Combat & Controls
Learn movement, targeting, stances, resources, spells, weapon abilities, parries, rolls, and Voidstep.
The combat loop
Dread Crown is server-authoritative arena combat. Position with right-click movement, manage health, mana, and stamina, switch between Magic and Weapon stance, and punish an opponent's resource or casting window.
- Weapon stance uses a two-swing sword combo: the first swing deals 5 damage for 4 stamina. Its grey feet ring marks the 3-second [400ms, 3400ms) window to re-aim a second swing for 7 damage and 5 stamina. The shared 3-second basic recharge begins after swing two or stance-switch forfeiture. Letting the window expire without swing two makes basic attacks ready immediately.
- Magic stance gives access to Hollow, Fray, Blight, and Heal. Its 1-damage, 2-stamina punch serves as an interrupt and space check. Its shared 2-second basic recharge begins after the 400ms presentation, overlapping recovery.
- The same basic-recharge deadline carries across stance changes and blocks only another basic attack. Movement, defense, spells, and abilities become available after their normal animation restrictions.
- Taking damage during an active cast interrupts it and prevents another cast from starting for 250ms. Interrupting a Fray gather destroys all stored Fray orbs. Cancelling a Fray gather preserves stored orbs; interrupting or cancelling another spell preserves them too. Rolling or switching to Weapon stance cancels an in-progress cast.
- Counterflow is always active: Weapon stance restores mana at 3.99/s while stamina restores at 1.66/s; Magic stance restores stamina at 4.98/s while mana restores at 1.33/s.
- Guarding stops stamina regeneration, and sprinting while moving drains 5 stamina/s. Stamina recovery also pauses during a basic-attack action and resumes after recovery; mana continues regenerating.
- Falling from the arena is lethal. Late in a match, the Devouring Abyss reduces playable space and forces an engagement.
Default controls
These are the defaults. Permanent accounts can change them under Profile → Settings → Keybinds; saved bindings synchronize back to the game client.
| Group | Action | Default input |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | Move Character | Right Click |
| Movement | Sprint | Left Shift |
| Movement | Roll | Space |
| Combat | Spell/Ability 1 | Q |
| Combat | Spell/Ability 2 | W |
| Combat | Blight (Hold to Channel) | E |
| Combat | Heal (Hold to Charge) | R |
| Combat | Weapon Ability 1 | Q |
| Combat | Weapon Ability 2 | W |
| Combat | Parry | E |
| Combat | Weapon Ability 4 | R |
| Combat | Execute Readied Spell | Left Click |
| Combat | Switch Combat Mode | Tab |
| Combat | Cancel Ready Spell | T |
| Combat | Basic Attack | F |
| Camera | Toggle Camera Mode | G |
| Camera | Recenter Camera on Player | C |
| Interface | Game Menu | ESC |
| Interface | Open Chat | Enter |
Targeting and spell execution
Aim with your cursor. Basic attacks and spell execution have separate bindings, so you can keep a spell ready while attacking.
- F — Basic Attack attacks toward the cursor in either stance without consuming your readied spell. Press F again during the grey ring window to aim the sword follow-up.
- Q — Hollow casts an implosion at your cursor over 650ms in Magic stance. Rolling, changing stance, or taking an interrupt cancels it.
- W — Fray gathers one orb at a time in Magic stance, up to three stored orbs.
- Left click — Execute Readied Spell releases one stored Fray orb toward your cursor in either stance. With no orb ready, it does nothing.
- R — Heal always heals you automatically. Tap for 14 health for 6 mana after the 0.75-second minimum cast, or hold for up to 35 health for 16 mana. Release to apply the charged heal, or keep holding until it applies at 1.5 seconds. Healing and mana cost scale linearly with charge, rounded to whole points.
- Right-click an enemy to select them directly. Right-click the ground to move.
Magic stance reference
| Spell | Key | Mana | Cast | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hollow | KEYQ | 16 | 0.65s | Cast at a fixed cursor position for 650ms, then implode. Rolling, changing stance, or interruption cancels the cast. Casts must start at least 650ms apart. |
| Fray | KEYW | 16 per release | 1.25s per orb | Gather up to three Fray orbs, independent of other prepared spells. Release one through your hands for 20 damage, even in weapon mode. Executions are at least 350ms apart. Interruption during a Fray gather destroys all stored orbs. Damaging a target holding a prepared spell or stored Fray orb applies FRAYED for 0.75 seconds, preventing release without consuming the spell or orbs. |
| Blight | KEYE | 5 to start, 4 per tick | Hold to channel | Hold to channel a cursor-tracked beam. Damaging contact and its 1-second residual make Hollow and Fray deal 33% increased damage. Repeated hits interrupt casting. After release, Blight takes 500ms to recover before reactivation. |
| Heal | KEYR | 6–16 (linear with charge) | 0.75–1.5s | Tap for a quick self-heal or hold for a stronger heal. Heal applies to you on release after the minimum cast time, or automatically at full charge. |
Hollow casts at a fixed cursor position for 650ms. Its ground warning is the interruptible cast: rolling or switching stance cancels it. On completion it costs 16 mana and deals 20 damage in a 1.5-unit radius. Wait at least 650ms between Hollow cast starts. Hollow preserves stored Fray orbs.
Fray takes 1.25 seconds to gather each orb, up to three stored orbs. Left click releases one in either stance for 20 damage and 16 mana, with at least 350ms between releases. Gathering costs no mana. Finish any active cast or channel before executing Hollow or Fray. Interrupting a Fray gather destroys every stored orb. Cancelling a Fray gather preserves stored orbs; another completed gather adds an orb instead of replacing one. Damaging a target holding a prepared spell or stored Fray orb applies FRAYED for 0.75 seconds, preventing release without consuming the spell or orbs.
Move, roll, or switch stance while keeping stored Fray orbs, including when cancelling an active Fray gather. Use F for a manual basic attack once you are no longer casting. The Cancel Ready Spell binding discards the stored orbs. Heal applies only to you on release after its 0.75-second minimum cast, or automatically at full charge (1.5 seconds); it cannot be stored or targeted at another player, and it preserves stored Fray orbs.
Weapon stance reference
| Ability | Key | Stamina | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunder | KEYQ | 15 | Jump up to 3 m to the cursor and sweep both swords through a 120° arc in front for 20 damage plus 3 per Sunder stack. Each enemy damaged grants 1 stack, up to 5. Can cancel the final 120 ms of a roll. |
| Pierce | KEYW | 10 | Fire one of three bolts. Damage rises with distance and damaging hits reduce the target's maximum health, stacking up to 10%. |
| Parry | KEYE | 1 | Guard aim locks toward your cursor in a 90° arc (45° either side). Face the opponent at contact for melee, including Sunder and Voidstep; for Pierce, face the incoming bolt. Facing away cannot parry, even up close. Spend 1 stamina to raise guard, then 1 per second while held. Correctly aimed guard fully blocks basic attacks; a Perfect Parry against a basic restores 5 stamina (up to maximum). Catch Sunder, Pierce, or Voidstep in the first 250ms of a fresh raise to negate the hit at no additional stamina cost, restore 15 stamina (up to maximum), gain a parry Voidstep charge, and stun the attacker for 0.5 seconds. |
| Voidstep | KEYR | 18 | Spend 18 stamina to dash through enemies toward your cursor for 15 damage. Damaging hits make targets Phasebound and unable to start a roll for 1 second. The Basic charge refreshes every 12 seconds. Perfect Parry grants a separate Parry charge; for 1 second, aim Voidstep toward the stunned attacker for unlimited range and a fast combo reposition. |
Which way should I face to parry?
Guard aim locks toward your cursor when you raise it and covers a 90° arc: 45° either side of your aim. For melee, including Sunder and Voidstep, face the opponent’s position at contact. Their blade position does not set the facing check. For Pierce, face the incoming bolt’s direction, even if the shooter has moved.
Facing away cannot parry, even at point-blank range. Correct facing and perfect timing are both required: Sunder, Pierce, or Voidstep must connect during the first 250ms of an eligible guard raise. Re-raising during the 600ms lockout does not open a fresh perfect window. Magic bypasses guard regardless of facing.
Defense and targeting
- Roll costs stamina and is invulnerable during the opening portion. Dodging attacks no longer grants Voidstep charges.
- Sunder jumps 0–3 m to the cursor and deals 20 damage + 3 per existing stack through a 120° forward sword sweep. Each distinct target damaged grants one stack for future casts, up to 5. Start it in the final 120 ms of a roll to jump immediately.
- Spend 1 stamina to raise Parry and 1 stamina per second while holding it; stamina does not regenerate during guard. With correct facing, basic attacks are fully blocked, and Sunder, Pierce, or Voidstep deal 75% chip damage unless caught during the 250ms Perfect Parry window. Hollow and Fray are not guardable. A Perfect Parry has no additional impact cost, fully negates the hit, restores 5 stamina against basics or 15 against abilities (up to maximum), stuns the attacker for 500ms, and grants a parry Voidstep charge.
- A damaging Fray hit makes an opponent holding a prepared spell or stored Fray orb Frayed for 0.75 seconds. Prepared spells and orbs cannot be released during that window and are not consumed.
- Damaging Blight contact and its one-second residual make the target take 33% increased damage from Hollow and Fray.
- Voidstep costs 18 stamina. It starts empty and refreshes one basic charge every 12 seconds after use. A perfect parry can add a persistent second charge. Damaging hits make enemies Phasebound and unable to start a new Roll for one second without cancelling a Roll already in progress. For 1 second after a perfect Parry, aim through that attacker to dash any distance and land behind them. The window remains open for 500ms after their Stun ends; they can parry the dash once they recover.