Compared to ADOM that is.
ADOM is a fairly complex game in almost every facet, but I think it could go slightly deeper. In ADOM, you choose a weapon to work with, and you choose a tactical setting. I personally use normal tactics against most things, berserk against easy things or when I'm desperate, and defensive against monsters that I really don't want to hit me. But besides choosing weapon type and tactics, there's not much more to combat in ADOM.
But here's the deal. You attack monsters thousands of times in an average game. So if combat was more complex, requiring multiple steps just to hit one monster it would get very very tedious to play out a large battle. I think I have a nice way to make combat more complex without bogging down the game.
The first thing to add is combat skills. You could learn these skills as you level up, train at guilds, or train with special NPCS. When I say combat skills, think of the class skills for the Fighter from ADOM, like the stun move or the circular blow. You could activate them by hitting control x, and different strokes or moves would add complexity to combat. Some blows would be like the barbarian's skill, hitting harder but slower, some could be like the fighter or monk's skill, targeting multiple opponents, and some could be the inverse of the barbarian skill, striking faster but doing less damage. With this system diversity and depth is added to your combat choices, but it's not something you have to necessarily do everytime you attack.
Another way to add depth to combat is an option to target specific body parts. In ADOM, you attack a monster by walking into it, and it should be like this in JADE. Another option I feel like should be a targeted attack. For example, when standing next to a monster you could hit a command, let's say ctr T, and it would then prompt you which body part: 1 for head, 2 for chest, 3 for lower body. The effectiveness of this could be determined by your weapon and the time of monster you face. An axe against humanoids could do best when aimed at the neck. A dagger against an armored foe could do best when aimed for the lower body, where you try to slip the dagger into a spot not covered by the plate.
Does anyone like these ideas, especially the 2nd one, or is it needless complication?