Combat Basics

In Last Frontier, a fight is won before the first shot. Distance, your character’s condition, your chosen weapon, and the pace of your actions often decide the outcome more reliably than a single lucky attack. This article covers the basics: how a fight starts, how the rhythm of actions works, why distance matters, and what "combat mode" means.

The fight starts before the shot

Your character never enters a clash "with a clean slate": they already carry the fatigue, wounds, remaining ammo, and weapon choice picked up along the way. Before you shoot, weigh your position, the distance to the target, your escape route, and the state of your arms and legs. Sometimes the right move is to let the enemy get closer, take a better spot, or walk away entirely if the target isn’t worth the resources.

A hit itself isn’t a single hidden number, but a chain of sequential checks the game runs in order:

• Accuracy — whether the attack can land at all.
• Evasion — a nimble target can still slip away from an otherwise good shot.
• Critical result — an ordinary hit can turn especially dangerous.
• Defense — armor and resistances cut away part of the harm.
• Consequences — damage, limb injuries, blinding, status effects, death.

So a miss doesn’t always mean "a bad character," and a hit doesn’t always mean "full damage": sometimes the target dodged, sometimes armor absorbed most of the blow.

NPC groups support each other

Attacking one member of a group can bring nearby allies into the fight. Attackers support one
another too: choosing one target does not guarantee a duel. Account for the whole group and
your escape routes, rather than only the character in your sights.

Against neutral NPCs, the escort at a random trader encounter waits for an attack, then defends
its group together. In that fight the trader helps their own escort. Switching victims within the group
does not end a defense already underway. Assistance depends
on proximity and allies being able to see each other.

A leader’s death can provoke a group response even after an accidental fatal hit. Reactions vary: some fighters attack the killer, badly wounded allies may retreat, and a shooter accustomed to keeping distance may withdraw from a nearby threat. Killing the leader does not guarantee that the rest will scatter.

In melee, enemies can flank a target when their ally is already nearby. Raiders can speed up with group support, while an ordinary scavenger can accelerate when pursuing a target at a quarter health or less. Keep an escape route: a serious wound slows you and can help a pursuer catch you.

When three attacking NPCs are already in contact with a target, new melee fighters wait farther away and approach when space opens. This approach limit does not apply to shooters: a mixed group can still attack simultaneously from different distances.

Distance and accuracy

The farther the target, the harder it is to land a reliable hit. Accuracy is highest point-blank and drops as distance grows, and that falloff is calculated relative to the weapon’s own range. A long-range weapon stays accurate where a short barrel is already nearly useless: a rifle at medium distance works noticeably better than a pistol on the same tile.

Every weapon has a maximum range. A shot beyond it isn’t allowed — a target out of reach is treated as unavailable, and the attack turns into a miss. Accuracy is also affected by the shooter’s perception, the state of their arms, the firing mode, and movement, but the basic guideline is simple: match the distance to your weapon, not the other way around.

Cover and aimed shots

A low obstacle that blocks movement but lets shots through provides cover when the target stands directly behind it on the shooter’s side. From two hexes away or farther, it reduces accuracy by 20 percentage points, subject to the minimum hit chance. Use these positions against shooters and move around them when firing yourself. This penalty does not apply in melee, to shots from an adjacent hex, to shots at a hex, or against large creatures occupying multiple hexes. A wall that blocks the firing line prevents the shot entirely.

The combat move strip’s tooltips show each action’s hit chance against your selected target, cost, and availability. Choose the result you want while weighing control against the chance to hit:

• A non-critical leg hit reduces the target’s run speed by 30% for 4 seconds.
• An arm hit reduces its accuracy by 15 points for 4 seconds.
• An eye hit blinds it for 1.5 seconds; you must be in front of the target to take this shot.

A critical hit can cause a more serious injury. The brief effect of an ordinary hit does not replace it. See Combat Moves and Crippling Injuries.

One in the chamber primes your next ranged shot after reloading. While the round is primed, the move tooltip shows 100% when the target is within range and the firing line is clear. Spending the round restores the ordinary chance calculation; an obstacle or excessive distance still makes a target unavailable.

Selecting a combat action

The strip above the lower HUD offers compatible moves for your next strike or shot. Basic aimed moves require no ability; locked special actions are hidden. Z and the aim button show or hide the strip without changing your weapon or selection.

Press a move, then attack. Another button replaces the selection; the same button cancels it for free. In single mode, an accepted attack consumes the selection even if it misses; your next attack is ordinary. Selection waits without an eight-second limit and clears when changing weapons, hand or mode, map, or on death.

A ready, enabled ability upgrades its corresponding control move when selected; otherwise the basic variant is available. Disarm, Pin down, Whirlwind, and Overwatch require abilities. Tooltips show the effect, hit chance, full stamina, attack cooldown, aiming surcharge, enhancement cooldown, and shortcut. Overwatch requires a direction and clears after its first automatic shot; entry stamina and cooldown are paid when placing the sector. See Abilities and talents.

Combat mode

A character is considered "in combat" as long as their combat timeout hasn’t expired. Any use of a weapon extends this state: the fight is considered ongoing for about 10 more seconds after the last action. When you deal damage to a target, its own combat state is extended too. While no one is attacking, the timeout expires and the character leaves combat mode.

Attacking breaks stealth by default; a matching ability can preserve it when its conditions and stamina cost are met. Taking a hit also reveals the character. An NPC must see a new target during its own search, but an ongoing pursuit does not stop immediately when you turn a corner. See Sneaking and Theft.

Pace: the pause after an action

Combat here isn’t a queue of instant decisions, but a rhythm of pauses and openings. A shot, a burst, an aimed shot, a reload, shuffling and swapping items, using a consumable, defusing a mine, and looting — each action takes its own window of time. While the character recovers their rhythm after an action, they can’t instantly do the next one — and the enemy uses that window too.

This leads to some practical habits:

• A burst applies pressure, but usually takes more time than a single shot.
• An aimed shot adds a cost to your pace in exchange for a chance at a special effect.
• A reload depends on the weapon and the character’s training — better done before a crisis than under pressure.
• Swapping weapons and items in combat also takes a pause, especially if it’s a weapon.
• Apply healing before the safe window closes.

Pace clearly shows the difference between a strong character and a prepared player: the first can survive a mistake, the second tries not to make one. First get your hands, ammo, and healing ready — and only then step into the dangerous window.

Returning permanent NPCs

Humanoid NPCs that can respawn return through a location entrance after a delay and walk back to their former position. Players do not need to leave for them to return. If there is no route from an entrance or the NPC cannot move, it reappears at its former position; an occupied position may delay its return. During a clear-out, watch entrances and reinforcement routes.

Animals and robots do not respawn near players. A player who stays far away on the same map does not, by itself, prevent their return.

Moving between levels of Cache N1 does not restore the initial garrison while players remain in the Cache. Humanoid enemies can still return through an entrance on their usual schedule.

What to remember

Don’t start a fight on autopilot. First assess the distance, your character’s condition, the target, cover, and your escape route. Remember that attacks are not locked behind character level: weapon progression runs through skills, unlocked abilities, access to recipes and tools, and the rarity and cost of gear — not through a level lock. And watch the cost of victory: if a fight burns through medkits, ammo, and health faster than it pays off, maybe it wasn’t worth starting in the first place.

Repeating and queuing moves

The main button selects one accepted attack; pressing it again cancels selection, and another move replaces it. On the right, ∞ repeats one move in subsequent attacks; press ∞ again to stop. + appends one attack in click order, up to 99: head, head, slow down, head executes in that order. +N shows how many attacks with that move remain, and the tooltip shows the order. The main button and ∞ clear the queue. Repeating uses your existing attack cycle against the chosen target; selection itself does not attack.

An accepted attack consumes one entry even if it misses; rejection consumes none. Attacks become ordinary when the queue ends. A special move waits for its cooldown, stamina, and a working loaded weapon. A basic move works without its enhancement and, in repeat or queue mode, uses it again when ready. A single basic selection does not upgrade itself after a cooldown. Every attack pays its own full stamina and cooldowns; building the program is free. Pausing and changing targets preserve it; changing weapons, hands, attack mode, map, dying, ending the session, or switching characters clears it.