Battles are decided before they begin
Combat in Vashrath unfolds in automatic turns: once you charge, you and your foe trade blows until one falls, and the full exchange is written into a battle report you can study afterward. You do not press buttons mid-fight — which means every fight is won or lost in the preparation. Your attributes, your equipment, your buffs and your choice of enemy are the real weapons.
That is not a limitation; it is the game. A hero who trains wisely, gears deliberately and eats before the hunt beats a stronger, careless one.
What decides a fight
When the blows start falling, several forces are at work:
- Damage — how hard you hit, driven above all by Strength and your weapon.
- Armor — how much of each incoming blow you shrug off, fed by Skill and your worn gear.
- Critical strikes — some hits land far heavier than others. Strength sharpens your chance to crit; Intelligence helps blunt the crits aimed at you.
- Block and evasion — Agility gives you chances to stop or slip a blow entirely. A shield makes a blocker truly stubborn.
- Health — your margin for error, deepened by Vitality.
- Presence — a commanding fighter, rich in Charisma, sometimes finds the opening for a second strike where one was expected.
Every attribute you train and every item you equip feeds these numbers, and you can watch them move on your sheet the moment you change anything.
Health and the hospital
Health is the thread your life hangs by. It carries over between fights — leave an expedition half-dead and you enter the next battle half-dead. When it reaches zero, you fall and are carried to the hospital. Nothing is lost but time.
The hospital offers two roads back:
- Instant healing — pay gold and return to full strength at once. There is a wait between one use and the next.
- Admission — in no hurry? Admit yourself and recover gradually for less coin. While admitted, you are out of action.
Between fights, health also returns slowly on its own. Patience is the cheapest medicine in the realm.
Stamina
Stamina is the fuel of adventure: expeditions and labor all draw from it. Push hard and it empties; rest and it returns. A hero with plans keeps an eye on the stamina bar the way a traveler watches the horizon — run dry at the wrong moment and the day is over early.
Potions and food
The alchemist's shelf and the cook's fire are combat tools, not luxuries:
- Health potions restore you on the spot — carry them always.
- Stamina potions put the road back under your feet.
- Buff potions and cooked meals grant temporary strength before a fight — a sharpened edge, tougher skin, a deeper reserve. Eating well before a serious hunt is the oldest trick of veteran hunters, and brewing or cooking your own is one of the four crafts every hero can master.
Duels and the crowd
Monsters are not the only opponents. You can challenge other adventurers to one-on-one duels, with gold and even items on the line — and in the Betting hall, the crowd wagers on the outcome. Duels are the truest test of a build: no monster ever trained its attributes to counter yours.
Practical tips
- Read your battle reports. They show exactly where fights are won and lost — too little armor, too few crits, unlucky blocks.
- Fight enemies your own size. If a hunt leaves you near death every time, step down a difficulty. Sustainable hunting earns more than glorious collapse.
- Never fight on an empty stomach. A meal and a buff potion before a hard fight is the cheapest power in the game.
- Keep your gear current. An outdated weapon quietly bleeds every number you have.
- Top up before you leave town. Full health, full stamina, potions in the bag — then go.
Ready to put it into practice? The hunting grounds await in the Expeditions Guide.