While a lot of the combat in Beard & Axe is melee based, every player equipped weapon also doubles as a gun. The shaft of dwarven axes are bored out and fitted with a matchlock trigger and serpentine, which allows their warriors to slash and cut at their enemies, all the while being capable of firing a quick shot from their weapon's barrel if the situation calls for it.
Unlike in other games with gun combat, Beard & Axe separates the powder charge and the bullet into separate resources and separate actions. In it's simplest form, a black powder charge (or two or three to do more damage) and a lead ball are loaded into the gun. This can be done outside of combat, or during it if you have the distance from your foes to allow the time to load.
Load two charges of black powder, then one lead ball, and pull the trigger!
But the fun doesn't stop there. Alongside the basic black powder and lead shot, Old Beard can find other special powder and shot that imbue different effects when loaded and fired. Having Poison Powder, simply loading some without any ammunition on top creates a large cloud of toxic gas that will damage any enemies that pass through it.
The varying powders can all still be used to launch lead balls, while still retaining their other effects. But some of the more powerful combinations use specialty powder and specialty ammunition. For example, combining the poison powder with the scatter shot ammo, the normal poison cloud is created close to the muzzle of the gun, and an additional poison cloud comes out of the scatter shot ball when it is detonated (by pressing the fire button a second time). That's 3 different sources of damage in one action!
While the basic black powder and lead shot are relatively easy to obtain, the rest can be fairly challenging to collect. When you return from a quest with some valuable ammunition, you should think carefully before you spend it in subsequent quests. On the other hand, without a good stock of various powders and shot, the late game challenges can be nearly insurmountable!
That's all for this week, but next week I plan to return with some information about the Hobgoblin Forest. It's denizens, locations and quests!
Thanks for having a read!
