Note: for a more complete list of fighting tips visit Marcus Antonius' Guide. It is more complete, and of right now, I really don't have time to make this any better.

NEVER attack a creature that someone is fighting, and is at red health. This is just asking for bad karma.
The person fighting the monster has already done considerable work taking the creature down to red. When you jump in at the very end, it halves the experience gained for killing the monster, for the person who did all the work in killing it.
If it's an honest mistake, caused by lag, a crash or something else out of your control, apologize profusely, give any money earned from the kill, and don't be surprised if you still get cursed for it.

If you see someone fighting a monster, and you want to help them, ASK THEM before you start attacking. As per the rule above, you will be taking away half of the experience for that monster, even for hitting it once. Some advanced fighters need all the experience they can get, due to the new experience system. Stealing their kills means they won't be able to get ranks anymore, which isn't very fun. If they do say "yes, help me." go ahead. If they don't say anything, leave them be (they're probably too engrossed in combat to acknowledge you). Although you may think the monster is incredibly difficult and that everyone could use help killing it, there's probably a fighter who can take it out without any help easily. Therefore, unless you know the fighter personally and know he/she can't take that monster, ASK

In a situation where a monster is trapped, say on a wall of dead bodies, and there is only room for one fighter to attack, take turns with the other fighters nearby. The wall of dead usually signals that the monster is very difficult. Thus, a lone fighter will need to take a long time to defeat it. Meanwhile, the dead are rotting away, and more monsters are probably coming, being attracted to the smell. In this situation, it's best to kill the monsters as fast as you can, so that you can get everyone standing and leave the accursed place. And remember to keep the rule above this in mind when you take turns with a monster.

This is all OOC: This page was thrown up to show people how to use the mouse correctly in battle. A more detailed guide will be available later (hopefully).

OK, as you should know, balance is the key to combat. When you swing too quickly, and lose your balance, you become more susceptible to monster attacks. A monster will also do more damage to you if your balance is lower (ie: If you have 0 balance you will take more damage than at 100% balance) Also, your swings become less likely to strike, and will usually do less damage. The following technique will help you keep your balance even in the deadliest situations:

Let's say you are attacked by two noble myrms while hanging out in the hive. Don't start swinging! Let the myrms attack you first. With full balance, they will be hard pressed to even hit you.

Keeping your swings at a minimal level depends on what control option you use. I use "Click Toggles" method. However, the default is "Click and Hold", what follows is the way to do it using the "Click And Hold" Control:

Move the cursor over your character and hold down the mouse button (as shown below)

Although the above method is very nice in crowded situations, it's even better if you can run around a bit. Think about it: Monster swings at you once, you swing at it once, you stand there and get swung at a few times before you can respond with a swing of your own. However, if you run until your balance is full, it won't get those extra swings in on you. Although this is great when alone, if you suddenly back up from a monster you're very likely to either dump it on someone who is unwilling/unprepared to be attacked. So while I recommend hit and run as a good tactic, it's VERY bad to use when anyone else is around who isn't capable of taking on a monster that might be dumped on them. Hell, even if they are, it's rude to just dump a monster on someone. Don't do it without giving some warning.

If you have the most health of anyone who is surrounding a monster, you should be the one taking damage. Even if you're scared out of your little tan clothes, take the damage. This will allow the others who are fighting time to get shots in (or at least swing at the monster). Since it takes longer to slay someone with more health than someone who is yellow or red, your group will get more chances to hit the monster. Thus, it has a better chance of killing it before it can kill you all.


With that in mind, don't run from a monster if you have more health than someone else fighting. It is really aggrevating to be be fighting with yellow health, only to have the person with white or green health flee, and causing an unneccessary death.


Although I can't stress the above one enough, it is also important to know WHEN to run. When you are yellow or red and the monster is focusing its attacks on you, run. (Unless you're yellow and someone else is in the red, in which case you stay) Let someone else take the focus of the attacks away, and try to get cheap shots in (if you can) by darting in and out quickly after the monster swings. Problems can arise when two wounded fighters are fighting. One will typically be holding the monsters/taking damage, while the other isn't sure wether to run or help fight. Simple run: If you're wounded, run, unless otherwise noted by other exiles. If you're not wounded, and someone who is is taking damage, take damage for them! Two fighters are almost always better than one, so having two yellow fighters is better than one dead fighter and one green fighter. Be careful about running though, don't just do it suddenly. This can result in dumping on someone, which is a very rude thing to do. Give warning before you run, because other folks will not prepared for it.

Talking during combat is very annoying. Only do it if you must (ie: to say "run!" or "help me!" or something of similar importance), as the talking bubble can cover the monster, so you can't see when it swings or more monsters sneaking up on you. More importantly, when fighting with a huge number of people (ie: in a town invasion), DON'T TALK OR YELL AT ALL. This causes an extreme amount of lag, due to the number of things going on at once. It is IMPOSSIBLE to fight when your screen is locked up. Don't say anything. Don't complain about the lag, don't say a thing. If you must, must talk, either use your sunstone, or "\whisper" if you don't have one. In the picture below, you can see all of the useless yelling and talking going on. Mithrandor is even asking about how to change his color! With a Dragon toasting the entire town, he's worried about fashion! It is no wonder the Drake killed practically everyone, and got away with barely a scratch.


This is an example of what NOT to do during an invasion.
Also, if you are relatively new to the island, DON'T run to the front lines in an invasion. As a rule of thumb, if you've never seen or heard of the monster before, stay away, 'cuz yer gonna die. There are plenty of veteran fighters who will smite the invadors. If you rush in and get yourself killed, you will probably only block the way of someone who could really help getting in.