I draw ever closer to understanding combat

[TheInsouciant]

As the subject suggests, the more boars and foxes I kill in the forest the closer I come to understand combat in this game. There are still, however, some points I'm not clear on. Specifically: I understand the red and yellow numbers that appear while fighting (HHP and SHP), and I think I understand the blue numbers (initiative? not certain about this one). I have no freaking clue, however, what the pale green numbers are. They seem important, though, because sometimes they're quite large, and I feel like I'm missing out on some key piece of strategy.

Also, is there a document somewhere that really goes into detail about combat? I have read the sticky titled "Combat: Attacks, Moves & Maneuvers", as well as Blaze's extremely helpful response, but I was looking for something a little more comprehensive and in depth. I'm particularly curious about the significance of and interplay between battle intensity, initiative, combat advantage, and stats like Strength and Agility. Is something like that out there, and I'm just missing it?

[CG62]

I believe the light green is whatever animal you're fighting being healed by a dear.

They do that.

[TheInsouciant]

No kidding?

Now that you mention it, it does seem to happen when deer are around. Damn. Damn deer.

[sabinati]

battle intensity speeds up combat. combat advantage make you more likely to hit and the opponent more likely to miss. initiative allows you to use instance attacks. str effects damage. agility effects the success rate of some instance attacks.

[TheInsouciant]

Appreciate the insight! So, as far as you know, does agility only affect the success rate of certain special moves, or does it also affect your overall to-hit chances? I've read it both ways. Also, I know the utility of initiative, but I'm curious as to its source. It seems like the worse I'm doing in a fight (more specifically, the more often I attack and miss), the more initiative I gain. At the same time, I dont gain initiative in a 1:1 ratio to my number of misses. Do you know anything more about how that works?

[sabinati]

agility doesn't effect overall to-hit chance, at all. only your combat skill effects that. initiative is gained by missing. you don't gain initiative if the opponent dodges your attack.

[Cain]

agility doesn't effect overall to-hit chance, at all. only your combat skill effects that. initiative is gained by missing. you don't gain initiative if the opponent dodges your attack.

Initiative is gained by missing and whatever combat maneuver the target is using. ie if the target is using dodge (as I believe all the animals are) you have a 10% chance of gaining a point of initiative when you miss. So you could get 3 initiative in 3 misses or 0 initiative in 30 misses. (if you were really lucky/unlucky) If your target is using shield (ie pvp or animals attacking you) than you have a 7% chance per miss to gain 2 initiative.

The green numbers are healing.

Agility increases attack speed when using a bow. (I don't think it effects melee attack speed, but I'd like confirmation on this, if it does its not much)

If you're fighting more than one animal at a time, the portraits of the animal(s) you don't have targeted will display your combat advantage and combat intensity vs that target.