Speed Sets the Order
Who acts first often decides the fight, making speed an underrated stat.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- Design focus
- Planning · Timing
No.211Darkest Dungeon01The core loop
Action → feedback → next choice- 01Tune speed stats
- 02Turn order forms
- 03Plan around the order
- 04Strike first or get struck
↻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 enemy assassin at speed 7 can kill your healer; your archer at speed 5 can one-shot it.
- T2
Turn 2 · The player chooses
Equip the archer with a +3 speed trinket before the fight.
- T3
Turn 3 · The feedback
At speed 8 the archer goes first and the assassin falls.
- T4
Turn 4 · The next decision
But without a damage trinket, the archer lacks punch against the boss.
How it plays
At the start of each round or fight, a turn order is set from speed, sometimes plus a random roll. Gear, buffs and debuffs shift it so key characters act before enemies. A turn-order bar with portraits is the core feedback.
What the player weighs
- Stack speed vs damage or defense
- Whole team fast vs healer acting after damage
02Start small
Scope is an editorial estimate for the minimum prototype, not the reference game or a production schedule.
03One mechanic, different implementations
Darkest Dungeon
Each round orders units by speed plus a random roll, so high speed improves but never guarantees acting first.
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Initiative sets the order, with sides interleaved, and higher initiative lets key characters land control before enemies act.
The difference worth noticing
Darkest Dungeon adds randomness to order; Divinity’s initiative is more deterministic and plannable.
Case notes are Yoroll editorial summaries; rules may change between versions.
04What could you combine?
Enemy intents reveal only one slot before they act, so faster units see more upcoming intents, making speed an information edge.
Prototype this combo in Yoroll→Follow the next idea
One Stamina Bar for Everything
Swinging, blocking and rolling share one bar, so every attack borrows from your escape.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Read the enemy's rhythm
- 02Spend stamina to act
- 03Hold a reserve, let it refill
- 04Strike again in the gap
Focus Fire
Concentrated damage beats spread damage: one dead enemy is one less threat.
- Prototype complexity
- Who plays
- Solo decisions
- 01Identify the top threat
- 02Everyone targets it
- 03It goes down
- 04Shift to the next
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