Tips for Beginners

[TheGarbager619]

I have been struggling to get a complete run with Kirie (Already completed the game with Aiko and Mizuki). I always get to 100% Doom when I am at the lighthouse, can y'all give me like, general tips to 'git gud'?

[CyanCatMan]

If your struggling with the lighthouse then know each event with a "Skill check" needs 8 in whatever stat it uses to auto pass.
Example: 8 Charisma to convince the occult girl to drop the knife and let you pass.
So try to start focusing on making 8's in stats as you get more mysterys down.

Fun tip: The little robot on your shelf when your changing clothes before a mystery contains 1 "Funds" when you click it.
Useful for nabbing an extra item from a shop or just keeping the salesman at bay.

For a weapon: if you don't mind re-rolling mysterys a bit you can go into the school scissors mystery and get the scissors as a weapon which scales with knowledge.
Just write the wrong sigils on the board and do the ritual as normal.

[Orb Crabmelt]

As a new player—even on Skeptic—you're probably going to lose a lot. The game gets much, MUCH easier when you start learning the different mysteries and events. Like, it's pretty much always beneficial to get ending A on the bulletin mystery but aiming for ending A on the coma mystery means a tough boss fight. Or remembering what stats are used for different events and what good and negative outcomes result from events. Maybe it's better to take the result that gives -1 reason no matter what every time instead of gambling on a skill check you might lose and has a higher penalty. I think this phase of learning the mysteries and events is part of the fun of a roguelike and I would suggest you not spoil yourself. Just try to remember which mysteries have tough boss fights or which ones don't let you run around town. Once you've played a lot and are really stuck on how to get certain endings, then you can consult a guide.

There's also the combat system, which I think is poorly explained and documented. Essentially, you'll want to aim for weapons with the lowest "speed" stat (which means the weapon actually takes fewer time units to attack with during combat). I have never used the shovel or similar weapons with a speed stat higher than 80. Weapons also correspond with one of STR, DEX, KNW, and PER (somewhat rare). When I first started learning the game, I mainly used Mimi since the scalpel was an acceptable weapon and scaled off of her high KNW stat. Other decent weapons on low difficulties are the steak knife from the dog shop and the hammer and wrench from the hardware store. Someone more knowledgeable than me will have to answer this, but I *think* every stat point makes attacks with corresponding stat scaling faster by 3 time units. This is worthless for stuff like shovels or many of the guns, but is quite handy for faster weapons.

It's also important to understand the nature of the combat system. Enemies generally do their attack once per turn for the stated damage and type (-1 STA, 1% DOOM, etc.). They typically do not miss much (I could be wrong). In contrast, you have 200 time units with which to play with. Maybe your accuracy, damage, and speed are good enough to take out your opponent this turn and you should just spam attacks. Maybe you can "prepare" (adds 100% chance to land next attack) and kill a wounded enemy with one strong attack. More likely than not, you're going to have to calculate how many rounds you're going to be fighting for, how many times you'll be hit, and for what kind of damage. Certainly not always (because of the 5% doom penalty and missing out on combat XP) but sometimes you might decide it's better to just run.

Do not ignore your main defensive options: brace (halve incoming damage) and dodge (chance to avoid damage entirely). I believe STR and DEX govern brace and dodge, lowering time needed and increasing likelihood of success in the case of dodge. Also, the system rounds down damage when you brace in your favor, so an enemy that does -3 STA per hit will only do -1 STA if you brace. I *think* consensus is that brace is better, but I personally dodge a lot too.

A combat encounter for me is either dodging or bracing once per turn, plus attack boosts (or the prepare option if my accuracy is really unreliable) and however many attacks I can get in until I think I can kill the enemy in one turn of all attacks. Consider throwing items or using spells (if the costs aren't too bad) because these actions don't use time.

Once you start getting the hang of things, check out the achievements and maybe even spoil what they unlock. Achievements are your primary way to unlock new characters, shops, items, mysteries (and also bad stuff like injuries and curses). For example, there's an occult shop you can unlock which occasionally sells the holy candle. It's a bit RNG dependent, but using that candle in a couple of events is itself an achievement that unlocks one of the best shops in the game: the monument.

There's a World of Horror wikia that has an achievements guide, so check that out when you're in the mood to unlock a new character or if you're stuck and looking for something to do. Some of them are really screwed up (Miku the rioter and Yashiro the priest) and some you'll get naturally like Mimi the nurse.

Besides that, the "Z" key highlights stuff you can click on. Try using it in your dressing room, the police station, or the doctor's office the next time you're there.

If there are some mysteries you really can't handle, you can reroll them at the start of every run. It's kinda like cheating but I still do it.

All of this should be more than enough to get wins on Skeptic.

I don't know why I wrote all this, lmao. There's a couple of guides that go over this stuff.

I hope you enjoy the game!

[Orb Crabmelt]

Oh, and ghost enemies:

Typically, you can't attack ghosts with normal attacks. You'll either need to run and eat the 5% doom penalty, "sever their connection to our world / leave an offering (-1 FND)," or do the claps and bows thing. There's actually I think two ways to at least get hints to the proper sequence for claps / bows (it'll be the same for every ghost enemy throughout the whole run), but you're going to have to use one of the cheat sheets (and you still might get unlucky doing that).

So, yeah, sever or run for ghosts.

[Orb Crabmelt]

tl;dr use Aiko with a fast weapon and the Fast Swimmer perk, avoid mysteries with hard bosses

[FrozenMoonsoul]

For another handful of things on top of what Orb Crabmelt wrote:

• If you're willing to reroll mysteries, it always makes sense to start with Evolving Eels. Its A ending nets you what may well be the most powerful Ally in the game, granting a passive -1 reduction to all combat damage taken.
  
• Doing the subquest of each mystery is generally preferrable, even if you're not going to do ending A, as there's a chunky EXP boost in it if you do.
  
• Learning which mysteries culminate in boss fights and which do not is going to help you plan your resources in the long term.
  
• Before every mystery, including the first (!)*, you can take a shower at home unless a town event makes the water sludgey. This grants a +1 STA and REA heal, and a choice of +1 STA, +1 REA or +5 EXP at no cost whatsoever.
  
• If you're going to Rest during mysteries, try to rest "in bulk". Though you incur the DOOM cost every time, you get a free +1 STA and REA heal after every mystery you did not Rest in, so if you absolutely must, make it count.
  
• Be acutely aware that on the turn you successfully banish a ghost, it still gets in one last attack.
  
• The cupboard at your home usually contains a random item, and the little robot figurine at the mirror where you can change outfits always contains 1 FND. It's not much, but it's a neat little boost.
  
• Running is usually not worth it unless you play on one of the two highest difficulties.
  
• Learning what outcomes are not random for a given choice is a good way to minimize risk. For examples, when encountering a dead policeman in the Apartments, checking his injuries always rewards 15 EXP at no further cost**, and when encountering sculptures and masks in the School or Mansion, checking the masks always grants a free Mask item, whereas checking out the sculpture always results in a combat encounter.
  
• Accuracy is directly tied to your level. If you're struggling with that, it may be worth it to purchase a Compass from the dog shop ASAP - the effect seems minor, but piles up quickly.

*Relevant in that it's a free 5 EXP. It's not much, but it's honest... showering.
**Unless that's been changed in 1.0; I've only encountered that particular event once since the release and wanted the gun.

[Ein Nineteenth]

The Girl on the roof of the school will reveal the first two steps of the Ghost banishing ritual when you talk to her.

Don't worry about getting good . The game is a test of patience. Once you unlock Miku the Rioter and the God that converts spells to doom, you can truly start to dominate the game.

[Shin-ou]

if you have problems with battle encounters you can also go for more pacifist play style using the Invisibility spell and pocket knife (no doom when running). It's entirely possible to get through the entire game without doing a single actual battle. But as most people said it's mostly about understanding which risks are worth taking and where to get certain items. Those things are best learned just by playing a lot and get a feeling for it

[dD_ShockTrooper]

Combat is middle school math spreadsheet simulator. I highly recommend calculating the entire battle before you make your first move. At the very least - try different combinations of attack/S.attack to maximise total damage output. Fill gaps with +10% hit boosts. Use prepare instead if hitrates are <60%. Use brace if their damage is -3 and you can't defeat them in one round. Estimate how many rounds it will take to defeat your foe, and therefore how much damage defeating it will cost. Compare that to +5% doom and finally decide which is better.

Also some enemies have context actions available in the dotted border column to the left of kick. Some are absolute trash, but others can be lifesavers. Some of them might be support, defensive, or spiritual and aren't visible unless you navigate to that menu.

Finally, the little marks on the front of the lighthouse door mean something pretty important, and once you determine how to "read" those sigils, the lighthouse becomes much easier to deal with.