Guide to Combat

This guide walks you through the controls you need for your first fight, whether that is a Team Combat round or a raid in Nomads. The key names below assume Hotkey Mode (press Tab to switch). The full list is on the Hotkeys page.

Before the shooting starts

1. Check your role and objective. Your job title, faction and the round briefing tell you what your team needs. If you were given a leadership role, read Leading a Squad.
2. Look at your gear. Examine your weapon (Shift-click it) to see its caliber, condition, fire selector setting and whether the safety is on. Check your pouches and webbing for spare magazines or rounds.
3. Learn to reload before you need to. Loading differs by era. The Weapons guide explains muskets, revolvers, bolt-actions and magazine-fed guns.
4. Respect the grace period. Barriers and timers keep the teams apart at round start. Stay with your team until the briefing says combat may begin.

Intents

Your intent decides what your empty hand, or the item in it, does when you click someone. Change it with 1-4, or cycle with F and G.

Keep Help intent around teammates and switch to Harm only when you mean it.

Aiming at body parts

The targeting doll on your HUD chooses which body part your attacks aim for. Click it, or use the numpad:

Head shots are deadlier but easier to miss. The chest is the most reliable target. Legs and arms slow and disarm an enemy without necessarily killing them.

Movement modes

Click the movement icon on your HUD, or press ., to cycle through the modes. M toggles between walking and running, and , drops you prone or stands you back up.

When you take a defensive position, go prone. When you need to cross open ground quickly, run, and stop running before your stamina runs out.

Firing a gun

• Fire: Hold the gun in your active hand on Harm intent and click a target.
• Safety: Press C (secondary activation) to toggle the safety on guns that have one. A gun will not fire with the safety on.
• Fire selector: Press Z (activate held object) to cycle firing modes on guns that have more than one, such as semi-automatic and automatic. On guns with a bolt or lever, Z works the action instead.
• Scopes and iron sights: Press Space to look down the sights or through a scope. This lets you see further in the direction you face.
• Eject a magazine: Type Eject magazine into the command bar, then insert a fresh magazine.
• Attack the way you face: L attacks the tile in front of you, which is handy when you cannot see your target clearly.

Holding someone up

Press J (Toggle Gun Mode) to switch between firing and aiming. In aiming mode, clicking a person points your gun at them instead of shooting. They are warned to make no sudden moves, and if they move or act, you pull the trigger reflexively (unless you are on Help intent). Use this to take prisoners or stop a fleeing suspect. You cannot aim while handcuffed, and you stop aiming if you lose sight of the target or fall down.

Grenades

1. Hold the grenade and press Z to light or prime it. The message tells you how many seconds you have, usually about five.
2. Throw mode turns on automatically. Click where you want it to land.
3. Get into cover or go prone. Prone players are harder for shrapnel to hit at a distance.

You can also press R to toggle throw mode for any item. With a grenade in hand, C sets it as a booby trap on your tile instead, which takes about ten seconds. See Grenades for each grenade type.

Melee

Melee is decided by your combat settings on the HUD, explained in full in Character & Skills:

• Tactic (N): Aim, Charge, Defend or Rush.
• Defense (V): Parry, which works best with a shield or a large weapon, or Dodge, which works best with a small weapon or none.
• Secondary attack (U, middle mouse): Bite, Kick or Jump.

If you are sparring with a friend, turn on Pulling punches in the IC tab so unarmed hits do no harm.

Cover

• Trenches are the best protection on many maps. Someone standing in a trench can only be hit in the head by a shooter at a distance, and someone prone in a trench cannot be hit by distant fire at all. See Trenches & Fortifications.
• Sandbags and barricades reduce your chance of being hit but do not make you invulnerable.
• Walls are not always safe. Bullets can penetrate thin walls, so do not assume a wall stops incoming fire.
• Human shields: a person held in a neck grab or tighter takes the bullets aimed at you. Expect your enemies to know this too.

When you are hit

1. Get out of the line of fire first. Crawl if you must.
2. Find what is wrong: examine yourself (Shift-click your character) to check your injuries.
3. Stop bleeding. Apply a bandage or gauze to the bleeding limb, or use Grab intent on the limb to apply pressure while you wait for a medic.
4. Call for a medic over the radio or by shouting. The Medical guide explains treatment.

If you die, check the round's rules before leaving; some scenarios let you rejoin after a delay.

Working with your team

• Stay near your squad leader. If your faction uses squads, the Find Squad Leader command points you towards them.
• Read squad and faction announcements; they carry your orders.
• Do not shoot at people you cannot identify. Uniforms tell you who is on which side, and your bullets can hit teammates who step into your line of fire.
• Share ammunition and leave supply crates for teammates who join late.