Strategist’s Bible of RP Battle

[vent]

Strategist’s Bible of RP Battle
Well, our friend of whom I’ve never heard of, Konaa, created a handbook of battle basics. As such, this is a bit more in depth, as we will be giving you major dos and don’ts in any battle situation. Keep in mind we’re leaving out our better strategies from this list. Best you figure those out yourselves.

Air Maneuvering: This is one of the single largest mistakes a battler can make, and it usually spells out death for them. To put it simply, if your character cannot maneuver in mid-air and they are fighting someone who has projectiles, for the love of god, don’t jump multiple feet in the air to try to avoid their attacks! It’s a death sentence! However, if you have some cleverly unstated way of moving in mid-air, like using fire manipulation to make an explosion next to you to push you away, then use it when desperate. Many inexperienced battlers will get cocky with you being “helpless” in the air and will simply fire off one shot or whatever at a vital, trying to sever your head, etc. If they try, you can dodge, and seize the moment to do some serious damage (assuming they play fair). -Darkfire

Ability Extensions: Many peoples abilities can be a little specific, including yours, which may make you think that it is less useful than someone else’s ability which involves massively controlling something. Not so. Here’s a fairly common type of ability that people will make:

Hell Bomb: John Doe fires a blast of fire from his palm.

That may seem useless to you, but it’s actually quite a potent ability when used properly. Look at it more closely. The only things that limit it are these:

Hell Bomb: John Doe fires a blast of fire from his palm.

So long as fire blasts outward from his palm, it’s within the jurisdiction of this ability. He’s free to decide its size, shape, level of heat, speed, density, and whatever else he chooses. -Darkfire

Tactical Shift: Keep your enemy on their toes at all times. If you let them relax about a situation, you will relax about the situation, which can just as easily make you lose as them. A nice way to do this is to do a tactical shift. That’s just a fancy way of saying “change what you’re doing often”. If you’ve been firing off at them with a gun the whole battle, they’ll get used to you being ranged, so get in there with your knife! If you’re making barriers to block their attacks, make the barriers explode into a bunch of shrapnel. Turn your attacks into defences and vice versa. Then, once they’re expecting you to change on them, don’t! Move the battle from playing field to playing field. A sniper is no good if his enemy is on his side, so change your tactics! -Darkfire

Snare and Kill: Many battles won’t end unless you give your enemy a checkmate, meaning that you have to get them into a situation where their survival is impossible. Oftentimes, moves like this will require multiple turns to execute, just like a checkmate in chess. However, as with chess, if the enemy so much as does one thing against your strategy, it will shatter. For instance, a way I’ve killed an enemy in the past is I filled the air with dark spores, passing them off as a smokescreen. I gave the enemy a few turns to leave it out of good will, without informing them of the true intent of course. Once I felt ready, I set the entire cloud ablaze all at once, killing them instantly. -Darkfire

The key to the success of such a method which Darkfire stated is all about subtlety. A similar example which I used on another forum was to create a large ball of water and float in mid-air above the opponent, hanging there harmlessly. That was all I did for the post. My opponent was unaware as to what I would do next simply continued with the battle. Evading their attack, I then used a shadow manipulation technique. I had moved the ball between the sun and my opponent, casting a large shadow over them. My ability revolved around myself using my shadow to connect to my opponents, allowing me to control their movement by making them match whatever I did. I could effectively connect straight to them, as the shadow covered myself as well. With my opponent locked in instantaneously by this technique, they were left unable to do anything. However, it wouldn’t have succeeded without my simple delaying of the move, not doing it all at once which would have allowed for them to react, instead spreading it out to avoid any possible reaction, purely creating curiosity and then pouncing once I was sure with my next post that I had them trapped. –Medy

Taking Advantage of Situations
Every powerful sole move, defensive or offensive, has a cool-down, everyone knows that. Therefore, once they’ve used it, you need to bounce quickly against them. This applies specifically for defence rather than offence. A barrier move that can block anything, followed by a cool-down is a trend which is used quite heavily be lots of people, the one-off defense that saves everything. But, once it’s used, then your opponent, more often than not, is left completely open to be slaughtered. Draw out the defense when it’s used with one of your moves which forces them to use it and then slam in a selection of moves. It’s something to bear in mind in comparison to the ‘Snare and Kill’ method above, waiting for the chance to strike successfully to drive them into a corner.
The same applies offensively. Every super-powerful move has a cool-down, so use that period of time to take advantage. Normally, you have three or four posts to get in there and do some damage after your opponent uses such a technique, meaning you may only have smaller techniques to worry about. Analyse your opponent at the start of the battle before opting for this, work out what they’re capable of and then start worrying about how to accomplish this. –Medy.

Using your surroundings
If all else fails, make sure you have an in depth knowledge about everything that surrounds you. If you are fighting in a town area, then there are quite obviously lots of buildings around you. Should your opponent be causing you a lot of problems by using heavy firepower, take cover behind them and protect yourself. It saves you using an ability of your own to block and you can then do something else, such as move around the building and strike from your opponent’s blindside. If your arena is based on top of a building, then perhaps aim to blast your opponent off of the side of the building, or if you possess a method of flying, keep them trapped on top of that building and contain him from the air, whilst remembering the information from the other notes in this guide in doing so.
There are more obscure uses for certain props. If you’re fighting in a desert, then there is a hot sun above you and sand all around you. Attempt to blind the opponent with the sand, perhaps use your sword to swipe through it. A good role-player in response will act accordingly, rather than dismiss it. If they dismiss what you’ve done and show no response against it in their posts, then say that it hit them. If it looked to strike their eyes and they did nothing against it, then surely it strikes their eyes and blinds them, does it not? If you’re an aeromancer (using the element of wind), then use it against the opponent along with the sand, creating a sandstorm that can be used to prevent vision whatsoever whilst inflicting damage against your foe’s skin. Everything has a use, so be aware of whatever could be around you.
If you’re fighting against fire and there’s water near you, common sense is to use that water. Perhaps, go into it. Yes, with enough heat, fire will cause water to evaporate. But not to the extent where it will cause an entire lake to do so. Ignore whatever your opponent says, it won’t happen. Get in the water and use it when you need to. Water beats fire any day. –Medy

Corner Situations
The time will come, when you’re backed into a corner with seemingly no way to escape from it. Being someone who’s based the majority of his characters around a strategy where defense takes priority over firepower, I’ve rarely had the problem, but I have seen others escape it and on the off-chance, have needed to escape being cornered several times. A common comparison is like a boxing match. One fighter has the other in a corner, pounding away at him and not letting him get any room. The simple solution is to work out a way to get back into space. Easier said than done, definitely.
You will need to use whatever you can in this situation to escape, simply to create that small little hole in order to dash through. Example, you’re against a fighter who has used a mass control technique to keep you contained in a small area. Perhaps you’re against a pyromancer with fire circling you, which isn’t a situation that you’d want to be in. Therefore, you must act accordingly to find that gap. Commonly, it’s a tornado fashion that allows for escape high, so flying is the common option. If you’re really unlucky, it’s a dome which keeps you well and truly contained. S*** happens. In which case, you must think carefully about how you approach the situation. If you have a barrier ability which protects you against anything, use it. If it doesn’t say that you must stand still to use it, then you can run with it activated and be completely safe. Do not run at the fire and hope for the best, you’ll probably die. Perhaps, it’s something which can be broken with a blast of energy, allowing a small gap to escape through. Think about what you’re up against and act quickly. Chances are, the attack will grow stronger quicker, the start of a catastrophic chain. If you’re trapped up against a wall, blow the goddamn wall to pieces and escape. A cliff? Start climbing. A large drop? Jump if you have a good chance on landing on something soft. If there’s water below you, why worry?
Obviously, the best solution to this problem is not to allow yourself to be drawn into it. Remember, that your character is able to act whilst a containment ability could be being used. Whilst it is being formed around you, your character could be reacting and escaping before it forms fully, unless its speed is greater than yours. Just because your opponent has said it is formed around you, doesn’t mean that your character was effectively a statue as it happened. One can only presume what the opponent did in reaction; therefore there is always opportunity to evade. –Medy
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[darkfire]

I would just like to bring up that this is both mine and Medy's! D:

Enjoy. :3

[Medy]

You see, if you'd signed up under the name of "vent", it would actually display your name as the creator of this under your current thing as "Darkfire" with your current profile. But yes, this is our little creation here. Read it thoroughly if you plan on battling around here.