Combat Overhaul
How fights play out on individual and squad-sized scales works differently. Fundamentally, four elements of combat are overhauled in LITA:
The basic weapon categories
The pace of combat
How skills progress
How ranged combat works
Weapon Categories
Each weapon category works differently. And the categories are overhauled from Vanilla*:
Katanas are aggressive weapons that push forwards against a foe
Blades are common and versatile weapons with lateral movement
Polearms are defensive and make for great support weapons due to their reach
Heavy Weapons use wide, sweeping attacks that deal massive damage
Staves are double-bladed swords with aggressive acrobatic movement and strict encumbrance penalties
Dual swords balance offence with defence and are the hardest category to master overall
*Note: Depending on how the development of ReKenshi progresses, it may be possible to add new categories. Hackers and Blunt weapons fall under the Blades, Heavy, and Dual categories depending on their function. You’ll still have armour-crushing weapons and blunt variants that are ideal for captures; each category has its own niche and combat aesthetic to give you the freedom to roleplay the way you want to.
Pacing
The flow of combat is much faster. Attacks are aggressive and staggers are compressed – with half a dozen new stagger animations thrown into the mix for variety.
Combat feels violent and pulse-pounding
Sound effects are overhauled to give them more punch
While combat is lethal and fast, healing rates are adjusted to match. You’ll still need to spend time recovering and will want to prevent your characters from falling into a coma – but overall, you’ll spend more time playing and less time waiting around.
Skill Progression
Weapon skill progression in Vanilla is lacking. It exists for unarmed combat – but the rest is a small animation set that never changes. To address this, LITA uses a simple matrix that represents progression visually while having tangible gameplay effects.
All weapon categories use unique animation sets
There are four tiers of animation
At low levels, characters unlock basic attacks and then improve on them
At high levels, characters progress to advanced techniques
At endgame levels, characters progress to lethal techniques
Each weapon category progresses at a different pace. Some are easier, and others are harder to learn. And each race has one or two unique XP boosts representing their natural affinity for certain weapon types.
Ranged Combat
In Vanilla, ranged combat is plagued by several problems:
The AI is bad at handling ranged situations
Bolts are ubiquitous
Ranged squad builds feel too “cheesy“
Technology is a little different across the new continent.
Gunpowder exists – but it is in very short supply. Only a handful of factions have access to it. Ranged combat makes use of a mix of muskets and crossbows. Muskets are powerful but take a long time to reload and you’re always low on blackshot.
Using them becomes a choice. It’s about resource management.
On top of scarcity, ranged combat is balanced – and engaging – in several ways:
Ranges are much shorter. This encourages the AI to move around a lot more
Melee combat flows faster and staggers are overhauled
Gunpowder and its supply are an important plot point in the continent-spanning faction wars
Crossbows are common but weak – Muskets are powerful but rare
Dynamic AI can respond more appropriately to ranged situations
The Ashland Drifter 