Combat | Phoenix Point Wiki

The Basics

• When a squad is deployed into a combat, a random generated map will be created where the battle takes place. There are many kind of missions but in all of them players will have to fight with Alien forces to complete the objective.
• You can use the mouse for PC to take a look over the battlefield but you won't see any enemies until your units spot them. Enemies will still perform actions during their turn even if they haven't been spotted.
• When you select a soldier you will see a blue line and a yellow line on the floor. The blue line indicates the places where the unit can move and still perform another action (like shooting or overwatch), while the yellow line indicates where the unit can move but won't be able to perform another action.
• While in combat, enemy units will get aggro from units they have seen or to units that have shoot at them. This means that units outside your reach won't come and aid them if you advance slowly.

 

Cover

When moving a unit next to a building or structure you will see an icon representing the cover that unit will get for moving there:

• Full shield indicates that the unit will have full cover
• Half shield indicates that the unitl will have 50% cover
• No shield indicates that the unit is exposed to attacks

 

Action Points

• Each soldier has a limited amount of Action Points that can be spent each turn.
• Actions points are used to perfom actions like: Running, Overwatch, Shooting, Using Items, Throwing Granades, etc.
• Action Points are restored for all units at the beggining of your turn.
• You can move after shooting, move in small steps, or shoot multiple times - the only limit is your
  Action Points.
• If you move within the ​blue action zone​, then you will be able to use the currently selected
  equipment item as least once. Changing the item in use may change the size of the blue action zone.
• Using equipment or abilities consume a proportion of a character’s action bar, as follows:
  
  • No Action Points: ​Changing the item in use in the item wheel, drop the currently selected item
  • One quarter​: Inventory actions, reloading, shooting with a pistol
  • Half​: Shooting with an assault rifle, throwing a grenade or launching a missile
  • Three quarters​: Shooting with a sniper rifle or machine gun

 

Will Power

• Will power is affected by actions and situations during the battle.
• Will Points are used for certain abilities, as indicated by the small number attached to the ability icon.
• Some abilities require both Action Points and Will Points, such as Overwatch, and some may only use
  Will Points, such as Gunslinger.
• Will Points can be earned by:
  
  • Reaching a strategic objective, indicated by a glowing blue area on guard towers, control
    rooms, and officers quarters.
  • Opening crates
  • Using the Recover ability to rest for a turn. This will restore half of the character’s Will Points
• Will Points can be lost by:
  
  • Suffering wounds resulting in a body part becoming disabled
  • Death of a comrade
  • Being affected by a Terror Sentinel
    If Will Points are forced below zero the character will panic, forcing it to move to safety and
    recovering some Will Points.

 

Damage, Wounding, Death & Limbs

Each bullet has a damage rating which represents the amount of Hit Points removed from a target if it hits. Each bullet subtracts the armour rating of the target body part before applying the damage to the target. Some weapons fire a burst of shots, with each bullet doing damage independently.

Residual damage is removed from both the body part’s Hit Points and the character’s general Hit Points. If body part Hit Points are reduced to zero, the body part is disabled and any stats, abilities or weapons given by that body part are removed. Bleeding can also be applied. If general Hit Points are reduced to zero, the character is killed.

Body Part Info Box

• In the free aiming mode, you can select different body parts of a target, or any item of equipment carried, and an information box will be displayed. This shows the following information:
  • Body part name or equipment name: ​The specific body part, and whether it is already disabled or not, or the equipment name.
  • Armour​: Each body part has a separate armour rating. Equipment items also have an armour rating. Flashing armour pips indicate the likelihood that the armour would be removed due to the armour shredding ability of the weapon.
  • Hit Points​: Each body part has its own Hit Points (in addition to general Hit Points). If reduced to zero then this body part will be disabled. Equipment items also have Hit Points. If they are reduced to zero the equipment is destroyed and removed from the game. Flashing Hit Point pips indicate likely damage, and hatched flashing possible damage.
  • Disable effects​: What will happen if the body part Hit Points are reduced to zero. Damage, Wounding and Death

 

Combat

• Units will use Action Points to perfom actions like Shooting, Throwing Granades, Using Items, etc.
• In order to shoot an enemy, the unit must be in rage of his weapon and have a visual on the objective. If there is an obstacle on the way the unit won't be able to shoot.
• Overwatch: You can spend Action Points to activate Overwatch on a unit. While in overwatch, you can command the unit to cover a specific area for enemy movement. When an enemy passes through that area your unit will shoot at it. Overwatch will remain active in both the enemy turn and your own turn, but your unit will only fire at the first enemy that passes through the area.

  Manual Aiming

• You can fine tune the aiming by scrolling up with the mouse wheel when in shooting mode. This will
  display two circles:
  
  • Blue circle​: All your shots will be randomly distributed in this circle (with a bell curve
    distribution where extremes of inaccuracy and accuracy are less likely).
  • Red circle​: Half your shots would be expected to fall within this circle.
• These firing circles give you a visual representation of the accuracy of the attack, and the ability to
  evaluate blocking objects or friendly fire.
• You can fine tune the aiming by holding down the left mouse button and dragging, or by clicking on
  the screen.
• Enemy units have different limbs. Limbs can be destroyed if they get enough damage crippling the enemy in different ways. For example you can destroy an enemy arm to disable its ability to attack.
• When shooting, players will have the chance to switch into First Person Shooting. This will allow you to aim for a particular limb and destroy it. It's important to note that even if you are manually aiming the unit will perform the shot based on its own aiming capabilities, meaning that the shot can be missed anyway.
• Critical Hits: All weapons have a random chance to cause a critical hit with each successful attack. Critical hits cause extra damage.

  Granades

• Units can throw granades if they have them equipped.
• Grenades may target any object or character. The attacks also have a limited range.
• An explosion will apply damage to all body parts exposed to the centre of the explosion. Damage is applied once to general Hit Points based on the weakest armour rating affected
• Granades will deal damage to all units being enemies, allies and your own units
• Granades can be used to destroy structures. This can be very useful to destroy enemy cover or to create a new entrance to a building.
• Explosions can shred armour, and each body part affected may be subject to shredding.
  
  

• Reload: Guns have a limited ammount of ammunition and they need to be reloaded in order to keep shooting. To do so you will need to have a spare magazine on your unit inventroy and spend Action Points during your turn.
• Skills: Each Class has its own set of Skills that can be unlocked by reaching a certain level. Some Skills are active and the player will be able to use them during their turn by selecting the unit and then pressing on the desired Skill.

Enviromental Effects

• Mist:
  • Mist can be generated by Queens and Mist Sentinels in battle
  • The mist will block soldiers vision, but not aliens
  • A soldier inside mist is spotted by the aliens, and suffer -1 will points at the start of the turn.
  • Alien minions get a +1 will point bonus if they are inside mist at the start of a turn
• Goo:
  • Goo in Battles
  • Goo is created by Chirons and Queens
  • Goo prevents soldiers from moving as long as they are in it
  • Goo remains active for a total of 3 turns
  • Goo Goo can extinguish fire
• Fire:
  
  • Fire is created by incendiary weapons and fireworms
  • Fire prevents creatures from walking through it (unless they are frenzied)
  • Fire deals up to 6 damage to every unit on a tile that is set on fire. The damage is applied
    when a unit enters the tile, as well as at the start of their faction’s turn
  • Units receive one round of additional damage when they leave a tile that is on fire
  • Fire dies out in 3 turns
  • Fire can be extinguished by Goo

Inventory Actions

You can spend one quarter of a character’s Action Points to perform any amount of rearrangement of equipment items. If you don’t have enough Action Points, you can still view your inventory, or the contents of a crate.

• Moving items:
  
  • You can drag an item into another box, or click to select it and click on the destination box
  • If the box already contains an item, it will be swapped
  • You can compare items stats by clicking on one to select it, then hovering over another with
    the mouse pointer
• There are three zones in the inventory screen:
  
  • Body​: Items carried on the body, on belts or in backpacks.
  • Ready items​: These are the items that can be selected for use at any time without spending
    Action Points. (Ready items can be cycles through in-game using the X Key.)
  • Ground​: Items on the ground or in an adjacent crate.
• You can also give an item to an adjacent character by dragging it onto that character’s icon on the
  right side of the inventory screen.