HUD and Controls

This page explains how to read the screen, use the main inputs, and avoid the most common control-related mistakes. If Covert Cats feels weird at first, this is usually the page that fixes it.

Overview Main HUD Hotkeys Chat and Input Hotbar and Targeting Common Mistakes

Overview

Covert Cats uses a fairly traditional RPG-style interface, but several systems matter more than they may first appear. Your HUD is not just decoration. It is where you monitor your health, Energy, buffs, target, party state, chat, and active abilities.

Learning the screen early will make almost every other system easier to understand.

At a Glance The most important things to learn first are your HP and Energy bars, your hotbar, your target bar, your party panel, and the difference between chat focus and movement input.

Main HUD

The main HUD gives you constant information about your character, your target, your party, your available abilities, and your chat channels.

❤

Player Portrait

Shows your name, level, HP, and Energy. Your portrait may also change when head gear is equipped.

☣

Buffs and Debuffs

Your active effects appear near the top-left area of the HUD. Debuffs use a red border for quick identification.

👥

Party Panel

Shows your grouped allies and their health bars. You can click party portraits to target them quickly.

⌘

Utility Buttons

These open major systems like Inventory, Character Status, Codex, Patchline, Execution Deck, Trade, and Combat Assist.

💬

Chat Area

Includes chat tabs, message output, and the input field. It handles local, party, zone, private, and battle text.

⚔

Hotbar and Target Bar

Your hotbar shows equipped abilities, while the target bar shows the current target’s level, name, health, and effects.

Important The HUD is part of gameplay. If you ignore your buffs, party panel, target frame, or chat log, you will miss useful information.

Hotkeys

Covert Cats supports keyboard shortcuts for most of the main systems. These only work normally if your chat input box is not currently focused.

Main System Keys

R Invite Player
I Inventory
C Character Status
X Codex
P Patchline

More System Keys

Q Camp
Z Settings
E Execution Deck
T Trade
F Combat Assist

Special Keys

F1 Target Yourself
V Toggle Vision Mode
WASD / Arrow Keys Move in the overworld

Tip F1 is one of the most useful keys in the game. It is often the fastest way to recover self-targeting during battle.

Chat and Input

Chat in Covert Cats behaves like a browser-based MMO input system. To type, you must click into the chat input field first.

Once the chat box has focus, keyboard presses go into chat instead of controlling your cat. This means movement keys like WASD may suddenly type letters instead of moving you.

Chat Tabs

Global, Zone, Party, Whispurrs, and Battle each filter different kinds of communication and system output.

Basic Commands

/t playername message
Direct message

/g message
Party chat

/shout message
Zone-wide message

Combat Chat

If Auto-Switch Chat Channels is enabled, entering combat switches to Battle and leaving combat switches back to Global.

Common Input Problem If your cat is not moving, check whether your cursor is still active in the chat box before assuming the controls are broken.

Hotbar and Targeting Basics

Your hotbar contains the abilities currently equipped through the Execution Deck. It is your live action bar during normal play and battle.

Abilities may appear greyed out or unavailable when they cannot currently be used. This usually happens because:

you are in the wrong state for that ability
you do not have enough Energy
you are stunned
you are in Recovery
the ability is still recharging

The target bar shows your current target’s:

name
level
health
active buffs and debuffs

You can target:

yourself
other players
party members
NPCs
enemies

Tip Self-only abilities do not require self-targeting, but player-targeted abilities do. That difference causes a lot of early confusion.

Common Mistakes

Most early control problems come from misunderstanding one small rule, not from the game malfunctioning.

Common Mistake Forgetting that chat focus blocks movement input is one of the most common early frustrations.

Another Common Mistake Players often assume a greyed-out ability is broken when the real issue is Recovery, low Energy, wrong state, or invalid targeting.

trying to move while chat still has focus
forgetting to use F1 for fast self-targeting
ignoring buff and debuff icons
not realizing chat tabs change what messages are visible
assuming the hotbar alone explains why an ability cannot be used