Focus Fire
Concentrated damage beats spread damage: one dead enemy is one less threat.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- Design focus
- Planning · Optimization
No.219Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition01The core loop
Action → feedback → next choice- 01Identify the top threat
- 02Everyone targets it
- 03It goes down
- 04Shift to the next
↻Feedback changes the situation — the next round starts from there.
Walk through one round
A simplified design example. Situations and numbers illustrate the mechanic, not exact rules from a reference game.
- T1
Turn 1 · The situation
An 8-HP sniper deals 6 per turn and a 14-HP trooper deals 3; your three soldiers hit for 5 each.
- T2
Turn 2 · The player chooses
Two shoot the sniper, the third hits the trooper.
- T3
Turn 3 · The feedback
The sniper drops with 2 overkill; the trooper is at 9.
- T4
Turn 4 · The next decision
You take only 3 next turn and finish the trooper.
How it plays
Enemies deal full damage until they die, so concentrating fire cuts incoming damage fastest. Players judge who’s most dangerous or easiest to kill and manage overkill waste. Enemy health bars and remaining count are the feedback.
What the player weighs
- Hit the biggest threat vs the easiest kill
- Focus efficiency vs overkill waste
02Start small
Scope is an editorial estimate for the minimum prototype, not the reference game or a production schedule.
03One mechanic, different implementations
Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
Massed archers manually focusing single targets thin enemy numbers fast, and skilled players micro to reduce overkill.
XCOM 2
You aim to kill before enemies act; finishing one threat beats wounding several, since wounded aliens still fire back at full strength.
The difference worth noticing
In AoE2 focus fire is real-time micro; in XCOM 2 it’s turn-based planning around hit chances.
Case notes are Yoroll editorial summaries; rules may change between versions.
04What could you combine?
Large enemies have breakable parts; focusing one can strip a weapon, so players choose between disarming and going for the core.
Prototype this combo in Yoroll→Follow the next idea
Synergy Breakpoints
Gather enough distinct members of a type to cross a threshold and buff the team.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Collect tagged units
- 02Count distinct tags
- 03Cross a threshold
- 04Push for the next tier
Draw–Discard Combat Cycle
Draw a hand, play it, discard it; the deck's cycle is the fight's heartbeat.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Draw a hand
- 02Spend energy to play
- 03Discard at turn end
- 04Reshuffle and repeat
Hold the Front Line
Put tough units up front to soak hits so fragile damage dealers survive behind them.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Arrange positions
- 02Enemies hit the front
- 03Backline deals damage
- 04Refill when the front falls