dual-character combat

When Veil stays mounted on Bob's back, you control both characters as one. The pair shares Bob's pathing. That is the simple movement mode: one stick or one WASD stream, two people occupying the same traveling body. Most action RPGs hide a companion behind an AI toggle. EthrA prints the opposite: you control both Bob and Veil at the same time. Bob is the close-range body. Veil is the caster. Store categories also list full controller support and mark a gamepad as recommended, which matches a system where one player is already splitting attention across two characters. Keyboard and mouse are not forbidden; they are simply not the printed recommendation.

Mounted play is the protected mode. Veil rides Bob's back, the pair moves as one, and you can concentrate on Bob's attacks. The store presents that as the reason to keep him on Bob's back when you need to focus on Bob's movement and attacks without also babysitting a second hitbox. A mounted Veil lets you think about swapping Bob's weapon sets mid-fight. The goblin and slime stills above are publisher images, not a bestiary with HP. They exist so you can see the pixel-3D characters in a fight space: forest, village edge, open ground. If you need who the two people are, start on Bob and Veil.

Aggressive play is the split mode. Place Veil on the ground and control him with orders. Enemies then have two targets. The store says that divides their attention and creates more opportunities to attack. The store does not name the order set beyond the idea of ground orders; it does not publish a radial menu screenshot with Attack, Stay, and Follow as UI chrome, so no fake radial is drawn here. A ground Veil means you are already splitting attention, so the second weapon set has to be pre-loaded, not improvised. Watch New combat gameplay for the official motion pass.

Ground Veil is at greater risk. If he is defeated, Bob loses magical support and is left at a serious disadvantage. Learning when to keep Veil protected and when to separate the two is an important part of the combat. The failure state is one-sided. There is no official text that Bob's defeat removes Veil's spells in the same sentence. Plan the split around Veil's hitbox, not around a shared pool you have not been shown. Combat fundamentals are in the first Steam playtest, so you can learn mount versus ground in the prototype. You cannot assume a co-op partner will take Veil for you in that drop, even though the parent store still lists Online Co-op among categories.

If dual control sounds too complex, Veil has an auto mode. The store also recommends auto mode for experienced players, so it is not only a beginner crutch. Use it when dual input is too much, or when you already know the fight and want Veil to keep casting without a second stream of commands. No official input map dump exists. There is no published list of face-button bindings for mount, orders, or auto mode. Learn those in the prototype after Request Access. Dual-character combat is the obvious reason a gamepad is recommended: one player is already steering two bodies, swapping Bob's sets, and optionally issuing Veil orders. Pair this bench with EthrA Playtest Sign-Up for Request Access.