I am proposing a few new additions to combat mechanics to make combat a bit more interesting and challenging. 0: Single-Target Attacks An attack, unless stated otherwise, can only hit a single enemy. The damaged enemy is the enemy hit closest to the damage source. 1: Accuracy Most weapons have an "Accuracy N%" stat, where N is a positive number less than or equal to 100 which determines how likely an attack is to be successful. When one or more enemies is covered by the attacks hitbox, the closest enemy to the damage source is checked to see if the attack hits the target. If not, check the second enemy closest to the damage source, if it misses check the third, etc., until the attack hits (although an attack that does not miss can be dodged (see Dodge)) or the enemy list is depleted. For ranged weapons, accuracy determines spread. The maximum angle of spread is (1-acc) * 90°. Furthermore, most, but not all, ammo types have accuracy deplete over distance (IE: Accuracy = acc * 0.5 ^ (distance/100), so the accuracy halves for every 100 blocks the bullet has travelled.) AOE attacks (Explosions, Shockwaves, Flamethrowers, etc) never miss and hit all targets, and Homing Bullets use the weapons base accuracy. 2: Dodge Monsters and Players get a new stat called "Dodge", which is how likely they are to dodge an attack, and also how likely a dodged attack is to be a perfect dodge, in oppose to a glancing blow. When an attack "hits", the game checks to see if the target has dodged the attack. If the dodge is successful, then the game checks to see if the dodge is a glancing blow by checking dodge divided by 3 (rand < dodge/3). If its a glancing blow then the target suffers 50% of the intended damage, otherwise the attack counts as a miss, and further targets are viable for damage (see Accuracy.) AOE attacks (Explosions, Shockwaves, Flamethrowers, etc) are checked at dodge divided by 2 (rand < dodge/2) and, if dodged, are always glancing blows. Dodge is capped at 85% and Perfect Dodge at 50% (Thus the maximum useful dodge chance is 150%) (Optional) There can be a set of Melee armour which provides a lower defence but a high dodge chance. A player with a Shortsword is attacking a swarm of 5 enemies ("Enemy 1", "Enemy 2", "Enemy 3", "Enemy 4", "Enemy 5", in order of proximity to player), all of which are weak but have a high dodge chance. He swings and covers all 5 enemies in the swords hitbox. The attack misses Enemy 1, so Enemy 2 is checked. The accuracy roll is successful on Enemy 2, but Enemy 2 passes the Dodge roll, so the attack passes on to Enemy 3, who is hit with a glancing blow, taking 50% of the damage. 3: Multistrike Maces and Hammers have a new stat called "Multistrike N", where N is a positive integer. How this works is that after a target has been hit, the damage source can target a further N targets to damage at 70% accuracy. A player with a Hammer (Multistrike 2) is attacking the swarm of 5 enemies from before. He swings and covers all 5 enemies in the swords hitbox. The attack misses Enemy 1 and hits Enemy 2. The attack then continues at 70% accuracy to miss Enemy 3 and give Enemy 4 a glancing blow. The attack then goes on at 49% (70%*70%) accuracy to miss Enemy 5, ending the attack. 4: Pierce Spears and some guns have a new stat called "Pierce N%", where N is a positive number less than (or very rarely equal to) 100. How pierce works is that, after an enemy is damaged, the attack continues at (N% ^ (successful_attacks)) damage, and can hit any number of enemies. (Optional) Pierce weapons also deal 10% of the inflicted damage over 10 seconds. A player with a Railgun (Pierce 80%) is attacking the swarm of 5 enemies from before. He shoots and hits Enemy 1, dealing the damage. The bullet continues to miss Enemy 2 and deal a glancing blow to Enemy 3, inflicting 40% (80% * 50%) damage. The attack continues to hit Enemy 4 for 64% damage and Enemy 5 for 51.2% damage. 5: Large Enemies, namely bosses, get a new stat called "Large N", where N is a positive integer. A Large creature gets N additional chances to be hit, and can be damaged N times by Pierce weapons or Multistrike weapons. A player with a Spear (Pierce 70%) is attacking a Boss which has Large 2. He stabs, missing the Boss, then continues to damage the Boss, then damages the Boss again for 70% damage. 6: Blocking Blocking is identical to Dodging, only instead of being dodged and continuing to check the next enemy, the attack counts as a hit, dealing all damage dodged to the shield. Raising your shield provides a small window during which all attacks are a Perfect Block (the same as a Perfect Dodge), with the exception of AOE attacks (which can never be Perfect Blocks), and all damage dealt to the shield is reduced by 50%. This means that shields no longer absorb all damage (although they do absorb a lot of it.) Most Shields will have between 60% and 120% Dodge Chance, with a few having up to 150% Dodge Chance. The new stats should help provide a bit more variety between weapons and armour, making the choice of weapon you bring important to the situations you expect to find yourself in, as well as make Shields more than just a Health stat.
