How do you flee a combat?

[chriskessel]

I'm trying really hard to play iron man mode, I don't like save/reload spamming on encounters. How do you flee a combat? I'm fine with taking a couple licks, retreating and using up some potions to heal, call it the cost of learning/scouting.

But, so far I haven't been able to leave any combat without winning. Stumbled across a Manticore at level 2 (Endless Plains) and thought "Ah, ok, let's come back to this later." Tried running to an exit, but that didn't help. Is there no option for a tactical retreat in this game?

Without retreat, I guess iron man is basically impossible unless you've already completed the game before and thus know what's coming?

[2much]

Hmm, I just now retreated from a random encounter by clicking the exit icon, but it was before the enemy engaged.

[chriskessel]

Yea, as long as it hasn't engaged you can leave. With the manticore it played a little animation of it walking onto the map and then combat was engaged. I ran to the exit and clicked on it like crazy while the manticore killed all my guys.

[Mochi Fox]

As I know area transition doesn't work in combat.
Retreating doesn't have a good implementation in this game. It's hard, but still feasible:
1. The combat ends when no enemies remember you.
2. When you are out of enemies line of sight, they will forget you after 6 seconds.
3. When you are in stealth or invisible, enemies will forget you instantly.
4. You can't simply enter stealth again in combat once you've spotted by any enemy, but spells like vanish/invisible or abilities that allow you to hide in plain sight will still work.

So there's a workaround:
1. First, make your whole party enter stealth far away from enemies.
2. Have one character with high speed and high stealth to scout enemies.
3. If it's spotted by enemies... run or try to hide again until you leave combat.
...
4. If your whole party is engaged... have one character lure the enemies until other party members are safe.

[Doombringer]

You need to be faster than enemies (and have a lot of room to run away) or have invisibility.
(Can't use doors, shortcuts, exits while in combat)
It's hard to break off combat in this game...

[chriskessel]

Thanks for the answers. It's not the answer I hoped for, but it's what I needed to know.

[winddbourne]

OMG I just killed that sucker at level 2 after reading this and realizing I was screwed. I'm not proud of that. I seriously thought I was going to die, not to bad play, but to bad game design. As it is I mark my win down to good party design.

Just because I managed it doesn't mean this is "cool". I routinely play roguelike games with permadeath and I love them. But I don't like one that let you walk into encounters like this and don't give you the ability to run away like a smart person rather than hoping you built your party well enough to scrape through.

[winddbourne]

And the next encounter was a bunch of wererats who wiped the party. Instant combat on entering the cave with no way to flee. Going to restart in standard mode since the game is obviously made in a way where "Last Azlanti" or "hardcore" as the rest of us call it should at minimum include a warning that its only for players who have beaten the game, not for fans of hardcore games.

[pi73r]

Originally posted by chriskessel:

I'm trying really hard to play iron man mode, I don't like save/reload spamming on encounters. How do you flee a combat? I'm fine with taking a couple licks, retreating and using up some potions to heal, call it the cost of learning/scouting.

But, so far I haven't been able to leave any combat without winning. Stumbled across a Manticore at level 2 (Endless Plains) and thought "Ah, ok, let's come back to this later." Tried running to an exit, but that didn't help. Is there no option for a tactical retreat in this game?

Without retreat, I guess iron man is basically impossible unless you've already completed the game before and thus know what's coming?

Well, iron man in games like that is usually meant to play as a challenge after you've completed the campaign for story.

[dr46onfusion]

Learn to use abilities to possibly distract enemies long enough for you to go invisible and run away, the problem is that when it comes to the turn based mode, the 'full round' allows everyone to run the full length distance meaning they can chase you and gain on you IF you use any actions.

Unlike other RPGs, there is no 'AP' like in Divinity, where the number of actions you can take varies on your stats (a agile person can act a lot more often for instance).

[Zzyl_tsw]

Regarding the "last Azlanti", I am pretty sure it was added for the rogue-lite DLC, not really for the main campaign

Iron man on your first playthrough of this game without knowing exactly the PF rules, their implementation in this game, and which ennemy you will encounter......
I am sorry to say that from my point of view, it is not really doable, even on normal.
If you use OP build, you may have a chance, but even though

And wait for the KM part.

[Archon]

Part of the ironman experience is knowing that one day you may be walking through a dungeon just to get crushed into a fine mist by a trap you had no chance at seeing. I'm looking at you Durlag's Tower

[Halifax789]

you all mention hiding / vanishing as a way to retreat from combat. So fighter based characters are just hosed? I was in the beginning of the game, before I really have any options of party selection under the tree with the Mites, and ran into that room with the secret pressure plate door, and out come 4 deadly skeletons with 24 AC each.

I dont mind the surprise, but the lack of a flee option is ♥♥♥♥♥♥ design. SO you have to pretty much know whats coming in this game to survive. Lame.

[forkofspite]

Personally, I prefer Last Azlanti and always try it for the initial blind run ("always" is limited though having played only Kingmaker and Wrath). After losing, my first complete run is standard to figure out where the problem areas are (such as Ratnook Hill) before going back to Last Azlanti.

Kingmaker blind run only made it to the Technic League ambush, but made it much, much further in Wrath (having Kingmaker experience probably played a significant role in that).

For Last Azlanti, keep in mind that no matter how good your saves are, a natural 1 still fails. Almost lost a game to that in the very final part of Kingmaker while needlessly exploring every part of every map. (prismatic spray from Ankou at merged-world Flintlock Grassland)