Combat

First-person and VR-ready (see 03): everything the player does is an arm or hand movement, mapped to buttons on PC. Combat is action-based (aim, timing, positioning), with RPG numbers underneath.

1. Attributes

Six attributes, growing by level and by equipment:

Three resources: health, stamina (running, dodging, heavy strikes, blocking) and mana (magic).

2. Physical actions

• Light and heavy attack with any weapon. On PC, buttons; in VR, the real hand movement. Strikes have a direction (high, side, thrust), and direction matters against blocks and armor.
• Block with a shield, weapon or arm: absorbs damage and costs stamina. The directional parry (blocking at the right moment and in the right direction) opens the enemy up to a critical strike and is only required against elites and bosses; hordes are weak enemies and do not require parrying.
• Dodge: on PC, a side step or character roll, with brief invincibility and a stamina cost; in VR it is a short dash with a comfort vignette, never a camera roll (see 03).
• Shove and kick: break the guard, push back, knock enemies down stairs and off bridges (the world's verticality counts). Knockback never rotates the player's camera.
• Stealth: crouching, shadows and noise; a sneak attack from behind with multiplied damage.
• Mounted: lance and bow; a horse charge knocks enemies down.

3. Weapons and styles

Each weapon has its own style, with a technique tree that is learned by using the weapon (mastery) and from NPC masters:

• Sword and shield, two-handed sword, dual blades, axe, mace and hammer (break armor), spear (reach, good when mounted), bow, crossbow, dagger (stealth), staff (magic and melee), lantern (dazzle, burn, reveal).
• Techniques: strike combinations, guard-break finishers, charged attacks, counterattacks.

4. Classes as a starting point

The four classes from 03 (Lantern Warden, Wanderer, Arcanist, Druid) define the start and the main style. After that, the player mixes: a Wanderer can learn shadow magic, an Arcanist can train with a sword. The limit is the number of talent points, not the class.

5. Skills

• Bar of 10 active skills, plus the physical ones (attack, block, dodge) that take up no slot.
• Talent trees per class and per weapon; synergies between talents from different trees (e.g., hammer strike + fire magic = incandescent blow).
• Area skills in front (cone, line, aimed point): in first person, the player aims where they want the effect.
• Combos between players: a water spell followed by an ice spell freezes; a shove into a fire area. A group that combines gains more than the sum of its parts.

6. Enemies and first-person readability

• Enemies telegraph strikes with animation and sound; the strong ones show the area's range on the ground.
• Directional audio and screen edge warn of enemies out of sight.
• Large groups (10–30 weak enemies) only in open areas; elite enemies and bosses in spaces where everything can be seen.
• Bosses with phases, weak points (hitting the head or the armor joint matters) and group mechanics.

7. Items

• Rarity (common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, set) and random affixes (damage, attributes, on-hit effects, resistances).
• Unique items change the game: a spear that fires lightning on the charged strike, a lantern that reveals invisible things. No item with stats is an NFT (08).
• Durability and repair (an economy sink, see 14); items crafted by players are among the best (see 09). Top crafted items bind on equip (before that, they are sold for gold) and there is a power cap per tier: past the cap, progression is horizontal (styles, specializations, utility, appearance).
• Enchanting: engraving a rune on an item (see 18).

8. Death

• In PvE: the player falls and can be revived by an ally within 60 s, or respawns at the last shrine with extra wear on equipment. No item loss.
• In PvP: see 13.

9. Prototype (Phase 1)

One class, one weapon, 6 skills, block and dodge, 3 enemy types (weak hordes with no parry, one elite with directional parry), a group of 20. The test is: is fighting 20 enemies in first person fun and readable? Exit metrics in 06 (death rate, time to kill, % who found it readable, dropout). Only then does the rest of this document become code.