Darkfall tactics

The character development system is intended to allow for a high degree of customization, offering a vast array of skills and spells. The objective, an appealing one to many observers, is to make it possible for players to follow virtually any type of career path they might want, becoming a de facto explorer, hunter, mercenary, smith, magician, fisherman or almost anything else by making the appropriate choices. All will adventure in an environment that differs from most others in its clearly stated emphasis on player vs. player combat.




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Darkfall Tactical Overview

Today's massively multiplayer online games do contain tactical elements, but many of them have little to no real-world references, and others are based on the exploitation of the game's design and technology - zerging, stacking, excessive jumping / strafing, lag tactics, zone and portal camping, etc. "If it's in the game, it's in the game", so you're forced to compromise and get used to using such actions and to having them used against you.

You can use elevation, choke points, reverse slopes, tree lines, rivers, plateaus, etc. to your tactical advantage whether you're picking your battleground or setting up an ambush.
Darkfall was created with player and clan warfare in mind. In designing the combat gameplay, the simulation of military tactical aspects of combat required technical and design innovations to be implemented. In this article we'll look at some of the basics.

Aimed attacks
There's no target selection in Darkfall; all attacks are aimed. Leading the target in ranged attacks, firing flights of arrows toward an advancing formation, aiming your area of effect attacks for maximum efficiency or for a directional blast effect, give you more control on our attacks. Putting your targeting reticle on a player also provides identification.

Collision detection
How can you make a stand when your enemies can just run through you?

Characters in Darkfall collide with, rather than passing through each other. Collision detection makes formations possible and necessary in group combat. You can block entrances and exits, use chokepoints, and protect your healers and ranged fighters effectively. You can actually surround your enemies, perform battle maneuvers, deploy your forces based on your enemy numbers and formation, etc.





Pushing
You can push players who are blocking you out of the way. You can crash into a formation with your mounts, which can also push. You can use pushing to help your friends reach otherwise unreachable places.

Manual defensive blocking
You can choose to block attacks manually. This has many tactical ramifications in both single-player and group combat. Formations can advance while blocking. This defensive tactic covers frontal attacks; attacks from behind in Darkfall do extra damage.





Friendly fire
Friendly fire is in effect in Darkfall, and getting hit in the back does cause more damage. Forces need to be careful about how they deploy their ranged fighters and casters, how covering fire is used, and how melee fighters cooperate to maintain their formations while protecting their ranged units. Friendly fire makes the tactical use of chokepoints possible.

It also forces phases of attack. Offensive area of effect spells, or ranged attacks won't be randomly fired during the melee engagement stage of a battle for fear of hurting friendly forces. The same principle applies to beneficial area of effect spells, since enemy units will be affected by them as well. Friendly fire is one of the tactics that will allow a smaller disciplined force to gain the advantage over a larger undisciplined one.

No radar
There's no radar in Darkfall, and there are no floating names in neon colors to give you away if you're crouching behind a rock or hiding behind a tree. All your opponents have to go by is the sensory cues you might be giving out. You can take cover in a tree line while an enemy group is exposed in the clearing, you can conceal your reserve forces, you can move stealthily for a surprise attack. Realistic stealth tactics are definitely possible in Darkfall.



Line of sight and elevation
With aimed attacks, line of sight becomes a factor. In Darkfall holding the high ground gives you a considerable advantage over your opponents. Needing line of sight along with the absence of target selection allows you to use hard cover effectively.

The ability to go anywhere
Any place you can see in the game is accessible to you. You can climb, jump, swim, crouch, get pushed, or use kinetic blast effects, to try to reach any place you can see.

Use of terrain
our handcrafted terrain, with its extreme features and terrain formations, is an important tactical variable. You can use elevation, choke points, reverse slopes, tree lines, rivers, plateaus, etc. to your tactical advantage whether you're picking your battleground or setting up an ambush.

Fighting on familiar terrain always gives you an advantage. Good knowledge of the terrain is also important in travel when you want your approach to be less conspicuous, to advance quickly to the fight, or to aid in your hasty retreat.

Use of weather and of darkness
Weather can severely limit visibility, concealing the movements of an enemy force, as can nighttime. Ships use weather for navigation. Darkfall features a "real" weather system, and players have the capability of knowing and forecasting weather for a certain location.

Our goal throughout the development cycle has been to allow players the freedom to adapt most ancient and medieval warfare tactics for use in the game, while keeping it fun.
Real time combat and timing
Along with the action gameplay and the aimed attacks, real-time combat offers an immediate, intense and accessible experience of combat tactics. Timing is obviously very important. Movement, control, staging, attacking and coordinating performed well can give a side a tremendous advantage toward the final outcome.


Mounted combat tactics
Mounted units move fast and attack fast in the battlefield. They can be used for reconnaissance, to quickly advance to the battle, for flanking, frontal assaults to break through or over a line, or to hunt down a routing force.




Naval combat tactics
Ship movement is affected by prevailing weather conditions. Sophisticated fleet engagements with dozens of ships on each side, attacks on land from the sea, and combined land-sea operations are all possible in Darkfall.

Asymmetrical warfare
Hit and run tactics, raiding, use of the terrain, concealment, and timing can all be very effective in waging a war against a larger opponent.

Finishing - reviving - looting tactics
When your character is incapacitated on the battlefield, you're waiting for your teammates to revive you, and hoping your opponents won't get there first to loot and finish you off. Finishing off incapacitated opponents and reviving your teammates is one of the tactics that can tip the scales between equally matched forces.

Training
Being able to prevail in group or individual combat requires the timing, knowledge, tactical organization and discipline that can only be gained through practice. Clanmates can train together without any alignment hits, and anyone can practice against anyone else in specially appointed venues, also without an alignment hit.

Conclusion
In this feature, we've given you but a glimpse of what's tactically possible in Darkfall, and we mean to go into depth in future articles. Our goal throughout the development cycle has been to allow players the freedom to adapt most ancient and medieval warfare tactics for use in the game, while keeping it fun. We've also done our best to learn from our experience with other games, and to listen to what players have been complaining about and wishing for. The resulting gameplay makes the sky the limit as to what the Darkfall players can come up with in terms of combat tactics and counter-tactics.