Action
Learning paths through this topic
Combo System
Combos reward timing: the same button does more for a player who presses it at the right moment.
Hitbox and Hurtbox
Fights feel fair when what hurts matches what the player sees. Keeping the shape of an attack apart from the shape of a body lets you tune each without changing how the characters look.
Parry
A parry rewards close attention. Reading an enemy's attack and answering it at the last moment feels better than running away from it, and it turns defence into the start of an attack.
Block and Guard
Guarding gives the player a way to take a hit instead of avoiding it, and the parry rewards good timing. The meter and the break keep it from being a way to stand still forever.
Critical Hits
Crits add a little luck to every hit, so fights are not exactly the same twice, and they give gear that raises the chance or the damage a clear meaning. Used with care they add excitement without deciding a fight on their own.
Threat and Aggro
Threat lets a team of players share a fight on purpose: one holds the enemy's attention while the others do their work. Players can read why the enemy chose someone, and can change it.
Projectiles
Shots let the player hit what is far away, and give the enemy something to dodge. A shot you can see coming, that always hits what it touches, feels fair, and that is what this page is about.
Boss Phases
Phases turn one long fight into three shorter ones, each with something new to learn. They also give the player a clear sign of progress, so a long fight keeps its drive.
Enemy Patrol and Chase
A patrolling enemy gives the player something to read, sneak past, lure or fight. The pause before the chase, the search and the walk home are what make the enemy feel alive instead of like a trap that always knows where you are.
Stagger and Poise
Poise lets a big enemy shrug off light hits and a light enemy fall over at a touch. Heavy weapons then feel heavy, attacks need a choice of when to commit, and a fight has moments where the enemy is open.
Invincibility Frames
Protection after a hit gives the player time to get away, and it stops a character standing in a hazard from losing all its health in a fraction of a second. Done wrong it is either too short to matter or so long that danger stops feeling real.
Lock-on Targeting
In a fight with several enemies, the player should not have to aim by hand while dodging. Locking onto one enemy makes attacks and the camera follow it, and the rules for picking and keeping that enemy decide whether the lock feels helpful or fights the player.