Combat Dice Game Basics
A basic introduction to how combat works.
Combat in The Curious Expedition is handled through a dice game that has it’s roots in the classic Yahtzee rules. The aim is to unlock actions by combining specific dice into combos. Each unit comes with it’s own set of dice, and most units will gain additional dice when promoted.
I’m putting this guide out to ease the basic problems some people have with the dice game mechanics. I hope I’ll find the time to make it more advanced, including images and more small hints. Please keep in mind that we’re heavily iterating on the dice game and will add many more combos, die types and items into the mix in the coming updates.
Dice Types
Currently, there are 4 different types of dice:
- Red – Combat
- Green – Defense
- Blue – Support
- Purple – Items
There are two levels of each die type: a basic version with 2 blank faces and an advanced version, indicated by golden corners, with no blank faces.
Combos
In general, whenever there is a combo available after a roll the dice that can be used for the combo are shaking slightly. Say you rolled a red die with a sword and a green die with a shield on it. Both will shake slightly.
Selecting the red sword will allow you to trigger a very basic attack action. However, you will notice that the green shield is still shaking, which indicates that it can be added to the current combo. When doing so you’ll be able to trigger the “Riposte” attack, which will use up the sword and shield dice.
By watching closely the shaking dice you will be able to find a lot of hidden combos.
Important: To trigger a combo / action you will need to click on the name of the combo. Only then the action will be triggered and the dice will be spent for this round.
Items
In addition to the basic 3 dice colors you can use weapons and items to access much more powerful combos. There are two types of items that are relevant for combat:
- Persistent weapons such as pistol, shotgun or rifle: These items will always add one special item die to your roll once per round.
- One-Shot items such as extra bullets or spears: These items will only add a special item die to your roll if you click them during combat. This will use up the corresponding item in your inventory. While these items are not easy to come by, they can give you a strong advantage when used wisely.
It is important to understand that the special item dice will not unlock a combo on their own. They need to combined with the 3 basic colored dice to trigger combos. Some examples:
Pistol + blue eye = Aimed Shot
Shotgun + red agility = Point Blank
Spear + red sword = Spear attack
The only exception so far are the extra bullets. Using one in combat will simply add a special die to your roll that always has a sword to be used in any kind of combo.
