stances
"There are six combat stances, which you can change to by using one of SET DEFENSIVE, CAREFUL, NORMAL, AGGRESSIVE, or FRANTIC, as well as SET PACIFIST."
"Generally, when on the move in a potentially hostile region, you may be best off in a defensive stance, or possibly careful. This will allow you to keep yourself safe if you are ambushed, and give you time to assess the situation, whether you want to stand and fight, or to turn tail and run."
"If in a fight where you feel evenly matched, and confident of your ability to keep yourself safe without focusing on it, go ahead and fight in a normal stance."
"If grossly outmatched, and in a situation where you simply have no chance of slaying a foe to stop them, it may become desirable to fight in a pacifist stance while you try to escape. You will not cause any harm to your opponent while doing this, but will be more able to keep yourself safe. To leave a pacifist stance, you simply SET PACIFIST again, which will allow you to return attacks once more, although you will enter a defensive stance initially."
"If you are with friends, and they have your back, and nothing is going to turn on you and try to cause you harm, it may be safe to set yourself into an aggressive stance."
"Unless you really want to go into a blind rage and give up any hope of coming home without horrible injuries, fighting in a frantic fashion is ill-advised, since, while it does allow you to cause some harm, you won't have any chance whatsoever to try and defend yourself - none. Every blow aimed at you will hit home."
"When switching stances, bear in mind that you will unbalance yourself, and take a few moments to recover. This period of being off-balance will make you less effective in a fight for a few seconds - although not to such an extent that it should be a concern unless you repeatedly switch stances during combat - as well as preventing you from switching stances again, engaging other opponents, or rescuing friends."
Rescuing others
"If someone is being attacked, you can try to RESCUE them. This will put you in harm's way, instead. Be careful that you aren't too badly hurt already, yourself."
"If you want, you can also GUARD a person, which will enable you to persistently try to get between them and any danger. Be particularly careful with this - you may rapidly find yourself overwhelmed if there is a considerable number of foes, and you go and throw yourself in front of all of them."
"When you want to check out what sort of condition another is in - certainly useful if you need to work out if a friend even really needs help, you can DIAGNOSE them. If you are with even a small number of others, it always helps to keep an eye on your GROUP."
"Keep in mind that rescuing a friend will set you off-balance, making you less effective in combat for a short period, and you may eventually find yourself too unbalanced to be able to properly rescue anyone, to engage in combat again, or to change your fighting stance. These penalties only last for brief periods, and are not drastic, but should be kept in mind, in case you do something to unbalance yourself, such as changing your stance, and then find yourself unable to help a companion in need."
I could do bows, but is it using Lost Tales of Beleriand code, old Shadows of Isildur code, or redone Atonement code? The former had some neat stuff with stringing bows to imbue a sense of realism into it, and to stop the old, old "sniping" stuff too. Atonement didn't have bows, of course, and the way aim worked was different. There was set autofire, too.
Overwatch is an arcane art. I don't think I ever used it.
Should probably also do something about bind and about balance.
Edit: added bash and ward. Feint is useless except in specific borderline cases, so I left it out. Added stuff on balance, but perhaps it should be in its own section.
A skeletal, pig-tailed-haired male teen says,
"Prepare to meet your doom, loping man. It is I, loitering person, your nemesis."