Combat Design
Purpose
Design combat verbs, enemy pressure, resource economy, readability, and tuning hooks.
Use When
- building a combat game or combat-heavy feature
- combat feels unreadable or shallow
- balance changes need stronger structure
Inputs
- player fantasy
- weapon or ability roster
- enemy roster
- target pace and difficulty
Process
- define player verbs, counters, risk/reward, and pacing
- design enemy roles and pressure patterns
- specify feedback, resource use, and fail states
- identify tuning variables and telemetry needs
- test clarity, fairness, and skill expression
Outputs
- combat spec
- tuning variable list
- enemy-role matrix
- playtest questions
Quality Bar
- supports the core fantasy and player goals
- defines readable rules, edge cases, and feedback
- creates concrete hooks for tuning, telemetry, and QA
Common Failure Modes
- adding systems that do not serve the core loop
- shipping vague rules that QA and engineering must guess at
- tuning without instrumentation or hypotheses
Related Agents
- combat-designer
- systems-designer
- ui-ux-designer
Related Commands
- combat-design
- playtest-report
- verify
Notes
- Keep this skill aligned with the relevant rules layer and current project documentation.
- If engine-specific constraints materially change the workflow, hand off to the matching engine skill or engine-specific reviewer.
