Attack and defence
Combat depends on reach, timing and the decision to stay or flee.
A fight begins with a decision. A double-click on a reachable opponent sends the controlled slime off at a run, and from then on it keeps to that target; every further blow is struck by its player. Stepping aside keeps the fight going, clearly running away breaks it off. The bond also ends when either of the two dies, the target escapes too far or a full hit throws the slime off its stride.
If another slime is taken over mid-fight, the previous one finishes a nearby quarrel on its own but does not follow it far.
Orders before caution
A deliberate attack and a led escort pay no attention to warning zones; they are intent, not routine. What is unreachable stays unreachable. Even with little health a controlled slime keeps fighting: when it withdraws is up to its player.
Friend and foe
Slimes of the same species never fight each other, even when they belong to different nests. Foreign creatures in a colony’s underworld are assessed by their proximity to the queen and actual harm caused. Nearby helpers can defend without drawing every distant worker away from its task. Pursuit stays within the area of the response.
Precision and momentum
Base damage, group effects and counterattacks come with each species. For the controlled slime it also matters where it aims: a blow to the middle of the body lands in full, one at the edge only weakly. Autonomous slimes go by their actual contact; rhythm and momentum they share with the controlled one.
Momentum comes from moving toward the opponent. Sideways it stays the same, backwards it fades, and it is measured against the pace of the slime's own kind; being pushed or knocked back gives no run-up. A quick, clean contact can become a full hit. It strikes harder, knocks the target back and tears it away from its own target, and it sounds heavier than an ordinary hit. A well-armed animal does not forget who attacked it: it may fight back again unless severe wounds drive it to flee.
Health returns only once the fight is over, and even then only with enough energy.
Energy and difficulty
Every blow costs energy. With too little left, the slime needs a short rest before it swings again; it does not strike on its own afterwards. How strict fights with the controlled slime are can be chosen in the options: Easy forgives imprecise aim and a short run-up, costs less strength and hits a little harder; Hard demands more precision and run-up at the same base damage. Opponents and the other slimes are unaffected, and a slime just handed back fights with the ordinary values again.
Reachable animals
Reachable animals also carry wounds and can die in melee. Precision and approach affect blows against them just as they do against slimes. Small prey seek distance; sturdier creatures may strike back after a hit and retreat when badly wounded. Hidden bodies and creatures flying high above the ground cannot be struck. In water, the attacker must be able to swim there. Small fish shoals remain an exception.
