Combat
| Combat | |
|---|---|
| Type | Mechanic |
Combat is the skill that grows by killing monsters, and it is the one skill a farmer can level without spending a drop of energy, since weapons cost nothing to swing. Every level raises maximum health, so the skill quietly makes the deep floors survivable at the same time as it hands out recipes for rings, elixirs and cooked food. The two profession choices at the middle and the top of the skill split players into a flat-damage camp and a critical-hit camp, and that decision shapes which weapons are worth carrying for the rest of the save. The skill opens with The Mines a few days into the first Spring, and it keeps paying all the way down to the Skull Cavern and the Volcano Dungeon.
Overview
Experience comes from kills, and tougher monsters are worth far more. A Green Slime or a Bat on the first floors is worth a trickle, a Ghost or a Shadow Brute in the lower mines is worth five times as much, and the Putrid Ghosts and Mummies of the Skull Cavern pay the best of all. That scaling means grinding slimes near the entrance is a slow way to level, while a single careful trip to the deep floors can move the bar several steps. Monsters killed on the farm are worth only a third of the normal amount, so a Wilderness Farm's nightly golems are a nuisance to clear rather than a training ground.
The skill can also be read rather than fought for. Both the Combat Quarterly and the Book Of Stars grant a solid lump of experience when read, which is enough to be worth saving for a level that is nearly full. The Bookseller's visits and artifact spots are where those turn up.
Levels land in two steps, which surprises new players. The experience is credited the moment the monster dies, but the level-up window with its reward does not appear until the farmer sleeps, or until every farmer sleeps in a shared save. A level reached at eight in the evening therefore only takes effect the next morning.
Health is the steady reward. Each level adds five points to the health meter, which is why a Combat level ten farmer walks into the Skull Cavern with half again the health they started the game with. Levels five and ten are the exceptions, because those are the profession levels and the health they carry depends on the choice made. Fighter brings fifteen extra points along with its damage bonus, and Defender at the top brings twenty-five more, so the defensive route is worth a great deal of raw survivability.
The recipe list is generous on the way up. The first level brings the Sturdy Ring and Bug Steak, the second the Life Elixir, which fully heals in one use and is the standard emergency item for a deep run. The third brings Roots Platter, the cheap attack dish made from mine forage. The fourth brings the Warrior Ring, which spikes damage after a kill. Level six adds the Slime Egg-Press and Oil of Garlic, the drink that keeps weaker monsters from noticing a farmer at all for ten minutes of game time. Level seven brings the Ring of Yoba and the Thorns Ring, level eight the Slime Incubator and Explosive Ammo for the slingshot, and level nine the Iridium Band and Squid Ink Ravioli.
The profession choice at level five is the real decision. Fighter adds a tenth to all damage and the extra health, which is reliable from the moment it is taken. Scout raises critical strike chance by half, but that half is measured against the chance the weapon already has, so a sword with a two per cent rate gains almost nothing. Most farmers take Fighter first for that reason and treat Scout as a build rather than an upgrade. At level ten, Fighter leads to Brute for more damage or Defender for the health, while Scout leads to Acrobat, which halves the cooldown on special moves, or Desperado, which doubles critical damage and completes a crit build.
Notes
The skill arrives on the farmer's own timetable. Joja Corporation's landslide keeps The Mines shut for the first few days, and a letter announces the clearance when the way is open. A farm chosen on wilder land is the exception, since monsters start wandering the fields on the very first night, and a Rusty Sword from Marlon at the mine entrance is enough to deal with them.
Several substats hang off the skill without being part of it. Attack and Crit. Power decide how much damage leaves the weapon, Defense and Immunity decide how much arrives, Weight decides how far a monster is knocked back, and the swing speed of the weapon plus the farmer's own movement speed decide how often either happens. All of them are listed in the skills tab of the player menu, where they update as food buffs come and go.
The Forge on Ginger Island is where a mature Combat build is finished. Gems add stats to a weapon, Prismatic Shards and Dragon Teeth add enchantments, and once Combat Mastery is claimed a Mini-Forge can be built and placed on the farm, which saves the trip out to the volcano for every tweak.
All Mechanics
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
