Combat was introduced in 2015, and has looked very similar since.
There are 12 rounds per hour:
There is a countdown on each monster page indicating when the next round begins.
Green - weak to piercing damage (noble rapiers, pitchforks, energy whip, energy sword)
Red - weak to slashing damage (wicked battle axe, mining picks, honor blades)
Blue -weak to energy damage (ray guns, flint lock pistols)
The only monsters that have not used the above color code are the Xenobeasts (seen in 2017 and 2020.) "Xenobeast" aliens use aqua in place of green, pink in place of red, and purple in place of blue.
Nothing resists grenades, dynamite, missile launchers or cannons.
Some people prefer to use noble rapiers against them for the AC boost, which can help you avoid being hit by a boss' vicious dice pool and crit range.
Each Epic Week, the community is faced with 2-3 portals, gates, or other obstacles that must be unlocked by guessing the answers to their riddles. But monsters cluster near the gates. Although players can read riddle clues at any time, guesses as to the answer can only be submitted when there are NO monsters blocking the path to a gate. A single monster in the way = no guesses! This makes it very important for warriors to help clear the way for those attempting to answer the riddles, and to maximize the amount of time that the path stays clear before another wave of monsters arrives.
Because a new wave of monsters is spawned at the top of every hour (*:00), when you are coordinating with other warriors about which monsters to attack, keep an eye on the clock. If there are a lot of monsters in front of a gate, but only ten minutes left in the hour, it might be worth waiting until the :00 has come and gone to start your assault. Otherwise, any progress you made in clearing a path will be undone when the spawn occurs.
Tackling the toughest monsters first gives you the best chance of defeating them. Otherwise, you may be too tired and bruised from clearing out weaker monsters to last through a whole fight with a strong baddie. Even worse, killing all the weak monsters in each wave but leaving the tough ones can lead to an all-tough crowd over the course of several spawns. This can make it difficult or impossible to clear a path to the gate in a single hour. Sometimes, it's better to let a weak monster survive the full hour, so that it is taking up space at the time of the spawn and preventing a harder monster from having a chance to spawn in its place.
It's worth coordinating with players who are working on riddles -- if they don't have any new guesses to submit, it might be best to take a break and just allow the monsters to sit while you heal up and gather more weapons and supplies. Make your push to clear a gate when you know there are some good guesses for its riddles ready to go!
Another important tip: If you see a monster pulsing or shaking, that means that other players have attacked it recently. The faster it pulses, the more people are attacking it. This can be an at-a-glance way to join a coordinated assault you didn't see the chat about! But be smart, and resist the temptation to jump in on attacks against weaker monsters if it doesn't make strategic sense to remove the weaker monsters at that particular time.
The Armory is a member-created group that was set up to take advantage of the treasury feature in groups in order to help members more easily share weapons and other combat items. It was originally an entirely unofficial effort, but has since become a standard and officially-recognized part of Epic Week combat.
The Armory has also been collecting combat-relevant information over the years. Much of that may be cleared from its pages as the information is migrated to the Lore Wiki.
Combat Rounds
Combat rounds last 5 minutes. Users may attack as many times as their stamina and HP allow them to each round.There are 12 rounds per hour:
- On the hour *:00
- Five minutes past the hour *:05
- Ten minutes past the hour *:10
- Fifteen minutes past the hour *:15
- Twenty minutes past the hour *:20
- Twenty five minutes past the hour *:25
- Thirty minutes past the hour *:30
- Thirty five minutes past the hour *:35
- Forty minutes past the hour *:40
- Forty five minutes past the hour *:45
- Fifty minutes past the hour *:50
- Fifty five minutes past the hour *:55
- All monsters (other than bosses) recover 100% of their HP.
- Users regain 5 HP (except for those who have the blight status effect.)
- Users regain 100% of their stamina.
There is a countdown on each monster page indicating when the next round begins.
Color Code for Damage Type Resistance
All non-boss monsters resist damage unless they are attacked using a weapon that matches their specific vulnerability. Vulnerabilities can be determined by the color of the monster.Green - weak to piercing damage (noble rapiers, pitchforks, energy whip, energy sword)
Red - weak to slashing damage (wicked battle axe, mining picks, honor blades)
Blue -weak to energy damage (ray guns, flint lock pistols)
The only monsters that have not used the above color code are the Xenobeasts (seen in 2017 and 2020.) "Xenobeast" aliens use aqua in place of green, pink in place of red, and purple in place of blue.
Nothing resists grenades, dynamite, missile launchers or cannons.
Boss Monsters
Mini-bosses and boss monsters do not have any specific resistances; any weapon will work on them equally well.Some people prefer to use noble rapiers against them for the AC boost, which can help you avoid being hit by a boss' vicious dice pool and crit range.
Combat Strategies
Many monsters can only be defeated by coordinating with other players to all attack during the same combat round, before the monster recovers all of its HP.Each Epic Week, the community is faced with 2-3 portals, gates, or other obstacles that must be unlocked by guessing the answers to their riddles. But monsters cluster near the gates. Although players can read riddle clues at any time, guesses as to the answer can only be submitted when there are NO monsters blocking the path to a gate. A single monster in the way = no guesses! This makes it very important for warriors to help clear the way for those attempting to answer the riddles, and to maximize the amount of time that the path stays clear before another wave of monsters arrives.
Because a new wave of monsters is spawned at the top of every hour (*:00), when you are coordinating with other warriors about which monsters to attack, keep an eye on the clock. If there are a lot of monsters in front of a gate, but only ten minutes left in the hour, it might be worth waiting until the :00 has come and gone to start your assault. Otherwise, any progress you made in clearing a path will be undone when the spawn occurs.
Tackling the toughest monsters first gives you the best chance of defeating them. Otherwise, you may be too tired and bruised from clearing out weaker monsters to last through a whole fight with a strong baddie. Even worse, killing all the weak monsters in each wave but leaving the tough ones can lead to an all-tough crowd over the course of several spawns. This can make it difficult or impossible to clear a path to the gate in a single hour. Sometimes, it's better to let a weak monster survive the full hour, so that it is taking up space at the time of the spawn and preventing a harder monster from having a chance to spawn in its place.
It's worth coordinating with players who are working on riddles -- if they don't have any new guesses to submit, it might be best to take a break and just allow the monsters to sit while you heal up and gather more weapons and supplies. Make your push to clear a gate when you know there are some good guesses for its riddles ready to go!
Another important tip: If you see a monster pulsing or shaking, that means that other players have attacked it recently. The faster it pulses, the more people are attacking it. This can be an at-a-glance way to join a coordinated assault you didn't see the chat about! But be smart, and resist the temptation to jump in on attacks against weaker monsters if it doesn't make strategic sense to remove the weaker monsters at that particular time.
The Epic Armory
The Armory is a member-created group that was set up to take advantage of the treasury feature in groups in order to help members more easily share weapons and other combat items. It was originally an entirely unofficial effort, but has since become a standard and officially-recognized part of Epic Week combat.
The Armory has also been collecting combat-relevant information over the years. Much of that may be cleared from its pages as the information is migrated to the Lore Wiki.
Lore Wiki » Epic Weeks » Common Epic Week Features » Combat