In Absolver, fighting becomes art – How the online game is played

The release of Absolver on PS4 and PC is imminent. How are the battles conducted in this online melee game?

A year ago, Absolver was the surprise hit at E3 2016. It is developed by the indie studio Slocap and represents an online melee game where you play as a masked fighter.

In an open world, you must prove yourself worthy of becoming an “Absolver” – a member of an elite unit. On your journey, you will encounter other players and various NPCs that you can challenge to become stronger. You can also team up with them to travel together through the ruins of the fallen “Adal Empires”.

The melee combat in Absolver

In Absolver, combat is an art. More specifically, it is “action martial arts”. You do not just wildly attack your opponents; instead, the mechanics are complex and strategic. The battles take place in real-time and are designed to be dynamic and fluid. Duels and even 3v3 skirmishes are possible.

How does martial arts work in Absolver?

At the beginning of your journey, you choose between three basic combat styles:

• Forsaken: The fighter is balanced and powerful. Special ability: Parry – this can stun opponents for a short time.
• Khalt Method: The fighter is strong and resilient. Special ability: Absorb – attacks cannot stun or push him back. Upon a successful counter-attack, he regenerates health.
• Windfall: The fighter is more agile. Special ability: Dodge – evades an enemy attack allowing for a powerful counter-attack.

Each combat style enhances certain character attributes and comes with its own special ability.

In the world of Absolver, there are more combat styles that you can discover.

What attacks a character can use in combat depends on their combat deck. This is the overview of all their available attacks. These attacks are divided into four stances, represented by the diamond:

Similar to For Honor, where there are three stances, you will find four combat stances in Absolver. These determine how you face your opponent and which attacks you can perform.

Create your own play style

The combat deck is fully customizable. In each stance, you can create an attack sequence. For this, choose three attacks in any order (marked with a square) and alternative attacks (marked with a triangle) to create unique and unpredictable attack choreographies. All attacks can be executed fluidly in succession.

At the beginning, you have little choice for your personal play style. Thus, the martial arts should be simple and intuitive to learn in the first hours, but become increasingly complex over time.

You learn new attacks by fighting against other players. Additionally, you learn new combat styles by finding a mentor and staying loyal to them for a while. Through this loyalty, you learn new skills faster.

More information:

• In Absolver, you not only attack, but you must also defend. Here, you can block, parry, or dodge attacks.
• There is the option for a feint.
• Furthermore, you fight not only with your fists but also with various weapons as temporary bonuses. You can activate these when the “fragments” floating next to your character glow. But beware: During a fight, your opponent can disarm you and use the weapon against you.
• When it comes to armor parts, you must decide how you want to skill: For heavy armor offers better protection, but makes you immobile.
• There are PvE and PvP fights.

In the video, you can see several gameplay clips from Absolver.

Absolver will be released on August 29 on PS4 and PC.

An overview with plenty of information about Absolver can be found here.