Fight

= Fight = A fight is begun when the player Wanderer fights with a enemy or more. The battle system in The Wanderer consists of six phases; prevention, preparation, ready, battle, attack and defense.

Prevention
Before a battle starts outright, the player may be given the option to Run Away, to Persuade the attacker(s) to leave you alone if Charisma is high enough, or to start a Fight. If the player decides to run away. There is a shown percentage chance to run away depending on how high the Agility level is or if the player has an Athlete backstory. Choosing to persuade the enemies depends on the items or caps the player has including Charisma. To persuade the enemies the player will have to pick items or caps to give them. The enemies will also tell the amount of caps required to guarantee a succesful persuasion. The player is forced into a fight if he fails to run away or persuade the enemies

Preparation
At the start of every fight, the player is given the chance to prepare by deciding which melee weapon (if any) and which firearm (if any) to take into battle. Here, the player may also tap on the Bag icon to check the contents of their inventory, see how many bullets they have, use items, etc. After selecting their weapons from a set of dropdown lists, the player may then Continue.

Ready
Upon tapping Continue, the player is asked if they are Ready.

Battle
After the player signifies that they are Ready, the battle screen appears. Nothing is immediately dangerous on this screen, and the player still has some preparation to do if weapons have been chosen. The health and armor of the player are shown at the top of the screen. The amount of caps and strength of the player are also shown under this area. Below that is a Bag icon on the left which will open the player's inventory when tapped.

In the center of the Battle Screen are the player's weapons of choice, if any. In order to actually equip a weapon for the fight, the player must now tap on the icon of that weapon on this screen.

Below the weapons selection area are the enemy or enemies. In order to begin the Attacking and Defending phases, the player must tap on an enemy and select an option. Depending on the player's stats and the enemy in question, the options here may include Bribe (which spends caps to convince the enemy to leave the battle peacefully) or Stun (which causes the enemy to stop attacking the player for a few turns). An unsuccessful Stun will allow all present enemies to hit the player. To start an attack, press the Attack button in this option menu.

Attack and Defense
Gameplay here alternates between Attacking mode and Defending mode until the player returns to the Battle screen, wins the battle (by defeating or bribing all present enemies), or loses the battle (by allowing their HP to drop to 0). The goal in the Attacking and Defending modes involves the player stopping a moving white line within a blue target area. The white line moves back and forth along the brown track, and the target area is located at a random position along the track. Attacking is boosted by perception, in that a higher perception rating causes the blue target area to become wider and thus easier to stop within while attacking. Defending is boosted by agility, in that a higher intelligence rating causes the blue target area to become wider and thus easier to stop within while defending. In order to stop the white line anywhere along the track, the player must press the button marked "Attack" or "Defend" depending on the phase. In order to return to the Battle screen to heal or switch weapons, the user must press the button marked "Cancel". Any enemies in battle will still appear along the bottom of the screen, and may still be bribed or stunned if tapped while in Attacking and Defending modes. A stunned enemy will no longer hurt the player if stunned during Defending mode, though other present non-stunned enemies will.