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[Slim Kermie]

Been looking for relevant info here and on the wiki, but haven't been able to find it for some reason.

Anyway, I've noticed something odd about how quickly actions take place during combat. I always travel lightly enough that my walking speed is 1.000, and normally I'm about as quick as my enemies are in combat (i.e. they can attack me once for every time I attack them, barring chopped limbs and headshots from my companion crossbowman). Sometimes, however, I'll either land or miss an attack and will be suddenly attacked about five or six times by the enemy I'm fighting before I can do anything else. It's not much of a problem with dingoes, but it's absolutely fun when trolls manage it.

I'm not stunned while this is happening, nor am I lying on the ground, so I really have no clue about what's going on. Any insights would be appreciated.

[cdru]

Don't forget that some characters are faster than you and they also may be using multiple fast attacks. Also, you may recover slowly

[peasant cretin]

Been looking for relevant info here and on the wiki, but haven't been able to find it for some reason.

Anyway, I've noticed something odd about how quickly actions take place during combat. I always travel lightly enough that my walking speed is 1.000, and normally I'm about as quick as my enemies are in combat (i.e. they can attack me once for every time I attack them, barring chopped limbs and headshots from my companion crossbowman). Sometimes, however, I'll either land or miss an attack and will be suddenly attacked about five or six times by the enemy I'm fighting before I can do anything else. It's not much of a problem with dingoes, but it's absolutely fun when trolls manage it.

I'm not stunned while this is happening, nor am I lying on the ground, so I really have no clue about what's going on. Any insights would be appreciated.

Spoiler: Tick costs of various offensive actions (click to show/hide)

Attack speed is about time. Time is measured in ticks. The raws tell us most weapons and natural attacks (punches, bites, gores, etc.) are ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER:3:3 which is to say 6 ticks long in terms of time. Two exceptions to this, kicks and whip attacks, are ATTACK_PREPARE_AND_RECOVER:4:4.

Aimed (strike) attacks will add or subtract from the PREPARE_AND_RECOVER.

The types of aimed weapon/natural attacks are:
Quick Attack  subtracts 1 tick from both the PREPARE_AND_RECOVER
Standard Attack  does not add or subtract anything from PREPARE_AND_RECOVER
Heavy Attack  will add 1 tick to both the PREPARE_AND_RECOVER
Precise Attack  will add *2* ticks to the PREPARE and 0 ticks to RECOVER
Wild Attack  subtracts 1 tick from the PREPARE, but adds *2* ticks to RECOVER
(The above information can be confirmed by "see-it-yourselfers" by testing this in arena mode, or by readers here in Dwarf Fortress Talk 21.)

While wrestling based attacks can target a body part, their tick cost cannot be modified. Grab for instance, has a PREPARE_AND_RECOVER of 2:2. This is its fixed speed. The other grappling moves may cost 1:1(?). Not entirely sure about that.

So, the fastest offensive maneuver (whether Quick Attack or Grab) will have a PREPARE_AND_RECOVER of 2:2, while the slowest will be some type of modified kick/whip attack.

That's what we'll use as the reference.

What's happening to your character is the result of the tick cost of your attack and then the result of your auto-defense which is cued when the opponent attacks. Your auto-defense is based on your combat preferences, specifically your Dodge Preference and Charge Defense.

Dodge Preference can be set to: Stand Ground or Move Around.
Charge Defense can be set to: Stand Ground or Move Around or According to Opponent (Stand Ground versus Smaller, Move Around versus Bigger).

What's important to note about these choices is they're about position, whether you stay in the same tile (Stand Ground), or you move to another tile (Move Around). Whether you stay in the same tile or move to another, there is a defensive cost to your actions. Defensively, blocking with a shield or parrying with a weapon could roughly be considered to be 1-2 ticks, whereas dodging away (Move Around) looks like it costs 3 ticks.

My guess is your Dodge Preference is Move Around and your Charge Defense is either Move Around or According to Opponent. And so your combat looks like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

You attack, your opponent attacks.
Your auto-defense moves you 1 tile adjacent to your opponent at a 3 tick cost, your opponent is able to attack again.
Your auto-defense moves you 1 tile adjacent to your opponent at a 3 tick cost, your opponent is able to attack again.
Your auto-defense moves you 1 tile adjacent to your opponent at a 3 tick cost, your opponent is able to attack again.
Your auto-defense moves you 1 tile adjacent to your opponent at a 3 tick cost, your opponent is able to attack again.
Your auto-defense chooses to finally block or parry OR it moves you 1 tile away from your opponent, and now you can act.

I would change both Dodge Preference and Charge Defense to Stand Ground. This way you have the most control over the result of your actions. There isn't any random dodge. You're accounting for all ticks, your position, your opponent's position. Etc, etc. I know many posters may say Charge Defense should be set to Move Around, but if you focus on taking out the foot or leg at the very beginning while managing your timing, you'll have removed the Charge Attack from their attack menu.

[Slim Kermie]

That makes a lot of sense now. Thank you.

I've also found the "small questions" thread, so I'll post my others there.

[Murphy]

I did some research on this in arena mode, using a dwarf with grand master observer skill and a dog to fight.
It turns out manual dodging works totally different from parrying/blocking AND from automatic dodging.

To be clear, attack descriptions are as follows:
IMMINENT = will hit next tick
Incoming = will hit in 2 ticks
Starting = will hit in 3 ticks
Distant = will hit in 4 ticks
Remote = will hit in 5 or more ticks

You will only notice attacks that are in progress. I.e. a normal 3/3 attack you may notice as early as "incoming". A 4/4 attack can be noticed at "starting", and a quick 2/2 attack only when "IMMINENT".

Now, if you manual parry or block, then you essentially wait for the attack to come through, and then use one tick to defend. E.g. if they were using a normal attack and you parried it, you will always see them recovered from their swing in 2 more ticks after you parry. I verified it by fighting two opponents and using a whip-wielding opponent as a time gauge (whip attacks are slower than other weapons).

This means if two attacks are coming, one starting and one imminent, you can manually parry both of them, as long as you parry the imminent one first.

However, dodging works entirely differently. It does not wait for enemy attacks to come through and you are not dodging a specific attack. You can in fact "dodge" even if you're not being attacked, as long as a creature is nearby. Choosing to dodge manually gives you 2 ticks of time during which you have significantly greater chance to avoid being hit, then it moves you to the next square, and then skips 4 more ticks during which you don't get any defensive bonus.

The implication here is that dodging to a square still adjacent to the enemy will only work if their hit is 1-2 ticks away. If their attack is "starting" or further, then you should either wait a couple ticks, or dodge to a square away from them (the latter will make their attack fail entirely as you move out of range before they even have a chance to strike). Also, if you land next to another enemy, they will usually have enough time to strike you with impunity.

Auto-dodging happens, obviously, at the moment of enemy hit, and indeed only takes 3 ticks. Took me a while to verify, using the enemy attack recovery time as gauge.

Lastly, standing up from prone takes 2 ticks.
There does not seem to be any variation in combat speed between creatures -- they are all using the same timeline.

I would like to find out how many ticks jumping takes, but I can't think of a good way to measure longer actions.

[peasant cretin]

Awesome stuff. Knowning the defensive  costs will allow players to dial in their tick control esp versus multiples. Kiting won't akways be necessary at lower defense lvls. Much thanks 😊

[Melting Sky]

I did some research on this in arena mode, using a dwarf with grand master observer skill and a dog to fight.
It turns out manual dodging works totally different from parrying/blocking AND from automatic dodging.

To be clear, attack descriptions are as follows:
IMMINENT = will hit next tick
Incoming = will hit in 2 ticks
Starting = will hit in 3 ticks
Distant = will hit in 4 ticks
Remote = will hit in 5 or more ticks

You will only notice attacks that are in progress. I.e. a normal 3/3 attack you may notice as early as "incoming". A 4/4 attack can be noticed at "starting", and a quick 2/2 attack only when "IMMINENT".

Now, if you manual parry or block, then you essentially wait for the attack to come through, and then use one tick to defend. E.g. if they were using a normal attack and you parried it, you will always see them recovered from their swing in 2 more ticks after you parry. I verified it by fighting two opponents and using a whip-wielding opponent as a time gauge (whip attacks are slower than other weapons).

This means if two attacks are coming, one starting and one imminent, you can manually parry both of them, as long as you parry the imminent one first.

However, dodging works entirely differently. It does not wait for enemy attacks to come through and you are not dodging a specific attack. You can in fact "dodge" even if you're not being attacked, as long as a creature is nearby. Choosing to dodge manually gives you 2 ticks of time during which you have significantly greater chance to avoid being hit, then it moves you to the next square, and then skips 4 more ticks during which you don't get any defensive bonus.

The implication here is that dodging to a square still adjacent to the enemy will only work if their hit is 1-2 ticks away. If their attack is "starting" or further, then you should either wait a couple ticks, or dodge to a square away from them (the latter will make their attack fail entirely as you move out of range before they even have a chance to strike). Also, if you land next to another enemy, they will usually have enough time to strike you with impunity.

Auto-dodging happens, obviously, at the moment of enemy hit, and indeed only takes 3 ticks. Took me a while to verify, using the enemy attack recovery time as gauge.

Lastly, standing up from prone takes 2 ticks.
There does not seem to be any variation in combat speed between creatures -- they are all using the same timeline.

I would like to find out how many ticks jumping takes, but I can't think of a good way to measure longer actions.

Very useful information for somebody like myself who is quite new to adventuring. 

[Murphy]

More observations:

Jumping seems to have a preparation time similar to attacking. That is based on the fact that you sometimes get hit before you slam into them (or they evade your flight path), and presumably you cannot be attacked when already in air. Research pending on how long the wait is...

Things like being knocked down will interrupt your pending action (whether you were preparing for attack or to jump, or to defend against an incoming attack; it will interrupt charging, too). Because of this, it is always a good idea to manually defend against an attack only when it is imminent, to minimize waiting time. I have not done any research on whether being knocked down additionally makes you skip some ticks. Presumably it will not interrupt shooting -- because shooting does not have a preparation time, only recovery time (very long and tied to their archery skills).

Note on waiting: pressing "." seems to wait either 10 ticks, or until something happens (spot a new attack, or an enemy attack goes through). To wait a single tick, press "," instead.

Because of the manual dodging mechanic described in my above post, to perform a phantom strike (dodge an attack to land by an enemy's side, then strike from the side, getting a bonus to hit -- see Kisat Dur thread) you MUST make sure the attack is 1-2 ticks away (e.g. "incoming" or "IMMINENT"), or you will both allow the enemy's strike past your now-disadvantaged defense AND fail to get on their flank (because they just attacked you, they are now facing your new position).

EDIT: I can't seem to get the flank attack at all. Even if I dodge at the most advantageous moment, by the time I've recovered from the dodge, they have recovered from the attack, and that's if it was a heavy or wild attack. I tried using multiattack and then I do avoid their strike, then land at a flanking square and then strike them, but it does not get recognized as a "strike from the side", even though the opponent has no observation skill.

EDIT2: I figured it out. To get flank attacks you must be in stealth mode, and preferably have some skill in ambusher.

[RayJam]

Murphy you're amazing! You and peasant cretin, this stuff really belongs on the Adventure Mode wiki. They mention combat speed but not in this detail with tics and how distinct the different attack speeds are. Man people like you guys that take the time thinking about and testing these things impress me. I've been a real noob in adventure mode combat and I think this is the information that was missing. Thanks for sharing, this is great stuff!