Combat & equipment¶
Status: Current · Reviewed 8 September 2026
Aim your attacks and read the enemy. Fight the Frontier has no target lock or fixed character classes. Health keeps you alive; stamina pays for movement and physical actions; mana fuels spells. Skills improve through use.
| Tool | Its role | What to practise |
|---|---|---|
| Sword & Shield | Quick cuts, ripostes and stronger defence | Raise the shield toward the attack; keep stamina for the return cut |
| Two-handed War Mace | 34 base damage with heavy impact and knockback | Commit both hands; protect the longer recovery and weaker shaft guard |
| Hunting Bow | Aimed projectiles with draw strength | Lead moving targets; loose at a full draw before overholding |
| Cracked Ash Staff | Access to three spells, with a weak melee strike | Manage mana and choose the right delivery |
| Fireball | Moving projectile with splash | Lead the target and use nearby ground for splash |
| Lightning Bolt | Fast, narrow hitscan | Place the crosshair precisely; it costs more mana |
| Rift Burst | Slower, larger area attack | Commit to the longer cooldown and high mana cost |
Use the mouse wheel or mouse side buttons to cycle weapons; 1–4 still select them directly. Scrolling the journal or map never changes your weapon.
Hold right mouse to guard your front. The sword's shield covers a wider angle, spends less stamina, and catches rocks and javelins. A mace guard lets 15% of melee damage through and costs more stamina. A fresh guard within 0.18 seconds parries: it staggers a melee attacker and restores a little stamina. Rear attacks bypass the guard, red ground attacks require movement, and an exhausted guard breaks with some damage passing through.
A successful guard opens a 0.65-second riposte window. Release your guard and attack for a faster, cheaper return swing. Hold Alt + left mouse for a heavy sword or mace attack; on controller use RB. Heavy attacks hit harder and commit you for longer, with a greater stamina cost. Turn control during the windup limits instant spin hits. Normal sword windup is 0.32 seconds; mace windup is 0.58 seconds followed by 0.82 seconds of recovery.
Each weapon has its own Q, E and R¶
The hotbar changes when you equip a weapon. Hover an ability to see what it does, its cost and its recharge. On a controller, Y / B / LB use the same three slots; RB performs a heavy attack.
| Weapon | Q | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sword & Shield | Shield Bash: a short frontal interrupt | Vanguard Rush: charge and strike | Bulwark: three seconds of cheaper frontal guarding |
| War Mace | Sweeping Cleave: a broad attack against a group | Crushing Advance: short charge and heavy overhead | Earthshatter: a ground slam that damages and slows nearby enemies |
| Bow | Power Shot: one fast, powerful arrow | Pinning Shot: an arrow that slows its target | Fan Volley: three arrows in a narrow fan |
| Staff | Fireball | Lightning Bolt | Rift Burst |
Physical abilities spend stamina; staff spells also spend mana. Every ability has a one-second shared lockout, and individual cooldowns stay with you when swapping weapons or reconnecting. Heavy mace moves commit you to longer recovery. Bulwark leaves your back exposed and ends when you attack or switch weapons. Charges require firm ground and stop at walls or abrupt terrain steps. Area attacks respect cover, have a target cap and deal reduced damage after the third target. Volley splits the equipment bonus across its three arrows.
Bosses resist control: shield-bash interrupts last at most 0.15 seconds with four seconds of immunity to another ability stun, and slows are weaker and shorter. Ordinary enemies also gain a brief immunity against repeated ability stuns. These are initial alpha tuning values, with party playtesting still needed for difficulty and weapon preference.
Precision hits and field healing¶
Arrows deal 1.75× damage on headshots. Direct fireball, lightning and rift headshots deal 1.5×. Torso hits deal normal damage and leg hits deal 85%. The server traces the visible body shape, including the lower wolf head; splash alone cannot score a headshot. Gold HEADSHOT numbers and a gold hit marker confirm the bonus. Boss wards still apply.
Everyone has a reusable healing flask in slot 5. Press 5 / H, click the slot when the mouse is released, or press R3 on a controller. It restores 30% of maximum health, capped at full health, and recharges in 30 seconds. There is no item cost. The slot shows the countdown. Full-health or dead characters do not spend the charge; finish a committed attack before drinking. Reconnecting retains the recharge deadline.
Time to clear a camp¶
Ordinary goblin and orc camp spawns slow while a living player is within 50 metres: a full refill takes at least three minutes, or six times the authored respawn period if longer. When nobody remains nearby, the remaining timer runs at the normal rate. Spawns within 12 metres of a living player wait and retain a short buffer before returning. Permanent tutorial wolves keep their usual cadence. Territorial defenders, finite boss reinforcements and announced war raids keep their separate campaign rules.
The training targets let you compare timing before heading out. This original combat pass takes inspiration from Chivalry’s emphasis on attack commitment and responsive counters; it does not yet implement its full directional move, kick or feint system. Chivalry 2 developer combat notes
Readability comes before spectacle¶
The current polish keeps distinct amber fire, blue-white lightning and violet rift effects. Lightning uses a bounded pool with stable bolt shapes during each strike. Effects should show a hit and clear the view quickly enough to read the next windup.
Enemy loot and quest rewards already enter inventory. Full-loot player PvP is not implemented. Chapter One keeps basic parties and supply sharing. New equipment changes, repairs, banking and deeper skill progression are reserved for the full game; saved gear and progress are retained and equipment does not wear out. Further risk and economy rules are in the roadmap.
Weapon, spell and item numbers are generated from source, including damage, costs and cooldowns.
Archery mastery and bow hands¶
The bow starts in the right hand. Press V with the bow equipped to swap hands while idle; finish a draw or shot before switching. The bow, string, arrow and both arms mirror together, including for other players. Aiming and damage use the same server-validated trajectory. Q, E and R now use the equipped weapon’s three abilities.
At Archery 10, verified arrow headshots instantly kill goblin scrappers, slingers, hexers and champions. Before level 10, arrow headshots deal the normal 1.75× critical damage. Body hits remain unchanged. Orcs and wolves retain normal critical damage at every archery level, and spells retain their 1.5× headshot multiplier. The Skills panel (K) shows the unlock; landing arrows advances archery.
Bow R is hold-to-aim Fan Volley: preview three arrow trajectories, release to fire or right-click to cancel. The preview follows terrain and static cover; enemies can intercept the arrows. V swaps bow hands when you are not drawing or firing.