| Swap Character Positions |
| SC (character) (character) |
| For example: SC 6 2 will have character 6 move to the second position in your party. If a character was already in slot 2, he would swap places with character 6. |
Combat Options
As the computer deals with combat, all the actions that your characters will attempt during combat must be specified beforehand.
At this time though, the only one of concern is whether your characters will prefer to use melee weapons, option 0, or missile weapons, option 1, at the start of combat.
Missile weapons can obviously be used long before the enemy is close enough for sword fighting, but are generally slower. Further, they cannot be used once an enemy has engaged the character in melee, thus valuable time will be lost drawing a melee weapon.
Choosing melee for a character will mean that the character will never use a missile weapon instead, charging at the enemy. Your character's preferred choice of weapon will be underlined on the party statistics table.
Note, at the start of combat, mages and priests will try to cast any suitable spells rather than use weapons, see later.
| Combat Preference |
| CP (character/95-99) (0/1) |
| For example: CP 96 1 will set all your party's thieves to use missile weapons. |
Withdrawing from Combat
Once a fight has started, it will continue until one side has either been eliminated or retreats from the battle.
In the case of player owned parties, these will never fight until all characters are wiped out although several deaths are quite possible.
What a monster will do depends on what type it is, some are cowardly and will run away as soon as they see you, others will fight to the death.
You can set the amount of losses you are willing to take using the FLEE order. This is a very rough guide as to how much damage your guys will take before trying to retreat from a battle. It is used for both individual characters and for the party as a whole. This is because in a battle which is not going well, it is likely that one or two characters will become badly injured and these will retreat before the rest of the party in an effort to stay alive. The remaining characters will continue to fight until either they are injured, the party as a whole retreats, or of course, you win.
Different character classes and race types affect retreat, as do some spells. Plus, once a character starts withdrawing, he can still be targeted until he has got away completely. However, as he withdraws, he will parry with any attackers so there is less chance of further injuries.
If you try to pick a fight with a monster or another player that is far tougher than you, your characters will refuse to take part in a suicidal attack.
| Flee |
| F (1-100%) |
| For example: F 20 orders your party to retreat once they have taken losses of twenty percent or more. |
Combat Experience
All character taking part in combat will gain experience points.
These, along with some gold, can be exchanged for skill increases at training shops found in most towns.
Additionally, all characters have a chance of an improvement in weapon skills, even if on the losing side.
It is also possible to gain a very basic skill with a weapon by self-training. This is done by using the same character as both the learner and trainer. To gain a faster and higher level of experience but without going to a professional trainer, other members of your party who have some understanding of the weapon, can give basic instruction. This costs 100 experience points.
Weapons practice can only be done on a single character basis. You can not use options 95-99 to have many members of your party practice together. This would be far too easy!
| Use Weapon Practice |
| U (character) (weapon) (trainer) |
| For example: For example: U 5 110 3 tells character 3 to train character 5 in the use of maces. |
