---
title: "Combat"
summary: "Positioning in a crowd. Four damage types, three ailments, telegraphed hits and a dash to get out of trouble."
status: in-game  # Exists in the current build; generated from or checked against its code
section: "How it plays"
html: combat.html
source: www/content/game/combat.md
---

# Combat

*Positioning in a crowd. Four damage types, three ailments, telegraphed hits and a dash to get out of trouble.*

WASD walks, relative to the camera, and the mouse aims. The left button is Strike, the right button Fireball; Q is Frost Nova, E Arc, R Earthshatter. Space dodges with Ember Dash, the way you are walking, and holding it sprints. You take a moment to reach full speed and stop almost at once. 1 and 2 drink the life and mana flasks. Keys are physical positions, so on AZERTY it is ZQSD and A, E, R, and the HUD relabels itself on your first key press.

Fights are about positioning in a crowd: monsters that hurt badly show it first, a dash gets you out, and crowd-clearing skills are what make a horde fun rather than frightening. Packs sleep in the dark until you come close, then wake together.

Damage comes in four types: physical, fire, cold, lightning. Armour soaks physical hits, resistances soak the elements, and each element has an ailment: **ignite** burns over time, **chill** slows, **shock** makes the target take more damage. Monsters inflict them on you too.

- Physical
- Fire
- Cold
- Lightning

Magic and rare packs bring modifiers: hasted, armoured, empowered, regenerating, vampiric, giant. Each depth ends at a portal guarded by a guardian.

You have two attacks, three spells and a dash today. The [wiki](../wiki/skills/index.md) has every skill's numbers, and [Damage and ailments](../wiki/combat.md) the exact formulas.