Hidden Abilities - What they do and how to get them

Hidden abilities are a new mechanic introduced in the latest update. The acquisition and upgrade methods aren't immediately obvious, so I thought I'd make this little guide.

What Hidden Abilities Are

Hidden abilities are basically passive abilities that don't take up inventory slots. They can't be bought or sold, and once you have them, you can't lose them. They have levels like normal abilities, however. Most of them benefit any build, despite their acquisition method (more on that shortly), and there is no limit to the number of hidden abilities you can have at one time, which could convince people to build larger and more varied decks.

You can hover over your acquired hidden abilities (shown in the top left) in the shop or pause menu to see their name, effects and upgrade requirements.

How To Get Hidden Abilities And Upgrade Them

Hidden abilities can be gained by having three unique abilities with the same tag in the inventory at the same time (with the exception of the electric tag, which is only on two abilities and those only requires those two). The abilities do not have to be in the active slots to give you the hidden ability.

Targeted needs 4 abilities, probably due to how common targeted abilities are and how useful the hidden ability is. Passive similarly requires 4.

Then, to upgrade them, you just need three unique level 2 abilities of that tag for level 2 of the hidden ability, and three unique level 3 abilities of that tag for level 3 of the hidden ability (again with the exception of electric). Simple, right?

Why Should I Get Hidden Abilities? What Do They Do Exactly?

As mentioned earlier, hidden abilities are permanent passives, and so long as you have some synergy in your abilities, you should at least one or two as you play anyway. Each has unique effects, which I will list, many of which effect all abilities or give special effects. The descriptions listed show the level 3 version of the ability, and are not word for word.

Dual wielding (targeted, requires 4) - targeted abilities fire projectiles in 4 different directions

Efficient economy (finance) - 3 more tokens per shop

Evasion (random) - 30% chance to dodge

Penetration (shot, different from the penetration ability) - abilities pierce through 3 more targets

Armor (shotgun) - reduces incoming damage by 6

Melee (aoe) - deal more damage to enemies the closer they are, up to 100% bonus damage

Berserker mode (i think darkness, unsure because tooltip is broken) - when the slime has less than 20% health, moves 50% faster and deals 50% more damage

Bonus health (food) - 1200 more maximum health

Flammable concoction (fire) - abilities ignite enemies and deal 20 damage per second

Power of observation (homing) - the slime gains 15% additional experience

Fragility (ice) - after damage is dealt to an enemy, that enemy takes 30% more damage, this doesn't stack.

Time warp (satellite) - all abilities have their cooldown reduced by 30%

Soul eating (boomerang) - the slime restores 3 health for each enemy killed

Damage reflect (electric, you only need 2 electric abilities for this... because there are only 2) - enemies dealing damage to the slime take 200% of that damage reflected back to them

Bonus bonus (passive, requires 4) - increase bonus drop rate by 60%

Critical strike (summoning) - the slime and his minions have a 25% chance to deal 400% more damage

Pricking (piercing) - anytime you pick up a bonus, the slime gets 100% bonus damage for 5s. this stacks.

Other Relevant Information

Getting each hidden ability to level 3 will give you a hidden achievement. To my knowledge, these account for all hidden achievements.

Also, the 'knockback' tag, which is only on the 'blast wave' S tier ability, does not currently have a hidden ability. To my knowledge this is the only tag without a hidden ability.

[Scary Terry]

Penetration isn't actually different but you could drop the ability after getting it, so you have a slot for another weapon or passive for a different tag.

[Owyn]

> Penetration (shot, different from the penetration ability)

how is it different tho? they both only work on "shot" items

[jinxs2011]

added new pricking ability

[terebigeemu]

Pricking - Piercing (3)

[Rhui]

Thanks for confirming and for creating this useful guide, friendo.

[jinxs2011]

confirmed and edited

[Rhui]

Passive needs 4 as well for bonus bonus. Unless that's just to unlock it the first time. I will test this.

[Mako Morlev]

You are an absolute boss!
Thanks capn