Clans of the Forest Combat: 75 Moves & Stances

Clans of the forest combat is turn-based, fought up to three cats against three, with 75 unique moves to discover and unlock. The distinguishing feature is that there are no spells: the developers ditched standard RPG spells and put the depth into shifting combat Stances instead, so every move you make alters your stance mid-fight. Moves come from the choices you make during the story, not from a fixed skill tree.

• Turn-based, up to 3 vs 3
• 75 unique combat moves to discover and unlock
• No spells - the depth comes from shifting Stances, and every move changes your stance
• Ancestor attacks granted by StarClan, plus specialised Clan moves, enemy weaknesses and bosses
• Moves are earned from story choices, not bought from a skill tree

The Stances decision is the developers' own framing, in the IGN interview: designing RPG combat for cats meant ditching standard spells, and depth comes from shifting Stances instead. The move count and the enemy list are on the Steam store page, and the Ancestor attacks come from the publisher's game page.

How does combat work in Clans of the Forest?

Combat is turn-based and it happens in small parties - up to three of your cats against up to three enemies. The store feature list is explicit about the move count: 75 unique moves to discover and unlock. That is a large number relative to a 3v3 fight, and it is the clearest signal in the game's marketing that combat is meant to be the main event rather than a side system.

The other combat layers the publisher lists are Ancestor attacks granted by StarClan, specialised Clan moves, enemy weaknesses, and bosses. Note that the enemy side of that list is where the documentation thinnest: weaknesses are named as a mechanic, but no specific weakness per enemy has been published, and no boss has been named either. Our game modes page covers Defender Mode, which is the run-based challenge built on this combat.

What are Stances, and why are there no spells?

Stances are the replacement for spells, and the developers were unusually clear about why. Their explanation runs roughly: designing role-playing combat for cats meant ditching standard spells, and instead the depth comes from shifting combat Stances, with every move you make altering your stance mid-fight.

That is a real design commitment rather than a marketing line, because it changes what a player optimises for. If spells are the depth, you are managing a resource list. If stances are the depth, the fight is a positioning problem inside a turn order - each move you spend changes what the next move wants to be. The stance you are in after move three is a consequence of moves one and two.

Where do your 75 moves come from?

From the choices you make along the journey. The developers were explicit that which moves you learn is determined by the choices you make, rather than by a fixed skill tree. Clan, level and training shape your base stats.

Two consequences follow. First, there is no published skill tree to study, because there is no skill tree - which is also why this site is not going to publish a build guide with a talent chart on it. Second, a run's moveset is a record of the run: the choices that gave you those moves are the same choices the game is procedurally generating around, and the store page says no two playthroughs are the same.

The Clan half of that is the part with an open question attached. Clan, level and training shape base stats, but no per-Clan numbers have been published - see the four Clans page for exactly what is and is not known about Clan differences.

Which enemies will you fight?

The enemy list on the store page is specific, and it is the most concrete combat information available before launch: badgers, mice, squirrels, vicious foxes, imposing Dobermanns and rival Clan cats, followed by "and many more". Rival Clan cats matter most for how the game's tone reads - the opposition is not only wildlife, and the Dobermanns are described with a word, imposing, that suggests they are meant to land as a threat.

Two categories get mixed up constantly, so it is worth separating them. Birds, rabbits and squirrels are prey you hunt, not enemies - the same feature list that names the enemies also says you "track and hunt birds, rabbits, squirrels and other prey", and squirrels appear on both sides for that reason. Snakes and dogs are named separately, as predators you fight off, on the Wikipedia entry, which is the only source that has named them.

What is not published: no boss names, no per-enemy weakness values, no damage numbers, and no difficulty curve. Defender Mode is described as a run against the game's fiercest enemies, and the enemy list above is as close to a roster as any source gets. If a page claims to have a full boss list for this game, check whether it invented it.

How should I prepare for my first fight?

Honestly, there is no preparation guide available yet - the game has not shipped, and its stories and quests are procedurally generated, so a fixed walkthrough would not survive contact with your first run. What is worth knowing is the two decisions you make before you fight anything: which Clan you join, and how you build your cat in the cat creator. Combat then adds a third layer on top - Stances - that we will be able to document properly once players have the game in hand.

Our beginner's guide sets out the opening sequence in full, and the FAQ covers what does not exist yet, including demos and any published achievement list.