How Battle Order Works

The battle system can be a tad bit confusing but there are some specific rules that you'll need to pay attention to.

First off, yes, the games does use a battle order but it is not law. In a post, myself or a player that I have aiding me as a Game Master will present a battle order as we post. It may say something like:

Nez drove his blade into the creature as it dropped back away from him. As the beast needed to have its shell cracked in order for it to be killed, he slipped the blade in until the hilt rammed into the Silvos' chest and with all of his might, Nez lifted the beast and with a burst of flames, sent it hurtling into the air. Nez stepped away from the beast as Hunter slid in next to him:

Hunter is not an actual character but he works for this situation. This is an established order but as I said, it is not law. Other players can attack but must analyze the battle and make sure that they do not counter what needs to be done. There are two things that must be taken into consideration. Elemental abilities and air burst statuses. That post suggests an order that allows Hunter to fo but that is probably because he either has grounding or because he has an element that is needed to kill the enemy in its death sequence. If the enemy needs to be floated, hit with flame energy and then grounded, I may be telling Hunter to go because he has fire as an innate and grounding. He can take care of both portions of the next attack.
Players do have free reign to attack enemies after a character has been mentioned in the order but they must be careful. If a player thinks their just being cool and grounds the Silvos before it is hit with fire, it will heal and come after the last man that hit it. Making a mistake like that can cost your life.

One last thing is fairness. I may be suggesting an order for fairness because a player hasn't gotten to attack in a while. You must also check posts, as you don't want to hit an enemy in a way that is impossible at the time.

Elemental hits are important as well because you can hit an enemy with something simple such as a flaming sword or something as extravagant as slapping spheres of water at an enemy with the flat of a blade. There are as many ways to use elements as you can think of (as long as they make sense). Remember, using your special skill, especially if it is directly elemental, can destroy an enemy, even killing it out of its sequence.

An enemy that needs to be floated needs to be attacks on a body part that is normal against the ground or protected by an enemy's bulk or perhaps even the way that is crouches or walks. An enemy that needs to be grounded either needs to be attacked while it is lodged in the ground or a carapace or armor needs to be broken.

If you are the last poster in a sequence and there is no way that you can mess up a kill, you will be allowed to auto-hit. This is the only time. It will allow you to express your writing capabilities with no hindrance.