Combat Overview
The Combat section separates engine-controlled resolution rules from player-controlled choices. This page is the map; each canonical mechanic is defined once and linked wherever it is referenced.
Scope
Combat Rules owns checks performed by the game engine: defensive gates, hit resolution, damage distribution, critical modification, proc behavior, and other hidden calculations. The remaining Combat pages own decisions the player can directly influence.
| Page | Canonical responsibility | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Combat Rules | Engine-controlled resolution | Accuracy vs. evasion, avoidance gates, mitigation, critical sequencing, proc checks |
| Melee | Player-controlled physical-combat choices | Weapon selection, delay, ratios, dual wield, positioning, haste optimization |
| Spells | Player-controlled spellcasting choices | Spell selection, cast timing, resist modifiers, mana use, DoTs, HoTs |
| Threat | Hate-list control | Aggro, taunt, threat generation, target control |
| Buffs & Debuffs | Persistent beneficial and detrimental effects | Stacking, duration, dispels, source-linked debuffs |
| Pets | Pet-specific combat systems | Pet levels, equipment, commands, spellcasting, threat |
| Stances | Physical-combat posture layer | Offensive, defensive, evasive, ranged, striker |
| Invocations | Caster posture layer | Spellblade, OverChannel, Recovery, Empowering |
Resolution Map
The current reference model treats a physical attack as the following ordered pipeline. Exact internal constants remain unpublished; the sequence is more certain than the numerical formulas.T2
- Encounter eligibility. The target must be valid for the attacker and, where encounter locking applies, belong to the engaged player or party.T1
- Defensive gates. Applicable block, dodge, parry, and riposte checks can terminate the incoming swing before the ordinary hit check.T2
- Hit check. Attacker Accuracy is compared with defender Evasion to determine whether the remaining swing lands.T2
- Damage roll. A landed hit uses attacker Offense against defender Mitigation to weight the result between the attack's minimum and maximum damage endpoints.T2
- Post-roll modifiers. Critical-hit rules, damage bonuses, stance multipliers, and ability-specific modifiers alter the resolved result according to their own sequencing.
- Triggered effects. Eligible procs and reactive effects are evaluated under their own rules. Weapon procs were explicitly repaired in the July 14 beta patch.T1
- State updates. Damage, threat, absorption, debuffs, death, and encounter completion are applied.
EQL-Specific Combat Layers
Multiclass Skill Access
Active classes contribute their available skills and caps. A developer example confirmed that every character may equip an offhand item, while actual offhand swings use the best Dual Wield skill supplied by the active class combination.T1
The broader “best available cap among the three active classes” rule is strongly supported by client-derived reference work but has not been found as a single comprehensive developer statement.T2
Stances and Invocations
A character may maintain one melee stance and one caster invocation at the same time. The two systems are therefore parallel layers rather than mutually exclusive modes.T1
Source-Linked Debuffs
At least some NPC-applied debuffs are tied to the life of their source and disappear when that NPC dies. The demonstrated example was a snare ending immediately on the source creature's death.T1
How to Use This Section
- Use Combat Rules when asking what check the engine performs.
- Use Melee or Spells when asking what the player should equip, cast, or optimize.
- Use the inline tier badge to distinguish confirmed behavior from a reference model or hypothesis.
- Use the Glossary for the canonical definition and destination of a mechanic.