Combat has had a significant revamp with Version 3.0+. There are entirely new weapons and gear for you to choose from and decimate your enemies.
Combat Rolling
Version 3.0 has introduced combat rolling to your movement options.
You will see an icon on your GUI next to your hotbar:
This icon indicates when your roll is off cooldown. Assign your roll to a hotkey and you will be able to roll a set distance every few seconds! This can let you quickly gain distance from a mob at a moments notice. Note that this does consume some of your hunger every time you use it.
Weapons
In addition to the standard Minecraft and Pixelmon swords you have access to, the mod Fabled Weaponry greatly expands your weapon type options. Each weapon has a unique passive associated with it that can help you in different situations.
Shields
Shields received a significant expansion courtesy of the mod Shield Expansion.
Shields now have two additional mechanics: Off-Guard Cooldown and Parrying.
Off-Guard Cooldown means any attack that hits a shield will put it into a state of cooldown (the length of which is dependent on the shield tier), forcing you to either go on the offensive or make better use of defensive maneuvering. You also go into this cooldown if you lower the shield.
Parrying an attack, done by raising your shield just before an attack hits you, allows you to bypass Off-Guard Cooldown, rewarding skilful timing and use of your shield. You shove melee attackers back and deflect enemy projectiles upon a successful Parry, too!
Pushing an enemy with a wooden or golden shield will deal no damage, but doing so with any other will result in a Parry-Bash, dealing the enemy back a percentage of the damage they would have dealt you! This percentage increases the higher the shield tier is, but the opportunity window to parry at all shrinks.
New Shield Tiers have also been added:
Note that there are two additional shields which are not currently obtainable in game (Paragon and Griefer Shields), but may be obtainable through other means later on.