By GameHopping

www.gamehopping.com

You find yourself weak and alone in a shattered world, with no memory of who you are or how you got there. The words of a dying man set you on a path to confront the spread of an undead menace, stop the plans of a dangerous enemy and discover the truth of who you really are. Following a trail of destruction, you will confront bandits, twisted animals, powerful creatures of the dead and a deadly nemesis. All the while, growing in power and skill to free a world from the grip of terror.
Revisions
1/21/2012 Initial Version 1.0.0 1/31/2012 Minor Changes 3/28/2012 Added a couple of Tips, waiting regen effect, added tip about 'Point Blank' bonus and noted existence of Pristine Quality Item

Overview
The Dead Hop is a Strategic Role-Playing game where you develop your Character by earning Skill Points from the completion of both Quest and Random Missions. The Skill Points are then used to increase Skills and acquire additional Abilities.

The Dead Hop is designed to be a challenging game with a risk / reward ratio based on the selected difficulty of game play.
This document covers the details of the major Topics to properly understand the deeper aspects of the game. There is no description of the game's interface, since there is an in-game help system to handle that.
NOTE: It is important to mention that even though the following descriptions are used to detail game play aspects as they apply to the Character (though the generic 'Creature' is used), everything mentioned also applies to the Non-Player Characters (NPCs) in the game. From the game's point of view, they are all Creatures
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treated by the same rules.

Character Development
There are different ways to develop the Character in The Dead Hop beyond the selection of Name, Image, Initial Statistics and Class. One method is by distributing Skill Points to increase Skills and train new Abilities. Equipment selection is another. The choices of equipment, such as Weapons, Clothing and Jewelry, will have a big impact on how the Character performs in combat against difficult enemies. Progression through the game comes from rewards received from completed Missions. Whether its the rewards gathered during a Mission or the rewards for actually completing Missions, they will shape the Character.

Skill Points
Skill Points are the means of improving the Character by using them to train Skills and new Abilities. The number of Skill Points acquired determines the Level of the Character. Skill Points are acquired from the completion of Missions. Both Quest and Random Missions award Skill Points as a reward along with Credits and Faction. When enough Skill Points are acquired, the Character will rise in Level.
NOTE: Progress can be capped at some points as Questing areas can have Level limits (or in the case of the Free Version of the game). When a Character is capped, it will not be able to receive the last Skill point that will bring it to the next Level. The Character must progress to the next Questing Area for progress to continue.

Levels
The Characters current Level is the method used to scale power in comparison to NPCs in Missions. Level will cap direct Physical Statistic gains from Item Enhancements (not from Effects or Item Sets). So a Level 3 Character can only gain an increase of 3 in a Stat, even if Items total a gain of 5.

The Level of the Character will also cap the training of most Skills. These Skills cannot be trained over the value of the Level. There are Class critical Skills, however, that have no training cap.
Levels are also used to control access to Quest Missions, as these are set to a certain level of difficulty that require the Character be a certain level to complete them.
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Quest areas (such as the starting area The Ruins) are capped to a certain Level. The Character cannot exceed the Level range of that Questing area, so Skill Points will be capped at 1 point under the next Level (ex: The Ruins is for level 1 to 5, so the Character cannot reach level 6 until it moves on to the next area).
NOTE: Unlike other games, the Physical Vitals (Health, Energy and Mana) do not increase with Level. The Character needs to train the Vital Development Skills to increase these. So dont neglect them.

Physical Statistics (Stats)

The Characters Physical Statistics are determined randomly at creation. The base skills can never be changed, so it is important to choose wisely from the beginning. The Stats can be increased (and decreased) by way of various Effects and Buffs from Item Enhancements. Each Stat has its own impact on Skills, Vitals and other elements of the game.

Strength: impacts Melee Attacks, the Vital Energy, and the amount of weight that can be carried before being
burdened

Stamina: the sole Stat for impacting the Vital Health, impacts the Vital Energy and used for Health related Resist
Rolls Intelligence: impacts the Vital Mana, as well as the Skill Deception (future Skills as well) Accuracy: impacts Melee and Ranged Attacks Dexterity: the sole Stat for impacting Melee and Ranged Defense, used for Resist Rolls involving physically applied Effects Will: impacts Ranged Attacks, the Vital Mana and used for Resist Rolls involving mind attacking Effects

Stat values have a very real impact on a Character's current Skill Values. So, keeping in what Class it will be, is important when accepting base Stats.

Physical Vitals (Vitals)

The Character's Physical Vitals are the Life and the means of using Abilities. Each Vital has its own specific function and not all are important to a Character depending on Class and play style. Health: this Vital is the Life of the Character; value of zero means death; important to all Energy: this Vital is used for Abilities of physical activities; important for melee weapon users Mana: this Vital is used for Abilities that use the mind more than the body, important to ranged attack users (and
Abilities out of the realm of 'normal')

Each Vital's base value is determined by the Stats that impact it and the amount of training in the individual Vital Development Skill. Effects from Abilities, potions and Enhancements on equipped Items can increase the current value of the Vital above the base value. Once damaged or used, a Vital can be restored using Items called salves or potions. Salves will restore small to large amounts of a Vital, depending on First Aid Skill, but are meant to be used outside of
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combat to to the time they take to use. Some potions will restore small amounts of the Vital, in time intervals, for a set period of time. These are better suited for combat usage. Then, there is the normal regeneration of Vitals. Vitals will regenerate over time, though not while they are being drained. If a Character is using a Stance Ability, that drains a Vital to maintain, then that Vital will not regenerate. Each of the three Vitals has its own base rate of regeneration, as well. Energy being the easiest to recover and Health being the hardest. Regeneration of a Vital is a matter of two values for each individual Vital: The Regen Amount and the Regen Time Interval (both viewable in Mission by touching the Status button and then the Regen tab Button).
Regen Amount: the value restored to a Vital after a Regen Time Interval is completed Regen Time Interval: the time required for a Vital to regenerate

Both of these value can be altered by Effects and equipped Items (Disease Effects can negatively impact these values). The Regen Amount is doubled if Character is Waiting at time of the Regen Time Interval expiration.

Classes
After successfully completing the first Quest Mission, the Character will have to select a Class (or Profession). The selection of a class will dictate how the Character is played as Abilities and Skills added to the Character will be focused to a focused game style. There are currently three Classes in the game, though more are coming in the future.
Brute: this is a Melee based Class that hits enemies at close range; very strong in Melee offense and defense; can raise its Physical Vital Health and resistance by stance; Physical Vital Energy is key in Ability use; very weak in ranged offense and defense; key Skill: Melee Commando: this is a Firearms based Class; can specialize in any Firearm type; strong ranged offense and excellent ranged defense; has Skill to increase damage; Physical Vital Mana is key in Ability use; very weak in Melee offense and defense; key Skill: Firearms Marksman: this is a Class that specializes in either Rifles or Bows/XBows; high damage class; can stealth to reduce detectability; can raise damage short term and immobilize enemies; Physical Vital Mana is key in Ability use; very weak in melee offense and defense; key Skill: Rifles, Bows or XBows

When the Character selects its Class, it receives the Abilities and Skill definitions of that Class. Certain default Skills become easier to train. For example, any class can train the Skill Firearms, but Marksman can train it easier than Brute, and Commando easier than Marksman. Some Skills may not be trainable until the Character reaches a certain level (as well as Abilities), but they become part of the Character as soon as the Class is selected.

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Skills
Skills are what shape the Character and make it unique. Allocation of acquired Skill Points to specific chosen Skills is the process that makes the Character better able to attack and defend against enemies. Every Character gets a set of Skills with costs for each increase, so every Character can train the Skill Firearms, for example. The selection of a Class can add not only new unique Skills, but a lower training cost to the existing Skill. So, using the example of Firearms, both can train the Skill, but the Class Commando can train it more easily than the melee-based Class Brute. Skills can only be trained to the Level of the Character, but there is always at least one exception. Each Class has a key Skill(s) that is not capped at the Level of the Character. These Skills are considered critical to the Class's function and directly enhance the effectiveness of the Character's Abilities. Using the example of the Commando again, the amount Skill Firearms is trained directly impacts both of the Class's Stance Abilities ('Exchange Fire' and 'Targeting').

Abilities
Abilities are another way of customizing a Character, but not to the same extent as Skills. In fact, Abilities are heavily dependent on their associated Skills (as hinted at in the previous section). The use of Abilities will consume an amount of a Vital(s), so the cost of using must be available. Some Abilities not only have a cost to use, but also have a Vital cost to maintain. So it will drain a Vital at a set time interval as long as it is active (example: the Ability 'Running' will drain 1 Energy every 20 time it is active). Many Abilities apply Effects, hostile and beneficial, that are scaled in power depending on the trained value of the Skill associated with them. Abilities are acquired in three ways:

Default Abilities: the Character acquires these at creation and they are not associated with a Skill so they do not scale; else include 'Reckless Slam' and 'Running' Class Abilities: the Character acquires these after selecting a Class; nearly all are associated with a Skill and do scale in power as the Character trains the Skill Trained Abilities: the Character acquires these by using Skill Points to train them; they are passive improvement abilities that will give the Character a new power (like automatically identifying Items in Mission) or improving existing ones (improving effectiveness of actively defending).

In addition to there being different ways of acquiring Abilities, there are actually three types of them:
Active Ability: this is an Ability that the Character uses specifically to apply a non-hostile Effect; movements and stances fall into this category of Ability Combat Ability: this is an Ability that the Character uses on a hostile NPC (or what will be a hostile NPC); the Ability might have an attack, and require a specific weapon type to be readied as the Character's primary weapon in order to use; the Combat Ability might adjust the amount of Skill / Damage / Time of the attack; the Ability might also try to apply a hostile Effect to the NPC, which will get a Resistance roll check; successful use of the
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Ability might also apply a non-hostile Effect to the Character Passive Ability: this is an Ability the Character has that simple enhances some aspect of the Character's game play, by improving something the Character does in a Mission or giving some new power that would not normally be possible

Active and Combat Abilities have Action and Recover times that can be adjusted based on Effects (such as 'Burden'), Enhancements from equipped Items and base penalties from equipping heavier Clothing. Combat Abilities, that require a weapon type for usage, apply an adjustment to Action and Recover times to that of the normal use times of the weapon (so use of a Combat Ability might require more time than a normal attack, or might be quicker). Some Combat Abilities actually requirements of the intended target NPC. Some require the target to have an Incapacitation Effect (such as the 'Infected Bite' of undead that can inflict 'Death Plague') and disarming Abilities will not work on target that is unarmed. Combat Abilities can also make direct adjustments to the nature of a normal attack. Some have more than one adjustment. The types of adjustments include the increasing or decreasing the amount of Skill used in the attack, the increasing or decreasing the amount of Damage of the attack, and even changing the actual number of attacks (so, a Combat Ability might allow the Character to attack multiple times, but at the cost of a lower Skill or Damage, to balance the Ability).

Equipment
A Character's equipment refers to the Items that are readied in location slots, and not just carried in the Inventory. Equipment is considered to be in-use and any Enhancements of these Items are applied to the Character's whether it is a Buff or an extra bonus created from multiple Items from the same Set. There are a large number of Equipment locations to allow for customizing the Character even more.

Item Quality
All AK-47s are created equal, but the Character may not find them in equal condition. In a world in ruin, Items of the same types are not all in their original quality. The wear and tear of usage has degraded much of the equipment remaining and, as a result, Items are found in different stages of condition. There are four Item Qualities (in order of decreasing Quality): Normal, Poor, Very Bad and Broken. (Though rumors exist of a Pristine Quality found on Bosses and in Uber Chests...but those are likely rumors.) A lower Quality will reduce the base stats of Items making them less effective than higher Quality ones
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of the same type. The Quality of Items, applying only to Weapons and Clothing, is visible from a descriptive identifier appended to the name of the Item which is different depending on the material of the Item. Example: Broken Quality of metal Items are 'rusted', while wooden Items are 'cracked'.
Note: Item Quality applies to how Items are found. There is NO Item degrading in game play.

Item Tiers
Items are broken up into groups of power based on the Questing Area in which they are available. These groups are called Item Tiers. The Items in a Tier are scaled to fight the NPCs in its associated Questing Area. This means that when a Character moves to a new area, upgrading equipment should be a major priority as the NPCs will be more powerful and will already be using Weapons and Clothing from the new Item Tier. The Questing Area The Ruins has only Tier 1 Items.

Weapons
Weapons are the Items that are used directly to attack an NPC. The Character always has a Weapon equipped even if it is natural Weapon like 'Hands'. A Weapon Item that requires Ammo cannot attack if it does not have that type of Ammo available (loaded if that is required). While technically there are two Weapon locations (Primary and Off-hand), equipping a second Weapon has a bit of limitation to it. An Off-hand Weapon must be of the same general type as the Primary Weapon. This means that a one-handed Firearm readied in the Primary location means that only a onehanded Firearm can be readied in the Off-hand location. The same goes for Melee weapons, but the Character can dual use a one-handed Pierce Weapon and a one-handed Slash Weapon, since they are the same general type. Removing a Primary weapon removes the Off-hand weapon as well. Abilities that have a specific weapon requirement will check the Primary location only. Dual Weapons can be switched between Weapon locations in combat to allow the of use of a wider range of Abilities. Two-handed weapons are counted as one Item in both the Primary and Off-hand locations.

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Clothing
Equipped Clothing Items are what provide damage absorbing protection to the Character. Each of the Clothing locations are those that can directly be damaged by NPC attacks. The combined Armor protection of that location is used to reduce the damage to the Physical Vital Health. The total Armor protection of a location can actually result in all of the damage of a successful attack being absorbed. There are a total of six Equipment locations for Clothing: Head, Torso, Arms, Hands, Legs and Feet. Many of Clothing Items cover more than a single location. An example being jacket-type Clothing which cover the locations of Torso and Arms. Another would be hoody-type Clothing that would cover the locations of Torso, Arms and Head. Multi-location Clothing Items can be an issue in some situations. If the Character has a hoody-type Clothing Item readied and finds a great Head Clothing Item, equipping it would remove the hoody from the Torso and Arms as well. Keep that in mind. The weight of the Clothing Item impacts the protection and penalty for using it. There are three types of Clothing.
Light Clothing: virtually no penalty for wearing; has the least protection. Medium Clothing: better protection than Light; it can impair action. Heavy Clothing: the best protection; comes at a huge cost in speed and combat effectiveness.

Penalties for Clothing are applied to the individual Items, so check the Items for the impact of equipping them. It is important to note that some Clothing types might be more appropriate against certain types of NPCs. If the Character is built on fast attacks, than Light Clothing helps that. Facing a very fast enemy that does lower damage might favor heavier armor.

Jewelry
Jewelry Items are like Clothing Items but for two differences; they provide no direct protection and similar Items can go into different location slots. While there are eight Jewelry Item locations, there are only five unique types.
Earrings: left and right ears locations Necklace: one for one neck location Bracelets: left and right wrists locations Rings: left and right ring fingers locations Belt: one for one waist location
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Since Jewelry Items provide no direct protection, the only real purpose for equipping them is the benefits they will provide from Enhancements and building Item Sets.

Enhancements
Once a certain point early in the game is reached, Enhanced Items will begin to surface from various sources. These provide the Character new ways to customize game play and allow for the defeat of challenging opponents. Enhanced Items are those that have absorbed enough or a combination of energies to become more powerful (the game's story method of adding Magical Items, without calling them Magical). The amount of the 'glow' given off by the Item dictates the number of Enhancements (Buffs), the Item is empowered with. A word describing the visible appearance of the 'glow' is appended to the name of the Items, whether it is identified or not.
Dim: Item has one Enhancement Shiny: Item has two Enhancements Bright: Item has three Enhancements Glowing: Item has four Enhancements Radiant: Item has five Enhancements

If an item has not been identified, the exact nature of the individual Enhancements is not visible. However, actually equipping the Item will allow the Enhancement to be seen on the Character (this is easy to see if the Character has few or no Enhanced Items, but can be tough to see if the Character is decked out). There are many different types of Enhancements, some apply Buffs directly to the Character, while other simply boost the Item itself.
Stat Increase: increase of specific Physical Statistic; capped at Character's Level Skill Increase: increase of specific Skill value; capped at trained value of Skill Vital Increase: increase of specific Vital; no cap in increases Item Boost: beneficial alteration to either Weapon or Clothing that effects that Item only Regeneration Add: increase to the amount a Vital will recover after a Regenerate Time Interval Regeneration Time: percentage reduction in the time of Regenerate Time Interval; cap at 90% reduction Aura: rare stackable gain in some aspect of Character's game play; usually powerful

The values of the Enhancements depend on the number of Equipment locations covered by the Item and the Tier of the Questing Area. Example: Tier 1 Gloves would give a +1 with a Stat or Skill, but a Jacket would provide a +2 as it covers both the Torso and the Arms. The same gains in Tier 2 Items would be +2 and +4, respectively.

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Item Sets
In addition to Enhancements, Items can also be part of Item Sets. Whether an Item is part of a Set is not visible if the Item is not identified, but will function if equipped with another Item of the same Set. Equipped in groups of two, to a maximum of six Items, an Item Set provide an extra bonus, that stacks with all other Enhancements, to some aspect of the Character depending on the type of set. There is no cap on the bonuses from Item Sets. There are eight types of Item Sets:
All Stats: this set will provide an bonus to all Physical Statistics All Vitals: this set will provide an bonus to all Physical Vitals Armor: this adds Armor protection to all Clothing locations Attack: this adds directly to the To-Hit bonus for Weapon attacks Damage: this adds to the minimum and maximum damage range for equipped weapons Deception: this increases the current value of the Deception skill (class limited use) Defense: this adds to the Melee and Ranged Defense value Resistance: this adds to any bonuses for Resistance Rolls against hostile Effects

The more Items from a single set that are equipped, the more powerful the bonus. Six Items provides the maximum bonus and is a significant improvement from just five items. The identifier for Item Sets is appended to the end of the Item's name and is visible once identified. It appears as {'type' X}, where 'type' is the type of the Item Set and X is the Tier number. Sets Items only function together when they are from the same Tier and the Set that provides the highest bonus is the one that counts. Example: If a Character has four Items from {Armor 1} and two Items from {Armor 2} equipped, the six items will NOT work together. And in this case, the {Armor 1} set might very will have a higher bonus and override the Items from the {Armor 2} set.

Misc. Items
There are other type of Items in the game that don't fall into the category of equipment. These are generically grouped together as Misc. Items. These Items have various purposes from healing Vitals to selling for Credits. There are six different types:
Salves: these are used for recovering Physical Vitals quickly, but take so long to use that they cannot be reasonably used in combat situations; they can be used on the Character OR on a friendly NPC; usage is enhanced by First Aid Skill; there are rumors of special Salves than can instantly save one from death's door Potions: these are self-only usable Item that have a wide range of uses to a Character; Potions can temporarily boost Stats, Vitals, Damage, Armor and reduce Action/Recover times; Potions place Effects that quickly
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Regenerate Vitals over a time interval; Potions can also be used to remove hostile Effects such as Poison, Disease and Death Plague Thrown: these Items are used to damage or place hostile Effects on NPCs; the Thrown Weapons Skill enhances the use of these Valuables: these are Items that really have no use, but sell for a really good price in Credits Other Junk: these are Items that really have no use (as of now) other than carrying to sell for Credits, though some things are not as worthwhile to carried than others; Example: the light weight pharmaceuticals Item sells far better than the heavy Garbage Item Quest Items: these Items are located or given and used to complete Mission Objectives; they cannot be removed from the Character's inventory, by normal means, once in possession

Multiples of the same types will stack in the Character's Inventory and Item Quality does NOT apply to Misc. Items.

Ammo
Ammo is used for Weapons that require it to function (attack, in other words). Most Ammo using Weapons need to have it loaded in order to utilize it. This takes time to do and can be a big problem in combat if the Character's Weapon is empty (strongly consider a secondary Weapon to switch to in such a situation). Some Weapons that use Ammo do not load rounds, but use the Ammo as part of attacking (Bows are an example of this). The Ammo must be present in the Character's inventory in these cases. Ammo availability spans multiple Tiers even though only Weapons in a single Tier may utilize it. This allows the Character to gather an Ammo type before receiving a Weapon, while also not leaving the Character Ammo-less in a new Questing Area before upgrading its Weapon(s). Ammo has no weight, in game, and if nothing else it is great for selling for Credits.

Game Play
Game play is handled by a time slicing mechanism that attributes an Action and Recover time to anything that the Character, or Non-Player Character (NPC), does in the game. Game play is NOT turn based. Once an action is started, a certain amount of time needs to pass before that action is completed. Once that time has passed, and assuming the action has not been interrupted, the action takes place. Then, a time of recovery must pass before a new action can be started. Time is not based on any real world time unit. It is simply a way of measuring the time difference in actions. Example: Attacking with a dagger, as an action, would take far less time to perform and recover from than swinging a big sledge hammer. Though, the hammer would do far more damage if both weapons hit their targets.
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Slow actions, like the example of attacking with the big hammer, might leave a NPC time to start and complete its own quicker attack and even start a second before the hammer attack completes.

Always pay attention to time.

Actions
As stated in the previous section, actions take time to complete and recover from. But what are constitutes an action in-game. Actions are simply anything the Character or an NPC does during the game. Waiting is even an action. All actions have an action time and most have recover times. The base values can be altered by factors including Effects, Clothing penalties and Enhancements from equipment. Adjustments that increase action / recover times will impact every action. So even if the Character has a Weapon with a small action time, heavy Clothing and a high Burden would greatly increase the time needed to attack with it. There are numerous normal actions:
Movement: the action of the Character moving from place to another; the time of this action is current Time to Move; this time can be altered by a number of Effects; movement Abilities alter the Time to Move (Abilities such as 'Running' and 'Stealth') as well as impairing Effects, such as 'Burden' Waiting: when the Character chooses to wait, it will be for a specifically configured period of time; a Wait action will be ended early if an enemy NPC enters the same room as the Character or an attack is started against it Searching Objects: the action of searching an Object to access its Inventory transfer Items Interacting with Objects: the action of interacting with an Object as part of Mission Objective; this can include activating or destroying the Object Pushing / Pulling Objects: the action of moving Objects around inside of a room; the time of this action is current Time to Move Opening / Closing Exits: the action of opening or closing an Exit to allow or block travel between adjacent Rooms Using an Exit: the action to use an Exit (which is open) to enter an adjacent Room; the time of this action is current Time to Move Swap with non-hostile NPC: the action to Swap locations with a non-hostile NPC; this can be done to pull a friend out of trouble or to sacrifice one for the Character; the time of this action is current Time to Move Switch Weapons: this action, which is only available to Character if dual using Weapons, will switch the hands of the Weapons; the time of this action is the larger of the two Weapons equip times Equipping / Removing Items: the action of equipping or removing Items will take the amount of time associated with the Item; selecting to do this in combat will draw a 'are you sure?' prompt Loading and Reloading Weapons: the action of loading or unloading gets its time from the definition of the specific Weapon; selecting to load a Weapon in combat will draw a 'are you sure?' prompt Using Misc. Items: the action of using a Misc. Item (such as a Salve or a Potion) takes its time from the definition of the specific Item Active Ability Use: the action of using an Active Ability; will get its time from the specific definition of the Ability; these are nearly always interruptible

Interrupting an action in progress will stop it as though the action never started. Most actions are interrupted by damage of any kind (not movement types, for example). An Effect with Incapacitation will interrupt ANY action in progress (more on that in Effects section).
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Combat Actions are a specific group of actions that are directed at a NPC with malice in mine.
Normal Attack: a simple attack with the Weapon(s) that are readied for use; the time for the action, and recovery, come from the definition of the specific Weapon; if dual Weapons are in use, then the times come from the Weapon with the largest (slowest) times Combat Abilities: use of an Ability that attacks a NPC; Ability will either get its times (action and recover) from the definition of the Ability or from the Normal Attack times with adjustments from the Ability Actively Defend: the action to Actively Defend against the attack of a specific NPC will set the time to that of the incoming attack and return Character control immediately after (assuming nothing bad happened); the action increases the Character's defense against the attack Using Thrown Misc. Items: the action has the Character use the Thrown Item at the NPC with the intend to apply a hostile Effect (in this case, Damage is a hostile Effect); time of action is from definition of specific Item used

Actions are the basis of game play. What actions the Character performs determines success or failure. It is important, at times, to read the situation and choose actions wisely. Somethings retreat is the best action.

Effects
An Effect is temporary condition placed on a Creature during a Mission. Effects fall into different categories (such as Buff, Debuff, Stance, Control ... etc.) and can be beneficial or hostile. Many Effects can be placed on a Creature by use of a Potion, which will give a beneficial boost for a period of time. Hostile Effects can be placed on a Creature by enemies from Ability and Item usage. Hostile Effects can be resisted by way of resistance roll against a certain Physical Statistic. Health altering Effects generally get a Stamina roll, physical Effects generally get a Dexterity roll and mind altering Effects roll against Will. Effects can actually have as many as four individual details. Stances for instance are Abilities that apply complex Effects to the Character that can enhance and even degrade certain aspects of combat. Effects can impact the Character in a wide range of ways.
Boost or reduce a single Physical Statistic or all of them at once. Heal or harm a Physical Vital immediately or over time. Increase or decrease offense or defense. Increase Armor protection or expose a weakness to allow all protection to be bypassed. Freeze a Character in place or slow its movement. Allow slow movement without being seen, or fast movement with high defense.

There are some types of Effects that need special mention: Burden: This Effect has degrees based on how much weight a Creature is carrying over the amount allowed by the
Physical Statistic Strength. The Effect will reduce Dexterity and increase Action/Recover times as well as the time needed to move. Only dropping items or increasing Strength can reduce or remove this Effect. Incapacitation: This Effect, which can take many forms, means that a Creature is unable to act until the Effect is removed. It can be removed by damage or just the amount of time needed for it to expire. Many enemies have

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special abilities that can only be used on a foe with this Effect. 'Infected Bite' is one of these. Disease: Disease Effects work as debuffs and are generally received from the touch of the undead or the bite of an animal. They are removed automatically by returning to camp and can be cured during a Mission with the use of a Cure Disease or Purge potion. Death Plague: Death Plague is a set of Effects that come in Stages. Stage 1 is acquired from the Infected Bite ability of the undead that can only be used on a foe with an Incapacitation Effect present. There are three stages of Death Plague with the third stage killing its victim quickly. Friendly NPCs will target and kill any Creature with any of the stages of Death Plague without faction change. Death Plague can be cured with the Death Plague Cure (one found in each Mission) or by using a Purge potion.

Some Effects, applied by Abilities, need to be maintained by a constant drain of a Physical Vital (Abilities like Stances and Movements). Effects like these are immediately canceled if the Character receives a hostile Incapacitation Effect. Effects can have durations, they can last until the Vital that is maintaining them is depleted, they can end and lead to yet another Effect or they can remain until they are cured or kill the Character. Effects can have different reasons for being canceled. Some are canceled by moving (like Effects from Stance Abilities) and others are canceled by stopping (like the Effect from 'Running').

Missions
A Mission is where all game play takes place. Missions take place in randomly created Maps (in many instances, they are based on settings to control their shape) with randomly placed NPCs and Objects. The Mission Maps are based on Rooms. A Room is an area that is attached to other Rooms by way of Exits. Use of an Exit will take the Character from one Room to another. The special Exit called the 'Camp Entrance' is used to leave a Mission. Mission Maps are constructed based on the Objectives of the Mission. A Mission can have as many as four Objectives and not all of them have to be visible when the Character first enters the Map. In order to complete a Mission, all of the Objectives have to be successfully completed and the Character must survive. Objectives can vary from retrieving Quest Items, to killing a named NPC, to saving members of a friendly faction, to interacting with a set number of Objects. Maps frequently will have special Rooms added to support specific Objective types. For instance, a 'kill the NPC' Mission will add a 'Boss' room, somewhere on the outer edges of the Map, where the NPC will be waiting with its chest of goodies (which is locked until the NPC is dead). Quest Missions are the Missions that the Character completes to advance the story line. They have a leadin story and as well as a post-Mission description. All of these have to be completed to leave the Questing Area and advance to the next one. A Quest Mission MUST be successfully completed in order to normally exit the Map. If any of the Objectives are failed or the Map is just too difficult (being completely random), the Mission must be abandoned and restarted from the Camp Area as if the Character never started it in the first place.
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Many Quest Missions require a minimum Character Level in order to start in order to insure a challenging but not overly difficult experience. The Character might complete one Quest Mission and not be a high Level to start the next in the story chain. In this case, Random Missions will have to be completed to acquire the Skill Points needed to get the Character to the next Level. Random Missions are those that are created based on settings accepted for the Character. The Missions display, of the Camp Menu, presents a list of ten possible Missions with random Levels and Difficulties. Each also lists Objective types and the primary enemy Faction. If none of the Missions is acceptable for the Character, leaving and reentering the display will create ten new Missions. The primary Faction, of a Random Mission, is the group of enemies the Character is most likely to encounter. Special NPCs, created for some Objectives, will be from this Faction. So, if the primary Faction is 'Bandits', then a named NPC will be from that Faction. That does not mean that members of the 'The Dead' Faction will not be encountered as well. Unlike Quest Missions, a Random Mission can be exited without completing all the Objectives, but will be marked as a failure. The penalty for failing to complete a Random Mission is a loss of Faction with Morning's Dawn. Faction loss can lock the Character out of the Faction Exchange until enough new Faction is earned doing new Missions. If the Character has a good amount of Faction, and is carrying a ton of Loot to turn in to the Faction Exchange, it can be worth the hit to fail the Mission. It's a judgement call. The Difficulty setting of a Mission applies directly to the Power of the NPCs (see Non-Player Characters section on details regarding Power) and the quality of the loot found in the Mission Map. Difficulty applies to both Random and Quest Missions (Quest Missions after the first two will prompt for a Difficulty setting after displaying lead-in story). There are three Mission difficulties:
Easy: NPCs will be downgraded one notch in Power and offense/defense settings; Loot will be reduced in power; rewards will be reduced Normal: NPCs, Loot and Rewards are as they are designed for the Level Hard: NPCs are upgraded in Power and offense/defense settings; Loot will be increased in power; rewards will be reduced; maxed out Level in a Questing Area can create a 'Free Boss' (or more than one)

A hard Mission can be a very hard Mission, but the Loot found will be pretty good, after it has been used against the Character by upgraded enemies, that is. It's best to be well equipped before doing one of these. Successfully completing a Mission will reward the Character with more than just what was found in the Mission Map. There are three Rewards for Mission completion:
Skill Points: used to improve and allow the Character to increase in Level Credits: used to purchase various equipment in the Credit Exchange

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Faction: raises the standing with Morning's Dawn and gains the Character better buy / sell percentages in Exchanges; can also be used to purchase Enhanced Weapons, Clothing and Jewelry in the Faction Exchange

Rewards for Random Missions, as well as the quality of Loot, are also influenced by the number Objectives and the Level selected. A Mission with a lot of Objectives, and a Level above that of the Character, is going to have really good equipment drops (after what is carrying is it killed, of course). A easy difficulty Mission, with a single Objective and a Level below that of the Character will barely have a single good Item. The Character needs to work for the good stuff. As mentioned, Mission Maps are made up of Rooms connected by Exits. Each Room can have a number of Room Objects (or Objects). The size and placement of the Room, in the Mission Map, has a lot to do with how many Objects (and what type) will be contained in it. Objects are another source of getting Loot (other than killing and looting NPCs). The Character searches an Object to access its Inventory, so that Items can be transferred back and forth. The type of Object is a good indication of what it might contain. Example: A 'rubble pile' or 'dumpster' Object might have something good, but not likely. Now a 'chest', 'Lesser Chest' or 'Uber Chest' Object are just begging to be looted.

Non-Player Characters (NPCs)

What good would building a Character's offense and defense be if there were nothing to actually fight? Well there is plenty to fight here. At times the Character might have too much to handle. NPCs are the 'Creatures' found in Mission Maps that the Character will have to defeat, and sometimes help, in order to complete Mission Objectives. They can be friends and foes. A NPC that is hostile will attack on sight, if the Character is seen. Some NPCs are better at detection than others (whether the Character is using 'Stealth' or not). If a hostile does see the Character, and it does not have a more pressing concern (another enemy right next to it), it will let the Character know it means it harm with an 'aggro' message while targeting it. Once 'aggro-ed', NPCs have a relative amount of 'Smarts' that control their behavior. Some hostile NPCs will forget all about the Character the moment it leaves the Room, while others will hunt it down. Smarts also control whether the NPC is capable of opening an Exit in pursuit (animal type 'Smarts' is not). Many types NPCs will fall into a Skill / Ability set linked to a Character Class. An enemy with a melee Weapon(s) might have some Brute Abilities, whereas a Human type that frequently appears with a shotgun or assault Weapon likely has Commando Abilities. Some NPCs have Abilities for Classes not yet in the game. Every NPC has an Offense and Defense rating that impacts how well it attacks and defends in battle. Some NPCs are meant to be more offensive, while others more defensive. These ratings will add bonuses (or penalties) to its actions in combat. The ratings are displayed as single word descriptions. These are the ratings for both Offense and Defense
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in increasing order of effectiveness:

Offense/Defense Ratings: None, Weak, Normal, Good, Excellent, and Incredible

NPCs come in many types and Powers. The type of an NPC refers to what kind of Creature it is. Examples of types are Human, Undead and Animal. The Power of an NPC does not refer to the Physical Statistic Strength, but to the difficulty of the Creature relative to the Character and other NPCs in the Mission Map. There are seven Powers of NPCs:
Trash: is the most pathetic of NPCs and is really no threat if the Character is careful; it usually has no offense or defense and always has low Physical Statistics and Vitals; it also will have really poor loot Weak: is only a bit better than Trash; it is more likely to have Combat Abilities that can assist stronger NPCs nearby Normal: is the average NPC Power; most NPCs will be of this Power; not too difficult but not to be ignored either; in numbers they can cause big problems Elite: is the approximate Power of the Character, depending on equipment on both sides; solid Physical attributes and good Loot, it can be a problem if the Character is unprepared Major: is a challenging NPC that can be a real problem; superior combat prowess matched with large pools of Vitals can make them hard to take down; has really good Loot and is not afraid to demonstrate it Boss: is really VERY hard to defeat; the Character needs a strategy, very good equipment (including active Item Sets) and some nice Potions to add useful Effects before engaging one of these; has excellent loot and many times a nearby 'Uber Chest' that is locked while it's alive; Bosses are a good reason to Quick Save before using an Exit Raid: is only included for story elements; Raid Power NPCs are not meant to be fought; if the Character has a death wish, feel free to test the Restore Saved Game functionality

As noted in the Missions section, difficulty will alter the Power of the NPCs. An easy difficulty will downgrade the Powers, turning Normal NPCs to Weak ones and Major NPCs to Elite ones. A hard difficulty on a Mission will upgrade NPCs, turning Normal NPCs to Elites and Major NPCs to Bosses. In addition to the Power change, based on Mission difficulty, the offense and defense of the NPCs (as well as Loot) will also be altered accordingly. Also mentioned in the Missions section, some Objectives will create tough opponents to be defeated. For they instances a NPC will be massively upgraded (from Normal to Boss, in some cases) to fill that roll. The movement speed, 'Smarts' and equipment will also be upgraded to produce a challenging enemy. These are not the same as true Bosses. Some Quest Missions will have unique NPCs that are not just upgraded stock opponents, but are designed to be challenging. They might have unique Abilities that only they possess. What also needs mentioning is what is called the 'Free Boss'. A 'Free Boss' is a designed Boss Power NPC. It can appear in a hard difficulty Random Mission when the Character is at the maximum Level of the Questing Area. It will be placed in one of the normal spots so it can be anywhere (even in a room with three other NPCs). There will be a warning at the start of a Mission with at least one of these (yes, there can be more than one), so beware. Oh, it will have amazing Loot.

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Every NPC in the game is part of a Faction. The Character's relationship with a Faction determines how the NPCs of that Faction will react to the Character. Some Factions just plain hate every other Faction (like 'Bandits') and some are just plain hated by every other Faction (like 'The Dead'). Given the cross-relationships between Factions, the Character could enter a Room with a battle beginning between NPCs of two or more Factions. If the Character then was to leave the Room, the fight would continue until only one Faction remained. If the remaining Faction is hostile to the Character, and the NPC(s) detected the Character, the survivor(s) will then hunt the Character down as its 'Smarts' permits. Any NPC killed, that the Character had no part in defeating, will drop NO Loot, but Quest Items. So keep that in mind (especially if that NPC was carrying the Mission's Death Plague Cure). Even the Character has its own Faction. Just because a Faction is hostile toward the Character does not mean that friendly Factions will attack members of that Faction.

Camp Services
The Camp, which is controlled by the Faction 'Morning's Dawn', is the central hub for the Questing Areas. All Missions begin and end at the Camp (with the exception of the first Quest Mission, in which the Objective is to locate the Camp). The Camp is where the Character trains Skill/Abilities and acquires equipment before a Mission. It is where Loot is identified and traded in for Credits or Faction in the Exchanges after a Mission. It is also from the Camp that the Character travels from one Questing Area to the next, after the Quest Missions for an area have been completed. Quest Missions, as mentioned, begin at Camp. When the Quest button is active, it means that there is a Quest Mission available to be started. It is not necessary to do this Mission as soon as it is available if Random Missions can be created (there are times when this functionality is not available). Some Quest Missions are challenging enough that the Character might need to get better equipment before beginning it. The Missions button is how the Character accesses Random Missions. A list of ten randomly created Missions will be presented that one can be selected from. If none of them are acceptable, simply exit the display and touch the Missions button again to create ten different ones. The Trading menu allows access to options for equipping the Character for Missions.
Credit Exchange: used to exchange goods for Credits earned from completing Missions and turning in Loot; this is where mundane Items (non-Enhanced), as well as Misc. Items and Ammo can be purchased and sold; prices dependent on Morning's Dawn Faction value Faction Exchange: used to exchange Enhanced Items for Faction earned from completing Missions and turning in Loot; prices dependent on Morning's Dawn Faction value; requires a minimum Faction value to trade Storage: a storage location where the Character can place Items that need to be stored between Missions Identify Items: active if any Items in Character's inventory are not identified; identifies all Items at no cost
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The Training menu allows access to options for training the Character for Missions.
Train Skills: where the Character spends Skills Points to increase Skill Values Train Abilities: where the Character spends Skills Points to train new Abilities Reset Training: will blank all Skill Points from trained Skills and Abilities to allow full retraining; free to use before Level 3; Level 3 and above, the Character needs to complete a Quest Mission to reset training

Technical Points
This section is provided for those Players that would like to know some of what goes on behind the scenes to better understand some of the mechanics of the game.

Combat
The simple action of one Creature (Attacker) attacking another Creature (Defender) starts with a 1 to 20 random Roll. The Attacker is the one that Rolls. Here are the steps the engine takes from there:
Is the Roll a 1: this is a miss, period. No matter how much more powerful the Attacker is, it missed. Is the Roll a 20: this is always a hit. No matter what the defense of the Defender, the Attacker has a successful hit.

If neither of these Rolls happens, the following Attacker values are added to the attack Roll:
Level of Attacker: this is to give an advantage to more powerful Creatures Current Value of Weapon Skill: for a hammer, this would be Melee Skill; the Skill value is added Current Value of Weapon Specialty Skill X 2: again for a hammer, this is the Crush Skill; double value is added Other Bonuses to Attacks: these can come from the an Enhancement Boost on the Weapon, an Item Set (such as the {Attack X} set) or active Effects

Then, the following Defender values are subtracted from the attack Roll:
Level of Defender: again to give an advantage to more powerful Creatures Current Value of Defense Skill: this is Melee Defense for Melee attacks and Skill Ranged Defense for Ranged Attacks (an incapacitated Defender has NO Defense) Other Bonuses to Defense: these can come from the an Item Set (such as the {Defense X} set) or active Effects

NOTE: Because NPCs do not train Skills, their Skill values for Offense and Defense are based on their Ratings for each and their Power. A Weak Power NPC with Weak Offense and Defense will have low Skill values. A Major Power NPC with Excellent Offense and Defense ratings would be a very different story. Also, NPCs get extra bonuses in higher Questing Areas to make them more challenging.

If the Attack Roll is 5 or less, after the above adjustments, the Attacker missed the Defender.
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On a successful hit, the damage is rolled between the minimum and maximum values of the Weapon, taking into account any bonuses from Skills, Effects and Item Sets (such as the {Damage X} set). But then the damage is adjusted by the amount of the Attack Roll. If the attack just hit the Defender, then the damage is scaled down by 50%. A final Attack Roll in the range of 15 to 20 would produce a normal damage attack. From there, an Attack Roll that so completely dominates the defense of its target can double, triple and even quadruple the damage of the Weapon. So any opportunity to add an extra bonus to an attack will not only increase the chance of hitting, but also increase the magnitude of the hit. Once the damage as been determined, the Armor protection, at the location of the hit on the Defender by the attack, is removed from the damage. Damage is absorbed at a one for one basis. The Armor protection is the total from the Clothing covering the location, an Item Set (such as the {Armor X} set), Effects, a protection Aura and even the natural hide of the Creature. Armor protection can completely absorb the damage from a successful attack. The damage remaining is removed from the current value of Physical Vital Health. If that is reduced to zero from an attack, the Defender is killed.

Actively Defending
If the Character is under attack, the action to Actively Defend against the attack can be selected. NPCs can also select this action, depending on its inherent Abilities. When a Creature (whether Character or NPC) selects to Actively Defend against an enemy's attack, the action only counts against that Attacker. The Defender will entering into the Defending action for the time set to the time for the Attacker to complete the attack. The attack cane be a normal Weapon attack or Ability use. Actively Defending has strong benefits.
Raises the defense bonus against that Attacker's attack by 5. Raises the resistance bonus to hostile Effects, from that Attacker, by 5. Allows the Defender to act right after the Attacker's attack (with a short recover time for Defending).

There are limitations to using Active Defending. The most important being that their must be enough time before the attack to act. Otherwise, there is not enough time to act and Defending is not available. Classes also have special passive Abilities that can enhance Actively Defending against certain types of attacks. They are not trainable. Each Class has at least one of them. These passive Abilities are only used with the action of an Actively Defend.
Parry Melee: adds 5 to defense bonus for Melee attacks Dodge Range: adds 5 to defense bonus for Ranged attacks Evade Attack: adds 5 to defense bonus for BOTH Melee and Ranged attacks
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If the Attacker misses the Defender and the message indicates that the Defender 'Parries', 'Dodges' or 'Evades', then one of these passive Abilities is what kept the Creature from being hit by the attack. There are also two trainable Abilities to enhance Active Defending that should be mentioned.
Enhance Defend: this will add another 5 to the defense bonus against attack Quick Defend: this will allow using Actively Defending against attacks with times as low as 1

If Creature is interrupted, while Defending (from another Attacker), the action ends.

Ability Adjustments
Combat Abilities can have attacks in them, as mentioned in the Abilities section. The Combat section describes the calculations of a normal combat attack, but Combat Abilities can have adjustments to alter the attack's outcome. Here are some of the adjustments that can be part of a Combat Ability:
Half Skill Value: will half the Bonus from Weapon Skills added to the Attack Roll Double Skill Value: will double the Bonus from Weapon Skills added to the Attack Roll Triple Skill Value: will triple the Bonus from Weapon Skills added to the Attack Roll Half Damage: will half (rounded up) the final damage of a successful attack before the Defender's Armor protection absorption Double Damage: will double the final damage of a successful attack before the Defender's Armor protection absorption Triple Damage: will triple the final damage of a successful attack before the Defender's Armor protection absorption Damage Avoids Armor: will allow the damage of a successful attack to completely bypass Defender's Armor protection absorption Greater Critical Chance: will greatly increase the chance of a successful attack to be a Critical

The negative adjustments are always paired with a major benefit to using the Ability. Such as multiple Attacks from Ability, applying an Effect or even a beneficial Self Effect to the user of the Ability. Some adjustments might seem too good to be true. Well those likely come with a cost such as a longer time to use, usage becoming easy to interrupt or requiring the target to have a condition (like it must be incapacitated). Also, Abilities do require an amount of a Physical Vital to use, so really good Abilities might have a high cost (perhaps even in Health). Some Combat Abilities will also allow for multiple attacks from the equipped Weapon(s), though the Primary Weapon must be able to attack the number of times indicated (a Weapon with one Ammo round remaining cannot attack multiple times).

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Critical Hits
A successful hit, whether it is from a normal attack or from an attack of a Combat Ability, can be a Critical. A Critical is completely dependent on the original Attack Roll. A roll of 20 is a Critical. From there there is a pull and tug between factors that can increase Critical chance and others that can make the Creature resistant to them. For NPCs, the Power determines if it is easier or more difficult to give and receive Critical hits. Another factor is the Offense and Defense ratings of the NPC. A Boss Power NPC might only require a roll of 14 (if its Offense rating is 'Incredible') to get a Critical hit. Weapons can have Enhancement Boosts to increase the chance of Critical hit. Adjustments from Abilities and certain Effects can also increase Critical chance. Clothing and Jewelry Items can have the Enhancement Aura 'Critical Resist' that can reduce the chance of the Creature being hit with a Critical. What is the impact of a Critical? There are four things that a Critical will do to an attack:
Increased Damage: the final damage of the Attack, before Armor protection absorption, is increased by 50% Reduced Absorption: the total Armor protection absorption is reduced by half (rounded up) Force Interrupt: any action the Defender is in the middle of will be interrupted Hostile Effect Bonus: if attack is part of a Combat Ability with a hostile Effect, it will receive a bonus against the Effect being resisted

Attack Locations
When attacks do hit, they have to hit somewhere on the Defender. The location helps to determine what Clothing Item (assuming there is one) will be used for damage absorption. Under normal circumstances, solid hits will damage one of the two Creature locations that will result in death: Head or Torso. Killing blows will always land on one of these. Glancing blows (with reduced damage) will hit the other locations (Arms, Hands, Legs or Feet). Both NPCs and the Character will aim Weapon attacks at one of the killing locations. There is a specific combat benefit for aiming at each location:
Head: better chance of damaging hit; increases Critical Hit Chance +1 Torso: better change of hitting target; increases bonus to Attack Roll +2

Some Combat Abilities target a specific location due to the nature of the Ability (Abilities that disarm, target Arms location). A damaging attack, that would normally kill an enemy, can leave the Creature hanging to life due to a forced hit to a non-killing location.

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Combat Settings
There are also Combat Settings that also influence the outcome of individual attacks and defense against attacks. These settings, which exist for both the Character and NPCs, are added to the calculations at the time of an attack. The changes will not appear in any display of bonuses and action times. Attack Type is a setting that can alter the Creature's Attack Bonus and the speed of the Combat Action. There are three possible settings:
Normal: no change for Combat Actions Reckless: Combat Actions are faster at the cost of effectiveness; Attack Bonus -2, Action Time -1 Deliberate: Combat Actions are slower but more effective; Attack Bonus +2, Action Time +1

Combat Focus is the general manner in which the Creature acts in Combat that impacts attacks and defense against attacks. There are three possible settings:
Normal: no change to offense and defense Offensive: increased offense at the cost of defense; Attack Bonus +2, Defense Bonus -2 Defensive: increased defense at the cost of offense; Attack Bonus -2, Defense Bonus +2

These settings can be changed anytime the Character can act and will be applied to every attack and defense until changed.

Weapon Rating
The Weapon Rating (or more accurately, the Damage Rating) is a value that is used to compare one Weapon to another in its capability to inflict damage. The value is calculated using the damage and the action / recover times of the Weapon. Simply, the Weapon Rating is the average damage the Weapon will inflict, assuming every attack is a normal hit with no absorption, over a time of 1000. For those who want the equations:
Number of Attacks = 1000 / (Action Time + Recover Time) Average Damage / Attack = (Weapon Minimum Damage + Weapon Maximum Damage ) / 2 Weapon Rating = (Number of Attacks) * (Average Damage / Attack)

It is important to note that the Weapon Rating is not necessarily the same at the Damage Rating of the Character or NPC that is using it. Any factor that changes the times or the damage (such as Effects, equipped Clothing, Burden or Item Sets) will alter the Damage Rating of the Creature that has the Weapon(s) readied.

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Resistance Rolls
A Resistance Roll occurs if something attempts to apply a hostile Effect to a Creature. The roll is based on the Physical Statistic that is associated with the Effect. Three Stats are used for Resistance Rolls:
Stamina: checked to resist Health related Effects such as Diseases, Poisons and Death Plague Dexterity: checked to resist physical Effects such as Knockdowns and Effects from physical attacks Will: checked to resist mind attacking Effects such as Terror and non-physical attacks

The way a Resistance Roll work is somewhat similar to an Attack Roll, just backwards. The Resistance Roll is a 1 to 20 random number that needs to be the value of the associated Stat or under. So if the roll returns a 13 and the Stat is 14, the hostile Effect was resisted. If the roll was 16, the Effect is applied to the Creature. So instead of high, like the Attack Roll, the idea is to roll low. In a reverse of a Attack Roll, a Resistance Roll of 1 is always a successful resist of the Effect, and 20 is always a failure. Otherwise, like the Attack Roll, bonuses and penalties will impact the final result of the Resistance Roll. There are factors that can make it easier or harder to resist hostile Effects including other preexisting Effects, Enhancements on equipment or the Power of NPCs (for applying or attempting to resist an Effect).

Thrown Weapons
A Thrown Weapon is a Misc. Item that, when used, attempts to apply a hostile Effect on a Creature from a distance. No matter what the nature of the Effect, the Resistance Roll for avoiding the Effect is based on Dexterity. Also, Armor protection absorption does not reduce any damage caused by the hostile Effect. The Enhancement Aura Protection, however, will decrease the damage as it does with all damaging Effects. The use of Thrown Weapons is enhanced by the Thrown Weapons Skill. The current value of the Skill is used as bonus to determine if the Thrown Weapon actually hits its target and the Effect is applied. So Skill bonuses from Item Enhancements on equipment, and boosting the Physical Statistics associated with the Skill (Strength and Accuracy), will make Thrown Weapons hit more frequently, even on higher Power NPCs. The trained value of the Thrown Weapon will increase the magnitude of the hostile Effect (so the damage of damaging Effects will be increase, for example). Finally, like other Items, Thrown Weapons are tiered to the Questing Area. A new area will have new Thrown weapons with more powerful Effects.

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Tips
Other than loot, nothing is gained for killing an enemy unless it is actually part of the Mission. Levels are simply a rating of how many Skill Points have been earned to match the Character against the content. The inventory of the Credit and Faction Exchanges only reset after a completed Mission. To get ammo, if the exchange is empty, consider easy Random Missions with lots of the Faction 'Bandits'. Anything with a firearm, has a fully loaded weapon and spare ammo. Ranged weapons users receive a 'Point Blank' bonus for being right next to target. This bonus is an increase in 'To-Hit' and Critical chance. This applies to Character and NPCs. There are no increases in anything for leveling other than allowing the Character's Stats to be increased higher by Item Stat buffs, and allowing Skills to be trained higher. Both are capped to Level. The Character must increase Vital Development Skills to increase the Vitals Health, Energy and Mana base values. They will not increase with level. Carrying loot will weight the Character down and Burden has a very negative impact on Combat prowess. Find somewhere to store loot to keep carried weight low. Items placed in the Inventory of a Room Object (even a corpse) will not vanish during a Mission. Just dont forget it. Building Item Sets and proper use of Potion buffs are part of the key to defeating very hard opponents. Running a tough hostile NPC to the NPC Marksmen at the Mission exit is perfectly acceptable. Just know that the Character has to have to harmed a NPC in some way to get non-quest Loot from it. And if it is hard, it probably has good stuff. Some NPCs may be too fast to make running an effective option. Most undead will not actually run. The names help figure out the exceptions. If the Auto-Save feature set to Room-Exiting, consider turning it off if the Character begins to run from a tough NPC. All Objectives must be completed to successfully complete a Mission. No, there is no partial credit. There is one 'Death Plague Cure' in every Mission Map. It is either in a container (it will not be on a corpse already existing in Map) or on a hostile NPC. If the NPC carrying the Cure is killed without assistance from the Character, the Cure for the Map vanishes. SAVE THEM! While all trainable Abilities are somewhat useful, strongly consider 'Dive for the Door' for a quick exit for when things go bad. Not all Random Mission Objectives are created equal. Objectives for retrieving the single Quest Item or killing the named NPC will create a challenging enemy. In 'Hard' difficulty Random Missions, the challenging enemy NPC will be of Power 'Boss', so don't bite off more than the Character can chew. If it can be defeated, an Uber Chest awaits the Character. Another feature of 'Hard' Random Missions is the 'Free Boss'. If the Character is Level capped in the Questing Area (such as Level 5 in 'The Ruins', the Mission might just give a 'fair' warning at the start with the big red letters 'DANGER WALKS THIS MISSION'. This means that a real Boss, not a NPC upgraded to Boss Power, has been placed in the Mission Map. In might be in the right on the other side of the first Exit. It will be mean and, in addition to all of its normal loot, will be carrying the equivalent of an Uber Chest on it. So decide if it is worth the trouble. Feel lucky?
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There can be multiple game elements at a single Map location. If a location is selected and the expected interface buttons are not visible, touch the location against to selected the next element. Example: If an NPC is on an Exit location, the Attack button will not be turned on if the Exit is the element is selected and not the NPC.

The Dead Hop, GameHopping and the contents of this document are Copyrighted and cannot be used without specific, authorized permission.

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