Unnamed .io Game · October 30, 2026

IO Game: Weapon Skills

A look at the current bow and axe skill work, including combo rules, attack poses, and readable impact feedback.

Turning weapon choices into actions

The IO Game is still in local development. Recent work gives bows and axes their own skills instead of treating every weapon as the same attack with different art. The goal is to make a choice visible at three points: when a player equips a skill, when they use it, and when the result lands in the world. These screenshots come from local development captures on October 30, 2026; they do not show a public release.

Bow skills and combo timing

The current shared skill catalog defines Quick Shot and Aimed Shot as starting bow skills. Quick Shot is the straightforward arrow release. Aimed Shot has a slower, stronger role. Piercing Shot is configured to pass through more than one target, while Threefold Volley spreads three arrows. The browser screenshot shows these as separate entries rather than forcing players to guess what a single bow button will do.

Double Shot is the clearest example of a rule that needs both UI and server agreement. It is a follow-up: the server accepts it only after a valid Quick Shot in the active combo window, then schedules two arrow releases. The local tests cover that ordering, the release timing, and cancellation when an interruption breaks the action. The skill browser labels it as a chain so the player can understand the requirement before trying to equip or use it.

Local bow impact capture with wind effect near a goblin — Local combat capture: the wind impact, damage number, enemy, and action bar remain visible in the same frame.

The impact capture is also a presentation check. A projectile effect should communicate the element and the confirmed hit without covering the target, its health, or the player's next action. The effect and interface are still being tuned; this image records the current local result.

Axes need a different silhouette

The axe catalog now distinguishes Chop, Hooking Cut, Cleave, and Rending Edge. Chop is a direct strike; Hooking Cut adds a different force and possible brief stun; Cleave is configured for several targets; Rending Edge is a heavier skill with a higher resource cost. These differences need to read in motion as well as in their numbers.

Local pose comparison for four axe skills — Development pose sheet: the four axe actions are compared through windup, impact, and follow-through frames.

The pose sheet is a development comparison, not a screenshot of four players fighting at once. It shows how the carried axe moves into different attacks. Separating the windup and contact frames helps avoid the same generic swing for every skill, while keeping the hand and weapon aligned across directions.

What is next

This work is part of the game's local build. The next pass is to keep checking how each skill reads at normal game scale, how the server accepts or interrupts it, and whether the UI explains what a player can learn or equip. The broader IO Game article covers Greenwake, multiplayer state, movement, and the surrounding systems; this update records a narrower piece of the combat work.