Ground combat

Ground combat is one of the cornerstones of Stellar Tactics. Over time, you will develop your and your crew's skills in your travels across the **universe**.

## Combat and basic control

You can enter combat at any time by selecting the Toggle Combat icon on the toolbar. If you are not engaged in combat with an enemy, you can leave combat mode by selecting the icon again.
Entering combat before engaging enemies can give you the opportunity to set up crossfires and set your team up strategically.

* Combat will begin automatically when you see an enemy target or when an enemy can see you.
* The yellow bar above the icons in the bottom center of the screen displays a preview of the remaining AP based on the distance of your intended movement. Combat is turn-based and driven by initiative.
* Stellar Tactics uses a line of sight system. If an enemy is not directly in a team member’s line of sight, it is not visible. You can take cover behind any item in the game environment that blocks an enemy's line of sight. An icon is displayed above the movement cursor letting you know whether or not a position is in cover and no enemies can target you at that position.
* You can toggle crouch and stand with the toolbar icon or by pressing the **[V]** key. Crouching gives you a bonus to hit with ranged weapons.
* You can rotate your team member in any direction by selecting the rotate icon from the toolbar. Just select the icon and left-click anywhere in the environment. This does not cost AP.
* enemies next to a melee character will provoke an attack of opportunity by the melee character, if they move. This applies to player characters next to a melee enemy as well. However, only one attack of opportunity can be provoked per turn, even if multiple melee enemies are next to the moving character.
* **Special attacks** can be used at any time during the own turn. They do not cost AP.

Combat ends when all enemies are defeated or all crew members are dead.

## End turn options

You can end the active combatants turn at any time by pressing the **[SPACE]** bar. This will bring up several end turn options to select from if you have remaining AP when you choose to end your turn.

**Wait** - If you want to skip a team member's turn, end your turn as usual and select the far left icon. Your team member will be moved in the turn order just after the last team members position, effectively delaying your turn. Delaying your turn requires a full bar of AP.

**Defend** - When ending your turn, if you have 2 AP remaining, you can choose to defend. Selecting defend places your team member in defensive mode. The damage from the next successful enemy attack on this team member will be reduced and in some cases ignored.

**End turn** - You can end your turn by selecting the end turn icon.

## Action points and targeting

Action points (APs) are used during ground combat to perform activities during your turn. If all APs are used up, the turn can be ended (press spacebar). At the beginning of a new turn, APs are regenerated. Actions which cost APs are: attacks (except for **special attacks**), using medkits, throwing grenades, kneeling, standing up, reloading and movement (except for the **special ability** "sprint" and changing the direction a character is facing).

* All characters until level 39 have 8 AP. As of level 40, all characters have 10 AP. However, if the character has 1 or more AP left at the end of his or her turn, up to 2 AP can carry over into his or her next turn within the same combat, i.e. a combatant can have up to 10 AP (until level 39) or 12 AP (from level 40 on).
* You can preview the action points required to move a certain distance by moving your cursor over the location you wish to move to. Additionally, each action (Crouching, Reloading, and the various fire modes) has an action point cost. Each move and action should be carefully considered.
* If you hover your mouse over a target destination while in combat, line of sight indicators are displayed. This will show you which enemies are visible from that location and will give you a good idea of where you can move to be out of the line of sight of enemies.
* When one of your team members has initiative and it is their turn, your cursor will turn into a cross-hair when rolling over an enemy. The targeted body part is displayed above the icon and chance to hit is below the icon. Just point, click, and attack.
* You can target various body parts by hovering over them which will also show the possibility of inflicting different status effects like hobbled, crippled, and stun.
* Holding down the **[E]** key while targeting can give you a bonus to hit by fine-tuning your aim

## Weapon management and combat queue

* To reload a projectile weapon, **LEFT-CLICK** the reload button or press the **[R]** key.
* While out of combat, **RIGHT-CLICK** the reload button to reload all of your team's equipped weapons.
* To switch between primary and secondary equipped weapons, click on the switch weapon icon or press **[T]**.
* To change the fire-mode from single to burst to full-auto (if available), **LEFT-CLICK** the selected weapon's picture or press the **[F]** key.

The combat queue speeds up combat, allowing you to select multiple attacks and multiple targets and then unleash those attacks all at once.

1. Hold down the shift key and highlight your target, paying attention to the percent to hit and body part highlighted for possible bonus negative effects, then click your left mouse button. Your attack will be queued. You can do this multiple times until you run out of AP.
2. When you are ready, press the space button to end your turn
3. You will attack your enemy until all queued attacks are completed. If you have remaining AP, control will return to you. If all AP is expended, the turn will pass to the next combatant.
4. The **[Backspace]** key will clear the combat queue.

## Grenades and medkits

**Grenades and medkits** are stored in your shared inventory. To switch the active item shown on the main game screen, **RIGHT-CLICK** the appropriate UI icon on the main game screen and then **LEFT-CLICK** the item that you want to appear on the main game screen as the active item in that UI.

* To have the active player use a grenade, **LEFT-CLICK** the grenade icon on the main game screen and then **LEFT-CLICK** anywhere in the environment. Splash damage is indicated by a graphic in the environment.
* To have the active team member use a medkit, **LEFT-CLICK** the active item icon on the main game screen and then
	+ Target **[LEFT-CLICK]** the active team member or portrait to have an immediate effect.
	+ Target **[LEFT-CLICK]** another team member or portrait (in range) to have the active team member walk to them and use the medkit.
* Once a medkit or grenade is activated, you will either need to use the grenade or medkits or select the icon on the action bar to de-activate it. You cannot perform other actions while grenades and medkits are activated. Activated grenades and medkits are indicated by a flashing green border on the icons and by a change in the way your mouse cursor is displayed.

## Personal Shields

Personal shields offer protection to the characters. As long as the shield has charges, it absorbs damage according to its resistance values. If the charges are depleted, they do not offer protection anymore. However, they recharge a bit each turn.

Personal shields can effectively be depleted using EMP grenades. **Personal shields** can be **crafted**.