Hey I'm sorry if my question is a bit stupid but I've read both the rulebook and the reference sheet and cannot for the love of God figure out how combat works.

The game I am playing right now Akachi has to battle a Vampire she has no stats altering assets .

Can someone please help , or point me to a video on youtube or a layman article

Thanks

Go to Combat Encounters in the reference book page 3 and open the rule book on page 14.

Turn the monster card over so you can see the text and stats.

Follow the steps.

1. Check if the monster does anything to you before combat.

2. Check the monster will test, the the first part It is the blue part with the Head picture.

Next to the Head Picture there is sometimes a number that is how many dice you subtract or add.

The next picture is a number and a brain symbol, that is how many successes you need to roll.

For example if you will is 4 you will roll 4 dice, if there is a subtraction of 1 you will roll 3 dice,

if the Brain symbol shows a 2 out of the 3 dice you need two successes.

3. Check the Strength test. Works exactly the same as the will test you just use Strength.

One difference is each successes also adds one damage to the monster.
If the damage equals the monster toughness, it dies. The toughness is the number in the green testicles.

That is combat.

2. Addendum: you need 2 successes to not take any sanity damage. If you roll 1 success you take 1 damage. If you roll 0 successes you take 2 damage. (As long as you get any successes, even if you also took damage, it is still considered passing the will test)

Optic Fusion - don't you dare edit that post! LMAO

1. First, check the Effect area of the token to see if anything special happens before or during combat as Optic Fusion said.
2. Perform the first test, shown in the upper left corner of the token (usually it is a Will test, as shown here, but sometimes it is different). Here it is a straight Will test, so you roll dice equal to your Will score plus any adjustments from equipment (remember: if more than one item gives you a bonus to Will, you can only use the highest one).
3. Compare your test result (the number of successes you rolled) to the Horror number listed to the right of the test (here it is 2 Sanity). If your test result is less than this number, you lose sanity equal to the difference. For this monster, rolling 0 successes on the Will test causes you to lose 2 Sanity; Rolling 1 success costs you 1 Sanity; Rolling 2 or more successes means you are unharmed.
4. Perform the second test, shown just below the first test (usually this is a Strength test, but sometimes it is different). Here it is Strength - 1, so you roll dice equal to your Strength score minus 1, plus any adjustments from equipment (remember: if more than one item gives you a bonus to Strength, you can only use the highest one).
5. Compare your test result (the number of successes you rolled) to the Damage number listed to the right of the test (here it is 1 Health). If your test result is less than this number, you lose Health equal to the difference. For this monster, rolling 0 successes on the Strength test causes you lose 1 Health; Rolling 1 or more successes means you are unharmed. The monster then loses health equal to your test result (1 health for each success you rolled) -- place health tokens on the monster indicate this. Damage dealing by you and the monster as a result of the second test is simultaneous, so both of you deal damage to the other (if any) even if one of you is defeated in the process.
6. The combat is over. If the monster has taken damage equal to or greater than its Toughness, it has been defeated, and is returned to where it came (monster cup, Ancient One sheet). Otherwise, the monster remains in play with the accumulated damage on it.

Reminders:

• Any test is considered PASSED if you roll at least one success. It is FAILED if you roll no successes. Note that with combat, it is possible to pass a test and still be forced to lose Sanity or Health.
• For all tests, you roll a minimum of one die, even if penalties would reduce the number of dice to roll to 0 or fewer.