Fighting

Out past the safe ground you will have to fight. Fighting in gluniverse is directional: the tiles decide what you can hit, and where you stand decides what can hit you.

Three moves

• Strike. Click a creature next to you. The plain hit.
• Charge (T). A sprint down the line in front of you. It hits everything along that line and shoves the target back. Shove something into a wall and it gets slammed, extra damage and a stun.
• Kick (R). Cheaper than a charge, and it only hits what is behind you. Turning your back can be the move. A human swings instead of kicking, same key, same idea.

Everything costs stamina

Every move draws from the same bar. The charge costs the most, the kick less, a plain strike sits between, a jump costs least. Walking is free. Running drains it. Empty the bar and you are winded, and a winded horse is easy prey. Spend it well.

Watch the crouch

Creatures tell you before they bite. Every attack starts with a crouch, then the lunge. That crouch is your cue. Jump (Space) as it strikes and the bite finds air. A clean dodge opens a counter: the next hit you land counts double. Read the crouch, jump, answer with a kick. That is the whole rhythm.

The lands size you up

At level 1, this is roughly how the wild reads, at the fringe (creatures grow stronger the deeper you push):

• a badger is a fair first fight
• a boar is a real one, and it will cost you
• a wolf you can take alone if you pull it wide, but the den runs as a pack
• a provoked deer wants a friend at your side

Deeper creatures are higher level and hit far harder. The name and level float over every one, so you always know what you are walking up to. The Creatures has the rest.

Learn it safe first

You do not have to learn any of this the hard way. There is a training yard off the Crossroads, a room of your own with one patient badger. It walks you through the whole thing step by step: footwork on the tiles, the charge line, the kick behind you, dodging the crouch, the counter. Nothing you carry is at risk there. When you can beat the badger clean, the real wild is waiting.

Why fight at all

Killing pays in XP, and XP is what levels you and gates your land. Creatures also drop materials, hide and bone and more, that feed crafting and trade on the Exchange. But remember the rule of the world: everything you carry drops where you fall. Ride out heavy into a fight you cannot win and you are betting the whole trough.