Listen up, grunts!
Were about to make for the surface. Its no secret that Icenaire is crawling with vengeful wraiths and mad survivors right now. Weve all lost friends to the King of Shades minions, so I dont need to remind you: We need to be extra careful. In any case, we have our mission objectives and youre our best hope for getting through this thing alive.

Whats that? Youve never walked the city streets post-curse? Howd I get saddled with a greenhorn like you?! Nevermind that. I dont want any of you knuckleheads getting killed up there. It reflects poorly on me, after all. So, follow these instructions, and maybe well all make it back in one piece.

First, the basics. For the purpose of this demonstration, well be taking a look at a few key stats.


Your Health is indicated by the heart icon. It denotes damage you take in combat. Your Vigor is indicated by the flame icon. It denotes your weariness from the expedition. Looks like youre pretty well rested right now. Unfortunately, that wont be the case once were in the middle of our trek. Take damage in combat and this number is gonna drop. Wanna guess what happens when either of these stats hits 0?


Right! You buy the farm. So, try not to let that happen, okay?


Your Combat ability is indicated by the crossed swords icon. The higher it is, the more likely you are to hit your enemies and deal more damage. Hmm, a 4, eh? Not so shabby! I guess appearances can be deceiving. There may be some hope for you after all.


Your Awareness is indicated by the eye icon. The higher it is, the more likely you are to alert and help your party avoid hidden traps. This will also increase your initiative when we begin turn-based combat.


When combat begins, every character will have access to two skills; your Standard skill and your Flourish. You can use the Standard skill every turn, provided you have something to target.


Your Flourish is a more powerful or specialized skill. It can be used when you charge your Flourish Meter. You can do that by successfully attacking your enemies or making decisions quickly.

Hold your horses there, greenhorn. Whats that? Youre already itchin for a fight? Were just getting started! I need to walk you through the turn based combat system first. Its do or die up there and if we lose anyone theyre not coming back.


When you enter combat, your team members will be indicated in the upper left corner. Your enemies will be displayed in the upper right corner.


Positioning is EXTREMELY important in this game. From the center, each fighters position will indicated in ascending order from 1-4 (for their respective side). Yellow indicates the players team. Blue indicates the enemy team.


At the bottom of the screen, youll see this arrow. Remember the Awareness stat I discussed earlier? Your characters initiatives are determined by it. A character is more likely to take action earlier with a higher Awareness.


When a character reaches the arrow head, its their turn to make a move. You can see the order that characters will be taking action. Make sure to plan accordingly. It helps to study your enemies patterns.


There are three basic Attack Ranges in this game. Short, Medium, and Long Range. Every recruit brings their own unique strengths to your team and they specialize in very specific weapons.


Short ranged attacks can only target enemies in the first or second positions. They must also be performed from either the first or second positions.


Mid-ranged attacks can only target enemies in the first or second positions. They can be performed from any position in the party.


Finally, long-ranged attacks can be performed from any position and target any enemy. Thats my personal favorite. Haha!


Since good positioning is key, you can always swap places with other characters - even in the middle of combat! This could be a good idea if somebody in the front has been taking heavy damage and you want to put them in a safer spot.


You can defend yourself to avoid damage. However, this comes at the expense of Vigor. Remember, if your Vigor drops to 0...well, we can put a fork in ya.


Targeted enemies are indicated by the red reticule. Try to strategically focus your attacks on enemies based on their turn order or abilities.


If you dispatch an enemy, your remaining foes will move up in positioning. This also means that they may be targeted if they were previously out of range.


Now, this part is super important, so dont forget it. You cant access your inventory and start using items in the middle of combat. Now that wouldnt be very realistic, would it? So, remember, you can only heal your characters if you either have someone with a unique ability to do so or manage to find a safe camping spot to unpack.


As harsh as this sounds, well probably lose some good people up there. It cant really be helped. Luckily, we still have a lot of able-bodied men and women in Dalearch who are committed to the cause. Make sure you visit the Recruiting Board from time to time to assemble your team. Pay special attention to how your unique members skills complement each other in combat and the expedition at large.


One more thing, if a team member perishes on the battlefield, theyre gone for good. That means youll lose the item that was equipped on them. It will also decrease your partys ability to pack loot. If the main character, Lyric, gets knocked unconscious, the expedition is over. So, as side characters, we gotta make sure she is well cared for.

Alright, thats all I have to say on this subject. Now, lets see what youre made of, soldier. Move out!
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