I just did some experiments and came up with some numbers to help understand how certain mechanics work in this game. I derived some values like the multipliers that matched the numbers the game shows us but I don't know exactly how the calc is done underneath. I've made some assumptions like fractional values being rounded down which is typical.

This started while I was despairing about a certain shapeshifter stomping me over and over, and trying to figure out if any of the items in my inventory could actually help me win. I had no idea, especially about items like Perfectionist's Ring whose effects are explained pretty vaguely. I started experimenting and eventually this turned into a real guide that covers a good amount of the game's mechanics.


I spoiler tagged the name of one item because it gives away the result of a side quest that's vague on purpose. (There's only one item called a "Badge" in the game, by the way.)

I included hints (or where to acquire some of the items discussed here but this isn't trying to be an exhaustive guide to items or progression. Feel free to ask questions in the comments though or just let me know if this guide helped you, if you want to.

Base damage dealt is whatever the sword says it is (the attack power). Damage is not randomized.


Sword attacks are actually a 2-hit combo. Every second hit (in close succession) does extra damage.

So trying to double-tap enemies when you have enough of an opening is worthwhile.

The swings otherwise look and feel the same to me, or close enough that I didn't notice the combo until I started recording these numbers.


This guide's examples use 36 attack power since that's the attack stat of most end-game swords.

Example: with 36 attack, the combo deals 36, then 43.


Damage values were recorded under different conditions and I derived multipliers that would fit the data.


* Unsure exactly what the "low health" threshold is.


Dash deals your base sword damage, and costs 0.5 water charges.

Hitting an enemy with the dash attack also recovers water like a regular sword attack, mitigating some of the cost.

Notably with the Badge equipped you recover half the cost of dashing if you land a hit.


You extract 0.2 water per hit, 0.25 with Poet's Badge.

I'm not sure how much is added under the effect of Crysto Bars, but it's decent. They might be the best consumable items in the game.

You can farm Crysto Bars from the horrible sci-fi laser cannons in the castle, or do what I did and just don't use them for your first 10 to 20 tries of a hard boss... and then continue not using them because now you know how to beat the boss without them? Hmm... maybe don't take my advice.


Some damage is added on top of basic sword damage.


Burning Halo doesn't directly affect sword damage but inflicts burn status on the enemy. I really have no idea how to figure out the numbers for this. It might use the same calc as burns on the player. It can deal a lot of damage. It also seems to be able to damage bosses normally during lengthy phase transitions where they stop to talk or perform some action (two of the bosses near the end come to mind).

Same with the spicy buns, I'm not sure of the numbers. It lets you launch fire twice but I don't know how the burning stacks compare to the halo's damage-wise or duration-wise. It seems to be a high burst of damage but much less damage overall than a halo.


The Stricken Blade has 36 attack power but deals only half its damage normally, and the other half is magic damage. There are quite a few quirks to this.

Pros:

• The magic damage has a longer reach than normal swords.

Cons:

• The magic damage does not get a x1.2 boost from the 2nd hit of a combo. So the first hit deals 18 physical + 18 magic damage, and the 2nd hit deals 21 physical + 18 magic damage.
  
• Similarly, only the physical half of the damage is boosted by modifiers like Perfectionist's Ring (in this case, you would deal 22 physical + 18 magic damage for the 1st hit, at full health).
  
• On the other hand, the magic portion of the damage is not boosted by Old Believer's Ring.
  
• Hitting with the magic damage but not the physical damage (due to the difference in reach) does not extract water from enemies. (This is pretty bad. It's easy to run out of water with this sword.)
  
• Dash does not trigger the magic damage at all, so it only deals 18 damage. (You might as well just wield a fish.)

It's not very good. It can very faintly light up dark areas though, which is useful because where is the lantern??? (I know where it is now, but it's pretty easy to miss it for most or all of the game, despite it being accessible pretty early on. All you need is the hook, or dash, and it's in a dark room in the underground (not too far from the starting area).

Spells deal fixed damage. The only modifier I've seen is Old Believer's Ring.

Old Believer's Ring: spell damage x1.16 (or about 1/6 bonus damage)



Laser ring is the most water-efficient with 118 (138) damage per water charge. But they're all similar enough that this doesn't matter as much as what works for the boss you're currently facing.

Dash doesn't deal spell damage, and isn't boosted by the spell ring.

I think healing works like this:

Base healing: 25 HP per water charge
With Ring of Healing: 35 HP per water charge (a 40% increase)

Not bad if you're into that kind of thing (and actually have a spare slot).

This is a pretty rough calc because I don't think the game ever shows the numeric current HP. These numbers come from measuring the health bar combined with some so-called common sense.

Actions with instant stamina cost:

• Sword strikes cost 7 stamina (4 with medallion)
  
• Dodge rolls cost 9 stamina

Dashes don't cost stamina so they can be used to avoid an attack if you can't roll. You can also chain them before or after rolls to get around the dodge roll's cooldown.

Actions affecting gradual stamina loss or gain (I'm less sure about these values):

• Natural recovery while not sprinting (near enemies or not) is about 30 stamina/s
  
• Sprinting while safe results in net zero change to stamina
  
• Sprinting while seen by an enemy is a net loss of maybe 15 stamina/s

Sword strikes cost 4 stamina with the medallion equipped (down from 7 stamina normally).

It may be a reduction of (cost / 2, rounded down). Or in other words the cost itself is halved and rounded up. If that's true then dodge rolls should cost 5 with the medallion.

How to acquire the Velan Medallion: Betrayal. (Finish Ricard's questline, meeting him in front of the door to Vela's temple/prison, near the blacksmith. You have to have spoken with him and helped him earlier, and you have to have the means to enter the temple, and then he'll be waiting there.)