# Auto-attack (`src/mods/autoattack.cpp`)

Goal (user, 2026-10-15): once an enemy was targeted, by a left click or by
casting an art at it, the hero keeps attacking it with the weapon between
casts. Left click stays the normal attack; right click casts slot 0.

## What the game does (order log, 2026-10-15)

Orders logged in `cCreature::ReceiveOrder` (`0x52e400`) for the hero, with
the hero's fields per tick:

| Order | Caller | Fields |
|---|---|---|
| left click on an enemy: `cmd 7` | `0x617abb` | +0x18 target id, +0x1c / +0x20 its position |
| art: `cmd 0x105` | `0x6172f9` (`SendCreatureOrder`) | +0x10 target id, +0x18 / +0x1c ground point, +0x28 0x64, +0x2c 1, +0x30 art id |
| walk: `cmd 4` | `0x6172f9` | see docs/wasd.md |
| hit by an enemy: `cmd 5` | `0x4ea478` | +0x8 attacker id, +0x10 the hero, +0x2c 1.0f (every ~0.5 s) |

One left click is one swing: hero +0x150 goes 0x10000 (idle) -> 0x10003
(attack) -> 0x20003 -> 0x10000 within about a second; +0xfc 0 -> 4 ->
0x20004 -> 0 at the start. An art: 0x10001 -> 0x10008 -> 0x20008 -> 0 ->
0x10000. Low word of +0x150: current action (0 none, 1 art, 3 attack, 6
dying), high word its phase. `cCreature::IsAlive` (`0x548ef0`): +0xfc != 9,
+0x150 != 6, health +0x4d8 != 0.

Holding the left button on an enemy (measured): one attack order, then +0x150
stays 0x10003 for as long as the button is held (9 s in the test), no further
orders. At the end of each swing (after the hit, `0x4e6584`) the attack code
calls `cMouseCursor::IsButtonHeld` (`0x655ab0`, cursor word bit 8) at
`0x4e65c6` (attacker in esi, target creature in ebp; measured: the only
caller answered "held" during a held attack): held -> the next swing starts
right away, otherwise recovery (+0x152 = 2) and idle. (`0x4f665a`, a similar
check in another creature update, is not reached by the hero.) Re-sending
the attack order after the hero went idle took ~1.45 s per swing (0.36 s
wind-up, 0.64 s attack, 0.43 s recovery).

## The mod

- An attack order or an art order whose target is hostile
  (`cCreature::IsHostileTo` `0x548dd0`, faction relation) sets the combat
  target. (First version: "not an ally", which included NPCs: clicking a
  trader made auto-attack talk to it again and again, reopening its window
  with new stock.) any walk order (mouse, WASD, stop) clears it, as
  does the target's death.
- Each engine tick, if the hero is idle (+0x150 low word 0), no mouse button
  is held (engine +0x54 & 0x10), input is not blocked (0x4000) and no skill
  key is held, it sends the attack order a left click sends. After sending it
  waits up to 5 ticks for the swing to start.
- The end-of-swing button check (`call` at `0x4e65c6`) is redirected: it
  also answers "held" when the hero hits its auto-attack target, the target
  is alive and no skill key is held. Swings then chain like
  with a held button; the tick only restarts the attack after casts.
- Self / ally arts pointed at an enemy lose their target
  (`src/mods/arttarget.cpp`) and therefore do not start auto-attack.