Combat

Combat in Second Life is a very fun and active hobby. This article will try to teach you exactly how Second Life combat works.

Introduction

Some areas of Second Life are designed for the sole purpose of inter-resident combat; in other areas combat is part of a larger role-playing ambiance. There are two basic types of combat system in second life: the built-in Linden Labs Combat System, and a variety of User-created combat systems.

Linden Labs Combat System (LLCS)

The Linden Labs combat system is in effect in any parcel that the owner has designated as "unsafe". When you are in one of these areas, There will be a heart with a percentage next to it on your upper menu bar. When you see this meter, it means you can be killed in the area. When this percentage drops to zero, you are then 'dead', and you will teleported to your home location. Please note that being killed is not a big deal. You have to teleport back into the combat simulation from your home location, if you want to return to the combat. You will not lose anything (money, attachments, inventory) if you happen to die.

In the LLCS, damage is dealt by collisions with scripted objects that have used LlSetDamage to make themselves damaging; Residents also take damage when they collide with any object, or with the ground (as in falling), at sufficiently high speed. Damage "heals" gradually over time.

Some of the most popular public LLCS combat areas are Rausch, Blue Base, and Red Base. These three sims are free-for-all sandboxes. There is a "safe zone" in the Rausch sandbox where you can't be attacked. It is usually surrounded by big yellow markers, and people have a tendency to gather in this area. (Please note that the "bases" are not really "bases" for anyone. They are free-for-all maps.)

The fastest way to find these regions is to type "combat" into the places search.

User Created Combat Systems (UCCS)

User created combat systems do not use the built-in LLCS (and for this reason are sometimes called "safezone" combat systems), but instead use scripted objects both to track and to deal damage. This type of combat system can be used in any area that allows scripts to run. Usually these systems require the player to wear a "tag" or a "HUD" in order to play. This monitors your health, and various other stats, varying among the combat systems.

These systems usually come with their own sets of rules that disallow the use of anything from advanced weapons to Bots to shields to instant-killers with the exception of basic weaponry and in some rare cases some small explosives. Sometimes the UCCS' rules include the neccessity of Roleplaying, but some again are just straight forward killing. Some advanced UCCS keep stats of the players such as kill count, death count, level etc.

When the player dies, unlike the LLCS, they will not be teleported back home. They will typically either "respawn" after a few minutes or some advanced systems will spawn a "spawn ball" which the player sits on and they will be able to respawn at a random location in the combat area with full health. The exact effects of "death" depend on the particular UCCS in use.

It is important to note that many UCCS frown upon Defenses (shield, auto orbit), Advanced "guns", Large Scale Explosives (+5 m), Automated Turrets, orbit, lag bombs. Most UCCS simulations also recommend using High quality basic weaponry that do not cause Lag within the SIM.

A Few Notable User Created Combat Systems are 'CCS' 'RCS 'DCS' 'TCS' 'Carnage Island Combat' 'XCS' and 'Pure Combat'.

Engagement

In Second Life you have a vast array of weapons, combat vehicles, and defense mechanisms at your disposal, for a vast and sometimes baffling array of different and often incompatible combat systems.

When buying combat devices, it's important to be sure that they are compatible with the combat system(s) in use in the area(s) where you plan to engage! That Gorean sword may prove entirely useless against the band of Samurai that you were planning to fight...

Weaponry

There are hundreds of weapons in Second Life to choose from, compatible with various different combat systems. These weapons may be classified into several categories:

• Basic Guns - Guns that fire basic physical bullets. These are stopped by most quality shield systems.
• Advanced "Guns" - Guns that fire tracking, non-physical bullets. These can't be stopped by all but the most advanced (and expensive) defense systems.
• Explosives and "Nukes" - Self explanatory. These range from basic explosives to nukes that can kill everyone within 96m of the detonation point.
• Advanced Weapons - The most effective and powerful weapons often combine a number of different effects with sophisticated, often HUD-based controls. There are several quality HUD-based combat systems available, as described below.
• Robots and Turrets - These can be remote controlled, or set to fire on certain targets automatically.
• Annoyance weapons - Stuff like caging guns, anything that flings people into the air, and in general things that annoy rather than, or as well as, dealing combat-system damage. Considered "noobish" and frowned upon by experienced combat people.

For more information, see Weapon.

Combat Vehicles

Sadly, the use of combat vehicles has reduced in second life. While they are very fun to fly, most vehicles will be "disrupted" by shields in actual combat situations, causing them to fly away. The only way to avoid this is to use non-physical vehicles.

Defense

Defense plays an important part in combat life. An undefended avatar can be obliterated by modern weaponry, ruining the fun for many new combat players. There are several ways to defend yourself in Second Life.

• Shields
• Defense Bots
• Killing someone before they kill you

There are several different "brands" of shields to choose from, compatible with various different combat systems. Shields are a must, and they are well worth the cost. A good shield should physically push bullets away before they reach the actual shield. Even the best shield, however, is vulnerable to tracking bullets.

Defense bots are the most advanced way of keeping alive in Second Life combat. Defense bots position your physical avatar underground and/or out of the sim, where it is not possible for 98% of weapons to kill them, while allowing you to play "through" the bot. There are a few weapons that can kill someone using the "off-sim" modes of these bots, but they are not generally available to the public.

Most defense bots allow you to issue "Combat HUD-like" commands on people, enabling you to kill them and stay safely protected in your bot.

Note that many combat systems and combat areas, such as medieval or primitive role-play areas, will probably disallow some or all of the "high-tech" defensive items, especially bots.

Non-Lethal Warfare

There are some weapons that can be used to disrupt or annoy another player without actually killing them.

• Orbiting is the term used when one player causes another player to be flung up insanely high in the air.
• People use "traps" to render a physical avatar unable to move.
• "Lag-Bombs" are devices of various kinds that eat up Sim resources and cause lag, thus slowing down the target Resident's activities.

While this kind on non-lethal device can (sometimes) be appropriate to delay or detour a legitimate opponent in a combat game, they are also commonly used by griefers against unwilling victims in both combat and non-combat areas. They therefore tend to have a poor reputation, and to be looked down upon in many combat communities.

In the area of defense against pushes and pulls, most combatants use a device known as a "non-phys". A non-phys makes your avatar non-physical, in other words immune to being pushed or pulled. Period. A non-phys is basically a prim that you sit on, usually it becomes invisible once you sit, and you steer it around just like you are moving normally. When using a non-phys, you can pass through objects and walls.

If a non-phys is not handy and you are in danger of being orbited, just sit down on the ground somewhere.

Advanced Weapons

The most powerful weapons in Second Life enable you to simply say (or click) a command, such as "kill joh", resulting in the nearest person (within 96m) with joh in their name being killed instantly - shields or no shields. Because many of the currently popular weapons in this class use Heads-Up Displays (HUDs), they are sometimes referred to as "Combat HUDs". They usually offer a substantial arsenal of attacks that you can deploy, other than the standard "kill person" command. These include orbiting, "burning" people, trapping, auto-killing, etc.

Some advanced weapons are designed primarily to deal damage and provide defense in a single combat system (either LLCS or a user-created system); others support two or more different combat systems in a single device. Still others concentrate on the non-lethal actions and annoyances described above, and merge into the category of griefer and anti-griefer devices and away from legitimate combat.

Underground bots and phase devices (in a nutshell devices that make you undetectable to sensors) are the only protection against the most powerful weapon in this class.