Unique ablilities:

[Jacktheawesome]

Rabbits: Definitely, as I think everyone has said, leg based fighting. The kicks they have now are good, with maybe some fancy spinning kick for severely injured enemies (sorry I don't have any martial arts background I can't offer specifics or styles ) An idea for execution of scissor kick: same as the current jump/rabbit kick, but does scissor kick instead when 2 enemies are close enough together. Should have weak, but quick punches, and good dodges. Lone fighters, perhaps only working together in small tribes or bands.

Dogs: Should concentrate on armed combat when able, but when faced with unarmed situation have mainly bite and slash attacks. fancy spinning kicks shouldn't be a part of their style, mostly focusing on swinging, powerful blunt attacks with paws and unflashy but effective kicks (think Muay Thai). I think their main strength should be in the pack, as I can imagine dogs as very martial creatures that travel in large armies and are skilled in all weapons and tactics.

Wolves: Basically dogs, but stronger and faster. Wolves should travel in large groups like dogs, but have barbaric packs instead of organized armies. Should shun weapons, as their claws are as sharp a swords and as bludgeoning as warhammers. Sort of an improvised style. Badasses.

Cats: Almost as quick as rabbits, almost as strong as dogs, claws almost as sharp as wolves', cats are a balance. Decidedly solitary, as they desire to either rule all they see or be left alone. Cats should fight with a mix of semi-powerful blunt attacks (claws sheathed) and dangerous slice attacks (claws out). They should fight with a lot of grace, but also fiercely, with beauty and efficiency in a balance (if anyone wants to help me out with a matching style, that'd be cool ). They should be skilled in fencing and kendo, and generally be excellent swordsmen with light to medium swords (no kitties with sledgehammers). for some reason I always think of the Overgrowth cat race as Asian, so I would like to see some katanas, or maybe even shaolin spades (please please please David and Aubrey?).

Rats: Rats should have weak kicks, weak punches, and weak bites. They should be very fast, and very stealthy. I would like to see some special sneak-from-behind attacks and neck-snaps. They should live in groups, but have no real loyalty and work for whoever is paying them. They should be excellent with small arms, and thrown weapons.

Ah, long post is long. What do you guys think?

[LucarFox]

I'm really liking this thread and the suggestions.
Rat with sneaky/creep up attacks.
With low Hp but fast movement... quick attacks.

Wolf giving him large bulky attacks with tons of damage, but requiring more time to attack (larger/slower swing). Already, large hp.

I do think the Fox idea should be a very pouncy-jumpy attack set. They do tend to skip around a lot.
also rather quick, maybe not as fast as a rat. with average hp.

whales can just.. walk around stepping on the animals. shaking the rest of the area. and an atrocious amount of HP.

Kangaroos. Boxing gloves :3

[SilentSouth]

Wolves: Basically dogs, but stronger and faster. Wolves should travel in large groups like dogs, but have barbaric packs instead of organized armies. Should shun weapons, as their claws are as sharp a swords and as bludgeoning as warhammers. Sort of an improvised style. Badasses.

I doubt wolves would be travelling in large groups seems as they can one hit K.O you, i can barely take down one wolf alone haha.

[Jacktheawesome]

Wolves: Basically dogs, but stronger and faster. Wolves should travel in large groups like dogs, but have barbaric packs instead of organized armies. Should shun weapons, as their claws are as sharp a swords and as bludgeoning as warhammers. Sort of an improvised style. Badasses.

I doubt wolves would be travelling in large groups seems as they can one hit K.O you, i can barely take down one wolf alone haha.

I know, that one was a tricky bit. I was drawing from the traits of the actual animals though, and I wanted to stay consistent. Wolves are pack animals IRL. But yes, that notion is rather scary in game

[Altair44]

Actually, I think the Wolfire is already planning on making cats, wolves dogs having their own perks and abilites against each other

[elbomo]

I know I'm waaay late on this, but since the rats are shown as being quite a bit smaller than the other races, in the concept art, it would be cool if their choke hold involved a rope, or a chain... Or they could jump on the enemy's back and choke them.

[EPR89]

I know I'm waaay late on this, but since the rats are shown as being quite a bit smaller than the other races, in the concept art, it would be cool if their choke hold involved a rope, or a chain... Or they could jump on the enemy's back and choke them.

A jockey!!!
Get it off, get it off!!! Getitoffgetitoffgetitoffgetitoff!!!
Get *wheeze* it... *cough* o...

[elbomo]

Yeah, I thought of that as I was writing.

[Spadkins]

First off, I haven't finished reading all of the posts, so I'm sorry if I repeat something.
Secondly, I'm basing my suggestions off the lore, the culture and technology of the specific races, what the creatures are like in real life, and my current knowledge of martial arts. (I take taekwondo, traditional MMA (Which is nothing like what come to mind when you read that), and I've practiced a bit of jujitsu.)
1. Panthers, Tigers, and Foxes are extinct, wiped out decades if not centuries before Overgrowth by the Walemen.

2. Rabbits. I think rabbits should employ low-damage, high speed attacks, but mostly disarms, deflects, and dodges. I don't think of rabbits as the kind that practice lethal killing moves, although I'm sure there are some that practice dog or rat strikes/etc. They are largely farmers in the story, after all.

3. Dogs. Their weapons are simple, blocky, sturdy weapons that are nonetheless brutally effective, and in the lore they comprise most of the militaries in the world. So I think their moves should be relatively slow by comparison, and high damage. Strait, powerful kicks and punches, replacing the current judo-throw with a knee-break sort of kick.

4. Cats. Here's a tricky one. One one hand, cats are seen as sneaky and lethal, assassin type creatures. On the other, cats are arrogant and dignified, mostly being portrayed in the story as nobility and honorable duelists, although there ARE some cats of the first kind I described. I would go with the noble samurai-type cats I described, since stealth is the rats' strong suit. So they could specialize in armed combat, preferring to stay away from "underhanded" moves such as leg sweeps, distraction, and (disarms?). Definitely open to suggestion though.

5. Rats. These are definitely the true ninjas of the game. Small and relatively weak, they're basically the antithesis to the cat I described, which is sort of cool. The typical rat is even shown as wearing camouflage. They would specialize in the moves the cats stay away from. Dust in the eyes, biting, scratching, serrated and brutal weapons, poison, stealth, etc. Also open to suggestion.

6. Wolves. Some think wolves would be stupid, brawler-type fighters, but I think the opposite. Wolves would operate in a brutal and primitive pack mentality. They are basically to dogs as gorillas are to humans. Smart, even cunning, but not strategist material. Should be mostly unable to use weapons, instead causing heavy bleeding through pounces, teeth, and claws. Use their natural weapons more!

And anything that Whaleman does would replicate the effects of a nuclear bomb.