Combat in Ryzom
Combat is the central activity in Ryzom. The game scenario generates threats and challenges for players, groups and guilds to take on. The players require weapons, armor and ammunition, generating gameplay for the hunters, foragers and crafters. As an aside, basic equipment of all levels is available from the game's NPCs giving players a fallback solution if there are no crafters about capable of providing the kit that they require.
Artillery
Ryzom provides an array of 'rocket launcher' and 'gattling' type weapons designed to thin out the first waves of attackers in mass combat situations. There is no 'friendly fire' in Ryzom (no damage is inflicted on friendly players), however players can suffer damage from their own weapons if their target is too close.
Warriors
The role of the 'warriors' is to hold the front line in combat. Warriors are typically heavily armored though it is possible to develop a character's skills to dodge attacks rather than to block them. Armor penalizes dodging skills meaning that there is a real sense in developing a 'Conan the Barbarian' like profile (a character wearing almost nothing who holds the attention of adversaries in melee combat
Healers
The set of healing spells in Ryzom is reasonably limited. Apart from the 'self heal' spells that can be used to heal oneself, there are an array of spells for healing and restoring stamina or sap levels of individuals and groups of friends. It is important to note that healers can only progress by performing healing actions during combat, meaning that players who heal themselves after combat do not progress their healing skills.
Magicians
The attack magic in Ryzom proposes a complete range of damage types with a variety of multi-target effects such as cone effects, radial effects and 'relay' effects that bounce from target to target, and so on.
Buffers
The buff system in Ryzom is not based on spell casting. It is based on special abilities, called 'auras' that can be acquired by players of different profiles. For instance, a warrior who has developed their 'parry' skills can gain access to an 'aura of protection' ability. This ability will give a parry bonus to all friendly players within a given range for a short while.
