Manual Index
Combat and Healing Overview
This guide covers the core combat systems and survival basics in Dragon's Gate Reborn.
Overview · Creatures and Monsters · Player vs Player · Weapon Bonus · Stance · Brawling · Dodging · Shield Parry · Poison System · Experience and Treasure · Combat and Wounds · Death
Roundtime System
Combat actions in Dragon's Gate Reborn use a roundtime system that determines how quickly you can act again after an attack or action:
Weapon Roundtimes:
- One-handed weapons: Start at 4 seconds, reduce to 3s at level 11, and 2s at level 31
- Two-handed weapons: Start at 5 seconds, reduce to 4s at level 11, and 3s at level 31
- Roundtime scaling applies to sharp, blunt, and pole weapon types
Natural Attack Roundtimes:
- Clawing: 4 seconds at level 1, 3s at level 11, 2s at level 31
- Biting: 5 seconds at level 1, 4s at level 11, 3s at level 31
- Breath weapons: Follow similar scaling patterns
As you increase your skill level, you become faster and more efficient in combat. The reductions at levels 11 and 31 represent significant combat milestones.
Equipment Materials and Tiers
Weapons and armor in Dragon's Gate Reborn are crafted from various materials, each with its own tier rating that affects performance:
Tier System:
- Materials range from tier 1 to tier 10 (expandable to tier 15 in the future)
- Each tier provides +2 bonus (tier 10 = +20 maximum bonus)
- Higher tiers offer better bonuses, durability, and weight characteristics
- Metal materials have special flags for properties and interactions
Starting Equipment:
New characters begin with wooden training gear - basic tier equipment designed for learning combat fundamentals. As you progress, you'll upgrade to better materials like steel, mithral, and eventually rare materials like Drathain (tier 10).
Material Examples:
- Wooden (training gear) - Low tier, lightweight
- Steel - Mid tier, balanced
- Mithral - High tier, excellent bonuses
- Drathain - Top tier (tier 10), maximum bonuses
Hit Locations and Wounds
Combat now tracks specific hit locations on your body:
- Attacks can strike: head, torso, arms, legs, and other body parts
- Wounds are tracked by location and severity
- Use
look at <target>to see hit/evade chances and wound status - Location-specific damage affects combat performance
The Art of Battle
The Art of Battle is an intricate part of Dragon's Gate Reborn. Whether it is between the NPCs (monsters, townsfolk, etc.) and the players or among the players themselves, fighting and dying is part of the natural order of things. There are many different races in Dragon's Gate Reborn, and they do not all get along well together. While not a 'brutal' world, Dragon's Gate Reborn is not an easy one to survive in if one chooses to engage in Player vs. Player combat.
While there is some luck involved, combat in Dragon's Gate Reborn often requires you to outmaneuver or wear out a foe.
Creatures and Monsters
- In your journeys through Dragon's Gate Reborn, you will encounter all manner of creatures and monsters. They come in all shapes, sizes and abilities, from furry little mice to huge, to massive demons from another realm. Not all are hostile, and some may even be helpful. You will quickly learn that not all creatures are created equal! Two orks may look alike, but one may be much tougher and more deadly than the other. Sample Combat
[Woodland Clearing.]
The small clearing nestling in the woods has a small pond off to one side where small creatures come to drink in the cool waters. An inviting fallen log serves as a resting place and playground for mice and birds. A black wooden log, a red cherry tree, and an aqua pool are here.
This area is illuminated. Obvious paths: north* northeast* east* southeast* south* southwest* west* northwest*.
>An ork lumbered in.
look at ork He looks like an average ork.
He looks like a short, filthy creature who won't stop snarling and staring at you. He has a head, 2 arms, 2 legs.
He appears to be in good shape. He will be easy for you to hit and it will be hard for him to hit you!
He is also carrying the following item:
A closed pretty tigerskin bag
tact Standing in this rank is: You, ork
The ork bellows loudly!
at ork
You swing your small dagger at the ork!
The swing is a decent blow to the head. The ork is knocked back! It stumbles and falls down!
The ork stands up.
The ork scratches at you! The attack misses.
look at ork He looks like an average ork.
He looks like a short, filthy creature who won't stop snarling and staring at you. He has a head, 2 arms, 2 legs.
He appears to be pretty mangled. He is bleeding. He will be easy for you to hit and it will be hard for him to hit you!
He is also carrying the following item:
A closed musty spidersilk pouch
at ork
You swing your small dagger at the ork!
The swing is a decent blow to the left arm.
The ork scrabbles at the ground and squeals before becoming still.
look [The Construct.]
You stand upon a small floating platform in the middle of complete nothingness. A single bright white light shoots down from above, lighting your current position with intensity. Absolute darkness surrounds the platform and is all that can be seen. A slight humming noise can be heard in the background.
This room is illuminated. You see the 1st ork corpse. Obvious exits: None.
strip ork You strip the ork's body. You find its closed cheap buckskin bag. The ork turns to dust. [4 sec. delay]
- ALWAYS LOOK AT a monster before attacking it! Doing so could save your life. It will tell you what weapon (if any) the creature is using, what physical shape it is in, and other useful information. Monsters have a wide variety of attacks available to them. Some will use weapons; some will use 'natural' attacks such as biting or clawing; some may attack with magick or their minds. Additionally, these attacks can come in any order or combination. It is possible (but not very likely) that a monster could possess all of the above attacks and more, and use them all against you. Just as monster's attacks come in different types, the speed of these attacks can also vary. Some monsters may seem to be as quick as thought itself, while others may seem to take an exceedingly long time between attacks. It is important to quickly learn the speed of the monster relative to your speed, so that you may adjust your battle strategy accordingly.
- Monsters choose their target in a group based on many factors, including combat rank and your alignment. If you seem to be the primary target in the group and are being badly injured, you might want to break off and wait for the next encounter.
- Some monsters have the ability to fly, just as some of the races do. Don't be surprised if you are standing in an open field and a flying beast begins a 'strafing' run on you! Creatures that are flying can only be hit by a limited array of weapons. When confronted by a flying creature, it's time to break out the bows and the runes to bring the monster back to the ground where everybody can attack it--or to beat a hasty retreat. Many monsters have numerous other abilities that youll encounter as you travel in the game world, some undead are ethereal (unable to be hit by weapons), some monsters immune to magick, and so on.
- Nearly every location you travel in the game also features a unique monster which every once in a while crawls out from the deepest hole in the ground, or flies down from the highest peaks to feast and disappear once again. These monsters are very rare, and usually carry extremely useful treasures or magickal items. These monsters will typically be much more difficult than the other monsters you encounter in that area, so when you come across one, be prepared for a true challenge! Many of these monsters carry items that are required for specific quests you will encounter during your adventures as well.
Player vs. Player Combat
Some players prefer non‑violence or PvE‑only play. For them, there is a PvP immunity option chosen at the start of a character’s life. This choice is permanent. If you select it, you are immune to PvP attacks and many aggressive spells (some healing may be restricted), but you can still cast non‑aggressive and healing spells on others. The gods prevent others from harming you.
Choose carefully. If you turn PvP off, you cannot defend friends in player combat and you cannot attack non‑violent sentient NPCs (townsfolk, merchants, nobles, guards). PvP can be intense, and most characters will face it at least once. If that isn’t for you, the PvP‑off option may be the best fit. Note: Certain actions are treated as aggressive—stealing, or healing allies in an active PvP fight—can revoke PvP protection.
Certain classes and races - Thieves, Dragons, and San Elves - are not allowed to select this option because these classes and races have certain attributes that require PvP, and their survival or advancement may depend on PvP. Remember, this choice may be made only ONCE per character and is irrevocable!
Assorted Weapon Bonuses
WEAPONS
Different weapon types have been assigned various bonuses and abilities.
- Short Weapons - Raise your ability to automatically hit your opponent.
- Two-handed Weapons - Have armor penetration.
- Bite - Has been assigned higher armor penetration.
- Slings - Have been given slight armor penetration
- Bows - Have been given strong armor penetration
- Crossbows - Take an extra second to fire and have been given outstanding armor penetration.
Stance
Combat stances affect your accuracy and defense. Stances are available to all melee classes. Use STANCE to view or change your stance, and STANCE ? to list options. Aggressive stances boost your damage and accuracy but make you easier to hit. Defensive stances do the opposite.
Attack Types
- NORMAL .... This is the normal mode of attack and defense.
- AGGRESSIVE .... You attack more aggressively, trading some defense for offense.
- FRENZIED .... Throw caution to the wind.
- CAREFUL .... More of your attention goes towards defending yourself. Your attacks suffer.
- DEFENSIVE .... Help!
STATUS command now shows your current stance
Brawling
You may learn the brawling skill, and then use these two commands to do various small amounts of brawling damage. These skills may be used unarmed much like martial arts.
Uses PUNCH and KICK commands
Dodging
Some races now automatically dodge (effectively dodging) blows that would hit others, making them harder to strike with melee.
Go-blin-al - Have been given high dodging ability.
Flerian - Have been given good dodging ability.
Shield Parry
Shield parry DOES NOT need to be set against a specific target to work. You simply ready your shield and you can parry. Parry ability is determined by your class, skill in the ability, and current stance (offensive stances reduce your ability to parry a good bit, defensive stances increase your ability to parry a good bit) if you may use stances. Also, a parry does not automatically ignore all damage, but can stop some or all of the damage depending on the quality of the parry.
Poison System
Allows weapons to carry various poisons on them. (Though people can not place their own poisons, yet) It also allows for potions to carry various beneficial or harmful poisons which have the effects of different spell effects. Such as potion which gives you haste for a period of time or a poison you drink which lowers your OR/DR for X period of time, etc.
Furthermore, monster attacks may now make use of these poisons, and over the coming weeks many of the monsters with spell attacks that don't make a lot of sense as spells for their special abilities will have some of those swapped out for various poison types instead.
Finally, spells helping give resistance to poison should be added to some folks here shortly too.
Gaining Experience and Treasure
Attacking and/or killing a monster may earn you experience and/or treasure. The amount of experience you earn will depend on many factors. The most important factor is the difference between the 'danger rating' of the monster and your status. You will reap a greater reward when you attack and kill monsters that are tougher than you, but gain less experience for monsters that are not as strong. As you progress in level and skill, you will see that the experience you gain for killing your previous adversaries will decrease. After all, what could be learned from killing that same rat time after time? For those who are brave, bold, and a little lucky, much experience can be gained by tackling tougher monsters at earlier levels. Fortune favors the bold!
As you wear down your opponent, the experience you gain for each blow will decrease. If you come across a severely wounded creature, don't be surprised if you don't gain much, if any, experience for finishing it off. Also, one can only get so much experience from any single opponent; if you keep healing and attacking the same guard, you will quickly find it a futile endeavor.
Once you have succeeded in killing a monster, its body will remain in the area for a certain period of time. If you are able to STRIP the body, you may find items of value. You may find nothing (you wouldn't expect giant rats to carry gold and jewels, would you?), you may find the equipment it was carrying, or you may find something of great worth, from jewels and coins to items of great antiquity. The treasure carried by monsters can vary greatly; so don't expect every ice wyrm to have a two-handed diamond sword under its belly! Whatever you find can be kept, sold or traded away to other inhabitants in the world. Some creatures may be valuable for their parts if you can SKIN them properly.
Combat and Wounds
Combat in Dragon's Gate Reborn rewards smart tactics. Skill matters, but awareness, positioning, and timing can matter just as much. The most successful characters are often the most prepared, not just the highest leveled.
In Dragon's Gate Reborn, wounds behave like individual conditions. You can carry multiple wounds of different types (slashing, impact, poison) that heal or worsen at different rates. Wounds affect each character differently based on wound type, severity, and your character’s race and characteristics. Know when to stay and when to retreat.
While fighting, keep an eye on fatigue so you have the strength to retreat. Wounds have a cumulative effect and can worsen over time. If you are wounded severely enough, unconsciousness and death can follow. (If you are flying when you pass out or hit exhaustion, you will fall and take additional damage.) Creature wounds accumulate too, so a strong early hit can swing a long fight.
Some wounds will heal on their own; some can be treated with potions and herbs, while others will need the attention of a healer, or a characters own first aid skills. There are healers in town, or you may have a healer in your group or one nearby who can help. Wounds can be treated individually or all at once (depending on the treatment or the healer).
Death
Death is a traumatic experience and shouldn't be taken lightly. It can have some very strong consequences. Your first choice after dying is whether you wish to DEPART or wait for a Cleric (or someone to drag you to a temple) to perform a resurrection.
If you DEPART, your maximum hit points and fatigue drop temporarily. Additional deaths during this window are cumulative, lowering HP and fatigue further and resetting the recovery timer.
If you decide to depart, and you don't have enough favors for your deity to intervene on your behalf, the House of the Dead will still bring you back to life. This return to life also takes time; it will take ten minutes before you will be allowed to continue your adventure.
If there is a local temple of your deity nearby, you will be raised back to life at the closest temple; if there is no nearby temple, then you will be brought back to life at the same spot you departed from. Choosing to wait for a Cleric to perform a resurrection carries its own risks and price. First, the Clerical service will usually cost a considerable fee, since it costs a lot of favors for a Cleric to perform a resurrection. If resurrected in this manner, there is no chance of skill loss. The other risk is that if a Cleric is not available, you may then be forced to DEPART. Resurrection does have the advantage of being immediate; once brought back to life you will then be able to immediately continue your adventure. Lastly, choosing to wait for a resurrection could result in the chance of having items stolen from you by other players.