Devlog - Core Combat Strategy Changes & New Equipment & New Enemies

Core Combat Changes

Great Sword attacks are now slower but significantly more powerful, while Short Sword remains faster and more agile. Instead of chaining shared combos between the two weapons, each weapon now has its own independent combo set.

This change slightly slowed down the overall pacing, making combat feel more grounded and deliberate but also unlocking much more flexibility for the future. With this system in place, adding new weapon types such as maces, great hammers, or two-handed axes becomes far more viable, since every weapon can have its own unique rhythm and combo logic.

Dual Dodge System

We also introduced a dual dodge system to deepen positioning and defensive choices:

• Quick Step A fast, short-distance evade designed to avoid a single attack and immediately counter.

• Roll A longer evasive move that creates space, helping you reset the fight or escape pressure.

Each dodge serves a distinct purpose, encouraging players to think about how and why they evade, rather than dodging by habit.

Cleaner Hit Feedback

Based on player feedback, we further reduced screen effects when taking damage. Camera shake intensity was lowered again, and emphasis shifted toward hit stop and animation feedback.

The goal is clearer, more readable combat where impacts still feel strong, but never overwhelming or disorienting.

New Enemy Types

We’ve started expanding enemy variety with two new classes:

Skeleton Enemies Skeletons are generally slow and fragile, but they often appear in large numbers. Despite their low health, they deal relatively high damage. They wield weapons such as swords, maces, shields, spears, and crossbows.

In the future:

• Skeletons will be immune to bleeding and burning effects.

• Powerful strikes (especially from heavy weapons) will be able to dismember limbs, temporarily disarming them.

• Fallen skeletons may attempt to reassemble themselves unless you finish them off properly.

Zombie Enemies Zombies share the slow, fragile nature of skeletons but overwhelm through sheer numbers. Their AI and attack behaviors are still in progress, but their movement animations are now fully implemented and already feel distinct and unsettling.

New Equipment: Crossbow

A new crossbow has been added for both the player and certain AI enemies.

• When used by the player, it behaves more like a rapid, pistol-style ranged weapon without manual reloading.

• AI-controlled crossbow enemies use it in a more traditional way: firing a bolt, reloading, repositioning, and aiming again.

This adds more ranged pressure to encounters and further diversifies combat scenarios.

We’re continuing to iterate, test, and refine these systems, and your feedback has been incredibly valuable in shaping this direction. More updates soon.

Thanks for following the development of Ashbound: Crown of Sin.