Guides:Personal Combat

You're deep underground looking for some ancient artifact of interest to the scientific community, when a sudden noise startles you.  Spinning around you see a Dragon Bear, it's maw gaping as it prepares to spit a bolt of fire at you...

Walking through Downtown Snake Lake you hear a sudden cry "I'm a Blood!  A Blood forever!"  Some street thug is starting a rumble and they're leveling their autopistol at your head...

The Guardians need information on a suspected crime boss.  They've hired you to sneak into his mansion and dig up some evidence to help their case.  You crack the security code on the door lock and peer inside.  A sudden ominous hum alerts you to the fact that the security robots have noticed your intrusion and are preparing to do something about it...

Welcome to personal combat.

## General tips on personal combat.

Igor Savin has this to say:

You can either specialise in a close combat, or in a ranged one.  Learning both would take up additional slots and slow down training, so it's not really recommended. If specialising in close combat, you should learn Athletics (as it's used up quickly when dodging incoming attacks), Dodge (that one is obvious) and either Armed Combat (used for every close combat weapon, as well as for shields and thrown weapons except grenades) to have a decent chance to hit, or Martial Arts.

Armed Combat wins hands down, as Martial Arts is way too weak what is especially clearly seen fighting with more-dangerous-than-rats monsters... Weight-saving is not worth DC missed at all, and there are not so much other useful bonuses for Martial Artists either.  So it's fine to slash through Hogye with Martial Artist, exploring Snake Lake is not so easy... Suicide to go anywhere serious :) (like killing Bonecracker ;)).

*((Editor's note: Since the Martial Arts skill has been improved for version .830 and onwards, this is no longer the case.  Martial Arts is now a viable alternative to Armed Combat.))*

Armed Combat:

* Pro: Much higher DC, some weapons have additional effects like Burn. Also related skill affects thrown weapons and shields.
* Con: Costs money, weight, breaks.

Martial Arts:

* Pro: Weighs nothing, costs nothing, no need to repair weapon. High value results in ability to take Kung-Fu talent, thus receiving "increases the amount of concussion damage done when attacking using the Mecha Fighting skill" bonus. Useful also for quick character with no weapon mounted on armour and slow weapon equipped, as provides 4 additional weapons.
* Contra: Only way to increase DC is to raise Body, resulting in generally lower values (DC 9 legs for Body 14 character). (to check, if increasing Body not in the beginning increases DC), requires talent to be able to parry. Related skill used solely for hand-to-hand combat (no other uses).

*((Editor's Note:  Since Martial Arts has been improved, this is no longer entirely true.  DC is now based on Body attribute and Martial Arts skill, allowing for a faster rate of increase in DC.))*

Key stats here would be Speed (Dodge & Initiative), and Reflexes (Armed Combat) \ Body (Martial Arts). Since Body is required also for Vitality and Athletics skills, that's additional point for taking Martial Arts for personal-scale characters, while Reflexes is mostly Mecha-related stat, thus more useful for more mecha-oriented characters.

Ranged combat requires either Small Arms, or Heavy Weapons (possibly both), depending on which weapon do you use. Small Arms governs DC1-10 weapons, Heavy Weapons - 11+. No additional ranged-combat-specific skills are needed except of course Dodge again. Key stats - Reflexes for Small Arms, Perception for Heavy Weapons. Only other combat skill worth mentioning using Perception is Mecha Artillery, while Reflexes is a must for every mecha pilot - take that into consideration.

There are also multi-purpose skills for each and every personal-scale fighter out there. That's, of course, Initiative (Speed), which speeds you up and allows to make more attacks, Spot Weakness (Craft), that increases the chance to score a critical hit.

## Another Viewpoint

Your (not very) humble editor adds this:

I have to respectfully disagree with Igor on one point.  While choosing to specialise in either ranged or melee combat does help your XP go further, it's perfectly possible to have a workable combination of both.  Dodge and Initiative are useful for all forms of personal combat (and Initiative is also useful for mecha combat), as are skills such as Vitality and Athletics.  With this much overlap it's no great hardship to take, for example, Armed Combat and Heavy Weapons.  Yes, it's more equipment to carry, but that's a matter of personal decision.

Using up more skill slots isn't a huge issue either.  You can get more skill slots by increasing your Knowledge attribute from experience, installing Knowledge enhancing cyberware ((once Joseph fixes that bug)), or taking the Savant talent.

By covering both areas you'll be able to pick off the more threatening critters at a distance, while saving ammo by taking out the weaker enemies like rats in melee combat.  Of course, using energy weapons means ammo isn't an issue anyway, but they're much more expensive to buy and tend to weigh more.

Many's the time I've found my characters able to swipe at an adjacent enemy with a beam sword *(Editor's note: this weapon no longer exists for personal scale)* while waiting for their ranged weapon to recharge in order to be fired at a more distant enemy.  In the deeper dungeon areas the bad guys come at you thick and fast so whatever you do, make sure you have multiple attack options.

As of version 0.832 the Martial Arts rules have been greatly expanded.  The amount of damage done now increases with Martial Arts skill level, as well as the Body attribute.  In addition it is now possible to get special damage effects, such as Burn, Armorpiercing or Haywire, depending on skill level and personality traits.  The Martial Arts skill is now well worth an investment in skill slots and XP, although whether it's truly competitive with Armed Combat is not yet clear.