Combat

Combat in WordRPG is turn-based and takes place in an isolated encounter between the player and one-three enemies of various races, classes, and levels.

Overview

• Average combat encounter should take 5-7 rounds.
• Player should have a 66% success rate on average.
• Player should be able to make meaningful choices for equipment, skills, and use consumables for better results
• Player combat abilities should become deeper and broader as they level up and gain new equipment, abilities, and consumables
• Enemy combat abilities should also increase over the length of the game so that the player is continued to be challenged as they progress through the game.

Development Plan

First iteration:

Implement most basic form of turn-based combat.

Player:

• hit points = 100
• attack damage = 10

Enemy:

• hit points = 60
• attack damage = 5

Results:

• Player defeats enemy in ~6 rounds.
• Player will have ~66/100 hit points remaining.

Second iteration:

Implement variable damage that results in same general outcome.

• Damage range - 75% - 125%

Third iteration:

Implement variable hit-chance that results in same general outcome.

• dodge - based on character abilities
• buffs - based on special abilities or consumables

4th iteration:

Implement damage modifiers that results in same general outcome.

• critical - random chance for double damage
• deflection - based on character equipment
• resistance - based on character stats
• buffs - based on special abilities or consumables

Further iteration

After 4th iteration on player vs enemy combat, we should have a solid baseline for default combat mechanics. Beyond that, we can continue to add new mechanics that further expand upon base combat mechanics.

• Level modifiers - Making combat easier or more difficult based on differences in player vs enemy level
• Ranks - Making combat more difficult based on enemy rank
• Damage types - implementing various types of damage that certain enemies might have strengths or weaknesses against
• Buffs/Debuffs - temporary effects that affect combat
• status - states for the player or enemies that affect combat

Mechanics

Enemy Ranks

TBD: Enemies can be divided into three broad categories of difficulty:

• Grunt/Minion
• Lieutenant
• Boss

Balance of types of enemies needed to present a fair challenge to the player is: Player = 3 Grunts = 2 LTs = 1 Boss @~66% success

By relying on exploiting weaknesses, temporary buffs, and strategy the player should be able to achieve ~95% success rate against equivalent strength of enemies.

Enemy balance can be adjusted through:

• Hit Points
• Damage resistance/immunity
• Attack strength
• Utility spells/abilities (particularly status effects)
• Modes that require special tactics to counter (Enraged, Guarded, etc.)

Base To-Hit Formula

TBD: [to_hit_chance * modifiers * Random] Note:There is always a 5% chance that an attack will miss and a 5% chance that the attack will be a 'critical'.

Damage Formula

TBD: [base_damage * modifiers]

Modifiers

TBD: We'll want to enumerate what these things are and how they modify the base formula in positive or negative ways

Modifiers to to-hit chance:

• Player Stats
• Player Class
• Player items/weapons
• Enemy level (relative to player)
• Enemy stats
• Enemy abilities/equipment
• Status (temporary buffs, wounded, stunned, etc.)

Modifiers to damage:

• Player stats
• Player Class
• Player items/weapons
• Enemy level (relative to player)
• Enemy stats
• Enemy abilities/equipment
• Status (temporary buffs, wounded, stunned, etc.)