Combat for Dark Alliance features the basic and advanced combat mechanics of the game. Each character in the game has its unique style of combat and associated actions that you can execute. Performing actions in combat will consume your Stamina meter. The Meter will begin to refill after after a short delay. Special attacks lower your Maximum Stamina, temporarily limiting the amount of Stamina available. Restore your maximum Stamina by taking a Short Rest, performing Parries, or by using Stamina Potions.
Short Rest
After players have cleared an area of Enemies once certain battles are over, a campfire will appear. There, players can choose to take a Short Rest to recharge health or Increase Loot Chance to improve equipment Rarity. When the option prompts, you have 30 seconds to choose one of them:
- Short Rest: players can fully restore their HP, Stamina, and Consumables. In addition, it will create a checkpoint. Taking a Short Rest will also respawn all Enemies in the area and remove all loot bonuses you have earned up to that point.
- Increase Loot Chance: increases the Rarity of items you can loot from now on. This benefit can be accumulated up to 3 times.
It is widely recommended to only take Short Rests if your health is extremely low, and you have no resources. On higher difficulties, players can also use Short Rests instead of Loot Boost to gain a checkpoint, so they don't lose all progress and loot if they die.
Fragments
Monsters have a chance to drop colored Fragments that recover Health (Red), Stamina (Green), Ultimate Bar (Yellow), or Reduce Ability Cooldown (Purple).
How to charge your Ultimate?
Ultimate is a very powerful ability with different functions for each hero. To use Ultimate, you must first charge it by performing combos, and the longer the combo is, the faster the Ultimate bar will charge. Every successful hit in Dark Alliance increases your hit counter. Besides, the Hit Counter is shared by all party players.
Note that combos are not reset when enemies hit our Hero, instead the hit counter returns to 0 after about 3 seconds of not landing a hit on an enemy.
Enemies also may drop yellow fragments, that increase your ultimate bar.
Combat in Dark Alliance
Light Attacks
Light attacks are quick strikes that consume a small amount of Stamina.
Tap the Light Attack Button (
/ 
/ 
) to perform a Light Attack.
Fierce Attacks
Fierce Attacks consume more Stamina, but deal more damage.
Tap the Fierce Attack Button (
/ 
/ 
) to perform a Fierce Attack.
Chaining Attacks
Combine Light Attacks and Fierce Attacks to create a Combo Attack.
Tap the Light Attack Button ( / / ) and the Fierce Attack Button ( / / ) in different patterns to discover new Combo Attacks.
Ranged Attack
Hold the Aim Button (
/ 
/ 
) and press the Fierce Attack Button ( / / ) to perform a ranged attack.
Lock-On Targeting
Locking-on to a Target can make combat easier. Press the Toggle Lock-On Button (
/ 
/ 
) to lock-on to a target.
Consume Useable
Consumables can be unlocked and equiped in the Useable 1, 2, 3 and 4 slots, to be later consumed at any time using the corresponding Useable Buttons (
, 
, 
, 
/ 
, 
, 
, 
/ 
, 
, 
, 
).
Evade & Dash
Tap the Evade Button (
/ 
/ 
) to perform an Evade.
Dashing costs more Stamina but offers greater protection. Tap the Evade Button ( / / ) twice to perform a Dash.
Blocking & Parry
Blocking attacks consumes Stamina. Press and Hold the Block/Parry Button (
/ 
/ 
) to Block monster attacks.
A successful Parry will restore Stamina. Tap the Block/Parry Button ( / / ) right before a Monster attack to Parry.
Ultimate
Fill up the Ultimate Bar by performing Combos. Ultimates are very powerful abilities with different functions for each Hero. When fully charged, press the Activate Ultimate Button (
+ / 
+ / 
) to activate the Ultimate.
Empowered Strike
Press the Interact Button (
/ 
/ 
) immediately after a successful attack to perform an Empowered Strike. This consumes 25% of the Ultimate bar and restores Stamina.
What keyboard even uses the TAB symbol anymore - it took a hot minute to figure out what -->| was
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