Hard West Gameplay Basics

A short guide containing some explanations about the game mechanics. Some mechanics are guesses until confirmed and some were provided by a developer on the Steam Discussions.

Introduction

*Updated for 1.4 (Straight Flush added, everything else should be the same.)
*Updated for 1.1 (1.2 and 1.3 are mostly fixes and improvements unrelated to this guide.)

As of now, there is an official manual that you can check in your Steam game library by right clicking Hard West > View Player Manual. It can be useful if you need more details or screenshots on a specific mechanic.

Also a lot of info gathered by the community in this discussion.
http://steamcommunity.com/app/307670/discussions/0/485622866435484803/

Basic Controls

***In the Tutorial, it might seems like controls are not working, look for a highlighted square to move to, it won't allow you to move anywhere else.

Left-Click - Select characters, abilities, targets, etc...
Right-Click - Move your characters in battle or on the strategic map. Cancel Ability use.
Mouse Wheel - Go Up or Down a level. (See on another building floor.)
E, Q - Rotate the map in battle.
Arrowkeys, AWSD - Move/Pan the camera (You can also push the mouse on the sides of the screen.)
Tab - Next Character/Target.
T - Swap Between your two Weapons.
R - Reload your current weapon.
Number Keys - Use Abilities in the order they are on the ability bar. (Ex: Subdue is usualy 1 and Shoot 2)
Backspace - End Turn
Esc - Menu

Basic Stats

HP - Your life points, at 0 you die.
Luck - Your ability points to use some active abilities and also allow you to evade when getting attacked. Is expanded when evading and replenished when hit.
Aim - Your ability to hit.
Defense - Your ability to not get hit, reduce Aim of the attacker by the same amount.
Movement - How far you can move in tiles.
Sight - How far you can see in tiles.

Heat - How visible you are in the Setup phase.
Range Modifier - At what range the equipped weapon can hit.
Stars/AP - Number of actions you can do in a turn, in most case attacking use all remaining stars. Usually requires 2 for most special shot while abilities or items require only one. Some weapons have the ability to use only one Star.

Shield/Cover - A full cover usual mean you only receive 1 damage while half-cover protect a little less. Some weapons do more damage against cover. Also reduce chance to get hit. (See CtH) Cover only works in the direction it is in, getting shot in the side or back negate cover.

Chance to hit - Clicking more info when attacking give you more information to your hit chances. Aim, Defense, Range Modifier and Cover all influence it, some weapons also have aim bonus or malus. When you have a chance to hit, if the enemy Luck is higher, it will be expanded and he will evade. If the chance to hit is too high or luck too low, it will be a hit and some luck will be replenished.
Half Cover -20% CtH
Full Cover -30% CtH

Ex: Total CtH is 67%, you don't know the enemy luck but it's at 70/100. The enemy will evade and lose 67 of his 70 Luck. Your next turn your CtH is the same but his luck his now at 3/100, you will hit and he will replenish some of his Luck. (Not sure of the amount, maybe it is simply your CtH since that's how it work in reverse?)

Dev Explanations/Confirmations

Defense

Originally posted by CreativeForgeGames_MacBad:

Defense stat is the one that directly affects your Chance to Hit (CtH). The defense number of a target of a shot is directly substracted from the CtH, meaning that it can either make the shot impossible to hit (less than 20%) or simply substracting a lot less luck.

Sight

Originally posted by CreativeForgeGames_MacBad:

Sight allows your character to see further, this one is actually pretty self explanatory :) Since the entire "background" (all the objects, the environment etc.) is seen from the start of a tactical battle in "Hard West" you might not be able to see enemies hidden behind walls etc. (where your sight simply can't penetrate) but ALSO if the enemy should be visible but is standing too far away from a character that has low "sight", this character might simply not see him.

Originally posted by Czaq:

SIGHT affects only the range in which the given character detects new enemies.
It doesn't affect Chance to Hit.

Cover

Originally posted by CreativeForgeGames_MacBad:

As for the numbers in cover, that's one of those small yet important features that separate us from a lot of tactical games. Mainly, if you or your enemy are hidden behind cover, not only does this affect the enemy's CtH but it also affects their damage. A character that's been shot while heding behind cover will receive lower damage while hiding behind full cover lowers it even more (usually to 1, unless you have a really powerful weapon). That's exactly what those numbers mean :) You can negate that "damage reduction" bonus as well as the penalty to CtH by flanking your opponent. Also, a small hint: Sniper Rifles have the ability to negate the "damage reduction" bonus from half-cover, since a focused sniper can hit an enemy much easier

Luck

Originally posted by CreativeForgeGames_MacBad:

Nope, our system is based entirely on the "Luck" attribute (but you don't know how much Luck the enemy has, hence the % value AND the enemy's luck IS random), so you can't have all the frustrating situations where you have 95% Chance to Hit and miss... We know that feeling, we're gamers as well :P
Also, there are values when your shot becomes impossible to hit (less than 20%) and a sure hit (more than 100% CtH). There are also special situations that give you a sure hit (standing 5 or less tiles from an enemy, which is "point blank range") or make you impossible to hit by an enemy (dodge ability, unless the enemy comes too close).

If you want to see all the mechanics underneath the shoot action, just click the "More info" button and all the calculations and explanations are there :)

Weapon Stats

There is a name and description, sometimes the weapon got a special ability and a Aim bonus or malus.

Abilities - Some are abilities that are also on cards but some are only on weapons.
Bonus-Malus - Usually related to Aim, only affect this weapon.
Range - At what range the weapon is best, usually means you have a bonus to your chance to hit in the right range, the wrong range does not seems to give a penalty, simply no bonus. (Need more testing.)
Damage - How many damage it does against enemies out of cover.
Ammunition - How many bullets it can shoot before having to reload, some abilities use more than one bullet.
Heat - How much heat it add to your character.
Damage vs Half-Cover - How much damage it does against enemies in Half-Cover.
Damage vs Full-Cover - How much damage it does against enemies in Full-Cover.

Cards

Cards range from 9 to A + Jokers and there are one for each suite and 2 Jokers.
You seem to unlock them randomly. Starting cards may be fixed for each scenarios.
You can't have the same card twice but a few abilities can also be on weapons.

They all gives varied Passive or Active abilities and a fixed bonus.

9: +1 Hp
10: +5 Aim
J: +2 Defense
Q: +2 Movement
K: +4 Sight
A: +10 Luck
Black Joker: +5 Aim, +2 Movement, +4 Sight
Red Joker: +1 Hp, +2 Defense, +10 Luck

Hand bonuses are based on poker hands.
The better one overwrite the others so you can only have one at a time for each characters.
(Ex: Three of a kind overwrite a Pair.)

From worst to best:
High Card: +8 Sight (Seems to require at least three cards.)
Pair: +4 Movement
Two Pair: +10 Defense
Three of a Kind: +30 Max Luck
Straight: +1 Hp/turn
Flush: +15 Luck/turn
Full House: +4 Movement, +30 Max Luck
Four of a Kind: +15 Aim
Five of a Kind: +2 Damage
Straight Flush: +1 Damage, +1 Max Hp
Royal Flush: +3 Max Hp

Cards/Abilities List

***One Card still missing, coming soon!***

Developer CFG Remi created this nice image with the cards and their icons
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=566439436

Nine of Clubs
Cannibal
Active
Eat human flesh to gain strength and restore health.
+1 HP

Ten of Clubs
Vengeance
Passive
Survive a fatal shot; if you kill your killer, you'll make it, otherwise, you'll die.
+5 Aim

Jack of Clubs
Dodge
Active, 40 Luck
If there's a chance to dodge the bullet, you will.
+2 Defense

Queen of Clubs
Shriek
Active, 80 Luck
Damage enemies in sight.
+2 Movement

King of Clubs
Terror
Passive
Nearby enemies panic.
+4 Sight

Ace of Clubs
Jinx
Passive
Your shots don't replenish enemy luck, plus nearby enemies lose luck all the time.
+10 Luck

Nine of Diamonds
Transfusion
Active, 50 Luck
Exchange health with target character.
+1 HP

Ten of Diamonds
Equalization
Active, 60 Luck
Reduce every character's HP to 1.
+5 Aim

Jack of Diamonds
Shadow Salve
Passive
Regenerate when not in direct sunlight. Very powerful in nightmares.
+2 Defense

Queen of Diamonds
Shadow Cloak
Passive
When not in direct sunlight, you become invisible.
+2 Movement

King of Diamonds
Beast Hearing
Passive
Sense nearby enemies.
+4 Sight

Ace of Diamonds
Scavenger
Active
You somehow find the best guns in the world on dead enemies. But then you tend to lose them.
+10 Luck

Nine of Hearts
-
+1 HP

Ten of Hearts
Golden Bullet
Active, 50 Luck
Fire a bullet that shoots through everything, and is sure to hit anything.
+5 Aim

Jack of Hearts
Shadow Kill
Active, 60 Luck
Ravage an enemy not protected by sunlight.
+2 Defense

Queen of Hearts
Disguise
Passive
You are ingnored by enemies in setup stage.
+2 Movement

King of Hearts
Smell Blood
Active, 10 Luck
Track wounded enemies.
+4 Sight

Ace of Hearts
Crippler
Passive
Every hit you score cripples the target.
+10 Luck

Nine of Spades
Unholy Power
Active, 70 Luck
Gain demonc strength.
+1 HP

Ten of Spades
Ricochet
Active, 20 Luck
Bounce bullets off one or more ricochet objects.
+5 Aim

Jack of Spades
Courage
Active, 10 Luck
Bolster your parameters when surrounded by enemies.
+2 Defense

Queen of Spades
Chain Kill
Active, 75 Luck
Kill an enemy to get a chance to kill another and another...
+2 Movement

King of Spades
Barrage
Active, 90 Luck
Shoot at all enemies in sight in sequence.
+4 Sight

Ace of Spades
Prayer
Active, 25 Luck
Grants random, powerful bonuses.
+10 Luck

Red Joker
No ability on its own, but Jokers serve as wild cards for making better hands.
+1 Hp, +2 Defense, +10 Luck

Black Joker
No ability on its own, but Jokers serve as wild cards for making better hands.
+5 Aim, +2 Movement, +4 Sight

Boons and Afflictions

Some are received in map events while in battle it requires you to enable Combat Injuries at the start of a scenario.

When damaged, you have a chance to receive a wound, if you finish this battle and the next battle with it, it will turn into an handicap with some advantages and reduced disadvantages. Since there are 5 battles per scenarios, its use is limited unless you get the wound on the first or second battle. At the third battle it may be better to see a doctor since battles get harder and at the fourth battle there's no point not healing it since it won't change before the end of the scenario.

The right wounds will be specific to a body parts while disease and other afflictions do not transform.

---

Mangled Foot
Damage to the foot results in reduced movement rate.
-4 Movement, -1 Max Hp
=
Lame Leg
Your scars slow you down, but make your dodging unpredictable.
+10 Defense, +1 Max Hp, -2 Movement

Gushing Wound
A deep cut results in severe enfeeblement.
-3 Max Hp
=
Abdomen Puncture
Some organs had to be removed, but that gives the other fellas less to aim at.
+1 HP/Turn

Face Mutilation
A shot to the face so bad, even Lady Luck turns away.
-1 Max HP, -20 Max Luck
=
Gouged Eye
The eye couldn't be saved, but it seems it was just holding your other eye back.
+4 Sight, +1 Damage, +1 Max HP, -5 Max Luck

Shredded Hand
Severe hand damage reduce gun skills.
-10 Aim, -1 Max HP
=
Missing Forefinger
You were missing a finger, but the next one in line was your favorite anyway.
+10 Aim, +1 Max HP, -10 Max Luck

Spine Fracture
Back injury causes stiffness and makes movement difficult.
-4 Movement, -1 Max Hp
=
Spinal Jeopardy
Your stiff back hampers movement, but provides stability when shooting.
+10 Aim, -1 Movement, +1 Max HP

Cracked Skull
A powerful blow to the head induces vertigo.
-5 Aim, -8 Sight, -1 Max HP
=
Missing Brain Part
The skull healed well. What was lost in intellect, was made up in speed and luck.
-4 Sight, +2 Movement, +1 Max Hp, +10 Max Luck

Other Mechanics

Essentials Characters: When a character dies it's gone for good. Some characters are essentials and that mean a game over if you lose them. You can go back to the start of the battle or in the case of Ironman mode at the beginning of the scenario.

Reaction Shots: Enemies will have a red circle around them if you move close to them. Be careful not to move through or in the circle, it will give them a free attack. If you don't see the red circle it means they don't have sight of that specific character and won't react.

Point Blank Shot: In really close range, (4 tiles*) chance to hit is 100%, Cover still apply damage reduction. *Was 5 tiles before 1.1

Vision Cone: In the preparation phase, if you hover on an enemy you will see a red cone, should you enter it, he will get suspicious and might start the combat phase. Heat make the cone bigger.

Subdue: In the preparation phase, you can subdue an enemy for a number of turns, another enemy must not have sight of you and when subdued they lose their vision cone. Higher Heat means more turns.

Save System: As of now there is no manual saving. It auto save on the strategic map after choices and save at the start of battles. Exit to menu also initiate a save.

*You can manually backup your save:

Originally posted by CreativeForgeGames_MacBad:

Hey guys,
We decided to design the game so that the player has to live with the consequences of his own actions throughout the scenario since they can be played through in a matter of hours. HOWEVER there is a way to save scum on the strategic layer if you choose to do so, just go to [your drive]\Users\[username]\Documents\HardWest\[lots of numbers] folder and copy the saves you want before making an important decision and then quit to menu, copy the save back there (overwrite) and load it if the result is not acceptable to you. Of course, this won't work for tactical battles since the only save created then is the one at the start of the battle.
We realize that our save system might not be likeable by everyone but we chose to make that hard decision to make the world of Hard West more about deeds and consequences. However, if you feel the need to save more, just use the save scum method I describe above, crude as it may be.

Item Unlock: In each scenario you can unlock three items for use in all the scenarios, there are different way to unlock all of them and they can be bought at the Fate Trader when unlocked. When unlocked you will see one to three stars on the scenario selection screen.

Ironman mode: You die you, start your scenario over, without ironman mode you can retry the battle. You probably should not enable it on your first try, it's at your own risk.

Credits

Thanks
CreativeForge Games for making the game.
Fellow Kickstarters for funding the game.
Gambitious Digital Entertainment for publishing the game.
Steam Users Stoibs, Malcher, cANe and Bubba for help with some cards.
Steam User Detatom for a lot of the Boons and Afflictions.
Developer CreativeForgeGames_MacBad for most official responses used in this guide.

---

Written by Apoc - Olivier Lebeau-Paradis for Steam Community Guides.

[Xavier]

What about all this gold digger stuff? Is there a right answer to digging gold or does it not matter how you go about it?

[SpacePanda001]

how do you change orientation positions when "activating" either cover & quest items like the 'notes', telegram, etc.? i see various highlighted blocks surrounding them, and its always arbitrary which one gets selected? that isn't great, imho. i don't see a control option for that anywhere

[crazy_diamond]

This is a very helpful guide, nice job!

I would like to note that, since you arranged the poker hands by rarity, a Five of a Kind is higher than a Royal Flush, and is the strongest hand in Five-Card Draw with wildcards (jokers).

Also, a Nine of Hearts, 9♡ is Artery Shot. Active, 30 Luck. If hit, target enemy will suffer greatly after walking five steps. +1 HP

[Apoc]

From what I could find:
Terror - enemy will have a chance to behave irrationally, which can influence his moves/attacks.
Intimidated I think give you move turns before that character end the pre-battle and force you into battle mode.

[Flition]

Honest Question. King of Clubs: Terror 'Makes people panic'. What Exactally is the benifits of 'Panic' or being 'Imtimidated' in pre-battle? Do they lose accuracy or something?

[Apoc]

Thank you for the list of injuries.
I have to get back to the game sooner or later to update the guide a bit.

[Detatom]

Straight flush is +1 Damage/+1 HP!

Nail bomb does 3 HP Damage.

Injuries :

Spine Fracture
Back injury causes stiffness and makes movement difficult.
-4 Movement, -1 Max Hp
=
Spinal Jeopardy
Your stiff back hampers movement, but provides stability when shooting.
+10 Aim, -1 Movement,+1 Max HP

Shredded Hand
Severe hand damage reduce gun skills.
-10 Aim, -1 Max HP
=
Missing Forefinger
You were missing a finger, but the next one in line was your favorite anyway.
+10 Aim, +1 Max HP, -10 Max Luck

[Detatom]

Face Mutilation
A shot to the face so bad, even Lady Luck turns away.
-1 Max HP, -20 Max Luck
=
Gouged Eye
The eye couldn't be saved, but it seems it was just holding your other eye back.
+4 Sight, +1 Damage, +1 Max HP, -5 Max Luck

Gushing Wound
A deep cut results in severe enfeeblement.
-3 Max Hp
=
Abdomen Puncture
Some organs had to be removed, but that gives the other fellas less to aim at.
+1 HP/Turn

[Detatom]

Mangled Foot
Damage to the foot results in reduced movement rate.
-4 Movement, -1 Max Hp
=
Lame Leg
Your scars slow you down, but make your dodging unpredictable.
+10 Defense, -2 Movement, +1 Max Hp

Cracked Skull
A powerful blow to the head induces vertigo.
-5 Aim, -8 Sight, -1 Max HP
=
Missing Brain Part
The skull healed well. What was lost in intellect, was made up in speed and luck.
-4 Sight, +2 Movement, +1 Max Hp, +10 Max Luck


Thx for this awesome guide!

[TeenIdol*]

This game is so unforgiving with its learning curve. Love it, but holy cow did I get frustrated