Tactics

Tactics is the universal damage-multiplier skill for every melee, archery, and unarmed combatant in Britannia. It is also the gating skill for almost every weapon special move in the game. Mages do not use Tactics — their damage is governed by Evaluating Intelligence — but every other class of fighter benefits from Tactics on every swing.

Damage formula

A character's swing applies its weapon's base damage roll multiplied by a Tactics-derived percentage:

damage_pct = 50% + Tactics

A Legendary tactician deals 3.4× the damage of an untrained swing of the same weapon. The bonus stacks multiplicatively on top of Anatomy, Lumberjacking (for axes), Slayer multipliers, and the universal Damage Increase property cap; see the Damage Calculations summary in the Codex for the full stacking order.

Special-move gating

Tactics is one of the two skills (alongside the equipped weapon's primary skill) checked when invoking a weapon's primary or secondary special move:

A character below 30 Tactics cannot fire a primary special even at GM weapon skill. The skill check is on real skill, not bonused skill — jewelry that lifts Tactics into the threshold counts for the gate.

Tactics does not contribute to mana reduction. The 200/300 combined-skill thresholds for −5 / −10 mana on specials draw from combat and magic skills (Anatomy, Bushido, Chivalry, Magery, Necromancy, Ninjitsu, Spellweaving, Mysticism, etc.) but explicitly exclude Tactics. A common rookie mistake is assuming a GM Swordsmanship + GM Tactics warrior pays reduced mana on Armor Ignore — they do not. Adding a third skill like Anatomy or Bushido at GM is what unlocks the discount.

A Wrestling character is the one exception: Wrestling's two specials — Disarm at 70 and Paralyzing Blow at 90 — bypass the Tactics check and fire on Wrestling skill alone. This is intentional, since pure mages who use Wrestling have no reason to carry Tactics.

What Tactics does not do

• It does not change hit chance. That is governed by the weapon skill (Swordsmanship, Fencing, Archery, etc.) and the target's defensive skill, modified by Hit Chance Increase.
• It does not change swing speed. Speed is Stamina + Swing Speed Increase.
• It does not affect spell damage. Mages roll damage off Magery/Eval Int, not Tactics.
• It does not enter Anatomy's defensive formula or replace it for unarmed defense.

Training

Every successful swing in combat with a melee weapon, bow, throwing weapon, or fist offers a chance to gain Tactics. Because the gain rolls on every hit attempt, Tactics tends to track whatever weapon skill is being trained — finishing Swordsmanship to 120 generally leaves Tactics at or near 100 with no special effort. Mages who keep Wrestling for spell-casting do not gain Tactics from a wrestling swing on its own; they need a real weapon equipped to push Tactics, which is one reason mage builds skip the skill entirely.

The 25-point Power Scroll is widely available; the 105-point and higher scrolls drop only from Champion Spawns and command modest prices because every warrior wants 120 Tactics.

Build context

A few baseline observations for character planning:

• Every melee, ranged, and Throwing template wants 100–120 Tactics. It is the single highest damage-per-skill-point spend in the game once a weapon skill is at GM.
• Mages want 0 Tactics. They use Eval Int for spell damage and have no reason to spend the points.
• Hybrid templates — Mage Weapon caster-warriors, Necro-mages with melee disruption, Mystic stickers — generally still skip Tactics because it adds no value to spell output and the points are needed elsewhere. The exception is a dedicated Sampire (Swordsmanship + Necromancy + Bushido) which absolutely runs 120 Tactics.
• Wrestling-mage skips Tactics; the two Wrestling specials are skill-only.

See also

Anatomy, Special Moves, Damage Calculations, Hit Chance Increase, Damage Increase, Swordsmanship, Fencing, Mace Fighting, Archery, Throwing, Wrestling, Parrying, Bushido, Power Scrolls, Evaluating Intelligence, Sampire.