Combat 101

Getting Started
Before starting any combat encounter, the player must first find themselves a Weapon, whether makeshift or crafted. Almost anything can be used as a weapon when in a dire situation but sticking to swords, daggers, axes, hammers, and bows with arrows will make the player more likely to come out of the encounter successfully. Choosing the best weapon for the situation can be critical for the player's survival, like taking an Axe to go fight Goteras.

Making Every Hit Count
Combat damage in A Township Tale is derived from many factors, but the two that matter the most are the type/material of the weapon and the force behind each swing.

Weapon Material
The damage a weapon can output is based on the materials that each head is made from. These are in the basic order as follows:

Gold (16.4%) < Copper (19.7%) < Iron (20.8%) < Palladium (32.9%) < Red Iron (38.4%) < Electrum (43.9%) < Silver (43.9%) < Viridium (54.9%) < Mythril (87.9%) < Valyan (100%).

Many Alloys are stronger than the sum of their parts, so it is best to make them when the materials to are available.

Using the Force
As with all tool interactions in A Township Tale, the distance traveled and the speed of a swing contribute to how effectively a tool or weapon is used. Swinging a sword with two hands is an easy way to increase swing speed with less movement or wind-up required. Another very effective way of increasing damage is sprinting into your swings. Movement speed counts towards how fast your sword is moving, so a fast run combo'd with a strong strike will deal some solid damage. However, know that if you get hit by an enemy, it will not let you sprint for a few seconds, so take care to not charge straight in to danger lest you risk not being able to fight your way out.

What About Bows?
Bows are another perfectly viable weapon with which to bring the pain. Archery requires more practice than swordfighting, but can be immensely rewarding. There are two types of Bows, a Wooden Bow (which is craftable) and a Metal Bow (which is not). The Metal Bow and Wooden Bow have no difference in damage: however, Metal Bows won't damage themselves firing, and will only be damaged by hitting things with the bow itself or blocking with the bow. What decides your damage is the type of arrows, of which there are a few: Arrows that are crafted by the player with a shaft, feathers, and a metal tip, and then rusty arrows or crescent arrows that are found in the environment. For bows, be sure to pull the arrow back as far as you can to maximize shot strength and distance, and be sure to pick up skills from the Archery Shrine to augment your abilities.

Know Thine Enemy
The best way to avoid death during a fight? Know what your enemy is going to do. Here is a short rundown of all current enemy attacks:


 * Spriggulls: They will duck down low and stare at you once you are in close range, and getting any closer will cause them to leap at you. The best time to hit them is either mid-flight, if you can predict their jump, or striking from behind (if you're fast enough).
 * Goteras: When they spot you, they will do a little stomping animation, and plant their feet. At range, they will shoot tree nuts at you continuously that do a bit of damage, but can easily be deadly in their high volume. When you close into sword distance, in between shooting nuts, they will shoot several Gotera Spores. Touching them deals damage, but as long as you are very close to the Gotera, they likely won't hit you.
 * Wyrms: At a range, they will shoot acid spit, which can be deadly if you get hit by several at once. They will rear back before shooting it, so use that to plan your moves to avoid the spit and close the distance. At sword range, they will either shoot acid at you or swing their claws to hit you. Their claws can be blocked, but their acid cannot except with a Mushroom Shield (supposedly). Occasionally, a wyrm can also use a multi-hit melee attack, which can easily be fatal.
 * Turabadas: They possess four main abilities: Melee Strike, Uppercut, Ground Pound, and Bunker Down. Melee Strike should speak for itself, but it mainly consists of a powerful punch from either arm. Uppercut is much like the base Melee Strike ability, but it strikes three times in rapid succession. The first is a right hook, the second a left; the third ending in a powerful uppercut. Ground Pound is much like the Uppercut ability, with 5 total attacks instead. A powerful left hook, followed by a right hook, then a left hook, then a right hook, then into a two-arm Ground Pound. Bunker Down is an ability which allows the Turabadas to sit down, with its arms in front of it, shielding itself. While it is sitting, it is immobile, and an easy target, however, while sitting it will also attempt to heal. The progress of which can be easily timed by a green hemisphere expanding from it. If not killed or knocked down fast enough, it will heal a portion of its health. Turabadas are formidable foes in 1v1 fights, but when a player is equiped with a Weapon and Shield, and has learnt their enemies' attack patterns, the fight may conclude in their favor.
 * Phantom: Phantoms will quickly spot a player if they are in their vicinity, where they will then release a circular cloud of Nightmare, a poisonous gas. A Phantom can also release a number of smaller 'minions' that will spread the Nightmare. Phantoms are etheral enemies that are almost completely invulnerable to traditional damage and weapons... Almost. By exploding a Gotera Spore near them, the Phantom will be solidified, allowing them to be attacked by a player.

Enemies also have weakpoints that can be exploited for extra damage, if you're able to hit them.

Combat Systems Info
Whenever you attack a Player or a Creature in A Township Tale a yellow circle will go from your head to your lower half of your body, which means you are in combat with a player or a creature.

In Combat your movement speed / Teleportation is unaffected as long as you do not get hit by an attack that cripples you. Crippling can occur with certain weapon types (like sickles) or certain enemy attacks (such as Wyrm spit). If you become crippled, your movement / teleportation speed is greatly reduced. After the combat is done, The combat shell will show up as blue as it goes around your body, which means you're out of combat. With this, you're free to go on with your business or keep up your level grind!

What To Do Next?
Once you have the basics of combat down, you could move on to regularly farming in order to gain XP. With this XP you can unlock Warrior Skills at the Warrior Shrine, located within the Mountain Pass, or the Archery Shrine, up past the Town Hall. From testing, Wyrms provide the most XP per-kill. However, be careful when fighting them as they tend to appear in packs, and one appearing behind you without you noticing can be a death sentence. The next highest enemy for combat XP is a Gotera, and the last are Sprigguls. Once you kill enough enemies, a golden swirl will surround you, which means you just gained a skill point! Make your way to the Combat Shrine or Archery Shrine to spend the skill point for the desired skill (Skills are listed on the Warrior Shrine page and Archery Shrine pages.)