Combat Guide

Action Points

Every turn you get 3 Action Points. Attacks, moving between range zones, using items and most other actions spend them. The only way to get more is the Reaper's Tempo capstone in the Reaper tree, which adds one AP, and the cap is 5 even if you stack more. A fleeing attempt normally costs an AP too, unless you have the Adrenaline Gland talent.

Think of AP as your real health bar. A turn spent on three weak attacks is worse than one spent on a good move, a strong attack and a heal.

Range zones: far, mid and close

Every fight takes place across three range zones. You and your enemies are always in one of them, and moving between them costs 1 Action Point per step (Charge to close in, Pull Back to open the gap).

• Ranged weapons do the most damage from far away and weaker damage up close.
• Melee weapons can only strike at close range. They need no ammo and match the damage of a gun of the same tier, but you must be next to your target.
• Melee enemies will walk toward you, so a ranged build gets free shots while they approach. Enemies with ranged attacks stay back and make you chase them.

The weather also changes range: clear skies give ranged weapons +5% damage, storms reduce them by 5% and fog by 10%.

Damage, armor and dodge

Your damage is the weapon's damage (tier × 6 before rarity) plus gloves, talents and modifiers. Enemies reduce it with armor, which is a flat cut, and some bosses add a percentage damage reduction on top. If an enemy shrugs off your hits, look at armor piercing talents in the Reaper and Gunner trees: they ignore a percentage of enemy plating.

Your own defences stack the same way: Armor from your gear and talents, percentage Damage Reduction from talents, and a Dodge chance that avoids the hit entirely. Dodge, Damage Reduction and the other defensive stats are all capped (60% for Dodge and Damage Reduction), so past a certain point it is cheaper to add Max HP.

Some attacks ignore all of it. The Unknown Threat's radiation pulse, for example, ignores both armor and dodge, so you must survive it with raw HP and cover, not evasion.

Criticals, headshots and finishers

• Critical chance and critical damage come from the Reaper, Ghost, Gunner, Berserker and Netrunner trees. Critical chance is capped at 75%.
• Headshots are a separate chance to deal extra damage with ranged weapons, boosted by Sharpened Senses and Deadly Aim.
• Executioner-type talents add damage against enemies below 30% HP, which makes the last third of every fight faster.
• Rage-type talents add damage while you are below 50% HP. They reward careful risk, not recklessness.

Cover

Cover appears in some fights and reduces incoming damage from certain attacks. Several boss mechanics are built around it: Lady Midday telegraphs her sickle with a shimmer and expects you to take cover, and the Unknown Threat's radiation burst deals a quarter less damage if you are in cover. Learn which attacks are telegraphed, because those are the ones cover answers.

Ten combat rules

1. Check the range zone before you attack. A wasted AP hurts.
2. Kill the enemy that damages you the most first, not the one with the lowest HP.
3. Heal when you are at 50%, not at 10%. Some enemies spike for half your HP.
4. Armor beats small hits. A few extra points of Armor make low-damage enemies harmless.
5. Bosses are tougher than normal enemies, so bring burst damage and talents like Boss Hunter.
6. Weak enemies can surrender. Intimidation and War Cry talents give you a chance of ending a fight for free.
7. Keep one escape in reserve: a free flee with Adrenaline Gland can save a run.
8. Match the weapon to the fight. Every gun shares the same range curve (weakest at CLOSE, strongest at FAR), so the real choice is gun or melee. See the ranged vs melee guide.
9. Use your squad. Allies take hits for you, and formation matters (see the squad guide).
10. If a boss has a pattern, wait for the opening. Patience beats raw damage.

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