Combat

There are many challenges in the untamed frontiers of Horizons. Forces of Undead and other monsters roam the land. If you choose to, you can become a protector of the realm as a warrior, wizard, scout or healer. Gain fame and fortune by adventuring on the edges of civilization. Grow in power as you slay powerful beasts, complete epic quests and find fabulous riches. You and your friends can fly solo and battle the Undead at your own pace, or you can become a part of a greater vision by joining a guild. The guild system in Horizons enables groups, small and large alike, to communicate easily and provides a full suite of easy-to-use organizational controls to create meetings and events, as well as customized social and political structures and reward systems.

Combat

Horizons takes combat to a new level as the lunges, parries, blocks and evasions are all fully represented through detailed animations. No longer do monsters stand there, unflinching as your mighty two-handed sword slash passes through their body and a small text message informs you if it was successful or not. As you progress in skill through studying in an adventure school and exercising those skills by pushing back the invading Undead horde you gain new special abilities that could be the difference between destroying an Arch Liche or falling to its crushing attack.

While you are improving your combat skills and abilities, be aware that almost all of those abilities are available to your opponents. In many cases, you will want to coordinate your efforts with those of other members of your community in order to increase your odds of successfully battling the invaders. While the weapons skills of a Warrior are invaluable in cleaving any foe, a Healer might also prove useful in both dealing out damage as well as assisting wounded comrades. The realm of magic is also important in combat as it can often dramatically increase your odds of success against large numbers of opponents as well as better preparing all of your comrades for the battle. A Scout often proves useful for both their far ranging attacks and knowledge of monster behaviors.

Not all adventure is found in defending your player built communities; if you are more inquisitive by nature, you can explore the long overrun frontier for treasures, fallen cities, lost civilizations, and locating the sources of the Undead onslaught. Beware as you wander further from the known territories, the Undead are not the only creatures that will attack you. Only powerful groups or exceptional individuals return under their own power from the far reaches of Istaria.

Special Abilities

Horizons provides actions that your character can take during combat but which you choose when to execute, these are called Special Abilities. Special abilities are granted to your character by the schools to which they belong. As you prove to your school that you�ve mastered your current abilities, you are promoted in status and will be rewarded for this progress with new special abilities. Each school has its own series of special abilities with only some overlap between prestige schools. When you decide to leave a school, the school will revoke some of the special abilities that were granted to your character. If you later decide to return to the school, these special abilities will be restored.>

It is also important to understand that many of the opponents that you�ll face in Horizons also belong to schools and that they�ve also been rewarded for their advancement with special abilities. If you engage in combat, you will sooner or later experience a computer opponent unleashing a special ability during the battle.

Special abilities frequently have a duration that is indicated through a timer. The duration special abilities often have a counter move that can offset or mutate their effect. Some thought should be paid as to the timing of their use, since if it is diminished in effect or completely countered you�ll have squandered your opportunity to sway the battle.

Here are a few examples of special abilities we are testing in beta:

Warrior

Power Attack - Normal Attack does additional damage
Kick - A slower attack that can be combined with a normal attack
Critical Strike - Normal attacks automatically hit for maximum damage
Weapon Adep - Permanent increased damage per second with all weapons (not a decision to be made during combat, but a nice reward nonetheless)
Double Strike - Two normal attacks occur in the same time as one

Healer

Enhanced Heal - Heal additional damage
Instant Heal - Spell, low level heal, minimal delay
Infusion - Deal increased damage per second to undead for duration
Healing Bonus - Permanent additional bonus to all heal spells
Aura of Life - Undead will not attack user for duration

Scout

Hide - Player is more difficult to detect, attacking ends effect
Bull's-eye - Ranged attack increased damage
Long Range Shot - Shots during duration have increased range
Heart seeker - Normal Attack automatically hits for full damage
Damage Bonus - Permanent increased damage per second with bows and crossbows

Wizard

Channeling - Magic attack increased damage for duration
Lower Resistance - Target gets decreased fire and water resistances for duration
Engulf - Magic Attack does increased damage over duration in addition to normal damage
Damage Bonus - Permanent increase in damage per second with fire and water damage spells