Reactionary Actions

[wizaerd]

In the other MMORPG I played once upon a time, I never played a melee character. I pretty much stuck to casters and ranged characters, although from time to time I ended up in a melee situation. But even though I ended up in melee, it was short lived because my spells/ranged attacks weakened them considerably, so my survivability was quite good.

But because I've never actually built a melee character, I'm uncertain of certain responses to battle situations. Now in Ryzom, I'm doing more deliberate melee, and am confused a bit about certain reactions. For example (and some of the names may be off, but hopefully you'll get the gist) Attack after Parry. This is only active after a successful parry, but is it something I need to watch for (the Parry) in order to use it? It's not that I'm lazy, I'm just not used to paying that much attention to the actual battle. (Hmmmm, that doesn't sound quite right... I do pay attention, but it's more paying attention to their HP bar, and if they're casting or something, how to best interrupt, or slow them down, etc...) But to keep watch for specific conditions such as Parry and Dodge? Am I correct in my assumptions? I need to know they actually Parry, and know that when they do I can use Action xyz?

[borg9]

Attack after parry and attack after dodge are based on you parrying or dodging

You must be in parry mode to parry and dodge mode to dodge. You get a notification you have parried/dodged on screen, but the lazy option is to watch the icon on your hands bar, it enables for a short while when its available.

[vguerin]

But to keep watch for specific conditions such as Parry and Dodge? Am I correct in my assumptions? I need to know they actually Parry, and know that when they do I can use Action xyz?

As Neun stated you must be in a particular "mode" to have them occur... typically you'll be in the mode that is your highest. You must also have purchased the bricks from the trainers to add to your stanza, it's an essential skill IMHO.

These skills are VERY important during duels and PvP (or anytime you don't have a healer really) as the "attack after dodge/parry/critical" can be free hits, full power hits or both (especially if working lower level skills). Your hands icon will light up and the word "Parry/Critical/Dodge" will appear above your head. When this happens hit your "attack after" key, you don't have to watch the icon and this should be a natural action after your comfortable with fighting.

In magic mode, dodge is less important for the free hit thing, but anytime your not being hit is a bonus.

[jpcaps]

you can bind keys to switch from parry to dodge and vice versa.

[gretchen]

There is a keyboard toggle to switch dodge/parry, I'm at work and I forget what it is by default...you can of course set it to what ever you light in the System button/Keys item.

I am still unclear when or why you would want to be in dodge or parry mode. I think you parry weapons and dodge animal attacks?

Also I think I remember the advice about which would be higher for you as rather confusing (parry being your weapon skill and dodge being your highest skill or something.) I really am unclear on this.

Short answer to your question is, the Opening icons ungrey when they are available. They only ungrey for a short period of time, usually they are greyed out, and they can be enhanced with extra stanzas like any other attack.

[totnkopf]

There is a keyboard toggle to switch dodge/parry, I'm at work and I forget what it is by default...you can of course set it to what ever you light in the System button/Keys item.

Shift + D, I think

[sehracii]

I am still unclear when or why you would want to be in dodge or parry mode. I think you parry weapons and dodge animal attacks?

Also I think I remember the advice about which would be higher for you as rather confusing (parry being your weapon skill and dodge being your highest skill or something.) I really am unclear on this.

Which one is higher is a bit complicated. Luckily, you don't need to know how its determined!

Also, dodge/parry function identically/equally well regardless of what you are fightigna gainst.

So you simply want to use the higher value at any point in time. To determine which is higher, just look at the P (identity) screen. It will list your parry value and dodge value, and you set yourself to the higher one. Be aware it will change if you change any equipment you're using, so keep an eye on it.

[fuzzles]

(...) it's an essential skill IMHO.

Seconded. It's also one of the stanza that just get flat out better without any drawbacks as you upgrade it. I get +35 free credits whenever I parry now. I love it.

[iwojimmy]

Your Parry ability, is your skill with your equipped weapon, plus any bonus from a shield, or the weapon itself, plus any bonus or penalty from your armour. It is possible to get a Parry score over 300 with the best gear.

Your Dodge ability, is your level in your highest combat skill (magic or melee) (not sure how dig/craft works with this, heard its maybe half your highest there..) plus bonuses and penalties.

So Parry has a higher possible score, but is ONLY relevant to the weapon you have equipped. Dodge has the same base score whatever you are using... but is more prone to penalties than bonuses.

as a rule, Heavy armour will give you a penalty on dodging, and maybe a bonus on parry. Light armour will give a bonus on Dodge, but not for parry.

So lets say a level 250 master spearman, in Heavy armour with a large shield, has a parry of 286, but his dodge will be penalised to about 234. If he puts on his magic amps, his parry is now coming from his close combat skill.. of about 70.. and his dodge without the encumbrance of spear and shield, has gone up to 244 (all numbers are approximations)

choose your defense mode based on what you are doing

[nephy13]

As a medium armour/dual daggers wielder, I found my dodge and parry were pretty much identical in value. I have found, however, that my survivability in combat is greatly affected by which I choose to use. Creatures (and homins, of course) that attack you have bonuses and penalties to hit you based on whether you are parrying or dodging. Obviously though, if I was massively better at dodging (My magic skill was much higher than my fighting skill) or I was maximising my parrying potential (e.g. Heavy armour with a large shield), I might get best results for just sticking to one defensive style. Just another layer to the combat-cake...

Also see this other thread, [thread=27092]Dodge vs. parry[/thread] for more details.