Equilibrium and Balance
Most of the damage and afflicting-dealing abilities in Achaea, as well as some defensive and movement ones, will require that you have equilibrium and balance and will, after you use the ability, take equilibrium or balance away from you for a certain number of seconds. How many depends entirely on the ability.

Perhaps the single most important factor in mounting a successful attack against another player, and even against a mobile, is the efficient use of equilibrium and balance. When engaged in combat, you always want to be making the most out of every second of combat. If you recover equilibrium and balance, and your opponent is in the room with you, there is no reason not to immediately use another ability that will use these up, unless you wish to flee.

The process of being as efficient as possible in your use of equilibrium and balance is referred to as "chasing equilibrium" or "chasing balance".

Proper Healing Technique
Just as using most offensive abilities requires equilibrium and/or balance, many healing abilities or equipment have their own type of balance. These are often referred to as "healing balances". For instance, you are limited as to how often a health or mana elixir can be drunk with a beneficial effect. Since they both use the same "balance", you must choose which to heal while in the midst of combat.

Damage Types
There are nine types of damage in Achaea. These are:

For each type of damage, there exists defenses. For instance, the higher your Avoidance skill, the more easily you will avoid physical (both blunt and cutting) attacks, or be able to reduce the damage you take from them. There are mini-skills for defending against all other types of damage.

Furthermore, you may find elixirs or particular defenses that help you with a certain kind of damage. We will leave it up to you to discover these, however.

Sleeping and Meditating
Healing of health and endurance may be accomplished by sleeping, while mana and willpower may be healed via meditation. 'Sleep' will put you to sleep, 'wake' will wake you up, 'meditate' will cause you to meditate and any command will cause you to cease meditating. These are the most basic methods of healing, but they are not really sufficient for an experienced adventurer, as they are slow and require that you do not do anything else while performing them.

The other ways of healing are legion. They include abilities in various skills, salves, elixirs, plants, and smoking. Nothing need be said here about the abilities, as suitable help may be found on those within the skills. However, the other methods need some explanation.

Elixirs and Salves
Elixirs are liquids that may heal health, mana, cure afflictions, or set up various defenses. Salves are also fluids, though not they are thicker and are able to be spread on your body.

Both elixirs and salves come in the various types of vials found throughout the land, and when full, can be used many times before running out.

One drinks an elixir, but one applies a salve. One may apply a salve to either head, arms, legs, or body. For instance, a salve of mending would cure a broken arm if applied to your arm, and a broken leg if applied to your legs.

You may purchase elixirs and salves from the marketplaces around Achaea, or you may ask someone of the Druid or Sentinel class for them.

Ingestable Plants
Plants, in this context, are things that you eat. (Some may be smoked. See the next section.) Eating plants generally cure afflictions, or set up defenses for you. You may find both of these for sale in marketplaces around Achaea, or you may contact a Druid, Sentinel, or Sylvan to buy them.

Smoking
Some defenses, such as an anti-weapon field (created by smoking the skullcap plant), and some cures are effected by smoking plants. To do this, you simply find yourself a nice pipe, 'Put <whatever> in pipe', 'Light pipe' (you must have a source of fire, such as a tinderbox in your inventory), and then 'Smoke pipe.' A lit pipe will eventually go out if you don't smoke it now and then, but you can simply relight it.

Arenas
There are arenas in every major city in Sapience, as well as one in the island of Delos. Within these arenas, players may practice combat by challenging others to a spar or participating in brutal games called Free-For-Alls or Rampages, for a small fee.

The advantage of fighting in arenas is this: death in the arena does not result in death and experience loss for your character. Equipment and resources that you use up in the arena, such as sips of elixirs or applications of salves, are restored when you exit the arena. Hence, arenas are perfect battlegrounds for practicing and perfecting your combat skills without serious loss to much but your ego. If you intend to be a contender in the field of combat in Achaea, be sure to seek out the arenas.

Final Notes
Combat goes much, much deeper than the few things mentioned here. It is, however, up to you to discover its full breadth and depth. The successful combatant is the one who has practiced, practiced, practiced, and who has investigated every ability, in every combination possible. Considerably more information on combat may be found in the help files in Achaea, and probably the best way to learn is to dive in, start fighting, practice in the arenas, and ask questions of your House or citymates when you don't understand something.