ETTINS have been added. These two-headed giant humanoids are ill-tempered and wield both an axe and a spiked club and can swing both of them in the same turn. Ettins are included in The Hidden Realm (starting at level 5) plus you can encounter them in both The Caverns of Grimlock and The Swampy Isles.

SPEARS are now one-handed weapons. This is to correct an original design issue that has always bugged me. Spears and Polearms are unique in that they are the only melee weapons that can reach two grid squares, but polearms have always felt much superior to spears because they do more damage and both have an equal chance of knockdown. Spears also don’t have as much blocking as polearms, plus polearms have a higher bleed chance. So to balance this out, I changed spears to a one-handed weapon. They’re still pretty much the same otherwise. But this allows you to also use a shield in your left hand, which is an advantage all its own that polearms don’t have. And they still reach two squares.

I integrated a requested feature into an existing feature. F9 now toggles status bars (stamina/health) between three modes: Display All, Display None, and Display Only the Selected Character. This last mode is the new one. The selected character is usually the character whose turn it is, but if you click on a monster, or another character, they are selected and they display their bars over them in this mode. This can help during battles where a lot of creatures are packed in adjacent squares and the status bars overlap.

F7 now toggles the grid lines on the ground on or off. This was in at some point but I think got inadvertently disabled.

If you get PUSHED BACK, you lose half your MP on your next turn.

The relative amount of XP granted for monsters is now displayed on the BESTIARY page. This will give you a general idea of how much a given creature is worth compared to others. The actual amount of XP can still vary by level. x1.0 is considered “average”.

Any creatures that activate SURPRISE as they initially appear when combat starts will get a 2x INIT bonus when calculating the turn order.

Few other minor bug fixes and tweaks. The full list can be seen in the release notes: 

https://www.infinitedungeoncrawler.com/release-notes/

IDC has evolved over time, and each build release has added new functionality and features (and fixed bugs).  Version 1.1 represents significant additions that may change several aspects of the game, especially at higher levels (20+).   The core essence of the game has remained the same, but it is useful to point out the changes here on one page so that players that have played prior to 1.1 can see everything in one place.  The specific sections of the Guide will be updated in the near future.


ABILITY UPGRADES: Most (not all) abilities can now be upgraded at some point.  This process is called FACTORING (e.g., Factor II, Factor III, and Factor IV).  Abilities that are upgraded display the roman numeral over their icon as seen here. Upgraded abilities are more powerful but use more stamina. Abilities that factor can be upgraded every 10 levels beyond their MINIMUM LEVEL.  For example, the Ranger and Rogue’s FLAMING ARROW ability is level 1.  It can be upgraded to Factor II at level 11, Factor III at level 21, and Factor IV at level 31. 

Upgrading abilities costs progressively more ABILITY POINTS (which are awarded when you level up).  Upgrading an ability from its original form to Factor II costs 2 ability points.  To Factor III costs 4 ability points.  And to Factor IV costs 6 ability points.

Generally, when you upgrade an ability’s factor, the stamina cost rises by 50% and the DURATION and COOLDOWN each increase by 1.  However, the effects of each ability generally increase too.  PHYSICAL and ELEMENTAL DAMAGE usually doubles.  The chance for any given STATUS EFFECT increases by 15% (so a 40% STUN rate becomes 46%).  RESISTANCES rise by 15% (e.g., 40% FIRE RESISTANCE becomes 46%).  Summoned creatures’ levels increase by 10.  Those are generalities, and different abilities can vary, so you’ll need to refer to the specific ability when upgrading to see specifics.

There are still quite a few abilities that cannot be upgraded (you’ll see this icon ).  Typically, these are weapon-based abilities where the damage or the effect is dependent on the weapon itself (e.g., POWER ATTACK, PRECISION STRIKE, SWEEP ATTACK, COUNTER ATTACK).  These don’t upgrade because the assumption is that as you level up and get better weapons, they are naturally upgrading along the way.     

Some abilities don’t factor, but have explicit upgrades.  An example of this is the Mage and Druid’s OPEN SIMPLE LOCK, OPEN MODERATE LOCK, and OPEN HARD LOCK abilities.  Each of these requires the one below before you can add it when leveling up, but the older one still exists in your abilities list and either can be used.  And these only cost one ability point to acquire each new ability.

When you look at the description for any given ability, information on whether it can be upgraded or not will be given including at what level it can be upgraded.

By the way … monsters get factor upgrades as well.  You won’t know who has what, but you should feel it when they attack.  Fair is fair.  You really won’t see this prior to level 20 or so, but at level 30 you should expect most monsters to have about one or two of their abilities upgraded to at least Factor II.  At level 40, likely three or four at Factor II or even one at Factor III.  You probably won’t see a Factor IV until level 75+.  The GAME DIFFICULTY will affect this.  A higher setting will translate to more ability upgrades on monsters.

Important note regarding upgrading: Just because you CAN upgrade an ability doesn’t mean you SHOULD.  You have to take into consideration the stamina cost of using the new ability as well as the ability points cost.  For example, it doesn’t make much sense to upgrade an ability as soon as you possibly can at level 11 if its stamina cost is a quarter or more of your total stamina.  You couldn’t use it very often (something like a summon may be an exception to this).  Unless you really like that ability and use it a lot and the upgrade effects are significant.  The reality is that most players shouldn’t even think about upgrading anything until maybe level 20.  And even at that, maybe only a select few.  You don’t need to upgrade everything.  And it’s possible that acquiring two new abilities would be better than upgrading one.


ABILITY STAMINA COST: Due to the changes mentioned above related to upgrading abilities, the formula for the stamina cost to use an ability has changed.  Previously, as you rose in level above the MINIMUM LEVEL of the ability, the stamina cost would go down.  At about 10 levels above each ability’s minimum level, the stamina cost would be roughly half of what it was if you were the same level as the minimum level and then stay there from that point on.  The thinking was that as you progressed, each ability got “easier” and therefore used less stamina.  This has been removed, and the stamina cost for any given ability is now static no matter what level you are.  So if you’re a level 10 Mage casting PRISMATIC LIGHTS, which is a level 3 spell, it costs the same amount of stamina as if you were a level 3 Mage.  With the addition of ability upgrades, this system no longer made sense as there would be an outsized jump in stamina cost before and after you upgraded.


QUESTS: Many users have been asking for quests for a long time, and I’ve finally put them in (with the ability to add more over time).  These are technically referred to as JOBS and they are listed on the JOBS BULLETIN BOARD outside the Mayor’s Office as well as inside by clicking the JOBS button.  However, these differ from the old-style jobs (which are still in there) as they usually require you to go through The Gate and retrieve certain items or kill certain creatures to get the reward.  They are much harder than the existing jobs and involve a full party, not just one person (but you can go solo if you want).  Many of them offer significant rewards (such as magikal items), good coin, and XP. 

Most of these “quests” give you several months to complete, and you can choose which worlds to journey to in order to complete them (for example, there is one that requires you to return with 2 giant hearts, but giants can be found in multiple worlds).  Some of these can only be accomplished in a given world and must be undertaken right away, and once you accept them and go to The Gate only that world will be enabled.  Some of these are multi-part and include taking out “bosses”, and you must complete a series of them before you can get to the final stage.  And they’re all optional.  If you just want to dungeon-dive, have at it!  But you should check the bulletin board to see what is available.  Like other jobs, most of these come and go and are only available for a limited time.  There are currently about 30 of these that have been added (with plans to add more), so they provide a good variety.

On the world screen’s top HUD bar there is now a JOBS button that appears when you have an active quest.  Hovering over this gives a quick review of your quest’s goal and clicking it will display more information.


USER INTERFACE IMPROVEMENTS (PC VERSION): This version includes many quality-of-life improvements, including being able to control vertical scrollbars and the screen zoom level in combat using the mouse wheel.  You can also control the map zoom level with the mouse wheel (both the big map and the mini-map).  Plus you can scroll the list of characters on the side of the screen when in town using the mouse wheel if your list is large enough and goes beyond the screen. 

Important note regarding screen zooming: There are set points when adjusting the screen zoom when the system has to redraw all of the characters in the world.  This can cause a slight lag and an interruption in the character animations.  This is done to optimize memory management as when you’re zoomed out farther you don’t need as high a resolution for individual graphics.  So adjusting the zoom by large amounts too quickly and often may tax the system.

The combat screen now also has tooltips that display over most user interface elements, such as buttons.  But the most useful one is hovering over ABILITY buttons as this will display detailed information on the ability without having to explicitly go into the ABILITIES screen.

Additionally, improvements have been made in appropriately scaling graphics for different screen sizes, especially higher-resolution screens.  For new users, the game will sense the screen size and pick an appropriate scaling size.  For existing users, you will likely have to tailor the scale to your screen size and preferences.  There are now two sliders on the DISPLAY page of SETTINGS (prominently at the top) that allow you to adjust the scale for both in-town and in the world.  Sliding these to the right will display text, UI elements, and pop-up windows larger, making them easier to see and read.  Sliding them to the left will reduce their size.  What level(s) you choose is a matter of personal preference.

Tips for adjusting your scaling level: Generally, if you have a screen resolution closer to 1920×1080, you will likely want to adjust both sliders to about 1/3 to 1/2 of the way from the left.  If your screen resolution is closer to 2880×1800, slide it about 2/3 of the way from the left.  You can fine-tune them left or right while on the various screens to see the resulting changes.

 


TO-HIT ROLLS: Rolling a 5 or less on a to-hit roll has always been a guaranteed hit (curse those lucky blind Goblins!).  But now the same is true on the other end.  Rolling a 96 or more is a guaranteed miss, no matter what your chance to hit was.  This is only on the to-hit roll.  It doesn’t not include the chance for a STATUS EFFECT (the 5 is not a guaranteed hit there either).

Another significant change … previously, if your chance to hit exceeded 100% the COMBAT LOG didn’t show the roll result because it was a guaranteed hit, even though it still was doing the roll behind the scenes to see if you scored a CRITICAL HIT.  Now, the roll is displayed regardless.  This just makes it easier to see the chance of a critical hit, it doesn’t change the outcome.


TRAPS: The system for traps has been completely overhauled.  There are now two distinct phases to traps: DETECTION and DISARMING. 

Everyone (but not monsters) has a DETECT TRAPS stat that is now displayed on the ATTRIBUTES screen.  This is the chance that you will detect a trap before you activate it, giving you a chance to stop and decide whether to proceed.  The percentage displayed is the chance to detect a simple trap.  Moderate and sophisticated traps reduce the chance 15% and 30% respectively.  Detect Traps is based on INTELLIGENCE and your level.  But there are skills and gear to boost this, and Rangers and Rogues (Rogues more so) have natural abilities that boost this by their level. 

Alongside this stat is DISARM TRAPS.  Once a trap has been detected, a second attempt to interact with the trapped object (or to walk on the trapped square) will be an attempt to disarm it.  The percentage displayed is the chance of success for a simple trap.  Moderate and sophisticated traps reduce the chance 15% and 30% respectively.  Disarm Traps is based on INTELLIGENCE, DEXTERITY, and your level.  And similar to detecting, there are skills and gear you can acquire to boost it and Rangers and Rogues are naturally better at it (Rogues more so).      

Once a trap has been detected, it is considered to have been found and any other action on that object (even by someone else in the party) or walking on the trapped grid square is considered to be an attempt to disarm it.  If the disarm attempt fails, the trap will go off, either damaging the person in question, setting off a poison gas, or exploding (which usually destroys the object and its contents).  Trapped containers that are detected will be indicated on the mini-map with the symbol and trapped ground squares with .

The number of traps and their complexities will increase depending on the level of the world.  Generally, you won’t encounter traps prior to level 3.  At level 10, there’s about a 6% chance that any given object that can be trapped is trapped.  It is capped at about 15% near level 35.  And you generally won’t see moderate traps appear until level 9 and sophisticated traps until level 15.  Keep in mind that GAME DIFFICULTY can affect these stats.   

As stated, monsters do not detect or disarm traps.  If a player sets a ground trap, monsters cannot see these and automatically set them off when stepping on them.  Players in the party, however, are aware of traps set by other players and can freely move past them without setting them off (this does not include summoned creatures).  Monsters are, however, aware of traps set by members of their own group and can also move past them freely.


LOCKPICKING: Lockpicking has been changed significantly.  As before, this is a skill that only Rogues have by default.  Everyone else must acquire the base skill when leveling up in order to even attempt it (whether on a door or on a lockable container).  Assuming you have obtained the requisite base skill (and you have a lockpick handy), the difficulty of the lock, your DEXTERITY, whether you are a Rogue, and possibly any skills or gear that boosts your ability will determine whether you can pick a lock.  Each failed attempt has a fair chance of breaking the lockpick. 

Your LOCKPICKING stat is displayed on the ATTRIBUTES screen.  The percentage displayed is the chance of successfully picking a simple lock.  You can click on the stat to see more details displayed in the tooltip.  At the simplest level, a non-Rogue with no additional skills/gear and a DEXTERITY below 12 has a 20% chance to pick a simple lock.  They have no chance of picking a moderate or complex lock.  If you’re a Rogue or have a DEXTERITY of 12 or more, that expands your ability by one grade which means you have a 40% chance on a simple lock and 20% on a moderate lock.  You still can’t pick complex locks.  A DEXTERITY of 16 or higher boosts another grade.  A Rogue with a DEXTERITY of 16 or higher gets 3 grades higher (1 for being a Rogue, 1 for DEX 12+, and 1 for DEX 16+).  That equates to 80/60/40% for simple/moderate/complex locks.  Throw in something like the SAFECRACKER skill or Safecracking Gloves and they’re guaranteed to always pick a simple lock, and have a 80/60% chance on moderate/complex locks.

Keep in mind that some objects may be both LOCKED and TRAPPED.  You have to disarm a trap before you can attempt to pick the lock. 


AREA-OF-EFFECT SIZING: Many abilities are AREA-OF-EFFECT or RANGED AREA-OF-EFFECT.  These spread their effects over a circular-sized area, either surrounding the caster or surrounding a point within range that the caster chooses.  However, as characters level up, slotting ATTRIBUTE POINTS to various attributes can increase the area-of-effect.  Sometimes this can actually become cumbersome as the target circles get too large to manage and avoid collateral damage on allies.  This is where AREA-OF-EFFECT SIZING comes into play.

First of all, to use this requires the character has invested in the AREA-OF-EFFECT CONTROL skill during upgrading.  This is a SUPPORT skill available to all classes.  If a character has this skill, when they go to target the ability and it is painted on the ground (either in yellow or red), using the mouse wheel will change the size of the target area, shrinking it or growing it.  You are still limited by the maximum size specified in the ability’s specs, and the smallest is a 5-square “cross”.  Once you have sized appropriately, merely click on one of the yellow/red squares to activate the ability.


RANDOM WORLDS: The Gate now has a checkbox at the bottom of the window that allows you to be randomly transported to any of the available worlds (provided you have the DLC).  There is a 2% loot bonus per additional available world that is applied when the world is generated.  So, if you’ve got the base game and all DLC unlocked, that’s an extra 10%.


NEW MONSTERS: The CAVE LURKER was added to The Caverns of Grimlock, the BROWN LURKER was added to The Hidden Realm, and the Swamp Lurker was added to The Swampy Isles.  These are similar to other lurkers in other worlds, but lurkers are known to evolve and adapt to their environment, so don’t expect they will all be the same.

They’re not new, but (I believe) a bug had prevented the spawning of any ASWANG dens in any world.  Aswangs came with The Swampy Isles DLC and can show up in other worlds.  These vampiric undead blood-suckers fly on bat wings and are missing the entire lower half of their body.  Their entrails dangle where their lower half used to be, and they slop blood and guts all over the place wherever they go.  This mess is slippery and those that walk through it are likely to get knocked down.  Aswangs are also HIGHLY sensitive to light and burn in direct light.  As such, you’re likely only to encounter them at night or in dark dungeons or ruins.


NEW AND CHANGED ABILITIES: Several new abilities have been added to the base game, such as WATER SHOT and DETONATE (Alchemist), FLOOD (Druid), TELEPORT and DISARM TRAP (Mage), THROWN HAMMER and CIRCLE OF PROTECTION (Cleric), INDOMITABLE (Fighter), OPPORTUNITY ATTACK (Rogue), ABSORB ELEMENTS (Ranger), and SUMMON VALKYRIE (Paladin). 

The former Mage spell OPEN HARD LOCK has been converted to OPEN MODERATE LOCK and is now the upgrade to OPEN SIMPLE LOCK.  If you had OPEN HARD LOCK before, it is now OPEN MODERATE LOCK.  Additionally, OPEN HARD LOCK has been added and that is the upgrade to OPEN MODERATE LOCK.

The range for the Mage spell PEER has been shortened, but it now detects traps.

Any type of active COUNTER ability will now automatically reduce your INITIATIVE so that you take your turn later in the round.

The Ranger/Rogue ability SNARE now automatically hits (but each effect applied still has its own roll)

The Swampy Isles adds the TIDAL WAVE (Druid) ability. 

Special note: Many monsters with Rogue-type characteristics (e.g., KOBOLD, HOBGOBLIN GRUNT, WIGHT ROGUE) now have the OPPORTUNITY ATTACK ability.  This ability allows them to take a free attack against anyone that passes through an adjacent square or were next to them and moves away.  It does have a cooldown so is not always active, but can be potent. 


CARRY WEIGHT: Carry weight is capped at 500 units regardless of your strength or skills.


CHARM AND DISEASE RESISTANCE: CHARM RESISTANCE used to be based entirely on CHARISMA.  It is now a combination of both CHARISMA and INTELLIGENCE (but skews slightly more favorably to INTELLIGENCE).  Plus MORALE significantly affects it.  And it can be affected by both skills and abilities.  It isn’t explicitly displayed on the ATTRIBUTES screen, but know that these are the factors that contribute toward it.

ANGELIC creatures can’t be charmed (there’s currently only one of these — the Valkyrie from the Paladin’s SUMMON VALKYRIE ability).

DISEASE RESISTANCE is still based on FORTITUDE, and Rangers and Druids get 50% more than others per FORTITUDE point.  But there are abilities and skills and gear that can boost this. 

It is also noteworthy to point out that the Cleric ability ANAHATA (The Frozen Expanse DLC) now includes some DISEASE RESISTANCE. 


FIRE AND WATER: Some effects from abilities are now FLAMMABLE.  If they come in contact with an open flame, or are in a square adjacent to an open flame (like a campfire, ground torch, MOLOTOV COCKTAIL, etc.).  During combat, these effects will ignite and spread.  They will spread one adjacent square in all directions (that has a flammable object) BETWEEN EACH CHARACTER’S TURN (fire spreads quickly).  Anyone standing in the affected square will immediately take fire damage.  Fire, of course, will not spread on water or a wet square.

Some abilities are WATER-based and can do damage to susceptible creatures (typically fire-based creatures like FIRE BEETLES, FIRE GIANTS, MAGMA MEPHITS, etc.).  But to others being wet is just being wet and does no real harm.  This list of water-based abilities includes new ones such as WATER SHOT (Alchemist), FLOOD (Druid), and TIDAL WAVE (Druid/The Swampy Isles DLC).  But this has also been extended to existing abilities such as THUNDERSTORM (Cleric) and WET IN A BOTTLE (Alchemist).   

Many of these water-based abilities can also extinguish ground fires (think campfires, ground torches, or MOLOTOV COCKTAIL). 


CHANGES AT THE MERCHANT: The Merchant receives new inventory every month.  However, these will now be highlighted in the list with a NEW symbol in the corner of the icon for the first month.

The Merchant also now offers a LAYAWAY plan for expensive items.  For 10% down, he will hold the item for 12 months until you purchase it.  As long as you pay the remaining 90% within that time, the item is yours.  If you don’t pay the remainder, you forfeit the deposit and the item goes back into the regular stock and is subject to normal rotation.  To put an item on layaway, just select it and press the button.  

Also, the prices of SPIRIT weapons were prohibitively expensive.  These have been reduced (a lot).


BETTER LOOT: The frequency and quality of weapons and armor found in the field has been increased.


There were also a ton of small bug fixes and patches with version 1.1 (build 75).  You can see the full list here: https://www.infinitedungeoncrawler.com/release-notes/.

This is a list of many of the icons used in the game and their meanings:


 

Ability Type (Offense/Defense/Support): indicates the classification of an ability.  Offense abilities typically are used to damage others.  Defense are used to protect one from damage.  Support are used to apply buffs or healing or various other things.

Arc Sweep: an attack, typically melee, that targets 180 degrees in front of the attacker, hitting multiple targets.  That usually includes the targeted grid square in front of the user as well as the one to the right and the left.

Aberration: a type of creature with a bizarre anatomy and typically strange abilities.

Abilities: special actions or spells that characters or creatures can use.

Ability Level: (usually followed by a number) indicates the minimum level required to use an ability or spell. 

Ability Stamina: the amount of stamina expended when using an ability.

Absorb: the ability to transfer part or all of a type of incoming ELEMENTAL damage into a weapon where it is then released on the next attack.

Accuracy (ACC): the base chance that an ability or attack will succeed, minus any modifiers and the DEFENSE or MAGIK DEFENSE of the opponent.  Generally, the ACC minus DEF is the chance to hit.  

Acid: a type of attack that tends to do outsized damage to armor due to its corrosive nature.

Affinity: the preference for a given weapon, based on class, that grants an automatic +10 ACC bonus when using.

Alchemist: a CLASS that specializes in brews and concoctions for various purposes.  They excel at using a slingshot, with various ELEMENTAL shot types, plus various FLASK abilities.

Ally/Preferred Weapon: when next to a character’s health and stamina bars, indicates that they are an ally of the player (useful for distinguishing allied summons amongst similar enemy monsters).  When displayed over a weapon in an inventory list, indicates that the user has both an AFFINITY for the weapon and a corresponding weapon skill.

Amphibian: a type of creature that generally lives on land but is comfortable in water.  Many do not suffer penalties for taking actions in water, or take fewer penalties.  Some can swim and act in deep water, but not all.

Angelic: a type of creature that dwells with the Old Gods and does their bidding.  They typically have wings and can fly and are immune to charm.

Area-of-Effect (AOE): an ability that affects multiple targets within a given circle, either around the ability user or from a targeted center.

Area-of-Effect Control: a skill that allows ability users to control the size of an area-of-effect target.

Armor Accuracy Boost: a boost to accuracy provided by wearing a given piece of armor.

Armor/Armor Skill: anything related to armors, or a skill that boosts armor-related stats.

Armor Accuracy Penalty: an accuracy penalty typically from wearing cumbersome armors.

Armor Condition: indicates the exact percentage of damage to armor, with 100% indicating no damage whatsoever.  Armor mitigates up to its maximum armor value but does so pro-rated based on damage (e.g., armor with a value of 10.0 at 50% condition will act like armor with 5.0 at 100%).  When armor condition reaches 0%, it essentially stops mitigating any damage until it is repaired in town.

Armor Status: color indicators that overlay armor icons in the user’s inventory indicating their physical condition and effectiveness.  Green armor is in good shape, although it may have slight damage.  Yellow indicates condition is 40% or less, red is 20% or less.  

Attack Stamina: the amount of stamina used to mount an attack.

Attributes: pertaining to STRENGTH, INTELLIGENCE, CONSTITUTION, DEXTERITY, CHARISMA or FORTITUDE. 

Automatic: an ability that triggers by itself under certain conditions without being selected.

Automaton: a constructed being that typically runs based on an energy source, usually designed to guard places or objects.

Auto-wake: a skill that automatically wakes the user if they are ambushed while sleeping during camping.  Druids and Rangers automatically have this.

Barrage: multiple random projectiles blanket an area.  Usually, damage is done only when a given projectile hits a target and this can happen multiple times.

Beast: a non-humanoid type of creature that is part of a typical natural ecology, although they can differ or be enhanced from the norm.

Bleed: a status effect that indicates the affected person is losing blood every turn, which causes both HP damage and full Raw HP damage (100% of HP damage is applied to MAXIMUM HEALTH).

Bleed Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting a BLEED affliction.  It will also reduce BLEED damage sustained by that percentage.  This is a PHYSICAL RESISTANCE.

Blind: a status effect that indicates the affected person’s ability to see is impaired.  This usually results in ACC and DEF being reduced by 50% and ability/weapon range being reduced by 2.

Blind Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting a BLIND affliction.  This is a PHYSICAL RESISTANCE.

Blocking (Weapon/Shield): a boost to DEF from wielding either a weapon or a shield.  If wielding both, only the higher value of the weapon or shield is used.

Boost: an indicator that the user is receiving some sort of temporary positive stat bonus, usually from an ability (e.g., buff).  The details can typically be seen by clicking on the icon below the afflicted’s portrait on the ATTRIBUTES screen.

Charge: a type of ability that enables the user to move in a straight line in a cardinal direction (N, S, E or W), potentially damaging everyone that they pass and passing through their grid squares unimpeded.

Charm: a status effect that causes the affected person to fight on behalf of their enemies by attacking allies.

Charm Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting a CHARM affliction.  This is not an inherent resistance like most but based on INTELLIGENCE and CHARISMA.

Chop Tree: an ability that permits you to chop down a tree, thereby clearing a path through.  It can also allow you to drop it over an adjacent river to create a bridge.

Charisma: an attribute that primarily modifies buying and selling prices for the main character as well as the chance of positive effects from activities in town.  Also can boost the effects of HOLY abilities.

Cleric: a CLASS that specializes in providing support to others, whether through healing or defensive buffs, through meditative focus and PSYCHIC clarity.  But they are no pacifists as they excel at melee combat and the use of crossbows.  However, they only use blunt melee weapons.

Cone: an ability that targets a swath of area in front of the user, getting wider the further it goes and potentially affecting multiple targets.

Confused: a status effect that causes the afflicted to often make irrational decisions or attack allies.

Confuse Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting the CONFUSED affliction.  This is a MENTAL RESISTANCE.

Constitution: an attribute that primarily affects the amount of health and stamina that you have.  Also affects MAGIK/SPELL RANGE, PSYCHIC AREA-OF-EFFECT, and PHYSICAL RESISTANCES. 

Cooldown: The number of turns (or minutes outside of combat) after an ability is used before it becomes available again.

Critical Hit/Damage: CRITICAL HITS do an additional 50% damage.  A critical hit is performed when the roll is at least 25 below that required to hit normally (e.g., if chance to hit is 35%, rolling 10 or below is a critical hit).

Counterattack: indicates that someone has prepared a counterattack.  If attacked, and missed, the user will get an automatic melee attack against the attacker.  Counterattacks typically drain a small amount of stamina each turn they are maintained.

Damage/Offense Skill: indicates the amount of physical damage done by a weapon, ability or attack.  Also indicates a skill that is offensive in nature.

Darkness Penalty: an accuracy penalty due to having limited light.  Some skills can mitigate this, and some creatures can see perfectly well in the dark and are not affected by this.  In complete darkness, the penalty can be as high as 75%.  Many AOE type abilities (e.g., explosions) tend to disregard darkness penalties.

DEFEND: a state in which the user is anticipating the next attack and receives a 50% DEF bonus.  Once attacked, the DEFEND state is disengaged and all subsequent incoming attacks use a normal DEF.  The user will also receive additional STAMINA REGENERATION if their turn begins and they are still using DEFEND.

Defend Bypass: indicates that an ability bypasses the 50% DEF bonus of the target from using DEFEND.

Defend Stamina: the stamina used to defend oneself.

Defend Stamina Regeneration: the bonus to STAMINA REGENERATION at the start of the turn if using DEFEND.

Defense (Melee/Ranged) or DEF/Defense Skill: the reduction applied to the attacker’s ACCURACY to determine the chance that an ability or attack will succeed, minus any modifiers.  This only applies with melee or ranged attacks, or abilities that are physical in nature (as opposed to using MAGIK DEFENSE).  Generally, the ACC minus DEF is the chance to hit.  This symbol can also indicate a skill that is defensive in nature.

Devout: indicates that an ability requires the DEVOUT status, which can be attained by praying at the Abbey and lasts four months.  Applies to PALADINS only.

DELAY: an action whereby someone passes their current turn to let allies go first, then their turn resumes afterwards.  Costs 2 MP to enact and cannot use DEFEND on the deferred turn.

Detect Trap: the ability to notice a trap before activating it, giving the subject the chance to leave it or to disarm it.  Intelligence and level contribute to this stat.  Additionally, Rogues and Rangers have inherent bonuses. 

Dexterity: an attribute that is a measure of your agility and nimbleness.  It contributes to MOVEMENT POINTS, INITIATIVE, MELEE/RANGED DEFENSE, MELEE/RANGED ACCURACY, and ability ACCURACY for SPELLS.  Also contributes to FLASK ability area-of-effect.

Disarm: when a hand-held weapon is knocked out of an opponent’s hands, or they drop it when panicked.  The victim typically takes one action to pick it back up and one action to equip it.

Disarm Trap: the ability to render a trap harmless.  Intelligence, Dexterity, and level contribute to this stat.  Additionally, Rogues and Rangers have inherent bonuses.  Some abilities can also disarm traps.

Disease: a particularly nasty negative effect that can generally only be removed by the HERBALIST in town.

Disease Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting a DISEASE.  This is not an inherent resistance like most but based on FORTITUDE and RANGERS and DRUIDS have natural boosts to their resistance.

Dismiss: removes an npc from your employ.

Down: a status effect indicator that shows the character is sitting on the ground.  Down characters cannot act and will automatically stand up during their next turn (if possible), using up their action and movement for the turn.  While Down, a character has a zero DEF.

Dragonoid: a type of creature with dragon-like traits, such as scales, possibly wings, and some sort of elemental breath type of attack.  Generally they are highly intelligent.

Druid: a CLASS that is in tune with the natural world and specializes in focusing the power of the Universe.  They tend to have nature-based magikal spells.

Dual-Wield: the aptitude to wield a one-handed weapon in each hand.  Only Rogues can do this, and the weapon in the left hand must be a dagger.  Dual-wielding typically improves both ACC and BLOCKING, and the DAMAGE done is the amount of damage from the weapon in the right hand and half of that from the left hand.

Dual-Wield Accuracy: the ACCURACY of a weapon, or a bonus to its ACC, when dual-wielding it.

Dual-Wield Blocking: the BLOCKING of a weapon, or a bonus to its BLOCKING, when dual-wielding it.

Dual-Wield Damage: the DAMAGE done by a weapon, or a bonus to its DAMAGE, when dual-wielding it.

Duration: the number of turns, or minutes outside of combat, that an ability’s effects will last.

Elemental (creature type): creatures that are the corporeal incarnations of the basic elements of life (fire, earth, air, and water), or a combination of them. They typically have crystals embedded within and this is thought to power them.

Elemental: types of damage that correspond to the natural forces of nature (fire, ice, shock, poison, and water).

Enemy/Ally Targeting: indicates whether an ability targets only enemies (all red), only allies (all green) or both (half red/green).

Equipped: indicates that a weapon, shield or armor is actively in use.  Generally only one thing can be equipped in a given slot (e.g., right hand, head, gloves, etc.).

Exhausted: a status effect that indicates the character is either out of stamina or winded such that they cannot act and their movement is severely limited.  This generally only lasts a turn or two and then the character can resume normally and regenerate stamina again.

Factor: a classification for the upgrading of abilities.  Goes from Factor II to Factor IV.  Not all abilities can be upgraded, and some do not factor but have specific ability upgrades.

Fiend: an evil creature from one of the planes commonly referred to as “Hell”.  Virtually all fiends are immune to poisons, and most are immune or have high resistance to fire.

Fighter: a CLASS that excels in close-range melee combat.  They are proficient in a whole range of weapons and tend to specialize in offensive abilities. 

Fire: a type of ELEMENTAL damage that reduces HEALTH from excessive heat.  Elemental damage also does 100% damage to MAXIMUM HEALTH.  FIRE damage also has a chance to inflict PANICKED at a rate of 5% per point of HEALTH damage done.

Fire Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting FIRE damage.  Damage that is not resisted is still lessened by the percentage of the resistance.  This is an ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE.

Flammable: a substance that catches fire quickly and spreads to other adjacent flammable materials, burning anyone caught in it. Webs, grease, acids, and oils tend to be flammable.

Flanked: an indicator that the target has multiple enemies attacking them from different directions with melee or physical ability attacks (ranged attacks do not count toward FLANKING).  Prior to each character’s turn, for each subsequent incoming attack beyond the first, a 10% DEF penalty is applied, and this stacks, so the third attack is -20%, the fourth -30%, etc..  However, a defender’s DEF will never drop below zero.  At the start of the character’s turn all flanking penalties are removed.

Flask: a type of ability, used only by Alchemists, that hurls a glass vial of a chemical substance that breaks upon impact, sometimes spreading beyond the target square.

Flask Accuracy: the ACCURACY of a FLASK ability, or a bonus to its ACC.

Flask Area-of-Effect (AOE): the Area-of-Effect of a FLASK ability, or a bonus to its AOE.

Flask Damage: the DAMAGE done by a FLASK ability, or a bonus to the damage.

Flask Range: the RANGE of a FLASK ability, or a bonus to that range.

Fortitude: an attribute that is a measure of your resilience.  It contributes to STAMINA REGENERATION, MAGIK DEFENSE, and PHYSICAL RESISTANCES.  It can also help mitigate PSYCHIC DAMAGE, avoid INJURIES, resist PARALYSIS, increase SPELL AREA-OF-EFFECT, and boost PSYCHIC abilities.

Frozen: a status effect that generally prevents the afflicted from performing any action.  They are, however, typically protected from outside attacks during the time, but will often take ICE damage each turn.

Goblinoid: a category of creatures that includes Goblins and Hobgoblins, that generally can trace their lineage to Marzuk, the Prince of Exile.  They tend to have organized societies set up on tribal lines.  Most Goblinoids have strong immunity to poisons and possibly poison-based attacks.

Healing: restores HEALTH POINTS.  Keep in mind that while on an expedition, HP can never be healed beyond the current MAXIMUM HEALTH, which can only be recovered in town.

Health Points (HP)/Maximum Health: an indication of how physically robust a character is.  Health can never go above the current Maximum Health (also referred to as “Raw Health”).  Damage reduces Health, while a proportion of that damage also reduces Maximum Health.  Once a character reaches zero Health, any more damage will kill them.  While Health can be restored through abilities or resting while camping, Maximum Health can only be restored once back in town.  

Holy: a type of ability, only available to Paladins, that is particularly damaging to Undead.

Holy Accuracy: the ACCURACY of a HOLY ability, or a bonus to its ACC.

Holy Area-of-Effect (AOE): the Area-of-Effect of a HOLY ability, or a bonus to its AOE.

Holy Damage: the DAMAGE done by a HOLY ability, or a bonus to the damage.

Holy Range: the RANGE of a HOLY ability, or a bonus to that range.

Humanoid: a category of creatures that typically walk upright and have human characteristics, but not including actual humans, elves, or dwarfs.  Most have some sort of social structure, culture, tool use, and build dwellings.  They are typically distinguished from humans, however, by the level of their advancement.

Ice: a type of ELEMENTAL damage that reduces HEALTH from excessive cold.  Elemental damage also does 100% damage to MAXIMUM HEALTH.  ICE damage also has a chance to inflict SLOW at a rate of 5% per point of HEALTH damage done and drains 2x the amount of STAMINA.

Ice Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting ICE damage.  Damage that is not resisted is still lessened by the percentage of the resistance.  This is an ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE.

Immobile/Bound: a status effect whereby the afflicted cannot move from their grid square.  Immobilized creatures can still use ranged attacks or abilities.  Bound creatures cannot attack.  Both statuses lead to a 33% reduction in DEF.

Initiative: determines the order in which characters take their TURNS during a ROUND of combat.  Generally, characters with a higher INITIATIVE go first, but the process is somewhat randomized at the beginning of each round.  DEXTERITY is the primary determinant of this trait, but various status effects can modify it temporarily and some skills can boost it permanently.

Injury: a negative affliction, typically from melee attacks, that can have negative stat modifiers until it heals.  These can heal on their own, particularly through rest in town, but the HERBALIST and the HEALER can also cure them.

Insect/Arachnid: a category of creature that typically has multiple (6 or 8) legs and an exoskeleton.  They have a strong communal ethos, whether through instinct or otherwise.  Many insects have wings although not all can fly.

Intelligence: an attribute that is a measure of your mental powers.  It affects MAGIK ACCURACY, MAGIK DAMAGE, MAGIC DEFENSE, plus MENTAL RESISTANCES.  It can also boost PSYCHIC RANGE.

Invisible: the affected character or monster cannot be seen.  They are, however, still physically present and will block movement through their grid square.  When attacking, they gain a SURPRISE BONUS.

Knockdown Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting a KNOCKDOWN affliction.  This is a PHYSICAL RESISTANCE.

Layaway: a plan at the Merchant that allows you to put 10% down to hold the item for up to 12 months.

Levitate: the affected character or creature is levitating above the ground.  This enables them to pass over normally impassable terrain, such as water of low blocking objects, or pass over lava harmful grid squares without being affected (e.g., lava, traps).

Light/Light Penalty: some abilities, weapons, shields or armor can be or provide a light source.  The relative level is indicated by one or more “+” signs following it.  Some creatures are not used to light and receive an ACC penalty when exposed to light (similar to DARKNESS PENALTY in reverse).

Lockpicking: allows the user to attempt to open a locked door or container (provided they have a lockpick).  This requires a Lockpicking skill to be able to pick locks, although their skill level at it depends on other factors.  Rogues automatically have this skill.

Low Stamina: indicates that the character or monster’s stamina is below 50% and will incur ACC and DEF penalties.  Red is below 10%, yellow is below 25% and white is below 50%.

Mage: a CLASS that specializes in studying ancient knowledge.  They focus on the application of magiks, both offensively and defensively.  They are the only class that can wield a wand.

Magik Defense (MGK DEF): the reduction applied to the attacker’s ACCURACY to determine the chance that an ability will succeed, minus any modifiers.  This only applies with inherently magik attacks, such as a wand or a staff at range, or abilities that are not physical in nature (those use DEFENSE).  Generally, the ACC minus MGK DEF is the chance to hit. 

Magik Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting MAGIK attacks or damage.

Magik/Spell: indicates a type of ability that is associated with spell-casters, such as Mages and Druids.  Wands are also inherently magik in nature.

Magik/Spell Accuracy: the ACCURACY of a magik ability, or a bonus to its ACC.

Magik/Spell Area-of-Effect (AOE): the Area-of-Effect of a magik ability, or a bonus to its AOE.

Magik/Spell Damage: the DAMAGE done by a magik ability, or a bonus to the damage.

Magik/Spell Range: the RANGE of a magik ability, or a bonus to that range.

Marked: indicates that the afflicted has been specifically targeted by enemies.  This can tie into the chance of being attacked as well as possibly receiving the brunt of subsequent abilities.

Melee: a type of attack or ability that is physical in nature, usually involving weapons and up close.  They can also only be targeted in the cardinal directions (N, S, E and W).

Melee Accuracy: the ACCURACY of a melee ability or weapon, or a bonus to its ACC.

Monstrosity: a type of creature that tends to be frightening and abnormal compared to those from the natural world.  Most are unnatural and have evolved through experimentation.

Morale: a colored indicator of the contentment of npc’s.  Lower (red hues) morale leads to negative ACC and DEF penalties while higher (green) gives bonuses.  Morale icons also display four boxes below which turn from white to blue to indicate the progress to the next higher level of morale (e.g., shows they are half-way to the next morale color level).

Movement Points (MP): indicates how many grid squares a character or creature may move in a turn during combat before expending significant amounts of stamina. 

Muffled: indicates that the afflicted is making less or more noise than normal (usually followed by a percentage).

Necrotic: a type of damage that tends to reduce RAW HEALTH more than normal attacks.  It can vary depending on the source and also sometimes has other negative effects associated with it.  It is more common with UNDEAD.

No [whatever]: combined with another icon, indicates the opposite.  For example, if combined with the BLEED icon that would indicate that an ability cures the BLEED effect.

No Attack: indicates that the afflicted cannot attack for some reason (usually the result of an ability).

No Magik: indicates that the afflicted cannot use magik or spells for some reason (usually the result of an ability).

One-Handed: a type of weapon that can be held with one hand, allowing the other hand to wield another object.

Opportunity Attack: a special ability that allows someone to attack enemies that pass by adjacent squares or move away from a square adjacent to the attacker, even if it isn’t their turn.

Other: a type of creature that does not fit neatly into one of the other creature types.

Paladin: a CLASS that focuses on service and obedience to the Old Gods.  They typically excel at martial weapons and have natural anti-UNDEAD abilities.

Panicked: a status effect that generally leads to the afflicted running away from enemies and they have a zero DEF while afflicted.

Panic Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting the PANICKED affliction.  This is a MENTAL RESISTANCE.

Paralyzed: a status effect whereby the afflicted cannot move, attack or defend.  Paralyzed victims have a zero DEF when attacked.

Peer: a trait of some abilities that will reveal the location of treasures on the mini-map, usually within a given radius of the caster.

Penalty: an indicator that the user is receiving some sort of temporary negative stat bonus, usually from an ability (e.g., affliction).  The details can typically be seen by clicking on the icon below the afflicted’s portrait on the ATTRIBUTES screen.

Physical Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting physical attacks or damage.

Plant: a type of creature that has vegetative or fungal origins.  Most have minimal intelligence and many are susceptible to fire.  Many have camouflage.

Poison: a type of ELEMENTAL damage that afflicts the body’s systems and reduces STAMINA either one time or across multiple turns.  Poisons do not do HEALTH damage. 

Poison Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting POISON damage.  Damage that is not resisted is still lessened by the percentage of the resistance.  This is an ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE.

Precision: a trait of an ability that automatically targets the least armored part of the victim’s body, thereby typically resulting in more HEALTH damage incurred.

Prior Hit: indicates that the afflicted was hit since their last turn and they will incur a 20% ACC penalty if they choose to attack. 

Protection: indicates that the character or creature has some sort of protection (usually magikal in nature) that will mitigate damage while enabled.  Typically this sort of protection has a given number of HEALTH points that it will mitigate before disappearing.

Psychic: indicates a type of ability that is associated with manipulating the mind, often associated with Clerics but some creatures also have PSYCHIC abilities (sometimes also referred to as PSIONIC).  Psychic abilities that do damage tend to bypass any type of physical armor (but not Magikal Protection, and there are exceptions).

Psychic Accuracy: the ACCURACY of a PSYCHIC ability, or a bonus to its ACC.

Psychic Area-of-Effect (AOE): the Area-of-Effect of a PSYCHIC ability, or a bonus to its AOE.

Psychic Damage: the DAMAGE done by a PSYCHIC ability, or a bonus to the damage.

Psychic Range: the RANGE of a PSYCHIC ability, or a bonus to that range.

Pull: a trait of an ability that will pull the target next to the attacker.

Push Item/Person: a trait of an ability that will push an item, character, or creature back one grid square. 

Pushback: a trait of an ability that will push the target back one or more grid squares. The victim will also have their MP halved on their next turn.

Quantity: indicates that a given ability can be used only a certain number of times per expedition or per battle.

Range: indicates the maximum distance away from the user that can be targeted.  When followed by WPN it indicates that the ability uses the same RANGE as the equipped weapon.

Ranged: a type of attack or ability that can be fired from a distance or up close and is not limited to cardinal directions.

Ranged Accuracy: the ACCURACY of a RANGED ability or weapon, or a bonus to its ACC.

Ranged Damage: the DAMAGE done by a RANGED ability or weapon, or a bonus to the damage.

Ranged Range: the RANGE of a RANGED ability or weapon, or a bonus to that range.

Ranger: a CLASS that feels more comfortable in a tent in the woods.  They tend to be excellent archers, see farther than others, and are difficult to ambush.   

Raw Damage: a trait of an ability that can apply more (or less) than the normal ratio of HEALTH DAMAGE to MAXIMUM HEALTH.  Usually followed by a percentage.

Recruit: adds an npc to your employ.

Reload: some weapons, like crossbows, require an extra turn during combat to load the projectile.  This takes the action for the turn and they cannot attack or use an ability, but the person can still use DEFEND (provided they haven’t moved outside the “green zone”).

Reptilian: a type of monster that is cold-blooded, has scaly skin, has a tail, typically lays eggs, and has scales covering their body.  They may or may not walk on all fours or upright. There is a wide range of capabilities as some are barely above animals in nature whilst others have organized societies, tool and weapon use, and even primitive speech.

Resistance: the ability to block or reduce damage or effects of a given type (the icon of the type will be displayed in the shield icon, like BLEED RESISTANCE).

Revive: a trait of a skill that will automatically revive the character if they die.  Can only be used once per expedition.

Ricochet: a type of attack that bounces off of each successive target that is hit, hurtling toward another random target.  But each hit reduces the range and damage done.   

Rogue: a CLASS that are proficient fighters with both ranged and melee attacks.  Their methods tend to be sneaky and aimed at disadvantaging others.  By default they know LOCKPICKING and are the only class that can dual-wield a one-handed weapon along with a dagger. 

Self: indicates an ability that can only be used on oneself.

Shield Accuracy Penalty: an ACC penalty that applies from the cumbersome nature of wielding a shield.

Shock: a type of ELEMENTAL damage that reduces HEALTH from electricity.  Elemental damage also does 100% damage to MAXIMUM HEALTH.  SHOCK damage also has a chance to inflict STUN at a rate of 5% per point of HEALTH damage done.  SHOCK damage will also travel through water to victims in adjacent squares (requires a separate “to hit” roll), except for the original caster.

Shock Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting SHOCK damage.  Damage that is not resisted is still lessened by the percentage of the resistance.  This is an ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE.

Size Differential: some abilities may give a bonus or penalty based on the size differential between the attacker and the defender.

Skill: indicates a SKILL, which is a learned or inherent specialization trait.

Sleep: a status effect that puts the afflicted to sleep.  While sleeping they have a zero DEF and cannot move or act.  However, any successful hit by an attack or ability will wake them up.

Sleep Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting the SLEEP affliction.  This is a MENTAL RESISTANCE.

Slow: a status effect that temporarily reduces the afflicted’s MOVEMENT POINTS and INITIATIVE by half and their ACC/DEF by 25%.

Slow Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting the SLOW affliction.  This is a PHYSICAL RESISTANCE.

Smash: using brute force and strength to open a door or container.  This can sometimes lead to an INJURY if not successful.

Spirit: a weapon or ability particularly useful against SPIRITS (a type of UNDEAD that is immune to physical damage and runs entirely on STAMINA, not HEALTH).  SPIRIT weapons or abilities do 3x the normal damage to the creature’s STAMINA.

Stamina: a trait that controls the amount of actions and movements a character or creature can perform.  Low STAMINA will result in decreased ACC/DEF, possibly not having enough to use abilities or attack, or becoming EXHAUSTED.  As actions are performed, the character’s stamina is reduced.  Stamina can be recovered through STAMINA REGENERATION or by camping.

Stamina Regeneration: the amount of STAMINA that will be recovered in a given period of time, or at the start of a character or monster’s turn during combat.  Using DEFEND at the end of a turn will increase STAMINA REGENERATION by 50%.

Stunned: a status effect that prevents the user from moving or taking an action during their turn.  While stunned they have a zero DEF.

Stun Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting the STUNNED affliction. This is a PHYSICAL RESISTANCE.

Swimming: indicates that a character is in deep water and has to swim. They cannot take normal actions, such as attacks or use abilities, and they suffer a 50% DEFENSE and MAGIK DEFENSE penalty and use up twice as much STAMINA for actions, including movement.  Some creatures can act freely in deep water and do not suffer STAMINA penalties, or do not suffer as much.  This icon can also indicate that a particular ability can be used while swimming in deep water.

Teleport: The ability to immediately move from one spot to another without using any MOVEMENT POINTS. 

Trap: indicates the results of finding a trap.  Generally, avoiding triggering a trap depends on the user’s INTELLIGENCE and the complexity of the trap.  Rangers have a better chance of avoiding triggering it and Rogues have a significantly better chance.

Two-Handed: a type of weapon that requires both hands to wield.

Undead: a type of creature that was once alive but is brought back partially from the dead through necromancy or a curse.

Volley: a type of ranged attack that arcs and can go over the head of others or low objects between the attacker/caster and the target.

Wading: indicates that a character is in water up to about their waist. They can typically take normal actions, such as attacks and use abilities, but they suffer a 25% DEFENSE and MAGIK DEFENSE penalty and use up 50% more STAMINA for actions, including movement.  Some creatures do not suffer STAMINA penalties in water or do not suffer as much.

Walk Stamina: indicates stamina expended by walking.  Some abilities can lower or raise this.

Water: a type of ELEMENTAL damage that reduces HEALTH on susceptible creatures (typically fire-based, all others take no damage).  Elemental damage also does 100% damage to MAXIMUM HEALTH.  WATER damage also has a chance to inflict PANICKED at a rate of 5% per point of HEALTH damage done. Can also extinguish ground fires.

Water Walking: indicates an ability that allows you to walk on the surface of any body of water.  Normally, you can take normal actions while doing so and suffer no STAMINA penalties.

Weakness: a status effect that cuts normal MELEE DAMAGE and STAMINA REGENERATION in half.

Weak Resistance: the percentage chance of resisting the WEAKNESS affliction. This is a PHYSICAL RESISTANCE.

Weapon Damage: an ability that displays this does the same amount of damage as the equipped weapon, although there may be a modifier after it, such as +25%.

Weight: the amount that an item weighs.  Characters can only carry up to their MAXIMUM CARRY WEIGHT before they are ENCUMBERED and cannot move.  But significant weight up to that point can also burden them and lead to decreased STAMINA REGENERATION.

Weight Burden: these icons indicate the degree to which the amount of WEIGHT carried as a proportion of a character’s MAXIMUM CARRY WEIGHT is burdening them.  From left to right, they are LIGHTLY BURDENED, MODERATELY BURDENED, HEAVILY BURDENED, STRAINED and ENCUMBERED.  LIGHTLY BURDENED will reduce STAMINA REGENERATION to 80% of normal, MODERATELY 50%, and HEAVILY to 0%.  ENCUMBERED will also prevent the character from moving. 

Width: on LINEAR types of abilities, this indicates how wide (in grid squares) the line will be.

 

I continue to receive feedback and this update has many improvements and small bug fixes. The most obvious change is that loot containers will now turn a dark gray color on the mini-map after you’ve emptied them. This will help you to easily identify which ones you’ve checked already.

Another significant change is the monster AI was tweaked so that more intelligent creatures, and higher level creatures, will attempt to conserve stamina more around the 50% level so as not to incur penalties, instead of “blowing it all right away”. This should lead to more challenging combat at higher levels. Also, for those at level 15 or above, monster stats (health, stamina, stamina regen, accuracy and defense) will significantly increase because it was too heavily skewed toward players, and higher-end weapon stats were lowered a bit. This is just one of many improvements, especially for higher levels, that will come in the near future.

For those that don’t like the requirement for the extra hit to kill after someone reaches zero HP, there is now an optional switch in SETTINGS under the GAME page to turn that off. Plus, I also added an optional switch to freeze hireling morale and remove requirements for lodging or performing preferred activities in town. Using this mode you can still take part in activities for a potential positive effect, but hireling morale will always stay neutral no matter what. That is a significant departure from my original design for the game and will dramatically change it, but I also feel that players should be able to play the way they want so I added it. But, again, both of these are optional and by default the game requires the extra hit to kill and uses hireling morale.

Another noticeable change is when using Area-of-Effect abilities, the space under allies or enemies will only highlight if they will be affected by the ability. For example, if using a support ability like HEAL OTHERS, the targeting circle will appear green but not under a monster. Similarly, when using an offensive ability that only targets enemies, the ground under allies will not be highlighted red. But an offensive ability that affects everyone will highlight under everyone, indicating that you could potentially harm an ally.

Due to an issue that some users had, you can now no longer use the DROP button from the INVENTORY screen in town. If you have an item that you wish to dispose of, you need to sell it to the Merchant (even if its for zero coin). I also got rid of the chance of dying while completing an odd job in town. You can still receive a negative effect if it goes badly, but there is no chance of dying now.

There are lots of other small changes and bug fixes. I keep a running list of build updates here: https://www.infinitedungeoncrawler.com/release-notes/

Significant changes to accuracy to make battles go faster and be more enjoyable

I received a lot of feedback in the first week of release here. It seems that the biggest complaint about the game is the hit rate is so low that battles last too long with far too many misses, and that your stamina is depleted and then too hard to replenish. So I’ve made some significant changes to the battle system to make it a more enjoyable experience, especially for new players.

Overall accuracy for both characters and monsters has increased, which will result in a greater hit rate. I also put limits on a lot of stuff during initial character creation to ensure that players choose appropriate weapons and skills for their character, based on class, to ensure maximum accuracy. And Dexterity points will now contribute +2 to MELEE ACCURACY as well as RANGED ACCURACY.

Previously, you had to have a successful DEFEND (meaning used it and weren’t hit) to replenish any of your MAXIMUM STAMINA, which is the white bar that caps your STAMINA at any given time. And even with that it would replenish at a trickle. Now, just using DEFEND (even if you’re hit) will replenish maximum stamina by 50% of your normal stamina regeneration rate, and a successful DEFEND will replenish at 100%. You still have to monitor stamina in the game, but you’re far less likely to run out of it and get stuck there.

But what if you liked the difficulty involved in the original conception of the game? Well, you’re in luck. I have added an OLD-SCHOOL switch under the SETTINGS menu that will use the old stamina regeneration system. And if you bump the DIFFICULTY setting up one notch, that will fairly match the prior difficulty.

Another change is that the lowest quality weapons of ALL TYPES are now affordable for initial characters (previously you couldn’t initially afford weapons like a two-handed sword or a two-handed hammer).

I also added a SETTING to change the color of menu highlights to blue for easier viewing by those with color-blindness.

Finally, some players didn’t like having their stamina run down while exploring and having to camp often, so while this is still the default for the game, there is an option in SETTINGS to disable this if you prefer.

 

Lodging

While it isn’t absolutely required that your main player character have lodgings, you will suffer a serious negative affliction when you go through The Gate if you don’t (-25% stamina and health).  The guards will warn you about this prior to going.  In addition, hirelings will desire for you (as their employer) to provide lodgings for them. You don’t have to, but they won’t like having to pay on their own and it will be a drag on their morale.  To spring for their lodgings, just select ROOMS from either the Tavern or the Inn, or select your House if you have one, then slot them to the appropriate bed.  There are a limited number of beds in each location. 

For the Tavern and the Inn, the rent is paid on the spot when you slot characters to them, so if you change your mind later you’re out of luck because there are no refunds.  When parties return from an expedition through The Gate, all rents and/or taxes are paid at that time (after loot is split).  If you don’t have enough coin for the next month’s rent, someone may get kicked out and that is an indignity and bad for morale.  

You basically have four housing options: the Alley, the Tavern, the Inn, or a House.

The Alley is free, but it is far from ideal.  Your main player character is the only one that can sleep here, not hirelings.  And you are not likely to have a good night’s rest and will probably receive negative afflictions on a regular basis.  This is basically for if you have run out of coin and have no other option.

The Tavern has four walls.  Not so much on the roof.  But free showers are included when it rains!  The Tavern is noisy, smelly, and rat-infested … but its cheap at 5 coins per month per bed.  Occupants are likely to incur negative afflictions from time to time, and generally hirelings will have very mixed feelings (i.e.; morale) about staying here.  But in the end it is better than nothing.

The Inn is nicer than the Tavern.  They actually have sheets there.  Now, whether they’re washed or not is another story.  But hirelings will be much happier staying here.  Of course, at 15 coins per month per bed it is much more expensive.  And they are not very likely to receive negative afflictions from staying there.

If you inquire at the Mayor’s Office, you can purchase a lot in town for 1,000 coins and build a house on it.  A house is nice and has 8 beds, plus your hirelings will feel warm and cozy and happy staying there.  They will also likely receive positive effects from time to time.  A house also has a storage chest that you can safely offload items that you don’t want to carry around all the time.  There is a flat 50 coin tax each month regardless of how many occupants your house has.  You can also upgrade your house at some point to provide even nicer lodgings with 10 rooms.  Hirelings will love living there and the bonuses are more generous, including bonuses for being fed.


Monthly News

Each time you come back from an expedition through The Gate or you advance time via the HOURGLASS button, the MONTHLY NEWS will be displayed.  This is a summary of how many monsters were killed during your excursion as well as how many you have killed in total.  It will also display information regarding your party, such as how much experience they gained, whether they are ready to level up, if they have an injury or disease and what to do about it, as well as the effect the excursion and lodgings had on their morale.  If anyone was tasked with a JOB, the results or progress will be displayed. 

You can always bring up the last monthly news by selecting the NEWS button at the bottom of the screen while in town.


Lockpicking

Sometimes you will encounter containers or doors that are locked.  While you can also try to BASH open a locked chest or door instead (see the next section), lockpicking generally carries no risk of injury.

LOCKPICKING is a skill that only Rogues have by default.  Everyone else must acquire the base skill when leveling up in order to even attempt it.  Assuming you have obtained the requisite base skill (and you have a lockpick handy, which can be found as loot or purchased from the Merchant), the difficulty of the lock, your DEXTERITY, whether you are a Rogue, and possibly any skills or gear that boosts your ability will determine whether you can pick a lock.  Each failed attempt has a fair chance of breaking the lockpick. 

Your Lockpicking stat is displayed on the ATTRIBUTES screen.  The percentage displayed is the chance of successfully picking a simple lock.  You can click on the stat to see more details displayed in the tooltip.  At the simplest level, a non-Rogue with no additional skills/gear and a DEXTERITY below 12 has a 20% chance to pick a simple lock.  They have no chance of picking a moderate or complex lock.  If you’re a Rogue or have a DEXTERITY of 12 or more, that expands your ability by one grade which means you have a 40% chance on a simple lock and 20% on a moderate lock.  You still can’t pick complex locks.  A DEXTERITY of 16 or higher boosts another grade.  A Rogue with a DEXTERITY of 16 or higher gets 3 grades higher (1 for being a Rogue, 1 for DEX 12+, and 1 for DEX 16+).  That equates to 80/60/40% for simple/moderate/complex locks.  Throw in something like the Safecracker skill or Safecracking Gloves and they’re guaranteed to always pick a simple lock, and have a 80/60% chance on moderate/complex locks.

Keep in mind that some objects may be both LOCKED and TRAPPED.  You have to disarm a trap before you can attempt to pick the lock.


Traps

Some objects can be trapped.  Additionally, some creatures can lay traps, both around their den before you arrive and on the fly as an ability. 

There are two distinct phases to traps: DETECTION and DISARMING. 

Everyone (but not monsters) has a DETECT TRAPS stat that is displayed on the ATTRIBUTES screen.  This is the chance that you will detect a trap before you activate it, giving you a chance to stop and decide whether to proceed.  The percentage displayed is the chance to detect a simple trap.  Moderate and sophisticated traps reduce the chance 15% and 30% respectively.  Detect Traps is based on INTELLIGENCE and your level.  But there are skills and gear to boost this, and Rangers and Rogues (Rogues more so) have natural abilities that boost this by their level. 

Alongside this stat is DISARM TRAPS.  Once a trap has been detected, a second attempt to interact with the trapped object (or to walk on the trapped square) will be an attempt to disarm it.  The percentage displayed is the chance of success for a simple trap.  Moderate and sophisticated traps reduce the chance 15% and 30% respectively.  Disarm Traps is based on INTELLIGENCE, DEXTERITY, and your level.  And similar to detecting, there are skills and gear you can acquire to boost it and Rangers and Rogues are naturally better at it (Rogues more so).      

Once a trap has been detected, it is considered to have been found and any other action on that object (even by someone else in the party) or walking on the trapped grid square is considered to be an attempt to disarm it.  If the disarm attempt fails, the trap will go off, either damaging the person in question, setting off a poison gas, or exploding (which usually destroys the object and its contents).  Trapped containers that are detected will be indicated on the mini-map with the symbol and trapped ground squares with .

The number of traps and their complexities will increase depending on the level of the world.  Generally, you won’t encounter traps prior to level 3.  At level 10, there’s about a 6% chance that any given object that can be trapped is trapped.  It is capped at about 15% near level 35.  And you generally won’t see moderate traps appear until level 9 and sophisticated traps until level 15.  Keep in mind that GAME DIFFICULTY can affect these stats.   

As stated, monsters do not detect or disarm traps.  If a player sets a ground trap, monsters cannot see these and automatically set them off when stepping on them.  Players in the party, however, are aware of traps set by other players and can freely move past them without setting them off (this does not include summoned creatures).  Monsters are, however, aware of traps set by members of their own group and can also move past them freely.


Bashing

Some chests (and doors in some expansion packs) may be locked.  If you have the necessary skill and lockpick, as mentioned in the prior section, you can try to pick the lock.  But you can also attempt to BASH them open.

You may also come across doors that are stuck and won’t open.  You can also use BASH on these.

When you attempt to open a locked or stuck object, the CAMP or ATTACK button will change into the BASH button.  Select this to attempt to open the object by force.

Different objects have different difficulty levels, and this will generally increase as the world levels increase.  Strength is the primary determinant of how successful your bash attempt will be, and the result will be displayed in the COMBAT LOG.  No object is impossible to bash open, but unsuccessful attempts have a chance to inflict an injury.  So be very judicious if the object appears to be very difficult compared to your capabilities.  You could also try having a character with a higher Strength attempt it.


Burning and Smashing

Some objects that block your way can either be burned or smashed (or both).  Burnable objects typically include most wooden crates or furniture as well as dead trees/bushes, plus spider webs.  Smash-able objects include furniture and fragile rocks such as stalagmites or volcanic rocks.  Smashing or burning any of these will remove them as an obstacle, but you should also be careful as this can destroy any contents if they contain items. 

To burn a wooden object (sorry, doors and live trees can’t be burned), first ensure that you are holding a torch (it can be in either hand), then move to or attempt to move to the grid square with the object.  When you do, the CAMP or ATTACK button will change into the BURN button.  Select this to burn the object.  Standing in the same grid square as the burning object will not harm you.  You can also use a fire-based ability to burn an object (like Faerie Fire).  Merely target the object as you normally would target with the ability.  Also note that during combat, if you use a fire-based ability against an opponent and there is a burnable object in the same grid square, it may be burned (and thus any contents destroyed).  So be careful with fire.

To smash a smash-able object, you will need to have an axe, hammer, or mace equipped (either one or two-handed types will do).  To smash the object, move next to it and use a physical-type damaging ability such as Power Attack and target the grid square.  You can also do this from a distance using an ability like Magik Missile.  If the object was smash-able, it will crumble and no longer block your path.  Similar to burning, this will destroy the contents if the object in question is a container.


Fire and Water:

Some objects and effects from abilities are FLAMMABLE.  If they come in contact with an open flame, or are in a square adjacent to an open flame (like a campfire, ground torch, Molotov Cocktail, etc.).  During combat, these effects will ignite and spread.  They will spread one adjacent square in all directions (that has a flammable object) BETWEEN EACH CHARACTER’S TURN (fire spreads quickly).  Anyone standing in the affected square will immediately take fire damage.  Fire, of course, will not spread on water or a wet square.

Some abilities are WATER-based and can do damage to susceptible creatures (typically fire-based creatures like FIRE BEETLES, FIRE GIANTS, MAGMA MEPHITS, etc.).  But to others being wet is just being wet and does no real harm.  This list of water-based abilities includes new ones such as WATER SHOT (Alchemist), FLOOD (Druid), and TIDAL WAVE (Druid/The Swampy Isles DLC).  But this has also been extended to existing abilities such as THUNDERSTORM (Cleric) and WET IN A BOTTLE (Alchemist).   

Many of these water-based abilities can also extinguish ground fires (think campfires, ground torches, or MOLOTOV COCKTAIL). 

Leveling Up

On each character’s ATTRIBUTES screen is a green progress bar that shows your EXPERIENCE POINTS (XP) and your progress toward the next level.  When a character has reached the XP required for the next level, they can level up the next time they return to town.  You will be notified of this via the MONTHLY NEWS window and you will see the icon shown here in the upper-left corner of the screen.  Select that icon to begin the level up process.  At any time during the upgrade process, if you want to view your character’s attributes, inventory, abilities or skills, just tap on the character’s portrait to bring that info up.

Each time you level up, you are granted 1 attribute point and either 1 ability point plus 1 skill point, or 2 skill points, depending on your class and whether it is an even or odd level (refer to the Class subject of the Building your Character section of this guide).  You may choose to bank any points and spend them at a later time, but the LEVEL UP icon will always appear in town whenever you or your hirelings have points to spend.  You may want to bank ability points at higher levels because upgrading abilities costs more than one point (see the Abilities section for more info).

NOTE: In the Free-to-Play version of the game, you may not level a character up beyond level 4.  You may continue playing, but any XP that would have normally been earned will be tossed away and you will stay at level 4.  If you purchase the game, normal assignment of XP will continue.  However, you will not receive any XP’s that were previously tossed out.


Setting a Custom Zoom Level

When walking and exploring the worlds beyond The Gate, you can adjust the zoom level via the slider on the left side of the screen or, if your device supports it, by pinching and zooming with two fingers.  On a PC, you can also use the mouse wheel to adjust the zoom level.  However, when combat starts (and ends), the game will automatically revert to a preset zoom level, which tends to be closer-up for combat and further-out for non-combat. There is also a third setting, which occurs in worlds that have rooms (available in some expansion packs).   As soon as you step into a room, it typically zooms in a little so that you can see the room contents better.

If you get tired of constantly adjusting the zoom, you can preset any of these zoom levels.  To do this, just adjust the zoom under the given circumstance (combat, non-combat, or in a room) with the slider to your desired level, then hold down over the button until it beeps.  The game will then use that preset zoom level whenever you encounter that same circumstance.

If you later adjust the zoom level and want to return to your preset level, just tap the button once.


Game Difficulty

If you find the battles in the game to be too difficult, or the opposite — too easy — you can go into the SETTINGS menu and then to the GAME page and adjust the GAME DIFFICULTY slider.  This will generally give the monsters more or less health and stamina, as well as adjust both the ACC and DEF either higher or lower.  It also carries higher likelihood of upgraded monster abilities at higher levels.  Note that the changes to ACC and DEF are instantaneous, but the stamina, health, and ability upgrades are determined when you go through The Gate and a new world is generated.



Graphics Quality

IDC uses a system where individual characters and monsters are rendered from pieces.  Many games have “canned” characters (e.g., the Mage always looks the same or you have only a few choices).  IDC was built to allow all kinds of customization, from facial features to skin tone to body size, plus all those unique weapons and armor pieces.  All of that takes a fair amount of computing power to generate and put together, then animate on the screen.

If you have a gaming computer with lots of memory and a great graphics card, that’s great and you should have no problems.  But for devices with lower memory, you may find the game just quits on you (crashes) due to low memory.  When you first run the game, it will prompt you about what type of device you are running and automatically set an appropriate graphics settings based on your answer.  But you may still need to manually set some things to optimize the game. 

Go into the SETTINGS menu and then to the GAME page.  On this page you can adjust the GRAPHICS QUALITY slider.  Moving it to the right will result in sharper renderings of characters and monsters.  To the left will become more “pixelated”.  If you find the game crashing frequently, move the slider to the left one notch and try that out. 

Generally, if you have a PC with 4GB or less of RAM and a lower-end graphics card, or an Android device with only 2GB of RAM, you likely will need to stick to one of the first two notches on the left.  A PC with 8GB of RAM and a decent graphics card or an Android device with 3GB of RAM, you should be okay in the middle notch, or maybe one higher.  If you have 16GB of RAM and a good graphics card, or an Android device with 4GB of RAM or more, go for the highest notch and you should be okay.

Below that slider is the SMALLER MAP checkbox.  Checking this can also help with memory issues by limiting the maximum size of generated worlds.  This will only have an effect from level 12 and onward.

Another setting that may help conserve resources is FRAMES PER SECOND.  Lowering this may help, although lowering it too much may result in slight “stutter” during animations.

NOTE: On Android devices, it may seem counter-intuitive but generally tablets are not as powerful as phones.  That seems odd considering tablets have larger screens, but the reality is with manufacturer price-points that tablets tend to have WAY less memory and processing power than phones, yet have larger screens to paint.  If you have an ~$200 tablet, it is not going to be more limited than an ~$800 phone.



Saved Games/Recovering Games

You can have as many saved games as you have room for on your storage.  Generally a saved game plus backup take about 25-50 MB, although at higher levels (with more monsters to save) this can get larger.  Each saved game is distinct and will not affect any other games, nor can anything or anyone be transferred between games.

IDC uses a system where it will temporarily save a game first, then if it was successful it will overwrite the old game files with the new ones.  However, interruptions to this process can cause corruption of saved game files.  If this happens, you’ll generally be presented with an error when attempting to re-load your game, or the game may just quit abruptly.  Don’t panic!  IDC also saves a backup copy of a game each time you go through The Gate, so you can always go into SETTINGS then LOAD/SAVE, select your game and tap on RESTORE BACKUP.  This will restore the last known good save from when you were in town.  If your saved game was during a trip through The Gate, you will lose whatever happened there.  Everything will be as it was prior to you going through The Gate.


From time to time, the Mayor’s Clerk will solicit adventurers to complete JOBS on behalf of the town.  These are also sometimes referred to as QUESTS when they involve retrieving items or eliminating monsters in a world beyond The Gate.  You can inquire within, but for convenience these notices are also posted on the kiosk in town outside the Mayor’s Office. You can see how many jobs are available by the number of notices hung on the kiosk and clicking on it will display them.

Taking jobs is completely optional.  Some jobs are performed in town over a month’s time, and you will have to assign yourself or one of your hirelings to the task.  While assigned, they can’t go through The Gate or participate in other activities until another party has returned or you advance time with the HOURGLASS button. Other jobs require an expedition over one or more months to complete particular tasks, fetch certain items, or kill certain monsters.  These types of jobs are typically referred to as quests because they are more involved.  In this case, you will slot yourself to the job/quest to claim it, although it is not required that you join in the actual expedition(s).  But for this reason, only one quest can be active at a time.  This is not the case for jobs that merely take one month.  You can slot yourself or different hirelings to different jobs simultaneously.

Jobs that only take one month typically pay an amount of coin based on how difficult or dangerous they are, and some jobs are subject to additional coin for success or for characters of a particular class attempting them.  The success rate is somewhat random but can be influenced by various factors which may be hinted at in the job description as well as the recommended level.  Sending characters that are well below the recommended level is not likely to be successful, and sending characters above the recommended level is more likely to succeed.

Quests will not say explicitly how much coin is offered as a reward, but it is typically substantially more than routine jobs.  And many of these will reward success with weapons or armor, often times magikal in nature.  However, these jobs are usually much more difficult to complete.  For example, if a quest requires you to bring back a certain number of a skins of a particular creature before so many months, there is no guarantee that you’ll even encounter said monsters when you go through The Gate.  It is up to you to balance the likelihood of success given the time frame and your capabilities.  However, unlike with the monthly jobs there is rarely a penalty for failure (only no reward, or maybe only a lesser reward for partial success).

On monthly jobs, if you assign a hireling to a job you will have to split any proceeds equally with them.  If you take the job, you receive all the coin.  Generally, hirelings will get a morale boost for successful outcomes. On quests, however, any reward goes completely to you.

Some jobs are inherently dangerous, and your safety cannot be guaranteed.  There may sometimes be the potential for a negative outcome or injury.  Choose wisely and balance the risk and reward carefully.

The results of any job are reported in the MONTHLY NEWS after the month is over (see the Monthly News subject of the Miscellaneous section of the guide).  On quests that give you several months to complete, this will also be noted in the Monthly News and indicate how much time is left.

Jobs come and go.  If you see a job and choose not to perform it, it will likely be filled by someone else within a month or two and be taken down.  Quests tend to last longer, but the more you delay in accepting a quest the tighter the timeline left to complete it, so you should generally make up your mind quickly whether or not to accept a quest.

A final note … when you undertake a quest and go through The Gate, you will see the button displayed at the top of the HUD.  On a PC, hovering over this will show a tooltip with a quick description of your goal.  Tapping it will display more detailed information.

Evervale is where you will spend your time when not venturing through The Gate, exploring fantastic new worlds and battling exotic and dangerous monsters.

When you start a new game, you will first head to the Merchant to sell your gold nugget and purchase a weapon.  You’ll only be allowed to purchase a weapon for which you have an AFFINITY and picked the appropriate weapon skill for.  Look for the on a weapon and pick one of those.


Having just arrived in town, you don’t need a room right away.  But after your first excursion through the Gate you’ll need to secure a room for yourself.  Weary and bleary-eyed adventurers are frowned upon and the guards at The Gate will definitely take notice if you haven’t lodgings for yourself.  Head to the Drunken Rooster Tavern, which is the local watering hole, or the Inn.  To enter either, just tap on the building once and you’ll see a description in the banner at the bottom of the screen.  Tap a second time to enter.  Once inside, select the ROOMS button.  No matter which building you entered, when you tap on ROOMS you will be taken to the same screen.

Rooms at the Tavern cost 5 coin per month, paid in advance.  The Inn is nicer, but costs 15 coins.  And if at any time you don’t have enough coin to spring for the Tavern, you can always take up residence in the Alley behind.  That’s free, but … well … you get what you pay for.  At least the Tavern has walls.  Maybe not a roof, but walls!  To “slot” your character to a room, just drag their info box that is in the upper-right corner of your screen and drop it over the room you want to take.  You’ll see your character’s portrait fill the box and the money will be paid up front (this is the same way that you slot characters to any activity — just drag them to the box).  Usually you will be prompted to confirm before you’re charged for an activity, but not with rooms.  And if you slot to one set of rooms, then change your mind and slot to another — tough luck, you’re out the coin for both.  So think before you slot a character to a room.


Your whole reason for being in Evervale is to venture to other worlds in search of loot and battling monsters.  When you are ready to start your adventure, head to The Gate.  To get there, just select the bridge in the lower-right twice.

You don’t need to do it right away, but you will eventually want to explore town.  Before we describe what is available, there are some concepts you need to grasp first.


Many buildings in town offer ACTIVITIES.  These are things that you or your hirelings can take part in.  Most of these cost money but can convey positive benefits, although it does sometimes happen that someone doesn’t have such a good time and acquires a negative effect.  But generally the positive outweighs the negative.

Some characters, depending on their class, cannot or will not participate in certain activities.  For example, while Mages love it, Fighters will poo poo the idea of reading books and doing research at the Bookstore.  Similarly, Mages wouldn’t be caught dead in the fighting pit over at the Armory, whereas Fighters thrive on it.  If you attempt to slot a character to an activity that they cannot participate in, they will refuse.  This also goes for your main player character.

All classes have a PREFERRED ACTIVITY that not only do they LIKE to participate in, but are REQUIRED to participate in about every 6-9 months (one MONTH is basically one cycle in which you can go through the Gate or perform activities — or both simultaneously with different characters).  You will be alerted to when your character or hirelings desire to participate in this, and failure to do so in a timely manner will result in a negative affliction for your character(s) until they do participate.  For example, Rangers’ preferred activity is to HUNT in the Evervale Woods.  This activity costs 20 coins.  Slotting a Ranger to this activity and letting a month pass (by either having others go through The Gate or tapping on the HOURGLASS button) will satisfy their need.  They may also pick up a temporary positive effect.  Maybe their RANGED ACCURACY will be boosted 10%.  Maybe they’ll get increased stamina for a while.  They could also potentially get a negative effect, or nothing.  But if the Ranger was one of your hirelings, they’ll also get a MORALE boost (more on that down below).

Some activities are meant to fix issues with characters.  For example, the HERBALIST over at the Laboratory can fix injuries and cure diseases.  Both the Church and the Monastery can CURE negative afflictions (for a price).  The Monastery also has a HEALER who is more skilled at fixing injuries than the HERBALIST, but of course is more expensive. 

Some activities are instant and do not require a month to pass by.  These activities will have a light-blue background, and most of these fix something or typically provide a positive effect, such as EATING A MEAL at the Tavern or the Inn, or CURE at the Church or Monastery.


Some activities involve TRAINING for either abilities or skills.  Ability training is specific to a given class, and usually fairly expensive at 100 coins plus 150 coins per level of the trainee.  But the benefits of gaining an extra ability can be significant for any character. 

Skills training is less expensive at 50 coins plus 50 per level, and different spots in town provide OFFENSE, DEFENSE, SUPPORT and ARMOR skills.  These all grant 1 skill point to be spent on a skill of your choice in the given category.


Hirelings are affected by MORALE.  This is indicated by colored emojis like this:   .  These are displayed prominently on their placeholder in town, as well as on the ATTRIBUTES screen for them.  There is also a small set of 4 boxes that fill with blue to indicate the progress to the next emoji above their current one. 

It is important to keep an eye on your hirelings’ morale.  Happy NPC’s receive as much as a +5 ACC and DEF bonus.  Unhappy ones can receive up to a -5 ACC and DEF penalty.  Additionally, unhappy hirelings have a chance to come to you complaining about how they’re being treated and threatening to quit, which will force you to offer them perks to retain them, or see them walk out the door — likely with any equipment that you gave them and sprung for!  

Many things can bring down their morale: bad lodgings (them having to pay for their own lodgings is worse), insufficient loot from excursions, receiving damage in battle, getting an injury or disease, friendly fire, seeing another character die.  All of these things will negatively affect their morale.

To counter that, providing diversions in the form of activities (especially those they may be inclined toward) can raise morale.  So can better accommodations, a good amount of loot, doing positive things for them in battle (like healing or buffs), or taking time off from excursions.

Your player character is not affected by morale.  However, as mentioned before they will still need to participate in their preferred activity periodically.  Plus, when they participate in activities there is always a chance for a positive effect which can benefit them.


While we’re on the subject of keeping hirelings happy, it is important to note here that you probably shouldn’t try to hire anyone until your main character is around level 3.  There are two reasons for this.  First, you will probably be okay going it alone on expeditions for a while.  Around level 3 is when things start getting more challenging and may become too much for one person to handle.  Second, you’re going to have a hard enough time at the lower levels accumulating enough for decent gear for yourself, let alone someone else.  Plus, when you take on hirelings you have to split the loot with them.  It really doesn’t make economic sense to do this until you have to.  The longer you can hold out without hirelings, the more coin you can accumulate.  Also, hirelings have to be kept happy, as you read above, and that takes coin as well.    


Here is a list of the buildings in town and the activities they provide:

Drunken Rooster Tavern: Besides witty banter and useful advice from the Barkeep, you can participate in DRINKING and EATING A MEAL.  Also, this is the go-to place to find adventurers to hire.  There is usually a fresh batch of them hanging around at any given time, so if you don’t find someone you like, just wait a month or two.  Note that bringing on a hireling is a legal contract, and the terms will be spelled out prior to agreeing to recruit them.  Read the contract.  You can also dismiss current hirelings here.

Armory: This the place where you can hone your fighting skills.  The Master-at-Arms is an expert at whipping sorry slobs into shape.  You can PRACTICE at your weapons skills.  They also provide ABILITY TRAINING for Fighters as well as OFFENSE SKILL TRAINING for anyone. 

Bookstore: This is a favorite hangout for Mages who love to READ and gain knowledge.  They also provide ABILITY TRAINING for Mages as well as DEFENSE SKILL TRAINING for anyone.

Evervale Woods: Tucked in behind the Armory and the Church is the Evervale Woods, a thick forest teeming with game.  This is a Ranger’s paradise where they can HUNT to their heart’s delight.  They also provide ABILITY TRAINING for Rangers. 

Church: Those who are devout in the service of the Old Gods, like Paladins, will frequently want to avail themselves of PRAYING in their sanctuary.  They can also CURE negative afflictions and provide ABILITY TRAINING for Paladins.  There is an alms box here and it is known that donors are frequently blessed by the Gods.

The Stones: These ancient monoliths pre-date recorded history, but their power is palpable.  A favorite activity for Druids is to PERFORM RITUALS HERE.  They also provide ABILITY TRAINING for Druids as well as SUPPORT SKILL TRAINING for anyone.

Laboratory: Alchemists EXPERIMENT here to push the boundaries of science (plus blowing stuff up is fun).  They also provide ABILITY TRAINING for Alchemists.  The HERBALIST is also stationed here, who can cure diseases and is fairly skilled in fixing injuries.

Mayor’s Office: Although the Mayor himself is much too busy, the Mayor’s Clerk is always here, busy filling out his forms and papers.  This is the place to go if you’re looking for ODD JOBS, although it is more convenient to just check the notice board outside.  This is also the place to go if you’re looking to purchase a lot to build a house on.

The Gilded Dragon Inn: This establishment provides nice accommodations — much nicer than the Tavern that is.  They also have an established GAMBLING hall where a dice game is almost always going.  Try your luck, you may end up winning more than you paid.  You can also EAT A MEAL here, which while more expensive than the Tavern’s, they use fresher ingredients that are less likely to give you indigestion! 

Merchant: This is the place to buy weapons, armor, and miscellaneous stuff like torches, lockpicks and crystals.  This is also the place to sell your loot when you return from beyond the Gate.  Don’t worry, the Merchant will give you the best price in town!  He’s the only merchant in town, but it will be the best price.  He also provides ABILITY TRAINING for Rogues (that must just be a coincidence). 

Monastery: This building provides a retreat for Clerics where they can MEDITATE, although anyone is welcome.  They can also CURE negative afflictions, and their HEALER is an expert in patching up injuries.  They provide ABILITY TRAINING for Clerics.

Blacksmith: This is the shop to go to for fixing up any damaged armors.  He can also provide ARMOR SKILL TRAINING.

       

The Gate: Follow the bridge on the east side of town and it will take you to the cave where the Unknown Traveler discovered The Gate.  This mystical device is a doorway to other worlds filled with monsters and loot.  Demand is so high from adventurers that the Mayor has had to limit parties to one excursion per month.  The cost is free for the first traveler, but 10 coins for each additional person.


Each time you come back from an expedition through The Gate, if you were solo you will need to head to the Merchant’s to sell your loot.  Keep in mind that you can tap on the SELL ALL button to sell everything marked as loot.  However, this will not sell any weapons, armor or useful miscellaneous items like crystals.  Those will have to be manually sold one by one by selecting the item and tapping SELL.  This is a safety mechanism so you don’t accidentally sell some good stuff you may want to keep.

If you had at least one hireling that came back through with you, you do not have to visit the Merchant.  A screen will appear displaying all of the loot collected, including weapons and armors, and what each person’s share of the pile is.  If you want to keep particular items, you can select them and move them to the receiving character.  Keep in mind that you will always have to “buy out” the shares of that item from everyone else, even if you are giving the item to a hireling to use.  That’s just part of being the boss — equipping your hirelings with gear comes out of your pocket. 

Merchant Layaway: See something nice at the Merchant whose price is currently a little out of reach?  The Merchant offers a layaway plan for more expensive items.  For 10% down, the item will be reserved for 12 months without it rotating out of stock or being sold to someone else.  Once you have the money, just buy the item as usual and the deposit will be applied to the purchase price.  However, if you don’t purchase within the 12 months, the item will be returned to stock and your deposit will NOT be refunded.

 

 

Evervale used to be a sleepy little town nestled in the foothills of the Middle Reaches.  That was until the discovery made by the Unknown Traveler, for whom there is a statue in the center of town.  Legend has it that the Unknown Traveler stumbled upon a cave nearby.  In this cave he found strange CRYSTALS, and when he approached a mysterious-looking archway within the cave, it came aglow with a green, electric wave of energy.  He awoke to find himself in a forest, surrounded by tall trees, raging rivers and jagged cliffs which didn’t look anything like the gentle sloping hills and marshlands surrounding Evervale. 

As he ventured about, he stumbled upon a village of curious, smallish, green-skinned and pointy-eared creatures.  Never having seen a Goblin before, he thought it best to hide in the bushes nearby and observe.  That is, until he stepped on a twig and *SNAP* all eyes were suddenly on him.  He made a mad dash back in the direction that he came from, all the while hearing the shouts of the Goblins in pursuit.  He could hear their angry growls and see the thick, stubby clubs that they wielded.  He even heard a strange sound whiz by his ear and saw a green glob of slime splatter against a nearby tree.  

He soon found the cave where he had awoke and dashed into it.  A green light flashed and he found himself back in the original cave where he found the crystals.  Running from the cave and through the dark, stormy night, he made his way back to Evervale where he burst into the local Tavern, soaking wet and panting for breath.  He told the patrons his odd tale and the news soon spread.  Rumor has it that the Mayor of the town, a clever man, had word of similar crystals being found in nearby caves.  He put together a team of soldiers with a crystal and they ventured through this mysterious “Gate”. When they returned, the Mayor was astonished to see the trinkets that they brought back — ancient loot from other civilizations — and to hear the tales of their encounters with strange monsters.  Many soldiers didn’t make it back from that first trip.  While the trinkets were valuable, the Mayor saw something far more valuable.

Soon, adventurers from all over — farmhands, second sons, wandering vagabonds, veterans of the last wars, those down on their luck — started appearing in town, banding together to try their luck in these other worlds.  The Mayor posted guards to control the Gate and charged each party an entrance fee.  Soon, there were so many teams going through that he had to limit each party’s excursions to one per month.  The town grew and prospered.  

And this is where you come in … a lonely traveler looking to make your fortune in these strange worlds filled with monsters and loot. 

Battles in IDC take a while.  With one character against one or two monsters, it could be over within a few minutes.  But a full party against 5, 6, 7 or more monsters is going to take at least half an hour to complete, maybe more.  But battle is the heart of the game, and learning the subtleties of the combat system will help you in your quest to vanquish monsters.  Many of the previous sections described various stats used in the game, and we will try to weave all the pieces together here.

As we said several times before, one of the most important stats is the game is STAMINA.  As you walk around exploring the world, you are likely to stumble on monster dens or monsters just roaming around.  Typically, monsters will see you long before you see them as most of them have sharp eyesight, hearing, or night-vision.  Its recommended that you try to camp often while wandering around so that you don’t stumble upon monsters with depleted stamina.  This also goes for carrying around too much, which can lower your STAMINA REGENERATION. 

As you explore each world you can pretty much wander around freely and any hirelings will automatically follow you.  When you stumble upon monsters (or vice versa), the music will change and the game will enter COMBAT MODE.  During combat, the action becomes turn-based.  Based on their INITIATIVE and a little randomness, the order of play will be generated.  This is seen by the character placeholders in the upper-left corner of the screen.  Play progresses from left to right.  During someone’s TURN, only they can act (there are potential counter-attacks, but we won’t discuss those now).  When they are done taking all of their actions, they end their turn and the next person or monster goes.  When everyone has taken their turn, it is the end of the ROUND.  The play order is then re-calculated and everyone’s turns start again.  This continues until all monsters or the PLAYER CHARACTER  is dead (you, not your hirelings), or there is enough distance between the party and the monsters that the monsters break off combat.

During your turn, you may MOVE at any time, before and/or after an ACTION.  However, you are generally limited to one action.  That action can be an ATTACK (either melee or ranged), use an ABILITY or end your turn using DEFEND.

Select the MOVE button to display your movement possibilities (it’s the one you see selected in the image below).  If you read the section on Movement and Initiative, you’ll know that the edge of the yellow squares indicates how far your MOVEMENT POINTS allow you to move without expending extra stamina.  You can push it farther and move into the red, but it will cost significantly more stamina.  When you select a grid square that is highlighted, you’ll see the blue TRAVEL LINE as shown below.  To complete the move there, select the same square a second time.  Once you move, the displayed colored grid will change because you have used up some or all of your movement points.  You can move again if you wish, or take an action.  Remember that you can move at any time during your turn, before or after an action, as long as you have movement points left.

If you read the section on Weapons you’ll know that weapons come in two types: MELEE and RANGED (staves are a hybrid of the two).  To attack with a melee weapon, your target must generally be in the next grid square in any of the cardinal directions (north, south, east, or west).  You cannot attack diagonally with a melee weapon.  Some weapons, like a POLEARM or SPEAR allow you to attack from 2 squares away, but it must still be cardinal.  You can also attack over low objects.  For example, if there is a crate in the same square as you but it is between you and a monster, you can attack.  When you select the ATTACK button, the ground squares that you can target will be highlighted red, as seen in the image below.

To attack, select one of the red squares and the targeting RETICULE will highlight that square (ideally one with a monster in it!).  To carry out the attack, select the same square a second time.  You can change your mind and target another square — just select the same square a second time to actually attack.  

To attack with a ranged weapon, you also select the ATTACK button as shown above.  However, the available targeting area will be significantly larger.  How large depends on the range of the weapon itself plus any range-boosting skills or buffs you may have.  Similar to melee weapons, you can attack over short objects (including shorter monsters).  However, ranged weapons are subject to line-of-sight, which means that you can’t hit targets that are obscured by larger objects or normal-sized characters or monsters.  If you look at the previous figure, you can see that the red targeting area does not extend beyond the large rock near the top of the screen.  But the short boulder in the middle, even though it blocks movement, does not obscure line-of-sight behind it. 

Note: when the image above was created (with an earlier version of the game) all creatures blocked line-of sight behind them.  That is no longer the case.  Shorter creatures, like this ant, would not block the space behind them.

When you attack, you’ll see the actions occur on the screen.  Typically you will hear appropriate sounds related to a hit or a miss, and on a hit possibly see some sort of blood spurt or effect on the victim indicating that.  But you should also check your COMBAT LOG to see the specifics of the attack.  Here you can see the results of Wilma shooting her bow at that giant ant.  Start with the line where it says “Wilma range attacks…”.  That shows the type of attack that occurred.  The next line shows that Wilma’s ACC was 53.  Below that you can see the giant ant’s DEF was 15.  53 – 15 = 38, which was the % chance to hit.  The roll was a 47 (again, imagine a HUGE 100-sided D&D die being rolled) which resulted in a miss.  Even though she missed, 38% for a level 1 character isn’t bad.  That essentially means that she’s likely to hit 2 out of every 5 shots with her bow.

It’s a good time to mention that when you start combat, if you’re not familiar with a given monster, or you just want to brush up on their stats and capabilities, you should review their ATTRIBUTES.  This can be done by tapping twice on their placeholder in the upper-left corner, or by holding down over the actual monster on the screen.

You can see from the screen above that the giant ant only has 3 HEALTH POINTS (HP), which is not a lot.  Wilma’s bow does 1-4 damage, plus she has a 20% damage bonus (so she’s really doing 1.2 to 4.8 damage — damage done is rounded to one decimal place, even though the HP here shows a whole number).  But the giant ant also has 12 ARMOR.  But this is a total number for its entire body — individual body parts have less.  So that’s going to protect it a little bit.  Still, Wilma likely only has to land 2 or 3 hits to kill this monster.   The BESTIARY contains useful information on monsters.  Giant ants are simple creatures so not a lot of info, although if you read it you will notice they have an ACID attack.  Higher level and more challenging monsters will have a lot more information displayed including some of their known attacks, defenses, and tactics.  You should definitely read the bestiary when you encounter a creature you have not encountered before.     

Instead of attacking, you may choose to use an ABILITY.  When you select the ABILITY button, a popup menu will display all of the character’s available abilities.  You can pull up information on all of them by selecting the SPELLS button.  You can also see a lot of info just by hovering the mouse over the ability icon and a tooltip will appear (PC version only).  Otherwise, select the ability you wish to use.  If an ability is in COOLDOWN, it will be blacked out and you will see a number indicating the number of rounds before it will become available again.  Depending on the ability selected, the ground grid will display targeting colors.  As mentioned in the Abilities section, many abilities have very different targeting mechanisms.  For example, if Wilma selected First Aid, she would only see the grid she is standing in turn green.  That’s because you can only use First Aid on yourself and it is a SUPPORT ability.  If she selected Shove, she would see only red target squares appear — similar to melee targeting — where there is something that can be shoved (it could be a creature or a moveable object).  Selecting either Power Attack or Flaming Arrow would display a large red circle similar to her normal ranged attack targeting.  That’s because both of those rely on her currently equipped weapon, which is her bow.   

We’ll assume that Wilma chose to use Flaming Arrow.  Again, you will see and hear the animations for the attack and possibly some effects (on a hit Flaming Arrow would show some flames burst on the victim).  But checking the COMBAT LOG will reveal more details about the attack.  We can see here that Wilma had an ACC of 53.  However, the DEF line for the giant ant is somewhat different this time.  First of all, the giant ant was using DEFEND (we’ll cover that in a bit) so got its normal DEF multiplied by 150%.  However, due to slightly low stamina, it has a -16% penalty.  The result of this was that its DEF was 18.  53 – 18 = 35, which was the % chance to hit.  The roll was 11, which resulted in a hit.  In this instance it was hit in the legs.  The attack would have done 3.6 damage normally, but the giant ant’s armor mitigated 3.4 of that (successive hits would chip away at that and it would mitigate less and less).  That leaves 0.2 points of damage to reduce the giant ant’s HP (remember the ant had 3 HP).  Since it was a hit, the ability’s successive effects get a roll.  Flaming Arrow does 1-4 points of fire damage.  Since the giant ant has no FIRE RESISTANCE whatsoever, it is an automatic hit because the original attack was a hit.  The ant takes 3.9 points of fire damage.

You might be thinking “Hey!  The ant only had 3 HP and took 0.2 plus 3.9 damage, which totals 4.1.  So why isn’t it dead now?”  Remember that to kill anyone, they have to be reduced to zero HP and then take additional damage from another hit.  The fire damage reduced the ant to zero.  It will take another successful attack for Wilma to kill this ant. 

We mentioned in that last ability attack that the giant ant was using DEFEND.  It is important to understand this concept as you will use it a lot.  Your characters, and monsters, will always defend themselves when attacked.  That is the DEF part of the stats displayed in the COMBAT LOG.  DEFEND is a distinct action that is taken in lieu of attacking or using an ability.  When you select the DEFEND button (the one at the bottom of the buttons list with the shield on it), you end your turn in a highly defensive position.  Anyone that is using DEFEND will display the icon next to their health and stamina bars over them.  This has the benefit, as shown with the ant, of boosting your DEF score by 150%.  But there is a second benefit as well.  When you start your turn, your STAMINA REGENERATION will replenish a certain amount of stamina.  If your turn starts and you are still using DEFEND (meaning no one attacked you in the interim), your stamina will replenish at 150% of your normal rate.  So if you have a stamina regeneration of 3.0, using DEFEND would boost that to 4.5.  That is significant, especially in a long battle.  However, any incoming attack (whether it hits or misses) between the time you select DEFEND and the start of your next turn will interrupt this bonus — referred to as “breaking someone’s defense”.  You will still get the 150% DEF bonus during that attack, but you won’t get the stamina regeneration bonus.  You’ll only regenerate your normal amount.  Additionally, the 150% DEF bonus is used only once.  Any subsequent incoming attacks do not get the DEF bonus until you choose DEFEND again.  Refer to the section on Stamina in this guide for more info because there are additional details regarding replenishing MAXIMUM STAMINA that we don’t discuss here.  

Again, you can end your turn with DEFEND if you have not taken an action and have not moved beyond the green highlighted movement squares.  If you did any of that, the DEFEND button will display the icon meaning it will just end your turn.

So you may be wondering “If a monster is using DEFEND, should I try to attack since they have the x150% DEF bonus?”  The answer is a definitive … it depends.  Yes, attacking a monster that is using DEFEND is harder to hit.  But by attacking them, you deny them the stamina regeneration bonus.  However, sometimes (especially in smaller groups) you may want to get a DEFEND in when a monster chooses to DEFEND.  But here’s another scenario: let’s say a monster uses DEFEND and then you attack.  They have the upper hand there.  And then on their turn they turn around and attack and have a normal attack chance.  But if they DEFEND, then you DEFEND, then they attack … you have the upper hand.  Then your next attack is a normal attack where they’re not defending.  Do you see how that plays out better for you?  Of course, you can’t always predict what a monster will do.  And that’s why sometimes you just need to go by your intuition.  

It is important to note at this point that there are other things you can do that are considered to be “actions” and will prevent you from attacking, using an ability, or using DEFEND during your turn.  The first of these is switching any of your equipped armor or weapons or giving gear to another character.  This is allowed during combat, but it takes up your action.  And it can’t be done during the turn if you’ve already used your action, say with an attack.  The other action is checking a container for loot, such as a crate or a chest.  Or burning or smashing something.  Or picking up something like a torch or a dropped weapon from the ground.  All those take up your turn’s action as well. 

There is another benefit to DEFEND.  If you are afflicted with POISON, successfully using DEFEND will reduce the amount of drain on your stamina by half.  Recurring poison comes out of your stamina at the start of your turn, so if you are still using DEFEND (no one attacked you), it will mitigate some of it. 

Finally, after you have taken your action and moved as much as you wish, you need to end your turn (again either with thebutton or thebutton). 

That is basically the sequence of events that make up turns in combat.  The whole thing repeats until, as previously stated, either the monsters are dead or your main character is dead, or you or the monsters have run away and put enough distance between you.

We’ll outline a few more concepts that are crucial to combat:


Delaying your Turn:

Turn order is determined by each character’s INITIATIVE (covered in another section) and somewhat randomized.  Generally, going first is advantageous as you can attack your enemies earlier, thereby potentially killing or disabling them before their turn comes around.  However, there may be times when a given character wishes to postpone their turn to let others go first.  This can be done via the DELAY button, which looks like an hourglass shown here.  DELAY allows you to postpone your turn until all allies that are immediately to the right of you in the turn order displayed in the upper-left corner of the screen have gone.  Note that using DELAY will cost 2 MP and you cannot use DEFEND in your deferred turn (you can, however, take any other actions as you normally would).  So, for example, if our turn order looked something like this:

              MAGE, RANGER, FIGHTER, MONSTER, CLERIC, MONSTER

the Mage could use DELAY and they would then take their turn after the Fighter.  Again, you can only delay your turn beyond those allies immediately to your right in the turn order.  That first monster interrupts the order, so the Mage would not go after the Cleric.  This also means that the Cleric cannot use DELAY as there are no allies immediately to the right of them. 

When would you use DELAY?  Here’s an example.  Let’s say that the Mage wants to use an area-of-effect spell that will buff his/her allies, but the Ranger or Fighter are too far away currently.  You could move your Mage, but them maybe that will cause someone else to be out of range.  Using DELAY would allow the others to get into position before the Mage’s deferred turn comes around and then they could cast the spell covering everyone. 

Another example of when DELAY might be advantageous is if there is a monster that is using DEFEND, and you want someone else to attack first in order to break their defense so that a more powerful character can then follow up with a more damaging attack and have a better hit chance.  


Flanking:

One battle concept you should understand is FLANKING.  This occurs when one victim is attacked multiple times between their turns.  The first time you are attacked, there is no penalty.  That is just a normal attack.  But if you are then attacked by someone else, you receive a -10 penalty to your DEF.  A third attack will result in -20 DEF.  A fourth -30.  Your DEF can never be reduced below zero, but these can be significant.  When your turn rolls around again, all FLANKING penalties are cleared.  

Keep in mind that stacked FLANKING bonuses roll over between rounds.  So if someone attacks you and they are at the end of the play order, then a new round starts and someone attacks you again (even if it was the same one that attacked you previously), the -10 FLANKING is applied.  Flanking is only cleared when your next turn starts.

For practical purposes, what this all means is that it is better to gang up on one victim than to try to spread attacks around.  Teamwork helps.  That may not always be practical in every situation, but you should try to take advantage of FLANKING when possible.  Some monsters will react to being flanked by running away in the hopes that they can escape it.

On the flip side, you should try to avoid being flanked.  Positioning your characters together in a formation so as to minimize the possibility of multiple attacks on the same character, or using the terrain such as rocks, trees, objects, etc., can be helpful. 

One final note: melee and ranged attacks count toward flanking.  So do abilities that directly cause physical or elemental damage.  An ability that only afflicts a status effect (like Bane which only causes WEAK but does no damage) does not count toward FLANKING.  Nor would something like fire on the ground left over from a prior ability attack.


Prior Hit:

If you (or a monster) are successfully attacked — a hit, not a miss — you will incur a PRIOR HIT penalty on your next turn.  This icon will be visible near your health and stamina bars as well as over your placeholder.  If you attack or use an ability in your next turn, you will incur a -20 ACC penalty.  Depending on the circumstances, it may behoove you to use DEFEND on a turn after you’ve been hit.  The penalty just lasts the one turn and then goes away, unless you are successfully hit again.  Unlike FLANKING these do not stack so you can only have one PRIOR HIT penalty at a time.


Darkness Penalty:

In dark conditions, most characters will suffer a DARKNESS PENALTY.  In pitch black conditions, or close to it, this can be as much as -50% ACC or -50% DEF.  That can be significant, especially when battling monsters that can see in the dark and do not suffer the penalty.  But even dark shadows are likely to interfere with your accuracy and defense.  The best way to mitigate this is to move closer to a light source and potentially lure the monster closer as well.  Or to provide a light source yourself.  Torches are provided for free to everyone that goes through the Gate that doesn’t have one, and you can purchase more for a nominal amount.  Holding one of these in your off-hand can be advantageous.  This is sometimes a serious consideration when forming an expedition party, to ensure that one or more adventurers can carry a torch.  You can also drop one or more torches on the ground and pick them up later (that takes up an action in combat). 

Pro tip: if you equip a shield in your left hand (or can dual-wield and equip a dagger in the left hand), then you equip a torch, the shield (or dagger) will move to your back during exploration and you will hold the torch in your left hand.  But when combat starts, you will automatically drop the torch to the ground and wield the previously equipped shield (or dagger) without using any action.  This can be handy for providing a light source during combat while still wielding a shield or off-hand dagger.

There are also abilities, such as the Mage’s Mage Light or the Druid’s Moonlight spell, that can provide bright illumination for extended periods of time.  These will follow the caster around too.  Other abilities provide illumination too, although they tend to be less of it.  Obviously, abilities that create fire tend to provide light.  

Some weapons provide a fair bit of light, like STAVES and WANDS.  But there are also magikal weapons, shields, and armors that may provide light as well, as indicated by the torch+ icon in their description (+++).  The more plusses, the brighter the light.

Another option is to invest in skills like Night Vision that will lower the Darkness Penalty.


The Three Default Abilities:

Power Attack

Your player and all NPC’s have three abilities by default that they do not have to spend ability points on.  The first is Power Attack.  This is a good one to use often.  It is similar to a normal melee or ranged attack, but you receive a 10% ACC bonus and a 20% DMG bonus.  However, it uses 6 stamina points versus 4 for a normal melee attack.  And it has a COOLDOWN of 4 rounds, so at the most you can use it only once every 4 attacks.  Still, you should be using it often.  You may not want to waste it during a turn when a target is using DEFEND, but wait for an opportune moment and lit it rip.

First Aid

The next is First Aid.  This is a simple healing ability that can restore 2-4 HP.  That isn’t a lot but it does come in handy.  You shouldn’t worry too much about keeping your health at 100%, but definitely should use this if it starts dipping too low (or use more powerful healing abilities if you have them).  If you use First Aid (or any healing), your health cannot exceed your MAXIMUM HEALTH.  That cannot be restored in the field and you’ll have to go back to town to recover it.  First Aid also has the added benefit of curing any BLEED effect, which you’ll know if you read the section on Health is particularly nasty as all damage goes toward RAW HEALTH, which cannot be restored in the field. First Aid cannot be used outside of combat.  If you need to heal, camp. 

Shove

The last is Shove, which is useful in some circumstances but is definitely not an offensive tool.  While it can be used to push a monster back one square, it won’t do any damage or cause KNOCKDOWN or anything like other abilities can.  What it is mostly used for is moving objects (or monsters) out of the way if they are positioned such that you can’t get through.  Shove can be used both in and outside of combat. 


Status Effects:

Don’t underestimate STATUS EFFECTS, either targeted at you or used by you against monsters.  They’re usually short-lived at around 2-3 rounds but can have significant effects that may tip the scales of a battle.  Using BLIND on someone will cut their ACC and DEF in half, plus reduce ranged attacks by 2 squares.  Causing STUN on someone means they won’t move or attack and their DEF is lowered to zero while you wail on them.  Someone who suffers from PANIC will run around all over the place expending stamina and never attacking and have DEF lowered to zero.  CONFUSE can be especially gratifying watching monsters attack each other, although the actions of those afflicted can be wildly unpredictable and they still might attack you if you’re too close.  SLOW will cut someone’s MOVEMENT and INITIATIVE in half. SLEEP can take someone out of combat for a bit (you can attack them with a DEF of zero, but they’ll immediately wake up if hit).  WEAK will chop the MELEE DAMAGE (not RANGED DAMAGE) someone does and their STAMINA REGENERATION in half.  KNOCKDOWN does just what it sounds like it does — it knocks them down to the ground where they are vulnerable with a zero DEF and they’ll waste their next turn getting up (plus getting up costs 2 MP). IMMOBILE and BIND will prevent someone from moving out of their square, and BIND will prevent any attacks whereas IMMOBILE prevents melee attacks (or melee-type abilities) but not ranged attacks.  PARALYSIS and FROZEN prevent the victim from moving or performing any actions and lowers their DEF to zero (Frozen usually protects them in the interim from outside attacks, but does recurring ICE damage).  Finally, CHARM is particularly nasty as it will turn someone against their comrades, essentially flipping them to the other team for a while. 


Crystals:

During your explorations, you will definitely come across CRYSTALS.  These highly magikal minerals are what power the Gate, and they can be sold at the Merchant back in town.  They come in various colors, but there is no functional difference.  It is important to note that these do not show up on your MINI-MAP as white dots like loot containers do.  You have to keep your eye out for these and they will usually be in rocks or cliffs.  They also glow, making them much easier to spot at night.

But it is recommended that you always have at least one crystal in your inventory amongst your party.  The reason why is that if you get into trouble — say a battle has gone horribly wrong — you can use the crystal to immediately transport your entire party back to town.  You will still posses any loot that you were carrying at the time, but the crystal will be destroyed in the process.  This can be a good escape hatch to get you out of trouble if you’re in too deep (or if you’re too lazy to walk all the way back to the Gate).  However, if you have hirelings and you escape to town during a battle, they will suffer a morale hit due to the shame of running.


Asleep:

Sometimes you may chance upon a group of monsters that are ASLEEP.  You can generally tell by the music, but you will also see the status icon over their placeholder or next to their health and stamina bars.  Attacking a sleeping creature grants a SURPRISE bonus, plus they have to expend a turn to stand up.  However, most creatures have very sensitive hearing, so tread lightly (taking your shoes off can even help) and walk short distances (stay in the green movement squares).  If you make too much noise they will likely wake up.  Also, attacking a monster will assuredly wake them up, and likely make enough noise to wake others (although this can depend on the attack type and the distance, so its not guaranteed).

You may also be ambushed by monsters while camping.  Unless you’re alone, there will be one character on watch who will be awake.  Rangers will automatically wake as well.  But other characters may be sleeping.  The same rules apply in that loud noises can wake them up.  Your characters do not automatically wake when ambushed, but they will definitely wake if attacked.  You will also be in a DOWN status similar to KNOCKDOWN where it will take your action for that turn to get up, as well as 2 MP.

Most creatures are awake during the day and sleep at night, although this is not always the case.  Some creatures are nocturnal (refer to their Bestiary entry for more info).  Some creatures do not sleep at all. 

War Horn

Pro tip: A loud ability such as the Fighter or Paladin’s War Horn is a great way to wake up everyone in your party if ambushed while sleeping.  It has the added benefit of boosting their ACC as well.