Action combos can be used to replace actions in a sequence of actions.

An action combo consists of stages – each stage is part of the overall action sequence that make up the combo. If a combatant selects an action, the combatant’s action combos will automatically check and progress the stages based on the used action, and optionally replace the selected action with another action.

Action combos are set up in Battle System > Action Combos.

Stages

A stage defines one or more required actions and an optional replacement action. Multiple stages make an action sequence.

An action combo always starts with stage 0, i.e. it’ll only enter the action sequence when one of the required actions of stage 0 is used. A combo’s action sequence progresses automatically by using one of the required actions of a stage.

Stages can optionally only be available for a defined amount of time. If the combatant doesn’t use a required action within that time, the action combo’s progress is reset. How the available time decreases is defined by the Decrease Time setting in the combo’s Base Settings – the time can decrease alwayswhile choosing actions or while in action (depending on the combatant itself choosing or being in action).

Required actions

Required actions are, like the name suggests, required to enter the stage. One of the defined required actions has to be used to to enter the stage, and the action combo has to be in the previous stage in order to enter the next stage.

If the combatant uses an action that is not defined by the required actions or the available time runs out, the action combo’s progress is reset.

Replacement action

The replacement action is optional for a stage, but it’s the core of the action combo system. Whenever one of the required actions is used and triggers the stage, the replacement action will be used instead of the required action.

E.g.: A stage has the required action Attack (being triggered by the combatant’s base attack) and an Ability replacement action (the ability Strong Attack).

When the stage is triggered by the combatant selecting the base attack as the next action, it’ll automatically be replaced by the replacement action Strong Attack.

Replacement actions will only be used if the combatant is able to use it, e.g. knows the ability and meets the use requirements (use costs, etc.).

It doesn’t matter how the required action is selected – battle menu, control maps or battle AI – when a combatant selects an action to be performed, the action combos will check their stages and replace the action if needed.

Adding action combos to combatants

You can define default action combos that are available to all combatants. The default action combos are set up in Battle System > Battle Settings in the Default Action Combos settings.

Each combatant can individually add or replace the default action combos. In the combatant’s settings (Combatants > Combatants), you can set this up in Attacks & Abilities > Action Combos. By enabling Replace Default, the combatant won’t use the default action combos, only those that are defined in the combatant’s settings, otherwise the defined combos will be used in addition to the default combos.

You can also add or remove action combos using the event system. The action combo nodes can be found in the Combatant > Action Combo nodes.

Example

A combatant has 2 actions – the base attack and a fire ability – and an action combo with the following stages:

  • Stage 0
    Required action: base attack
  • Stage 1
    Required action: base attack
  • Stage 2
    Required action: base attack
    Replacement action: fire ability

When the combatant uses the base attack 3 times in a row (base attack > base attack > base attack), the action combo automatically replaces the 3rd use of the base attack with the fire ability (base attack > base attack > fire ability).

Tip

Since you can also use Shortcut actions, you can set up action combos that can be changed by the player.

Shortcut actions define which shortcut slot will be used as required actions or replacement action of a stage. When the player changes the action placed in the shortcut slot, the combo’s required/replacement actions also changes.