Combat

A Warlock during Combat

Combat in the game involves fighting with a creatures, enemy realm players in the War Zone, or realm allies in the coliseum.

Types of Combat

PvE

Not being the focus of the game, PvE (player verses environment) combat is generally fairly simple. Normal creatures have a limited AI, but they will help new players to learn their powers and the mechanics of combat.

However there are also some bosses in the game: the toughest being each realm's dragon and the "superbosses", Thorkul, Daen Rha and Evendim. These require strategy and coordination between many players to defeat.

PvP

Syrtian players attack Imperia Castle.

PvP means player vs player. This is when two or more human players face each other. There are different forms of PvP in Regnum Online:

• Traditional PvP: One vs one. Due to the open nature of the War Zone, this can happen at any time, and is the specialty of the hunter class. Arranged one-on-one fights also happen, in which the realm enemies meet up in a certain area and challenge each other, then buff and put some distance between each other before fighting.
• Hunting: A small group of players (2 to 8) travel to another realm and look for enemies to kill, usually in lightly populated areas due to their small number. If they encounter another group it becomes a group battle, or GvG.
• GvG (group vs group): A skirmish between two groups of players with similar numbers. The attacking force is under pressure to end fast because enemy reinforcements are very likely to appear. If the groups are large enough, it can become a realm battle, also known as RvR.
• RvR (realm vs realm): The wars in Regnum can be fought in either a fort or an open battlefield. As always, in the open the defending realm has the advantage of reinforcements. In fort battles this is more balanced, since one realm can get reinforcements more quickly, and the other has a good defensive position. In rare occasions armies of the three realms clash in forts or other strategic locations, making many of the most appealing moments of the game.
• Gate battle: This happens through the mechanic of invasions, where a realms players are fighting to try to destroy an enemy realm's gates. This will take a large attacking army. These differ from normal fort battles because it becomes much trickier for ranged defenders: their low hp and defense will make it difficult for them to fight outside the gate, but a precise angle is needed to shoot from the realm wall. The third realm can choose to either try to help or hinder the attackers.

Combat Mechanics

Combat involves making a series of normal attacks or casting powers against an enemy player or creature. Combat mechanics include casting time of powers, footwork, timing, the surrounding environment and character positioning, and although there is no jumping or manual targetting in the game, there can still be an element of "dancing", similar to FPS games.

To attack an enemy a player must be in combat mode. A player enters or leaves combat mode by clicking the "On Garde" button, or by pressing ctrl. They can also enter combat mode automatically if they have an enemy selected, by either clicking on them a second time or casting an offensive skill. Some defensive skills will also put the character in combat mode, so a player should try to learn which ones have this effect. If a character is not in combat mode, he won't attack the opponent, even if he is being attacked.

Attacking a target involves two things: normal hits with a character's weapon, and the use of powers.

Normal hits

Normal hits occur automatically, when the target is within weapon range, the attacking character is in combat mode, and facing the target. Also, the target must not be under any kind of "Invulnerable to attacks" effect. The frequency at which normal hits occur are determined by a character's attack speed, and they inflict damage according to their attack damage.

Normal hits can be evaded, or blocked by warriors with shields. These are random occurrences, influenced by Hit chance for evades and block chance for blocks.

If the hit lands, the damage will be reduced according to the target's armor points and any protection or other reductions by powers.

Use of Powers

At any time (except while under some effects), the player can cast a power. In order to use a power on a target, just like normal hits, the attacker needs to be facing the target, and the target needs to be within power's range rather than the weapon range. If that is true, the power will begin casting. If the power is instant it will be cast immediately, but if it has a casting time, the character will begin casting the power, during which time they cannot move and are vulnerable to attack. For the power to be successfully cast, the casting must not be interrupted, and at the end of the casting time the target must still be within range and under no kind of invulnerability effect. Otherwise, the power will be wasted: the cooldown will be triggered and the mana spent. For more information, see power cancellation.

Even when successfully cast however, just like normal hits the power can be evaded or blocked, as well as resisted by the target.

Defeat

Combat can end with the death of one of the participants, both of them (unusual but possible), or none of them, if a player successfully manages to escape. Defeating a creature will give experience (as long as it's not too low a level) and gold and/or items. Defeating a realm enemy will award Regnum Points. Defeating an ally in the coliseum doesn't give any prize.