Combat Basics
Your very first fight, explained one turn at a time — with a full worked example. No maths needed.
What a fight is
Every fighter has HP — that is their health. When a fighter's HP reaches 0, they are knocked out. Your job is simple: bring the enemy's HP to 0 before they bring yours to 0.
A fight is turn-based, like a board game. You take a turn, then the enemy takes a turn, then you again — over and over. On your turn you press one button, and that is your whole move.
Your four buttons
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| ⚔️ Attack | Hit the enemy and take away some of their HP. |
| 💤 Rest | Heal some of your own HP and charge up Focus — but only if no enemy hits you this turn (see the warning below). |
| 🛡️ Parry | Get ready to block. If the enemy attacks you this turn, you block it and hit them back. |
| 🧪 Item | Use a potion from your bag, like a Health Potion to heal. |
🔆 Focus is your super-punch. A successful Rest gives you Focus, and your next attack then does double (×2) damage. Save it for a moment that counts!
⚠️ Resting is risky — do not Rest into a hit! If an enemy attacks you on the turn you Rest, you get caught off guard: your Rest fails completely — no heal, no Focus — and they hit you for extra damage (about 50% more) for catching you resting. Only Rest when you are safe from a hit.
A whole fight, step by step
Meet the two fighters. We will use easy round numbers:
🦸 You — 120 HP · your attacks do about 30 damage · a safe Rest heals about 35.
👹 Goblin — 90 HP · its attacks do about 20 damage.
| Turn | You press | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ⚔️ Attack | You hit the Goblin for 30. Goblin: 90 → 60. It swings back: You: 120 → 100. |
| 2 | 💤 Rest — bad timing! | The Goblin attacks while you rest, so it catches you off guard: your Rest fails — no heal, no Focus — and it hits you for 30 (50% more than usual). You: 100 → 70. |
| 3 | ⚔️ Attack | You hit for 30. Goblin: 60 → 30. Now the Goblin is hurt and it Rests to heal itself. |
| 4 | 💤 Rest — safe now! | The Goblin is resting, not attacking, so you are safe. You heal ~35 and gain Focus 🔆. You: 70 → 105. (The Goblin heals a little: 30 → 45.) |
| 5 | ⚔️ Attack (with Focus!) | Focus doubles your hit: 30 × 2 = 60. Goblin: 45 → 0. You win! 🎉 |
The whole lesson is in turns 2 and 4. Resting is powerful — a free heal plus a Focus power-up — but only if no one hits you that turn. Rest into an attack (turn 2) and you get nothing and take extra damage. Wait for a safe moment (turn 4, while the enemy is resting too), then Rest, then unleash your Focus hit.
Three simple tips
| Tip | Why |
|---|---|
| Only Rest when it is safe | Never Rest into an attack — you get no heal, no Focus, and take extra damage. Rest when the enemy is low, busy with someone else, or resting too. |
| Spend Focus on a big hit | A doubled attack is your strongest move. Line it up when the enemy cannot dodge or block it. |
| Only Parry when a hit is coming | If you Parry and the enemy does not attack, you wasted your turn. Read what they are doing. |
🎓 That is the entire game! Everything else — your stats, your gear, your weapon — just changes these numbers up or down. When you want the real formulas behind the damage and healing, read the full Combat page.
The Guardians Compendium. A Discord RPG built and run by Max. Every formula, item, region, quest and line of prose here was read out of the live bot. Reward amounts, drop rates, daily caps, prices and which panels are up are set by Max on the server the bot lives in.
Contact: questions, feedback, or proposals → contact@guardiansrpg.com.