Element Bending and Combat

Combat in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender/The Legend of Korra is actually exceedingly simple. There is no set ability list per say; the point of the elemental based combat is freedom and constant reactionary adjustments. You change your style minute to minute to reflect the skill and power of your opponents; stale and set move sets stifle this and kill much of the creativity and expressionism that makes these worlds so much fun. The sky, and your own imagination, is the limit for what you can and cannot do within the set guidelines.

Benders

A bender's primary element is their greatest weapon and weakness; each comes with great strengths, but must deal with the fact that there is always a counter to their fighting style and element. Limits on primary elements are few in number, and for the most part relate entirely to the amount of said element that may be utilized at any given time and how powerful overall it is. These restrictions are tied to your ranking; however this is because your 'rank' is a reflection of your experience with using your element. You may have the potential for much greater power, but that doesn't mean you have the experience to harness it yet. Skill is the key here; the better you are able to describe what you are doing, the better able to outwit your opponents, the 'stronger' you actually are. Pure power and such is pointless if you can't use it effectively. ***Just because you pick one element does not mean you are forced to be from that respective nation/tribe. You can be a waterbender from the Air Nomad City, or a firebender from the Southern Water Tribe. Anything is allowed, currently.***

The different elements and their restrictions are as follows:

Earth

• Novice: Control is slight at best; the bender is only able to lift small amounts of earth in the form of low walls no more then 3ft (1m) tall and 6in (15cm), create rifts no deeper then 3ft (1m), or fire chunks of roughly the size of a baseball.
  
• Adept: Control has improved, as has the strength needed to utilize larger amounts of earth. Walls of up to 5ft (1.5m) tall and 1ft (.3m) thick, 6 ft (2m) valleys, and soccer ball sized chunks of earth are possible.
  
• Acolyte: Refined control and increased physical power grant the Acolyte a significant boost in power and bending ability. Large walls up to 20ft (6.1m) high and 3ft (1m) thick are simple to create; while boulders of earth up to 70lbs (~32k) can be utilized. The ability to 'Earth Skate'; that is to propell yourself faster by riding a wave of earth, is unlocked at this level.
  
• Master: Exactly as the title says, at this level you have mastered the element of earth to such a level that nearly anything is possible. Physical strength and control combine to allow feats of bending that stun the mind; truck sized boulders weighing up to 1 metric ton can be flung like baseballs; great valleys and walls and near forests of earthen spikes can be called upon at your will.
  
• Grandmaster: Mastery on a level beyond that of the Masters; Grandmasters are gods among men within their elements; able to not only hold their own, but possible even best the Avatar within their specific element. Anything is possible, there is no limit to what the Grandmaster can do.
  

Fire

• Novice: Control is weak at best, and the fires created are, contextually speaking, very cool. Baseball sized balls of fire, and trails no longer then 3ft (1m) in length can be created. Covering of fists and feet with fire will cause 1st dregree burns to the bender after 5 posts. The flames themselves will only cause 1st degree burns until contact is maintained for 3 or more posts.
  
• Adept: Improved control brings improved ability; fires have grown hotter and better able to damage. Larger fireballs the rough size of an American Football/Rugby Ball can be created, walls of flame roughly 3ft (1m) high and up to 5ft (1.5m) long, and trails of flame 9ft (3m) long can be created. The flames have grown hotter, allowing for 2nd degree burns after 1 post of maintained contact. Flame used to cover fists, feet, knees, arms, etc will only cause a slight burn to the user after 6 posts of contact.
  
• Acolyte: Nearly mastery of their internal fires have allowed the Acolyte bender to harness far more power then they ever could before. Sencond degree burns from their flames are now nearly instantaneous, with third degree burns possible after only 2 posts of maintained contact. Balls of flame are no longer grown in size, merely condensed into heavier, hotter fires that explode on contact and cause far worse injuries. Walls of flame 12 ft (4m) tall and equally long can easily be maintained for multiple posts. It is not unheard of for Acolyte benders to cover their entire body in fire during combat, and no adverse effects from the fire are found.
  
• Master: Highly skilled and weilding flames of devistating power; the Master Firebender is a beast to fear. Intense second and third degree burns happen on contact with their flames.
  
• Grandmaster: Mastery on a level beyond that of the Masters; Grandmasters are gods among men within their elements; able to not only hold their own, but possible even best the Avatar within their specific element. Anything is possible, there is no limit to what the Grandmaster can do.
  

Air

• Novice: Unrefined skills mean that while the novice Airbender is apable of creating large blasts of air at any time, the blasts lack significant power. Slicing blasts will only cut through normal fabics and a few centimeters of flesh, while blunt force blasts will only knock someone over, possibly knock them back up to 3 th (1m) on sandy or slick surfaces.
  
• Adept: With increased control comes increased skill, and the increased skill allows for better use of the air around them. The Adept is able to condense the air they use to give it more power; bursts of air are now guarenteed to knock the target back, slashing motions cause deeper injuries, and the air can be condensed into small balls that can be thrown like granades that explode on contact, or after a short delay.
  
• Acolyte: Skill begets power in the Airbender; with the skill of the Acolyte the true freedom of the air is unlocked. Blasts of air from the Acolyte can destroy rock walls with little trouble, and the pure speed of the Airbender has become unrivaled by all by other Airbenders. The Acolyte is able to condense air to such a degree that they can ride upon it, usually the in form of large, typhoon like balls that move with startling speeds.
  
• Master: Lords of the skys and masters of the air; the Master Airbender is capable of feats of insanity that boggle the mind. Blasts of air can not only cumble metal, but crush and even slice right through it; move with speeds that trick the eyes, and can create feats of weather like tornados.
  
• Grandmaster: Mastery on a level beyond that of the Masters; Grandmasters are gods among men within their elements; able to not only hold their own, but possible even best the Avatar within their specific element. Anything is possible, there is no limit to what the Grandmaster can do.
  

Water

• Novice: Novice waterbenders, while agile and quick of movement, lack significant control over their element. Creating small waves within standing water sources can be taxing on the novice, small blobs of water thrown about are about the height of the novice ability.
  
• Adept: Control having improved; 3-6ft (1-2m) long whips of water are common attack means among adepts. Freezing small amounts of water is possible now; and moderate control of waves gives them a new means of movement via riding controlled waves. Larger blobs of water, up to the size of basketballs, is possible now.
  
• Acolyte: Acolytes show significant improvement in control and ability; long, snake-fast whips of water and large waves of water commonly used. Acolytes show near mastery of ice as well, and are able to harness large bodies of water for effective combat when available. The Acolyte is able to draw out the water in some larger plants without much difficulty, although any attempts to bend the water within a plant without proper training will result in little success and many dead plants.
  
• Master: Precise control and mastery of both water and ice mean the master waterbender is a force of nature released upon the world. Able to pull water from the very air itself, the master waterbender is rarely without a significant source of their element, as many carry special gourds or pouches of highly condensed water that give them access to small lakes full of water at any time. On the open water, nothing matches the speed of the master waterbender, and when the full moon rises and the waterbender's power has peaked, the master waterbender is capable of destructive feats on biblical scales.
  
• Grandmaster: Mastery on a level beyond that of the Masters; Grandmasters are gods among men within their elements; able to not only hold their own, but possible even best the Avatar within their specific element. Anything is possible, there is no limit to what the Grandmaster can do.
  

Secondary elements and bending arts come with their own set of rules and restrictions. Not all secondary skills are combat related; those that are supplementary skills such as healing or seismic sensing are not included in this guide because they are not combat related and will be addressed in another guide.

Lightning generation
Lightning redirect
Metalbending
Bloodbending
Sandbending
Plantbending
Energybending


Non-Bending Combat

Civilian and non-bending based combat is just as simple overall. Non-benders lack a set ranking system, with the exception of chi blockers, making the power of the non-bender entirely dependant on the individual's skill in rp. The only expections to this are non-benders with special skills, such as non-bender Dai Li, or trained Chi Blockers. Modifiers in the form of special teams will be addressed in their own related guides, if needed. Otherwise, members follow the basic combat guidelines.

Non-bender combat is a free for all in many ways; so long as you legally own an item/weapon, you are free to use it unless otherwise stated by staff.

Chi Blocking

Chi blocking is in many ways the civilian's answer to countering element benders. By utilizing knowledge of the human body and the flow of the ki throw the body's chakra network, a person is able to paralyze both muscle and bending ability via a series of precisesly delivered strikes to pressure points and chakra gates. While a powerful tool, Chi Blocking is not perfect; the user's skills determine the sucess of the blocking; and without the practice needed to create perfect muscle memory of the movements needed to block, the chi blocker is inefficient and unable to block large numbers of people quickly. Chi blocking is only effective if you are able to make physical contact with the target; and as such, it is rarely, if ever, effective on anyone of a higher rank then yourself. If the situation allows, and an adequate (as determined by staff) description of how you were able to do so is given, a chi blocker will be allowed to effect, within the confines of thier own rank abilities, someone of a higher rank.

The currently accepted site standard for the number of people able to be chi blocked by one chi blocker per post are as follows:

Novice: 1
Adept: 2
Acolyte: 4
Master: 6
Grandmaster: 8

To reitterate, the preceding numbers are merely the number of people able to be chi blocked in any form by a single chi blocker of each rank. The following guide will give the level of chi blocking; the amount of paralysis over the body or the level of bending blocking possible for each rank.

Novice: Single limb effect: they are only able to paralyze or remove the bending from a single limb
Adept: Two limb effect: the chi blocker can paralyze or remove the bending from any two limbs of the body
Acolyte: All limbs: the four limbs can be paralyzed and bending stopped; however this will not effect bending via the mouth or the Grandmaster able to bend via small movements not tied to the limbs
Master: Body: the chi blocking Master can paralyze the entire body from the neck down, without effecting the ability to breathe
Grandmaster: Perfect paralysis: The entire body, facial movements, and throat based bending are completly stopped. No movement is possible, no bending is possible. Can be lethal if the blocker stops the heart or lungs.