Scope RPG

Action Bar ​

When one of your units' turn comes up, the battle pauses and the action bar appears at the bottom of the screen. You pick one action from a small set - basic attack, a skill, swap, or skip. Any choice ends the turn and triggers the unit's recovery.

Basic attack action

The Action Options ​

ActionWhat It DoesCost
Basic attackThe class's default attack on a reachable targetFree
Use a skillCasts one of the class's three specialsCharges, varies by skill
SwapTrades position with an adjacent allyWhole turn
SkipPasses the turn without actingWhole turn

No action "costs more of the turn" than another - see CTB Turn System. Recovery is always the same regardless of what you pick.

Basic Attack ​

Every unit has a basic attack decided by their class:

  • Knight - Sword Strike - physical, single front-row enemy, full weight.
  • Mage - Arcane Bolt - magic, single enemy any row, full weight.
  • Healer - Staff Strike - magic, single front-row enemy, slightly reduced weight.
  • Bard - Inspiring Strike - magic, single front-row enemy, slightly reduced weight.

Basic attacks are always available, always free, and always generate charges. When in doubt, hit something with a basic - you'll build toward a bigger play and still deal damage.

Use a Skill ​

A skill is one of the class's three specials. Each has a fixed charge cost and a specific targeting rule. If you don't have enough charges, the skill's button is disabled.

Targeting restrictions vary:

  • Single front-row enemy (melee reach).
  • Single enemy any row (ranged).
  • All enemies (AoE).
  • Single ally.
  • All allies.
  • Self only.

After you tap a skill, the UI asks you to pick a target if the skill isn't "all" or "self." Once the target is confirmed, the skill resolves.

See Soldier Skills for the full list of what each class can cast.

Swap ​

Trade positions with an adjacent ally (front ↔ middle, or middle ↔ back). You can't jump straight from front to back in a single swap - that'd take two. Swap consumes the whole turn, so you don't attack or cast anything.

Swap is a recovery tool, not a default. Use it when:

  • A Mage or Healer got pulled into the front row by an enemy's repositioning skill and needs to get back to safety.
  • You need to get a tankier ally to the front after the original front-liner fell.
  • A positioning debuff makes the current layout untenable.

Skip ​

Voluntarily pass the turn without acting. The unit still recovers on their normal schedule; the turn just does nothing.

Skip is rare but genuinely useful in a few situations:

  • The unit can't do anything useful this turn (Healer with no one hurt, a skill still on cooldown).
  • You want to save charges for the next turn's bigger play.
  • You want to burn a turn to let a speed buff or debuff tick down faster.

Why You Can't Queue Actions ​

Scope doesn't let you queue actions in advance. On each turn, you see the current state and choose from the current options. This is deliberate:

  • The timeline is a preview, not a plan. What you queue could be invalidated by the next enemy action.
  • Status effects can change available targets or skills before your turn actually arrives.
  • In-the-moment decisions keep tactical combat feeling responsive.

The Same Rule for All Actions ​

Basic attack, cast a skill, swap, skip - every action ends the turn and triggers the same recovery. There's no "this powerful spell makes you wait longer." Tactical depth comes from positioning and Speed manipulation, not from action-weight calculations.