Combat

Combat in Redscale's Adventure Online consists of separated actions spread throughout combat phases.

Aggress
Aggress is the first phase if you initiate combat (such as Hunting) followed on by Abjure.

You begin each combat with three Aggress Cards available (your starting hand). These let you choose the type of attack you want to make. Attacks are characterized by an accuracy rating, damage per hit, and number of attacks to attempt. It's possible for your 'chance to hit' to exceed 100%. In that case, you have a chance to Crit for a damage multiplier. Note that if your damage is 0 on a Crit, multiplying it won't help.

Your opponent will try to defend against your attack in a variety of ways. For example: deflecting one or more attacks to negate it completely, dodging to reduce your accuracy on all attacks, or bracing to soak some of the damage from each hit. You'll deal the most damage if you use an attack that is strong in the area they are defending. I.e. use Claws to attack many times and minimize the impact of deflecting one, Bite for high accuracy to compensate for a dodge, or Tail for high damage to overwhelm a brace.

As the fight progresses, you'll use up your Aggress cards and draw new ones. Duplicates will stack up: you use a whole stack in one action, using up extra Stamina to do so, but your attack will be stronger as well. In particular, current attack types get stronger where they were already strong.

If you manage to be out of Aggress cards, you have a default option which is very weak and unlikely to do anything.

Abjure
Abjure is the first phase if you are attacked (such as an Ambush) followed by Agress

Your opponent's don't just stand there and take your attacks - they will attack you back. Try to predict their attack patterns and use the Abjure card that best counters their weaknesses. Use Deflect against single attacks, Dodge against inaccurate attacks, and Brace against low-damage attacks.

As with Aggress cards, as you play you'll draw duplicates. When you use a larger stack, you gain a higher defensive bonus, at the cost of Stamina. If you have no cards, the Defenseless card gives you no bonuses to protect yourself.

Assess
After an Aggress phase and an Abjure phase, it's time to Assess. This lets you choose the order of upcoming phases and draw cards. You may gain additional options in the future (including enemy-specific options).

Press the Attack: Draw 1 Aggress and 1 Abjure. Aggress then Abjure. (Good to end the combat)

Fight Defensively: Draw 2 Aggress and 2 Abjure. Abjure then Aggress. (Good for working through the stretch)

Total Defense: Draw 3 Abjure. Convert some stamina to health. Abjure with no Aggress. (Good for attempting live captures)

Flee: Attempt to move in a random direction, 10% of each. If you can't go the randomly selected direction, Abjure instead. It's much easier to flee in a wide open region than a tunnel or dead end.

Apprehend
When the enemy runs out of stamina and can't continue fighting, or gets injured enough to choose to surrender, you can Apprehend them. You can choose to kill them at that point, or gain other benefits such as recruiting them as pawns (depending on the enemy).

Acquire
When the enemy is killed outright, you can acquire various benefits from them, including better Aggress cards. The more copies of a card you own, the harder it is to get a new copy.