I suggest that combat mode won't be entered for ranging(and magic)
The potential issue with combat working one way for 2 orientations, and a different way for the other 2, is that balancing them may become impossible.
Rangers and Mages, unlike in EL, are not supposed to be (necessarily) "support" combatants. We want all of the 4 combatant types to be fairly balanced.
I wanted to see rangers to be able to like attack you from the other side of the map
if you'd be locked than as well, you'd have no chance to ever get close.
but if they have to be a little closer to you, lock
I'd hate that to happen, dieing without a chance to fight back, if you get unlucky on flee
I cant imagine fighters (human:3 ppl), who can wear the best armor in the game, and have a diss rings equivalent with only a 10-15 sec cooldown dying without getting a chance to engage their opponent.
disrings \o/