Level Up.pdf

300 LEVEL 11 They All Want You Dead
Telegraphing attacks is important for effective enemy combat. An enemy
should have a “ tell ” animation that informs an observant player that the
enemy is about to go all stabby, shooty, or clawey. Tells include:
• Cocking a fist back to punch
• Growls or yells before swinging weapon or charging
• Part of anatomy (like twitching tail or reptilian fins) moves before
attacking
• Weapon ’ s laser sight has to acquire target before firing
• Weapon or spell “ charges up ” before firing.
Not every attack needs to do damage to the player. There are plenty of
ways to give the player grief without doing them permanent harm:
Block/parry: the enemy can block or parry the player ’ s attack, causing
a stagger in the player ’ s combat flow. This can break combat chains,
reset combo meters, and cause the player ’ s weapon to rebound or