How to fight?

[mittromag2191]

HI. I'm pretty new to the game and I am near death. Why? Boars. When I walk by them, the fight menu comes up, I try pressing PUNCH and then I die. Can someone please explain how combat in this game works.

[NeoBasilisk]

HI. I'm pretty new to the game and I am near death. Why? Boars. When I walk by them, the fight menu comes up, I try pressing PUNCH and then I die. Can someone please explain how combat in this game works.

You should not even think about fighting boars if you don't know how the combat system works. There are a couple decent guides around here. You could find the fighting section in Sevenless' guide here viewtopic.php?f=42&t=40714.

You should start with ants, and then move on to bats, and go from there. If you want to legitimately learn the fighting system and not use exploits to kill animals, you need to increase your unarmed fighting skill and agility to be able to fight tougher animals.

[dantheman540]

The post above is correct, don't even think about boars for a LONG time. You can look into archery and bow hunting animals, or you can raise your UA/MC skills (Unarmed/Melee Combat). If your just starting out you will most likely be better picking UA. First start with ants. Since your very new to the game I'd suggest 10-15 points (you can do it with less, but if you don't know what your doing and you need to learn, that's a good start). Use the sword icon to 'attack them' one at a time. I won't go into how the combat system works, since there are plenty of posts around, and some videos if you use google.
Where you are going wrong at the moment is walking near aggressive animals. Some animals are passive unless you attack them, like foxes, deer and moose, while others like badgers, boars and bears will aggro you and attack if you walk to near them. Try to give them a wide birth where possible, and remember that the closer you are, and the faster you are moving, the more likely they are to aggro you.
If you do get aggroed by them, my advice would be to run for a cliff. If you can jump up/down a cliff that is long enough for them not to be able to path find around, you can walk away from them, and when you get far enough away their portrait will turn to a question mark to say they have lost you, and shortly after that disappear altogether.

[NeoBasilisk]

Also, boars are one of the few animals you can outrun at run speed rather than sprinting, so it is very reasonable to run away, especially if you are running on non-forest terrain with minimal stamina drain.

[Karede]

You should also just avoid "walking by" animals for the most part