Your first battle

01The battlefield

When you attack a monster, the fight starts right where you stand. The game cuts a round field of hexes out of the map around you: 331 hexes, about 36 metres across.

• Walls, rocks and buildings become solid hexes. They block movement and line of sight.
• Water blocks movement, but you can shoot and cast over it.
• Your party members standing nearby join your side. The monster’s pack joins its side.
• Everyone starts on the hex where they stood in the world.

02Who goes first

Fighters act one at a time. At the start of the battle everyone rolls initiative plus a d20, and the highest goes first. That order holds for the whole fight.

• Your initiative grows with Agility, gear and talents. Rogues get a bonus from their class.
• A round ends when everyone still standing has acted.
• If you are stunned, frozen, paralysed or asleep, you lose that turn.

03Action points

Every turn you get 8 action points (10 under Haste). They do not carry over to the next turn and do not grow with level, so spend them all.

You can attack more than once in a turn as long as you have points left. A typical melee turn is two steps and two attacks.

Attacks and aimed abilities need a clear line of sight. Use walls to hide from archers and mages.

04Ability cards

Your hand is your hotbar: the basic attack, up to 8 abilities and a potion. There is no deck and nothing to draw. Every card is always in your hand.

• A card costs action points and mana or rage.
• After you play a card it goes on cooldown for a number of your own turns. The card shows how many are left.
• Mana does not come back during a fight; a mana potion refills it. Rage builds as you land hits and take them.
• Some abilities open a combo. Play the next step within the window and you get a bonus: extra damage, a sure crit or a cooldown reset.
• Potions: two uses per battle for each of health, mana and rage.

05Where to hit and what to guard

Each attack is aimed at a body zone, and each fighter guards two neighbouring zones (head and chest by default). A hit into a guarded zone deals half damage.

• A head hit is harder to land but deals 25% more damage.
• A leg hit can slow the target for a round.
• Changing your guard costs nothing. Watch where the enemy aims and move your guard there.

06The turn timer

You have 30 seconds per turn. If the time runs out, the turn simply ends. After two missed turns in a row the game plays your hero for you until you act again.

07Winning, losing and running away

• You win when every enemy is dead. You get experience and loot.
• You lose when every hero on your side is dead.
• You can flee: walk onto an exit hex at the edge of the field. You keep your current health and get no reward. There is no other penalty.
• Dungeons have no exits, so there is no fleeing there.

Monsters in the open world take a level close to yours, so a fight is a fair test at any level. If it goes badly, step back and flee.

08Five tips for the first fights

• Count your points before you move: a step you do not need is an attack you will not make.
• Fight at your weapon’s reach. An archer who lets a warrior close in has already lost half the fight.
• Stand so that a wall covers you from ranged enemies.
• Kill the weakest enemy first. Fewer enemies means fewer hits on you every round.
• Keep one potion for the moment the fight turns.

Questions and answers

What next

Choose a class →Look up a monster in the codex →See the lands →