Chapter 49 — Combat Tactics — The Tactical Triangle

Chapter 49: Combat Tactics — The Tactical Triangle

Design Goal

Make each combat turn ask a real question. Before the tactical triangle, combat was “attack until someone falls.” Now every turn presents a meaningful choice between five actions with soft counter relationships.

The triangle creates three axes of pressure:

Aggression beats passivity — attack punishes indecision
Preparation blunts aggression — guard and brace absorb attacks
Movement punishes overcommitment — reposition outflanks static defense

Core Combat Actions

Five player-facing verbs. All cost 1 stamina.

attack

Default pressure action. Press damage, force outcomes.

Best against: exposed, fleeing, off-balance targets
Weak against: guarded defenders (may cause attacker off-balance)
Outputs: damage, may apply off-balance on failed attack into guard

guard

Short-horizon defensive read. Absorb the next hit.

Grants GUARDED status (duration 2 ticks, clears after absorbing one hit)
Clears own OFF_BALANCE (stabilization)
Weak against: reposition (can be outflanked)

brace

Hold ground against impact and displacement.

Grants GUARDED status + internal braced flag
Clears own OFF_BALANCE (stabilization)
Resists displacement effects (70% chance to negate off-balance)
Stronger at chokepoints
Best for: holding position, protecting allies, resisting force

disengage

Break contact and withdraw.

On success: move to neighbor zone, gain FLEEING status
On failure: remain in zone, gain EXPOSED status
Best for: escaping bad matchups, enabling retreat
Weak against: enemies pressing attack

reposition

Move for tactical advantage, not escape.

Targeted: attempt to outflank a specific enemy
- Success may expose the target (+60% outflank chance)
- Breaks target’s GUARDED if outflanked
Untargeted: recover from bad position
- Success clears own EXPOSED and OFF_BALANCE
On failure: gain EXPOSED
Soft-counters static guard; countered by braced defenders (-20% chance)

Guard vs Brace

Both grant GUARDED, but they serve different tactical roles:

Aspect	Guard	Brace
Grants GUARDED	Yes	Yes
Clears OFF_BALANCE	Yes	Yes
Resists displacement	No	Yes (70% resist)
Vulnerable to reposition	Yes (outflanked)	Less so (-20% to enemy reposition)
Best at	Absorbing next hit	Holding ground under pressure
Chokepoint bonus	No	Yes (reported in events)

Combat States

Exactly four visible states. No status zoo.

GUARDED (`combat:guarded`)

Harder to damage (50-75% damage reduction based on resolve)
Gained by: guard, brace
Lost by: absorbing a hit, attacking (clears own guard), being outflanked by reposition, tick expiration (2 ticks)

OFF_BALANCE (`combat:off_balance`)

Reduced hit chance (-15) and defense (+10 to be hit, +1 damage taken)
Gained by: attacking into a guarded target (30-48% counter chance based on resolve)
Lost by: guard (stabilization), brace (stabilization), successful untargeted reposition, tick expiration (1 tick)

EXPOSED (`combat:exposed`)

Easier to hit (+20 hit chance) and more damage (+2)
Gained by: failed disengage, failed reposition, being outflanked by reposition
Lost by: successful untargeted reposition, damage consumed (auto-clears after being hit)

FLEEING (`combat:fleeing`)

Vulnerable to pursuit (+10 hit chance against)
Gained by: successful disengage
Lost by: tick expiration (2 ticks)

Soft Counter Relationships

Not rock-paper-scissors. Soft advantages that create texture.

Action	Soft-counters	Soft-countered by
attack	disengage, exposed/fleeing targets	guard (off-balance risk)
guard	attack (damage reduction + counter)	reposition (outflank)
brace	reposition (-20% chance), displacement	careful reposition, withdrawal
reposition	static guard (+15% chance)	braced defenders, chokepoints
disengage	stalled engagements	pressing attackers

Action Resolution Order

Declare intent — each combatant selects action and target
Initiative / timing — existing instinct-driven action order
Movement pressure — resolve disengage, reposition, interception
Attacks and defenses — resolve attacks with guard/brace modifications
State outcomes — apply/remove guarded, off_balance, exposed, fleeing
Aftermath hooks — event hooks for morale, resources, pack effects

AI Tactical Behavior

Enemy AI uses all five actions via the combat-intent scoring system. Eight intent types are scored: attack, guard, brace, disengage, reposition, pressure, protect, finish.

AI heuristics

Attack when: target is exposed/fleeing, actor has advantage, enemy is finishable

Guard when: actor is injured, exposed, or protecting allies

Brace when: off-balance (strong +25 bonus), holding chokepoint, exposed (+15), protecting allies, facing displacement

Disengage when: low morale, critical HP, isolated, outmatched

Reposition when: target is guarded (+20 bonus), target is backline, actor is healthy and free to maneuver, recovering from exposed/off-balance

Pack biases

All 15 built-in pack biases include brace and reposition modifiers:

Assassin: reposition +15, brace -15 (mobile, never hunkers)
Samurai: brace +15, reposition -5 (disciplined, holds ground)
Feral: brace -20, reposition +5 (never defends, always pressing)
Colonial: brace +15, reposition -5 (formation fighters)
Zombie: brace -20, reposition -15 (mindless aggression only)
Others scaled appropriately to archetype identity

Genre Hook Points

The tactical module exposes TacticalHooks for pack-specific resource integration:

type TacticalHooks = {
  preAction?: (action, actor, world) => { hitBonus?, damageBonus?, guardBonus?, repositionBonus? };
  defenseModifier?: (defender, action, world) => { damageReduction?, displacementResist? };
  movementModifier?: (actor, action, world) => { successBonus?, exposureReduction? };
  afterAction?: (action, actor, events, world) => ResolvedEvent[];
};

Future pack integration examples:

Ki enhances reposition or guard timing via preAction
Bloodlust rewards attack chains but punishes disengage via afterAction
Composure resists off-balance/exposed outcomes via defenseModifier
Crowd-favor rewards risky press plays via afterAction

Round Flags

Internal per-entity per-tick tracking for actions that need cross-reference:

type RoundFlags = {
  braced?: boolean;      // grants displacement resistance
  guarding?: boolean;    // tracked for counter effects
  attemptedDisengage?: boolean;
  attemptedReposition?: boolean;
};

Flags are cleared at the start of each tick. They are not visible combat states.

Module Registration

import { createCombatCore } from '@ai-rpg-engine/modules';
import { createCombatTactics } from '@ai-rpg-engine/modules';

// Combat tactics is additive — combat-core works without it
const engine = createEngine({
  modules: [
    statusCore,
    createCombatCore(formulas),
    createCombatTactics({ hooks: myPackHooks }),
  ],
});

The module is backward-compatible. Packs that only use attack continue to work without registering combat-tactics.

Authoring Guidance for Pack Designers

Start with the triangle. Every encounter should have at least one enemy that uses non-attack actions.
Use pack biases to give enemies personality. A feral beast that never guards feels different from a disciplined soldier that braces at chokepoints.
Zone tags matter. Place chokepoint tags on narrow passages to make brace more meaningful. Use positioning to create tactical decisions.
Don’t add more states. Four visible combat states is the cap. If you need pack-specific effects, use resources and abilities, not new combat states.
Test the AI. Run selectNpcCombatAction() with your pack biases and verify enemies make sensible choices.