Your first battles
Must-read instructions to start your journey as a space degen
We assume you have already checked the Fundamentals of degen battles before preparing for your first fights, correct?
Key Stats in Combat
There are three key stats to manage during combat:
Health Points (HP): The core stat representing your survival. When your HP reaches zero, you lose the battle.
Stamina: Required to execute actions. If you run out of stamina, you will need to recover before performing more actions.
Intelligence: This stat influences the effectiveness of all skills and actions. A neutral Intelligence value is 10; higher Intelligence boosts your abilities, while lower Intelligence weakens them.
Basic Actions
In your first battle(s), you probably won't have many items to use, since they are distributed as rewards after winning fights or acquired with $MATTER - which is also only distributed as rewards.
Instead of using an item, pilots can choose from a set of basic actions during their turn. Having no Cooldown period, these actions provide versatile options in combat, each with its own strategic implications:
Attack:
A straightforward offensive action that attempts to damage the opponent. However, it is easily countered by any defensive item, making it less effective compared to using a specialized weapon.
Defense:
A basic defensive action that provides protection against incoming attacks. It has the worst efficiency against any type of specialised attack, offering minimal damage reduction, except when facing a basic attack. It's a fallback option when no defensive items are available.
Charm:
A magic skill-based action that targets the opponent’s Intelligence, lowering it. Therefore, the use of Charm diminishes the opponent’s combat capabilities by reducing the effectiveness of their skills, making their actions less powerful.
Run:
A tactical retreat option where the pilot attempts to escape the battle. The success of this action is based on the pilot’s Stamina, which increases with each escape attempt. However, if the player receives any amount of damage during the escape attempt, the escape fails, and the accumulated bonus from previous attempts is reset to zero.
Dealing Damage
To reduce your opponent’s HP, you’ll need to use the following:
Attack:
Weapon items: These are your primary tools for attacking and damaging your opponent's HP. Weapons rely on the Computation Skill, and their effectiveness can be boosted by using high-power items or species-manufactured weapons.
Rotten Food items: These items, such as Bacteria or Algae, directly reduce your opponent’s stats, including HP.
Sedative Drug items: This type of Drug can temporarily lower your opponent’s stats, including HP, by debuffing them for a set number of turns.
Defending Against Attacks
Defense items are used to minimize or avoid damage from your opponent’s attacks. There are five types of defense items, each offering varying levels of protection against different types of weapons. For example:
Shield:
Defense items: Use this type of item to decrease the effectiveness of your opponent's attacks.
Computation skill: Just like weapons, defenses also rely on this skill, so boosting your computation can improve your defensive effectiveness.Using Consumables and Amulets
Edible Food items: These items (such as Juice or Honey) are used to recover your stats. For example, Juice restores HP, while Honey increases Intelligence.
Stimulant Drug items: Temporarily boost your stats beyond their normal limits, giving you a short-term advantage in combat.
Amulet items: These special items provide conditional boosts or debuffs. They modify actions by staying dormant until a specific condition is met (e.g., an Amulet that affects attacks will only trigger when an attack is made). Most amulets, along with the Charm basic action, use the Magic skill to increase their power.
Managing Stamina and Intelligence
Every action you take costs stamina, and once your stamina is depleted, you will need to take a “Recover” action to restore 1 point of stamina before continuing.
Intelligence plays a critical role in combat, as it modifies the effectiveness of your skills. A higher Intelligence score improves the effects of skill-based actions, while debuffs to your Intelligence, such as those from amulets or drugs, will make your actions less effective.
Use the Charm basic action, Food, Drugs or Amulets to reduce your opponent’s Intelligence, giving you an advantage in combat.
Item Cooldown
After an Item is used, it enters a Cooldown period, during which it cannot be used again for a set number of turns.
The more powerful the item, the longer the cooldown period. It’s important to time your item usage strategically, as you won’t be able to spam the same item repeatedly in quick succession.
Strategic Tips for Your First Combats
Balance Attack and Defense: While focusing on dealing damage is important, you should also time your defensive moves to mitigate your opponent’s strongest attacks.
Monitor Stamina: Keep a close watch on your stamina levels, as running out will force you to recover and give your opponent a potential opening.
Use Items Wisely: Plan your item usage based on cooldown times and combat conditions. For example, use defensive items when you expect a heavy attack, and time your consumables to boost your stats at critical moments.
Target Intelligence: Reducing your opponent’s Intelligence can make their skill-based actions less effective (such as Attack, Defense and Charm), which is especially useful when facing a highly skilled pilot.
By understanding how to effectively manage your stats, items, and skills, you’ll be well-prepared to face off against other pilots and claim victory in combat!
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