Editing Exalted Basic Tactics (section)

== Offense ==

Keeping your opponent from killing you is only half the battle: you've got to kill him as well.  Some characters focus on this, as, after all, a dead opponent doesn't need to be defended against.  While a little trickier than simply having a good defense, a good offense is a vital part of any soldier's routine.  As with defense, your character will seldom rely on just one of these advantages, but instead, seek several out.

<b> Accuracy </b>

A skilled warrior is without equal.  Having more dice than your opponent means, in the long run, that you'll hit him more often.  While the most expensive of the offenses, it's also the most reliable and the most flexible.  Simply outdicing your opponent is the surest way to victory.

Having a great number of dice allows you to get past most basic parry/dodge style defenses.  But it also allows him to make more attacks (more dice means more to split), giving him an added edge.  On top of this, a character with a high attack dice pool typically has a high defense dice pool as well.  A Dex of 5 and a Melee of 5 means you attack AND parry well.  Weapons only add further to this, giving you an even higher edge to your attacks.

But it can be beaten.  Having a high dice pool is, inevitably, the sign of lots of xp.  Getting those high stats costs time and effort.  This means it isn't always available.  More importantly, while high dice pool will result in high damage, it's inefficient.  Every 2 dice in your dice pool will, on average, result in a single die of damage.  This can be reduced further through defenses.  And in the long run, it is damage that wins the fight, not successful hits.

A single, high accuracy attack is typically strong against Dodge, but weak against parry and soak.  Many, smaller attacks typically beat soak and parry, but not dodge.

Gaining lots of accuracy involves a high score in a combat ability, and lots of Dex.  Wielders of weapons focus on accuracy, and iniative where possible, creating "fencer" style characters with Slashing Swords as the weapon of choice.  This is also the offense of choice for ranged attackers, who must deal with a myriad of penalties to their attacks.

<b> Damage </b>

Hitting well isn't, in the end, what matters.  You must HURT your opponent to kill him.  Little nicks and scratches won't do it.  Often overlooked, this can be used to great effect.  While you might not hit as often as a character with a big dice pool, when you DO hit, it HURTS.

High damage allows the character to split for greater effect.  While a high accuracy character must rely on a great number of successes to hurt his opponent, a high damage character deals a great amount of hurt with just a few successes.  This allows him to worry less about spending lots of xp to be really high in dice pool, and allows him to focus on other things.

But being low in dice pool means you're less likely to hit at all.  If you can't hit your opponent, all that damage doesn't mean squat.  Worse, most weapons that deal a great deal of damage are slow, inaccurate, and defend poorly.  This means you'll need some very solid defense (usually dodge or soak) to get by until that lucky shot comes your way.

Damage is beaten, usually, by dodge or parry, unless you're also high in Accuracy.  High damage is usually used against high soak, to even things out.

High damage needs high Strength.  Simple as that.  Good, heavy weapons are useful as well.  The Sledge, and weapons like it, are the weapon of choice for damage dealers.  A good, solid defense is advised.

<b>Initiative</b>

This advantage is all too often ignored but can be the most vital in many ways.  If you have initiative, your opponent cannot split his dice pool.  This means he must parry once, or abort to a dodge to defend.  If he wants to attack, he must suffer your attacks without defense, while you can freely split as you please.  This can be a devastating turn of events, especially against people that focus on parry.  A person who consistently takes initiative consistently owns the fight.

It isn't a perfect tactic, though.  Dodgers can defend efficiently on full dodge and soak monsters can just wait for your puny attack to plink off their armor and then lay into you.  It's seldom a good idea to rely on this alone, but when augmented with other advantages, it can be deadly.

A high Dexterity and Wits is necessary to pull this off.  Also advised are "quick" weapons, such as knives, slashing swords, or spears.  This combines well with parry and high accuracy fighters.  Iniative only truly matters in close combat fights.  Don't rely on it in ranged fights.

<b>Wrestling</b>

A note should be made about wrestling.  Clinches and Holds are exclusively the domain of Martial Arts and Brawl.  If you can penetrate someone's parry or dodge, you turn the fight instantly into a match of damage against soak.  This can be traumatic for Melee fighters, who have almost no advantages in this field: they don't have the dice pools to escape, and they typically don't have the raw strength to deal much damage.  This can be an instant fight winner if you know what you're doing, and should be considered in any bare knuckle fighters routine, especially if he focuses on soak and damage.