Special Moves

The special move book. Click image to enlarge

Warriors have the ability to tap their magical Mana to perform devastating maneuvers with their weapons that can have a variety of unusual side-effects. Each weapon type in the game has a primary and a secondary special move. Warriors who have reached Expert skill level (70 or higher) may execute a weapon's primary special move. Once he or she has reached Master status in a weapon skill (90 or higher), the fighter may execute the secondary special move while wielding appropriate weapons. Each different type of weapon in the game has a different combination of primary and secondary special moves, making each weapon truly unique!

An icon on your Paperdoll will open a book that details each special move available based on your skill level and equipped weapon. Much like the icons in a Spellbook, these can be dragged from the book into the game window and double-clicked to activate the special move. The special moves can also be configured in macros for one-key activation. When activated, the special move icon highlights red, indicating the character is ready to perform the move. At the next opportunity, the special move is performed, and the icon returns to its un-highlighted state.

Special move mana cost can be decreased by having multiples of certain skills. With 200 to 299 combined skill points, the cost will decrease by 5 mana. Having 300 or more it will decrease by 10 mana. The included skills are: Swordsmanship, Mace Fighting, Fencing, Archery, Parrying, Lumberjacking, Stealth and Poisoning.

History

Special moves were first introduced with the Renaissance expansion. Every two handed weapon in one of the three fighting skills was give a special ability that had a 20% chance of executing on each blow, higher with more Intelligence. These special moves only worked on other players.

Macing weapons did Crushing Blow
Fencing weapons did Paralyzing Blow
Swordsmanship weapons did Concussion Blow

During the Age of Shadows expansion, the entire system was revamped. Special moves were now a macro which could be used any time a player wanted. They could also be used on both players and monsters. To balance the powerful new attacks, mana was made a requirement. Instead of just 3 moves, 10 more were added to bring the total up to 13. Later on the Samurai Empire expansion added another 10, Mondain's Legacy added 6.

List of Special Moves