Combat

Combat in Guild Wars affects many things.

Hunched up pose
Characters assume a hunched up alert pose with more labored breathing as the default pose after attacking, taking damage, or an enemy begins to use a skill on you. However, other animations override this pose. The pose restores to normal after approximately 15 seconds of not attacking nor taking damage.

"In Combat"
"In combat" is while the character is attacking. When an ally NPC is attacking, they will refuse to start a conversation or continue one, but instead yell out phrases telling you to stop talking and start fighting.

Fought Recently
Having "fought recently" means the character have been "in combat" within the last 15-second window (approximation). Note that being attacked does not constitute having fought recently. The only visual indicator of having fought recently is the henched up pose, which may be caused by other sources too (for example, taking damage).

You cannot drop items while having fought recently.

Related Concepts

 * Attack
 * Target
 * Experience
 * Loot
 * Natural health regeneration