Hello! Happy weekend!
We're finishing testing 1.32 and have it on the testing branch if you want to check it out, password BfFTestingBranch
This will likely go up tomorrow - it includes some additional special actions for enemies as well as improved combat behaviors for companions/NPC.
Enemy Actions
Bakkas can now leap and pounce, in-air with enough time to navigate away
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVaaOSq98-k
Posion Fish monsters lay out a cone of posion tiles that can also be attempted to evaded (SFX needing the work here)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0wc44MoCwk
Orbiting
Serving dual purpose of more clarity in the chaos of combat as well as relaying who is targeting who, both npcs and companions now continue to face their targets while moving back and forth from them during kiting and evading behaviors. This gives them an appearance of orbiting their targets, and offers less visual noise, it's much easier to determine which enemies are targeting which individuals and at-a-glance the different skirmishes at play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOwACl-TUeQ
Blocking+
Pressing the block action now has a physical (tile) component to it, where your if you press it while an attack is incoming your character will attempt to jump away from the danger. Timing this well could evade all damage, as is the case now, except now it's because you moved out of the attackers range when it happened. If your timing is less than perfect you block as before (in place) while eating the attack, and any block reduction is based off how far off you were from the perfect dodge. So it will give you similar results, but we found that the jump back added clarity to the defensive stance, felt more responsive and was more fun to play than just the block in place. This has been integrated into companion behavior as well, as it helped them avoid not just damage but the new enemy attacks we've been implementing, some of which couldn't be blocked by remaining in place. Some enemies, like foxes, imprats and some Vollings, can perform this as well when you attack them, avoiding your attacks in ways they couldn't before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKOK98FgvTs