Salem

Hi I'm pretty new and having trouble with basic combat. I have been ko'd by rabbits, snakes, beavers & crickets. I think the controls are what I am having trouble with. I also haven't learned backally pugilism yet. Can someone explain the controls (mouse vs keys etc) to me in super basic description? I am not sure I am using the bottom toolbar correctly either.

I have no problems building, foraging, fishing etc. It just seems like when i try and fight a critter, my avi just stands there swinging wildly. Also is it easier with the screen zoomed in or out? Any suggestions would be great! Thank you!

I'll start with saying that Salem is not standard MMO where you start the game with hunting 10 rabbits. You are not supposed to be able to kill crickets like some standard mobs in other games right away.

Apart from that it's about knowing how animals behave. Usually they run to you, hit, and start running around. After few seconds they run again to you and so on.
So, when they run to you you hit them (make sure you are hitting in their direction). When they start running around walk away and wait for them to run to you again. And hit again. Keep repeating until animal is dead.

Ordering animals by their difficulty:
rabbits
crickets
turkeys
beavers
deer
bears

What got me at first was that you attack towards the mouse pointer. So make sure that's aimed at the critter before you hit the attack button.

If you want to kill a snake, you need to make sure it never hits you, as their poison is a guaranteed KO. So until you can one-shot snakes with Bull Run, you'd better avoid them. Or bring antidote.

Backalley Pugilism is pretty useful if you don't have Fencing yet, since uppercuts deal a lot more damage than regular punches. But it's not needed against rabbits and crickets if you've raised your blood/yellow bile a bit.

thanks, the mouse pointer tip was especially helpful. I kept using my mouse to click on the Combat moves and not "aim" at the critter. I dragged the moves to the bottom toolbar and use my number keys now. I have been able to take down some rabbits and crickets, although my yellow bile needs to be built up more.