@Spoons: I’m pretty much right in the middle of trying to figure out the ranged combat in the new combat system. At the moment I’m thinking it could be exactly like it was in the preview for the player, and the AI would obviously need some better tactics. The problem I’m facing with both the player and the enemies is that you can run away indefinitely, and if the archer is faster at running away, he can best anyone coming after him.

there would be two different stages of combat, distanced and close quarters. if you initiate battle with distanced att, then the AI would respond accordingly (a giant rat would either run away or just charge while an archer would take cover and return fire). If you get close to the AI (or vise versa) you switch to CQ and your attacks become sword thrusts and shield bashes.
in this way you could walk up to a wizard and attack him but he would stun you and run back a bit so he could shoot fireballs and lightning at you. you could either try to beat him up with Close combat where he would just stun you more (wizards rely on their skills not their tools) or you could pull out your own wand/bow and have a skirmish going on. this would be good for simulating character personalities,an archer would be content to stay at a distance, a knight, not so much, but maybe a troll would stay at a distance for a bit to throw some rocks at you before charging.

The only problem i can see with this is when there are some enemies who charge first and some who stay back, it would be hard to fight the ones staying back.

But I’m quite sure that I will like the output of Driftmoon even if the combat system turns out worse. Hopefully it will be better, though

Have some basic melee skills everyone has(like some from the list DRL gave), get some more from leveling up, and have some major, but unusual skills Zelda style(like 3 or 4?) that would be used only in certain situations, and perhaps, even make you able to do some things that let you advance in the game hence forcing to get some/all in the course of the game to clear an obstacle or such. No idea what such skill could be though, lol.

Then there is the possibility that you get a few weapons instead of skills(still speaking about the Zelda style), and more diversely much like in Ocarina of Time: You can use the Biggoron sword(big 2h blade) to deal alot of damage, but you have the master sword(1h), which you can use shield with, and which in this game could allow you to do some ‘combos’ with both a shield and the 1h sword. But my point is that the other one is much better than the other in some situations. Then, if they were skills rather than equipment, there would be all the other fighting skills that you get from leveling, which would be better than those two others in some situations.

…. Just a random thought. And sort of messy one, too.

I’m probably not going for realism, since basically we’re dropping realism the moment we have things like hit points and fast healing. I’m going for a pretty simple system that can be easily understood, and allows for many different strategies in combat.

Come to think of it, ville said that the “now the attack is the one using the weapon”. I agree completely, but of course some types of weapons work better for a type of attacks than others. Like I said, Fencing could be done with any “sword-like” weapon, but I think there should be a bonus if you use a weapon “specific” for the skill. I mean, a fencer with a dagger can be effective if his skill is good, but a fencer with a rapier would be far more effective…

Sniper: Higher accuracy and slight damage bonus. Movement penalty.
Shooter: Slight damage bonus and more movement allowed. Accuracy penalty.
Fast-Shoot: Faster shoots; slight accuracy and damage penalty.

For melee attacks:

Rampart: Same as Berseker, but does slightly more damage and does not takes damage if it hits. You should not be able to use this if your armor is to heavy; additionaly, it makes you more vulnerable during your attack (Thus a fast stab from another enemy would do you some serious damage).

Fencing: Attemps to block another sword-like weapon with said weaponry (provided you have a sword or likewise). Practically useless with other tipes of weapons; but cheap to adquire. A good level of Fencing should be able to block an enemy´s thrust.

Thrusting: Another sword-like based attack. Does good damage if the enemy is not well-defended; also, it reduces your defence slightly during attack.

Bash: Attempts to stun the enemy, althrough in a more “primitive” way. Practically you can use any hard stuff (rock, hammer, etc.) to attack an opponent (preferably an opponents head), however damage strictly depends on the weapon (and maybe no damage is done at all if your “weapon” is too weak).

For in-combat movements:

Evasion: Attempts to evade an enemy´s attack. However it reduces your defence considerably; so if it fails it would only give the enemy an advantage.

Charge: Push hardly against your opponent; does great damage, but it greatly reduces your defence, too. Also during it defencive equipment such as shields are less effective, and maybe useless at all.

Guard: Attepmts to block an opponent´s attack, or at least reduce it´s damage. Any defencive equipment such as shields or helmets are more effective if you use this; however your attack power reduces considerably, like 50% or so. Same to evasion chances.

I have been thinking ville; why also not to make “combat stances”? I mean, the previous movements could be converted to “Offensive”, “Defensive” and “Evasive”. Thus each “stance” gives a specific bonus an a penalty… Maybe equipment could also affect it?
It´s just an idea… Well you are the game´s designer ville, you decide what to do next !