I’ve rewritten a lot of the combat code over the last couple of days, partially to lay the way for Survivors’ stuff and partially just because it was getting unmanageable.

The big upshots going forward are:

• Ease of adding Techniques that do neat stuff.
• More places to hook neat stuff (it’s way easier to have effects triggering on defenses now, for example).
• Speed and stability in the combat script (which honestly hasn’t been much of a problem).

So obviously most of the changes are “under the hood,” so to speak. But if you see anything weird, be sure to tell me. I’d expect it to be pretty obvious, like PHP errors whenever you use a certain Technique.

Changes that you may notice are listed below. I apologize in advance if I missed any. I cleaned up a lot of code while I was moving stuff around.

• There should be less variance in damage when you get battles between opponents with high power and high defense. Overall, this ends up being a defenses buff as well.
• Reactive Defense has gotten a separate boost that I’ve been meaning to give it for a while. I’m still a bit torn, so feel free to play around with it for a bit and give some feedback.
• Stunning attacks that logically need to do damage to have an effect (like Live Wire) now can be evaded. Thanks for the suggestion, Nyther.
• Running out of options no longer lets you escape inescapable fights, which is to say you now get beaten up rather than running. Thanks for pointing out the weirdness, Llamaman.
• To make the above less obnoxious, trying to flee will no longer clear your hand. Striking with an empty chain still will, though.
• Reactive Defense should apply to end of round damage (like Dynamite) consistently now.
• In the “very minor change” department, tweaked the way Brutality is gained. It should be easier to get some, but harder to get an overwhelming amount. We’ll see :)

Cheers!
Kinak