Exalted 2nd. Ed. Combat

[Iaimeki]

I've just looked through the rules, and they look really unwieldy from my brief glance. Does anyone have experience with how they play?

[angelfromanotherpin]

They actually play pretty well from my experience. If only the fundamentals of the system were not broken.

[Psychic Robot]

I think Exalted is supposed to be broken...much like BESM. I too was put off by the rules at first skim, but I decided that they made sense if one sat down for an hour and went through them.

[shirak]

Ex2 plays like a tactical miniature game. And while this is stupid in a game emulating Wuxia it actually plays pretty well. I strongly suggest that you forget the rulebook and go read Kasumi's Combat 201

Then, after you have a couple of combats under your belt, go read the rulebook. It will make sense and clear a few things up for you.


While I love Exalted it's system really doesn't suit it. But it does have a pretty awesome Social Combat system and even a few lessons for us. "Use Wushu or WotG instead of this" is the main lesson, unfortunately.


On Brokenage: Exalted most certainly is broken but not for the reason you might think. Apart from a few truly crazy things (like Imbue Amalgam and Obsidian Shards of Infinity Style) and a few stupidly unplayable things (fvcking 1e Lunars) the game works with everyone on mostly the same page.

Unfortunately for the game, that's not what people want. Most of the fanbase want inherently contradictory things like Solars winning everything and also Dragonblooded pwning them. I support the 2e idea of everyone having their own thing and everyone else being pretty good but not that good at it.

So, Lunars are combat monsters, Solars are leaders of men, Sidereals are weirdo Old Men In The Mountain are Elemental Ubermensch. And that works and is better than most other suggestions I've heard.

[The 13 Wise Buttlords]

Except that Solars are by default the masters of combat.

They get cheaper perfect defenses and attacks than everyone, have a higher essence pools, and have easier access to expansion options.

For example, a typical flavorless Solar who pimps out the Melee tree and has form and mind-protecting charms will completely chew through Sidereal martial artists with the exception of one or two insanely broken things like Obsidian Shards of infinity.

Mid-High level combat, unless you're breaking the game through some other method, comes down to continually stunting and always using your perfect offense/defense. First one to still have essence wins, and Solars will always still have essence.

[shirak]

Except that Solars are by default the masters of combat.

They get cheaper perfect defenses and attacks than everyone, have a higher essence pools, and have easier access to expansion options.

That's flat out wrong. Lunars are the masters of combat. Let's do a few comparisons:

Perfect Defenses
Solars get a Perfect Parry for 4m, a Perfect Dodge for 3m and a Perfect Soak for 4m.
Lunars get a 4m Perfect dodge that lasts the entire action and a 12m,1wp Perfect Soak that lasts the entire scene.

As a Lunar you can simply make 2d stunts every round and never take a level of damage against the vast majority of enemies. Admittedly, there are circumstances where Heavenly Guardian Defense is better than Flowing Body Evasion. That's... Area Attacks that are bigger than the maximum movement of a Lunar. A pretty short list let me tell you.
Lunars also get awesome soak charms that add both to their soak (so they'll probably only get 1 damage before they get to use Wound-Mastering Body Evolution) and their Hardness (so they ignore most damage anyway).

Perfect Attacks
Solars get Accuracy Without Distance.
Lunars get none.

More importantly, Solars get an Undodgeable, Unblockable attack in Thrown while Lunars get it on any melee attack. Also, Solars get a multi-attack Charm for six Melee attacks (8 with Invincible Fury of the Dawn) while Lunars get an attack with every limb they have. That's 9 (8 legs plus bite) if you're a Giant Spider and goes over twenty with luck and the right mutations.

Essence Pool
Assuming two Virtues at three, the rest at 2 and an Essence of three (quite common distribution) we get:
Exalt Personal Peripheral
Solar____15________37
Lunar____15________40

I really don't know where you get that Solars have bigger Essence pools. Plus, Lunars get easier access to Manses and Cults and they get a Hit-Puppies-For-Essence Charm which rocks.

Access to expansion options
I've no idea what you mean by that. Lunars have an organized society with a lot of hardcore people willing and able to teach them stuff. Solars... don't. About the only things that Solars get that Lunars can't are Solar Circle Sorcery and Sidereal Martial Arts. Sorcery is difficult to acquire and not very good in combat. SMAs are restricted to all hell and comeback as the only people that can teach them are Sidereals and possibly Five Days Darkness (who canonically hates the Unconquered Sun). Good luck with that.

For example, a typical flavorless Solar who pimps out the Melee tree and has form and mind-protecting charms will completely chew through Sidereal martial artists with the exception of one or two insanely broken things like Obsidian Shards of infinity.

You're kidding right? Not only do Sidereals get a Celestial Martial Art that is in some ways better than Solar Melee, they get access to Sidereal Martial Arts that rock the house. Like Maw of Dripping Venom that will take anybody out of combat (it's the best SoD in the game) or Peaceful Repose Touch(which doesn't even require Essence 4 and is the second best SoD in the game). Both of these don't actually have saves. If you get hit, that's it.

Mid-High level combat, unless you're breaking the game through some other method, comes down to continually stunting and always using your perfect offense/defense. First one to still have essence wins, and Solars will always still have essence.

I assume you mean Essence 4-7. We have very few Charms apart from SMAs at that level but what we do know is that this level of direct combat mostly boils down to, as you said, King of the Essence Hill. And the winners of that race are the Lunars. Bigger Essence pools, better Essence regeneration methods, very little Essence spending and being undying (thanks to Lunar Fury and Juggernaut) all mean that Lunars fvcking win Exalted combat.


Now what Solars do very well is Social Combat and Crafting (either physical things or societies). And even in Social Combat they are hotly contested by Lunars and their ridiculous Appearance and Charisma (attributes and Charms both).