Action
Learning paths through this topic
Give an assist to the players who helped just before a kill, and only those
A kill is often the work of two or three players, and the one who lands the last hit is not the only one who deserves a mention. This entry shows how long a helper counts, how much counts as help, and who must never be listed.
See why a small attack speed bonus does nothing and fix the animation steps
A ring promises faster attacks, yet the hero swings exactly as slowly as before. Animations run in whole frames, so small bonuses disappear in rounding, and a huge one makes a move shorter than a frame. This entry shows how to count it and which bonus first matters.
Give a downed player a countdown that gets shorter every time they go down
A downed player waits to be helped, and with a fixed wait the same careless player is picked up again and again at no cost. This entry shows a countdown that pauses while help is on the way, shrinks with repeated falls, and recovers after a calm stretch.
Make a boss swing hurt only while it is truly swinging
Players learn to read a wind-up and dodge at the right instant. That only works if the damaging moment is exact: not at the start, not forever, and not skipped when the game has a slow frame. This entry shows how to test the danger zone fairly.
Make a boss hit harder when the fight drags on, without cheap surprises
A boss that never changes lets players win by patience alone, and a sudden enrage after some hidden time feels like an ambush. A gradual rise that the player can see, and a clock that stops when the fight itself stops, keeps it fair. This entry has the numbers and the clock rules.
Give a boss more health for more players, even when someone joins mid-fight
A boss tuned for one player melts under four, and doubling its health for two is too much. This entry gives a curve that grows gently, and shows what to do with the current health when the group changes in the middle of the fight.
Change a boss fight phase exactly once, even when many players hit at the same moment
A boss should change its behaviour at some point of the fight, but with several players one big burst can skip a phase or trigger it twice. This entry shows how to hold the boss at the line, what happens with the leftover damage, and why a short pause is needed.
Let a boss pick random victims that does not hit the same player over and over
Pure chance picks the same unlucky player three times in a row and the group calls the boss unfair. This entry shows how to keep the choice random but even, what happens when players die or join, and the one spot where the same name can appear twice.
Handle the same bonus cast by two teammates without stacking or losing it
Two players cast the same strengthening spell on one person. Stacking both is too strong, and letting the last one replace the first can turn a strong bonus into a weak one early. This entry shows what to keep and how the weaker one comes back when the stronger ends.
Catch an attack press that comes a moment too early
Players press attack just before the last swing ends and nothing happens, so the game feels unresponsive and heavy. The fix is invisible when it works. This entry shows what to remember, for how long, and what must be forgotten again.
Delay a spell when the caster is hit, but only so far
Being hit while casting should hurt the caster's plan, yet a spell that can be pushed back forever is never cast, and one that cannot be delayed at all makes casters unbeatable. This entry shows the small rules between those two extremes, with an edge case at the very last moment.
Count the pulses of a held spell correctly, even after a long hitch
A channelled beam pulses every half second, and walking away should end it. When the game stutters, pulses are skipped or doubled, and the pulse that happened just before the player moved gets lost. This entry gives exact counts however the frames fall.