Feature: Combat

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Combat is at the core of our experience. Naturally, it is one of the first systems we drafted out. With our update to 1.9, combat is getting an overhaul, offering even more choices for the players. Paradoxically, it is not the blocking that is being added (we had that in already). The new addition is a feature we call damage types.

The Vision:
Minecraft does not offer a rich combat experience to begin with. In the heat of the battle, players usually only run away or hit the enemy as often as possible. Even with the addition of shields in 1.9, vanilla combat still leaves a lot to be desired.

In the spirit of Minecraft Frontiers, our custom combat plugin makes sure the player always has something to think about. Do you want to block? If you attack, are you opening yourself up to a counter attack? Do you have the support from your allies if you go all out? During every moment of the battle, the player has a range of options available. Combat is no longer only about hitting the enemy in the most efficient manner, it is also about outsmarting your opponent.

Frontiers Combat:
Our combat system consists of three components:

1. Damage Types - picking the correct equipment for the fight.
2. Stamina Management - deciding which action to take.
3. Action Skill - carrying out the action skilfully.

To be the winner, you will need to master all of these aspects. Doing one thing correctly and failing the others will result in a difficult fight (and probably your defeat).

Damage Types:
This is the newest addition to our combat - and it is something we are very excited about. In our first beta test, the limitations of having a single damage type were becoming obvious. A sword that does 6 damage is better than one that does 3 damage. One that does 9 damage would be better that one that does 6 damage. You get the idea. There was very little "thinking" when choosing equipment. The decision simply comes down to figuring out which weapon offers the most damage over a period of time.

With the introduction of damage types, weapons no longer only have one damage value. Instead, they may deal various types of damage. For example, a sword might do 3 piercing damage and 3 fire damage. At the same time, another sword will deal 3 piercing damage and 3 ice damage.

Similarly, armor and shields will protect you from specific damage types. A fire armor set will help you a lot against fire weapons, but will be useless when fighting an ice sword. This should result in a very interesting decision making process. Players will be able to figure out which enemies are vulnerable to which types of damage and equip themselves accordingly. There will not be a clear "best weapon", as certain weapons will be better in different situations.

Stamina Management:
This aspect of combat makes sure players approach the skirmish tactically. Every player has a set amount of stamina that slowly regenerates over time. Both attacking and blocking drains your stamina, so it is up to the player to figure out what action is the best.

Blocking is usually cheaper than attacking. This means that timing your blocks correctly will result in a stamina advantage for you, in turn allowing you to exploit an oponent who cannot defend themselves. On the other hand, blocking for a long period of time will slowly drain out all of your stamina, leaving you open to a dangerous payback.

A nice by-product of this is the fact that weapons come in different varieties. Large, heavy weapons usually dish out a bit more damage, but drain a lot more stamina. A dagger may be weaker, but will allow you to attack a lot more often. Combined with damage types, this results in an incredibly rich array of combat styles to choose from. No two players (or NPCs) will ever fight the same way.

Action Skill:
Finally, it is important to be accurate with your attacks and blocks. Missing a lot of attacks in vanilla Minecraft may not matter much. Here, every missed attack means wasted stamina, which is detrimental to the outcome of the fight. Similarly, poor blocking timing and direction will leave you exposed to a counter attack.

When confronting NPCs, they will each attack in a different way. They dynamically adapt to the weapons they are using, resulting in a very interesting experience when fighting a new NPC for the first time. It is up to you to learn how each NPC prefers to fight and exploit their weakness.

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There are many situations where combat may be the viable course of action. From dungeon crawling with a group of friends, proving your worth against others in the arena, to hunting animals out in the wilderness. No matter the reason, we hope you will always have enough choice to make every fight memorable.

Will you be the master of the blade?

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It is our goal to make the sword/shield combat polished and fun first. Bows will be coming at a later stage.

While we haven't finalised any of the ranged combat designs, you can likely expect similar customization as you see with swords. There will be bows of different damage types. Some bows might drain more stamina, while packing a bit more punch. Other bows could have lower damage and shoot more often. Spamming the attacks would definitely not work - when you run out of stamina, you wouldn't be able to shoot anymore. So it would be in your best interest to make every shot count.