Combat Tyranny Guide
Last update: 17 January 2017
Introductory information
In Tyranny, combat takes place in real time. You can pause [Space] at any moment to issue orders to the protagonist and his/her companions (up to three) or to think about strategy. Characters can fight unarmed, use melee and ranged weapons, and use magic. In combat, every attack is performed with different speed which depends on Recovery-the lesser the parameter, the shorter the breaks between subsequent attacks. To attack, you have to select an enemy and click on them-it is a command for one or several party members. You can select the entire party with [Backspace]. If a character fights hand-to-hand and you want to attack another target, pay attention to the current opponent-if you attack an enemy which isn't currently fighting the character (hovering the cursor over the character shows lines that indicate presently fought foes), (s)he will receive damage due to the so-called Disengagement Attack. It also happens when you want to flee combat.
If pressing space to issue commands annoys you, you can use the [-] and [+] keys to set combat speed.
Defense
Every character and opponent has attack and defense parameters. They depend on attributes-in the preview, you can see which attribute is responsible for which Defense. In particular, we distinguish Dodge and Parry-the former determines the possibility of avoiding ranged attacks, while the latter: the chance to repel melee attacks and hostile spells. It is a wise practice to increase Parry for all party members and to try to quickly eliminate ranged opponents. Additional defense modificators also depend on traits, although the latter usually become secondary.
That which you can easily change is very important-your equipment. Armor is very important as far as defense parameters are concerned. However, the better the armor, usually the heavier it is. Heavier armor slows characters down. For example, the best option for an archer is to use light armor. Before you modify equipment, it is worth it to think about strategy and take a look at talents. Some characters, such as Verse, have passive abilities that increase some parameters when wearing a specific kind of armor.
Offense
Offense is also influenced by attributes. Every character has a different capability of using a given kind of weapon, and these attributes should be developed. For example, the most important modificator for an archer is primarily Finesse and secondly Might. Developing both attributes allows us to increase damage, accuracy, and the probability of scoring a critical hit.
Every character can carry more than one weapon set. It's a good solution for, for example, an archer-when he/she is attacked hand-to-hand and enemies are many, it's best to change the weapon set and attack with a melee weapon.
While attacking an enemy, you also have a preview of their boosted defensive parameters-the Bane are a good example. Depending on their type, they have high defense for some elemental attacks, so you shouldn't use the same kind of attack for all of them because they may prove very ineffective. Characters can also sneak [Alt]. Surprise attacks offer a high probability of dealing more damage, and some skills even trigger additional effects.
To switch between characters faster, you can click their portraits or use the F1-F4 keys. For quick skill selection, use numerical keys. There are 10 quick-selection slots available. You can put talents and spells there by dragging their icons from panels to the bottom of the bottom part of the interface. The last slots can also be filled with usable items such as healing potions.
Wounds, healing, and death
Whether or not your characters can die depends on the selected difficulty level. Death occurs when health goes down to zero or when a character gets too many wounds. A character is wounded when the amount of sustained damage reduces the health bar to more or less its middle point (it differs slightly for every hero). When wounded, a character's maximum health is reduced until they rest or advance to a higher level. Any party member can take more than one wound which further reduces their maximum health.
Rest happens when we use camping supplies (you can carry up to 8 sets of them) or special resting spots such as tents, taverns, or even your Spire (once you've unlocked it). Rest advances time so it isn't advisable in quests where timing matters. Otherwise, it should be taken often. Rest also cools down some combo skills that can be performed only once per rest.
Healing to the maximum amount of health happens automatically after a fight. In combat, you can use healing magic (such as that of Lantry), healing potions, and some food with regenerative qualities to heal yourself.
Combat organization
The most basic approach to strategy is to assess if you can manage your party well in combat and how good is your knowledge of Tyranny's rules. Artificial intelligence, which controls your party, is helpful for beginners. It can be set to a low level of intervention, which lets you use your own strategy but the AI won't let you forget about issuing an order to attack another enemy or using a cooled-down skill. However, it's not always that great. For example, when the AI decides that an ally should be healed and you want to heal somebody else. Luckily, you can adjust the AI behavior for every companion individually by selecting one of the Behavior options, as shown in the above picture.
Having variedly formed party, you can also manage its formation in combat. Thanks to this, you will have good positioning right from the start. For example, you can put your archers or mages in the rear and even decide how far away from each other they should stand (for instance, to avoid getting hit with an area-of-effect attack but stay close enough to use buffing spells on other party members). Party formation can be managed by selecting the third icon from the top of the party activity panel.