Combat in 9 Dragons by Ken Johnston (2)

You will find that each martial arts school has a small training ground equipped with wooden target training dummies and practice equipment. This is where it gets interesting. Let's say that you are learning an unarmed routine of say a punch, kick, round-house kick combination. You step up to the target training dummy and a "mini-game" begins...

You punch and you miss, and you punch and miss again and then KA-CHUNG! You strike true! Trust us, it's a very satisfying, almost Pavlovian sound. You continue swinging away and then after you've done it just right several times, a second move, your kick, is unlocked. You punch and connect and then a kick on the return, your first combination! Get that right enough times and then a third move is unlocked, a return round-house kick, and you find yourself skilfully moving like a Tasmanian Devil through an intricate three-strike maneuver. KA-CHUNG! KA-CHUNG! KA-CHUNG! The first time you see and hear yourself make a successful combo you will glimpse the true nature of the game's addiction.

Know also that should you fail this training you will have to go back to the Sifu in shame to get him to explain it to you again. But once you complete the training successfully, you now have the basic knowledge of how to perform this combination. But can you do it during actual combat? Nope! Not at first. Just like in real combat, practice in the training area is never the same as using a move in a real fight. To unlock your moves during combat, you've got to practice, practice, practice.

Fortunately, there are hundreds of quests in 9Dragons, so you are never short of an opportunity to go and practice your moves. At the bottom of your action bar you get a number that indicates how far in the combo you have progressed. So you practice your punch and when you are competent with it you then add the kick. When you have mastered those two moves you can then add the second round-house kick. You now have mastered a three-move combo! Just like during your training, you've begun with the first punch (or the first sword stroke, or staff strike), and then after levelling up your Kung Fu through actual combat you've unlocked each additional move.

Well done! A three-move combo does much more damage to a monster than just a punch or a kick because the first moves have already got the monster on the defensive and now the follow up moves in the combo will force him back and damage him more. Some monsters can be taken out entirely with one well-timed heavy combo.

However in 9Dragons, once you have mastered the move it means that you can use as much or as little of it as you wish. Different monsters will have different weaknesses. Some will require quick repeated jabs to wear them down because they move so fast. Some will require really heavy combos to break down their defences. If you have learned to use a three-step combo you can choose to use just the first step, or the first two, or all three (It's a simple selection off your quickslot menu). Using just the punch is quickest, but using all three does the most damage. It's your choice.