Learning combat

[Densar]

Originally Posted by mlangsdorf

With a base Dodge of 10, Retreating brings Dodge up to 13, a successful Acrobatic Dodge to 12, a Retreating Acrobatic Dodge is 15, and a failed Retreating Acrobatic Dodge is an 11. As long as a retreat is part of the acrobatic dodge, even a failed Acrobatics roll gives a better result than the basic Dodge.

Two knife fighters on an infinite white plain have almost no reason not to retreat, and as long as they're not suffering shock penalties, to not attempt acrobatic dodges. When you have to deal with terrain and multiple attackers, choosing how to allocate defenses and defense boosting options becomes much more complicated.

You're right. Even with their dodge down (when they get very low on HP), it is still good odds that it will help. I find it a little weird that this is entirely based on the Acrobatic skill -- I would think that if the character is down to 1 HP, with lower move and speed and such, that doing acrobatics might become a bit of an issue, but as far as I can tell, this still works just as good as at full HP.

I'll redo my example with retreat and acrobatic dodge and use imp damage instead of cut and see how that goes.