Why Valiant Tactics’ No-RNG Combat Feels Like a Breath of Fresh Air

Confession time: I’m exhausted from watching my “sure-hit” arrow fly wide because the RNG gods decided to troll me. When I first heard that Felid Entertainment’s Valiant Tactics—arriving August 4, 2025 on PC via Steam and indie.io—eliminates hit-percentage rolls entirely, I practically did a victory dance. Every slash, spell and volley lands if you outmaneuver your foe. But can pure strategy really inject new life into the turn-based tactics genre? Spoiler: it just might.

A Fractured Kingdom and Your Mission

Valiant Tactics drops you into a realm torn by political upheaval. After the king’s assassination, a usurper has seized the throne, and you—an exiled knight loyal to the crown—must rally a band of eight distinct heroes to restore order. Your party can include heavy-hitting knights, agile rangers, healing clerics, elemental mages and more. As you journey across the branching campaign map, every decision—from forging alliances to choosing which village to liberate first—alters the story, opens new routes and even changes the enemies you’ll face in subsequent runs.

Hex-Grid Mastery and Dynamic Line of Sight

Combat happens on a hexagonal grid, not the typical square layout. Hexes allow six directions of movement and attack, which amplifies positional choreography. With dynamic line of sight (LOS), weather and terrain play crucial roles: rain can turn hexes into slippery grounds, dense fog obscures long-range units, and forest cover grants concealment bonuses. I learned this firsthand when a surprise thunderstorm blocked my mage’s LOS mid-battle, forcing me to pivot to close-quarters tactics and salvage a near-certain defeat into an epic comeback.

Goodbye RNG, Hello Skill

Instead of praying to dice rolls, Valiant Tactics guarantees hit success based solely on your tactical choices. Map control, timing and flanking become your new dice. Want to down a bulky berserker? Use a tank unit to pin them in place, then send in your ranger for a clean shot. Need to protect your backline? Choke points on narrow mountain passes or bridge hexes become kill zones. Watching a perfectly executed pincer move wipe out an enemy squad—with zero “miss” pop-ups—felt deeply satisfying.

Classes, Builds and Combo Synergy

Each hero archetype offers customizable, gear-driven skills. Equip your ranger with poison-tipped bolts to chip away at tanky foes, or rig explosive traps that redirect unsuspecting units into kill zones. My favorite build combines a support mage stacking haste and damage buffs, then morphing into a mortar unit with devastating area-of-effect spells. By chaining slows, stuns and debuffs, you can orchestrate multi-unit combos that turn the tide in seconds. Experimentation truly uncovers emergent tactics beyond simple “highest DPS wins.”

Roguelite Progression and Map Choices

Between battles, navigate a branching world map reminiscent of FTL. Each node offers a choice: hunt a mini-boss for rare gear, risk a mysterious healing shrine to restore health at the cost of new hazards, or push forward through ambush-filled forests. With procedurally generated routes, 40 dynamic events and ten difficulty tiers, no two runs feel the same. Each victory not only rewards new weapons and talents but also unlocks fresh hero-class synergies to refine your strategy for the next attempt.

Environmental Hazards and Dynamic Events

Random events can dramatically swing momentum. One encounter trapped my party in a crater after a freak sinkhole event, forcing us to climb out under enemy arrow fire. Another time, I discovered a ruined tower that granted vision over three hexes—an instant game-changer for positioning snipers. These dynamic events keep every run unpredictable, even without traditional RNG combat.

Potential Pitfalls for the Meta

• Dominant Synergies: Early gameplay reveals some gear-class pairings may overshadow others, risking a narrow “best build” meta over time.
• Combo Complexity: Layering buffs, debuffs and crowd-control can become overwhelming for newcomers craving straightforward tactics.
• Challenge Spikes: Without careful balance, certain difficulty tiers might feel either trivial or brutally punishing.

Final Verdict

Valiant Tactics is a bold experiment in removing chance from turn-based combat. By focusing on guaranteed hits, hex-grid mastery and roguelite progression, Felid Entertainment is betting that true strategic depth will outshine random variance. If the developers nail balance, diversify events and support post-launch content, this could be the freshest tactical RPG in years. For strategy fans tired of RNG heartbreak, this is one to watch on August 4, 2025.