Melee Damage is the type of Physical Damage delivered by a Melee Attack. When two units are locked in face-to-face combat, the attacker will deliver this damage to its target. Simultaneously, the target delivers Melee Damage against its attacker, in a process called a Counter Attack. The amount of damage delivered is based primarily on each unit's Melee Attack Strength as indicated in the unit's details window.
As with all other types of Physical Damage, Melee Damage attempts to inflicts actual Damage Points on the target. To do this, the attacker must make To Hit rolls to determine the accuracy of the attack, and the defender may make Defense rolls to try and block some of this incoming damage.
Much of the process is based on random rolls - and many of them. Therefore, a unit will not always deliver the same amount of Melee Damage with each Melee Attack or Counter Attack it makes. However, statistical calculations can reveal how much damage a unit is likely to deliver with each attack, and how much damage it can deliver in an exceptionally lucky attack.
Effect[]
Melee Damage is a simple type of Physical Damage. This means that it attempts to inflict actual Damage Points on the target, and involves both To Hit rolls and Defense rolls to determine the final amount of Damage.
The maximum amount of Damage caused to the target is equal to the strength of the Melee Attack itself. This has to be calculated (see below) before the damage can be processed.
Rolling To Hit[]
With all types of Physical Damage, the attacker is required to make To Hit rolls, which determine how many hits are registered against the target. The number of rolls is equal to the strength of the Melee Attack itself. Each roll results in a value between 1 and 100, which is then compared to the attacker's To Hit score (usually 30, before modifiers are taken into account). Each successful roll registers one hit against the target.
Rolling To Block[]
The target of Physical Damage is then allowed to make Defense rolls, which will help it block or dodge some of these registered hits. The number of rolls is equal to the target's Defense score, and again each roll results in a number between 1 and 100, which is compared with the defender's To Block score (usually 30, for nearly all units). Each successful roll blocks one of those registered hits.
Applying Damage[]
Finally, any registered hits that were not blocked are immediately translated into actual Damage which is applied to the target's current Health. During this process, the target unit may lose one or more of its figures, and may end up being completely destroyed as a result.
Since Physical Damage requires both To Hit and Defense rolls, the actual amount of Damage delivered to the target is almost always lower than the calculated maximum. It is even possible that no actual Damage will result, whether the attacker failed all his/her To Hit rolls or the defender managed to succeed in a sufficient number of Defense rolls.
There are also complex rules regarding Multi-Figure units making or suffering Melee Damage. The attack is stronger the more Figures there are in the attacking unit, and the defender unit has more chance to survive if it contains more Figures as well.
For a complete explanation of how Physical Damage works, including all the rolls it is required to make, see the article on Physical Damage.
Attack Strength[]
The total amount of Melee Damage delivered by a Melee Attack or Counter Attack is determined primarily by the Melee Attack strength of the attacking unit. This is indicated by a row of Swords in the unit's details panel.
For each Sword, the unit delivers 1 point of Melee Damage. Thus, a unit with 3 Swords deliver 3 points of Melee Damage each time it makes a Melee Attack or Counter Attack.
This becomes somewhat more complex with Multi-Figure units, since each Figure makes a separate Melee Attack upon the target. For example, a unit with 3 Swords and 4 Figures makes 4 separate Melee Attacks, each delivering 3 points of Melee Damage. This is not the same as a single attack delivering 12 points of Melee Damage (see Physical Damage for a thorough explanation of why this is so).
The calculated Attack Strength indicates the absolute maximum amount of Damage that can be caused to the target. Again, due to the To Hit and To Block rolls made in the process of calculating inflicted damage (see above), the actual results are usually lower than this maximum.
Immunities[]
Melee Damage differs from other types of Physical Damage primarily by its delivery method (i.e. through Melee Attacks), but also by the immunities that can help the target block it more effectively.
Melee Damage is not blocked by Magic Immunity nor Missile Immunity. However, it will trigger a target's Weapons Immunity in some specific cases.
When Weapons Immunity is in fact triggered, it temporarily sets the target's Defense score at 10, usually making the target much better at blocking registered hits, and thus usually suffering less Damage as a result. This Defense bonus applies only when blocking Melee Damage.
Weapon Immunity is triggered whenever the attacker delivers Melee Damage through a Normal Melee Attack. This includes the following:
- Any Normal Unit that has not been equipped with Magical Weapons (such as given by the Alchemy Retort or the Alchemists' Guild).
- Any Hero that is not holding a Magical Weapon of any kind.
Fantastic Units will never trigger a target's Weapon Immunity, since their weapons are considered "magical" by default (even though this isn't displayed in their details panel).
Sources of Melee Damage[]
Virtually all units possess a Melee Attack, and this is the only source of Melee Damage found in the game.
The amount of Melee Damage delivered by a unit is affected by many different factors, and can be adjusted very easily by modifying a unit's Melee Attack Strength. Even more importantly, the total amount of Melee Damage delivered by a Multi-Figure unit can change radically during combat as the unit loses or regains figures.