the code needs to stop rewarding the first person that instigates to violence, while backstab and archery are a thing knee jerk murders aren't only to be expected but are entirely rational
I would argue the code punishes quite heavily the person who instigates violence
depending on how the violence is instigated. This all really comes down to the punishing delay mechanics that the combat code of armageddon is founded on. Opening with a raw kick or kill puts you in such a long delay that you're going to be sitting there for ages and your quarry is going to either run or have ample time to pull a heramide knife on you. The code does reward the instigator, however, if they open with an instant win button -- heramide being one of those. Basically the code right now drives players with a desire to 'win' confrontations to find the instant win button dejure rather than anything that could possibly lead to a protracted fight.
The reason people avoid protracted fight is because either:
A) your target wants to run away and the second you're in delay they either need to be dead or almost dead already or afflicted with a status that prevents them running or they're going to get away because you're frozen in time, helpless, because spam flee is uncounterable unless they're prone or dead by your AoO on the way out.
B) your target wants to fight and by the time you're suffering from combat delay they
also need to be either dead or badly crippled, because you being in delay and the other guy not allows him to act unfettered. In that scenario, given the popularity of OHKOs in Armageddon, if you didn't open with a OHKO of your own, guess who's about to get a face full of heramide knives or arrows from the next room after a flee-shoot fest?
The combat code doesn't reward instigators. It rewards strategies that decide the battle instantaneously because the delay mechanics makes everything impossible to manage after that point. The 'meta' of armageddon really comes down to delay managing your opponent and yourself. If you put yourself into delay you better freaking do it in a way that stops the other guy. People who are willing to instigate (and thereby put themselves into delay) generally feel like their OKHO dejure is going to work, which might lend to the illusion as the offensive party winning often. But striking the first blow if it doesn't instantly kill your opponent simply leaves you in delay and at the mercy of a return instant-win stroke.
