Combat

This **game mechanic** article is written about **Gurk III**, but the basic mechanics are present in every game.

Combat is an important mechanic in all of the Gurk games. During combat, you face a number of enemies that you need to defeat to win. If all of your characters die, you lose all of your gold and you are transported back to the nearest town in the region.

## Basics

Combat encounters can be random or fixed. Random encounters can happen anywhere except towns, and put you against a random number of random enemies based on what tile you were on. For example, if you are on a grasslands tile, you might have to fight Giant Snakes or Giant Spiders. Fixed encounters are similar to random encounters, except the number and type of enemies are pre-determined. These can be found in dungeons or spread around the Wildernesse/Westerlandes.

Combat happens on a 7x7 grid. The enemies are placed randomly around the grid, and your characters are always on the bottom on the grid. Combat in Gurk is turn-based. If the combat begins with the message that your adventurers have been "attacked", you may start. If it says that you have been "ambushed", your enemies start.

On your turn, you can choose one (or a number of, depending on what items you have/what the speed of the item is) actions to perform with your character. The full list is:

* Move (1 space by default, up to 3 with certain items such as Speed Boots)
* Attack (1 time by default, can be increased by berserking)
* Cast Spell (costs SP)
* Wield Item (changes your weapon, useful if you have used your weapons one-per-combat ability)
* Use Item (such as a potion or summon item like the Snake Flute)

During your enemies' turn, they take turns moving or attacking, much like you.

## Attacking

To win the battle, you must attack your enemies with your characters. There are two basic kinds of attacks: melee and ranged. In the beginning, your Knight character can only use melee, and your Archer can only use ranged. Your Mage can do both.

Ranged attacks can be further divided into two groups: single tile and AoE (area of effect). Single tile ranged attacks (for example when you shoot with your Archer) damage one enemy: the one on the tile that you shot at. AoE attacks damage multiple enemies on a 3x3 grid. AoE attacks are always done by spells.

Magic attacks are attacks that are done using spells. In the beginning, only your Mage character can use spells. Later in the game, your Knight and Archer will also learn spells.

Non-magic attacks have a chance of not hitting your enemy. This is based on the Accuracy stat of your character and the weapon's to-hit bonus/malus. For example, the Goblin Scimitar has a to-hit malus of -2, meaning that your attacks are blocked more often. The Accuracy of your character can be increased when leveling up or with certain items.

The damage you to the enemy you are attacking is based on the damage value of your weapon or spell: for example, a 10-12 damage weapon/spell would deal either 10, 11, or 12 damage to the enemy. The damage you deal is increased by your Strength stat: for example, having a strength of 20 gives you a +4 damage bonus. If an enemy loses all of its health, they die and are removed from the grid.

## Defending

If an enemy attacks you, it deals some damage to you (for example, Giant Snakes deal around 1-3 damage). Part of the damage can be "absorbed", depending on your Armor Class (your Armor Class can be increased by equipping better armor items, or increasing your Awareness stat) and your Toughness stat. If a character loses all of his health, they die and are removed from the grid permanently until you heal your party at a Temple.

## Spells

Casting spells is the main purpose of your Mage character. Spells can affect your team (by giving your characters bonuses) or your enemies (by attacking them or giving them bad status effects). Your Mage starts with only two spells, but as they level up they will gain more spells. Starting from level 5, your Knight and Archer will also learn spells.

Casting spells costs a certain amount of SP. You will gain more max SP each time you level up. Like health, your SP will tick up slowly by walking around.