Mechanics

This page contains some info about the core mechanics of the game.

Beat

Most actions performed by the player must be done to the beat of the music. All actions can be performed on either a full beat or a half beat (these are not musical terms - they relate to the rhythm bar). These actions include:

• Firing
• Reloading
• Dashing
• Using secondary and ultimate abilities

Note that jumping, interacting (opening chests, etc.), and moving do not have to be done to the beat of the song, and do not count as mistakes if not done to the beat of the song.

Enemies also attack to the beat of the music.

Mistakes

The mistake indicator

The following things are considered mistakes. They will prevent you from performing an action, and if there are enemies in a room, they will also reset the score multiplier to 1 and count against a flawless room clear:

• Attempting to perform an action off-beat
• Attempting to perform multiple actions on the same beat (only one of the actions will be performed)
• Taking damage

Upon making a mistake (except when taking damage), a red diamond indicator will appear on the rhythm bar.

The following things prevent you from performing an action, but do not count as mistakes:

• Attempting to use an ability on beat while that ability is on cooldown
• Attempting to reload when ammo is already full or infinite
• Attempting to shoot when ammo is empty (if the "Fire Reloads On Empty" option is enabled, this will reload your weapon instead)
• Missing a shot

Rhythm Bar

The Rhythm Bar

The rhythm bar appears in the center of the screen and acts as both a crosshair and an indicator of when to perform actions on beat.

The large chevrons indicate full beats, and the small chevrons indicate half beats. Any action can be performed on either a full or half beat.

Indicators

When fighting certain enemies, the rhythm bar will display special indicators instead of the usual full beat chevrons. These indicators warn the player that an action needs to be taken to avoid an attack.

Directional dodge indicator on Draugr's area attacks.

Directional dodge indicator

• Shown as an ornate, bolded beat chevron on one side of the rhythm bar.
• Indicates that the player should dash in the direction show by the chevron when it reaches the center.
• Unique to Draugr's area attacks.
• This attack can also be avoided by strafing instead of dashing.
  

Dodge indicator on one of Ymir's projectile attacks.

Dodge indicator

• Shown as an ornate, bolded beat chevron on both sides of the rhythm bar.
• Indicates that the player should dash either left or right when it reaches the center.
• Examples include Guardian projectiles and Nidhogg's fireball.
• Some attacks with this indicator can also be avoided by strafing instead of dashing.
  

Jump indicator on one of Draugr's projectile attacks.

Jump indicator

• Shown as a bolded half-chevron on the top half of both sides of the rhythm bar and converges in the center to form an upwards-pointing chevron.
• Indicates that the player should jump when it reaches the center.
• Examples include one of Draugr's projectile attacks and Gullveig's ground attack.
• Timing the jump to the indicator is not necessary since jumps can be performed off-beat. These attacks will miss as long as you aren't on the ground when the indicator reaches the center.
  

Hide/Block indicator on Ymir's beam.

Hide/block indicator

• Shown as a dotted beat chevron on both sides of the rhythm bar.
• Indicates that the player should hide behind something or Block when it reaches the center. Examples include Ymir's beam and Fire Eater barrage.
• Attacks are usually long-lasting or involve lots of targeted projectiles.
• Some attacks with this indicator can also be avoided by strafing instead of hiding or blocking.
  

Score

Performing actions on beat, such as shooting, reloading, and dashing, awards points and increases the score multiplier if there are enemies in the current room.

Enemy score

Points awarded from enemies depends on multiple factors:

• The amount of damage dealt using the "Damage" modifier (weapons and some abilities like Snipe)
• The enemy's maximum health (an enemy with 50 HP can only give a maximum of 50 points even if hit with 200 damage)
• The score multiplier
• The difficulty multiplier
• The trial bonus (if applicable)

The maximum amount of points a given enemy will give can therefore be written as such:

Enemy Score = (maximum health) x (score multiplier) x (difficulty multiplier) x (trial bonus)

Damage dealt using the "Ability" modifier (such as Fire Bolt or Mortal Curse) does not give score.

Jump / Dodge score

Performing a timed Jump or a timed Dodge will award 100 points, affected by:

• The score multiplier
• The difficulty multiplier
• The trial bonus (if applicable)

The formula for them can therefore be written as such:

Jump / Dodge score = 100 x (score multiplier) x (difficulty multiplier) x (trial bonus)

Despite being able to Juke attacks with a Dodge indicator by strafing instead of dodging, this action does not give score.

Room score

These scores are not affected by multipliers, only by trial bonuses. When a room is entered for the first time, 1000 points are given. Then, when all enemies are killed in a room for the first time, points are awarded depending on the amount of mistakes:

Clear text	Rhythm	Hits	Clear bonus
Flawless clear	0	0	+10000
Good clear	1	1	+2000
Okay clear	2 - 4	/	+1000
Room clear	4+	2+	0

Getting hit once will lower to 3 the maximum amount of rhythm mistakes allowed for an "Okay clear". Getting hit while having a damage-negating ability active (like Block) does not count as a mistake. If Auto Rhythm is enabled, the Rhythm column is ignored.

Score multiplier

It ranges from x1 up to x4 depending on the note streak:

Note streak	Multiplier
0-9	x1
10-19	x2
20-29	x3
30+	x4

Making a mistake resets the note streak to 0 (and the score multiplier to x1) if there are enemies in the room. If Auto Rhythm is enabled, the score multiplier is locked at x1.

Difficulty multiplier

It ranges from x1 to x3 depending on the difficulty:

Difficulty	Multiplier
Practice - Easy	x1
Hard	x2
Hellish	x3 (x4.5)

The Hellish difficulty also increases enemies maximum health by x1.5, creating a combined enemy score multiplier of x4.5.

Trial bonus

Some Trials do affect the scoring system either through their effect or with a hidden multiplier:

Trial	Effect	Multiplier
Fabled	All enemies are tougher	x2 Enemy score, x2 Room score
Mania!	Double the damage, double the enemies	x2 Enemy score
Twitch	Enemy projectiles are faster	x1.2 All score

Timer

On every full beat, an amount of score is lost depending on the amount of time spent in the run:

Start time	End time	Score lost per beat
00:00	9:59	-1
10:00	19:59	-10
20:00	29:59	-100
30:00	39:59	-200
40:00	49:59	-400
50:00	59:59	-1000
60:00+		-2000

During a Boss' finishing chords, the score momentarily freezes until the final hit is dealt. However, the timer still continues to run.

Room clears

To clear a room, all enemies in the room must be killed. The room is only counted as "clear" the first time all the enemies in the room are killed (killing enemies that spawn in from a Slot Machine, Cursed Chest and second/third activated Challenge room after the room has been cleared does not count as clearing the room again).

After a room is cleared, a message is displayed on screen indicating the quality of the clear. The quality of the clear depends on how many mistakes were made while clearing the room:

• "Flawless Clear": Made no mistakes
• "Good Clear": Made 1 mistake
• "Okay Clear": Made 2-4 mistakes
• "Room Cleared": Made 5+ mistakes or took damage 2+ times.

"Room Cleared" will also be the message displayed if Auto Rhythm is enabled or if no timed actions were performed while in the room (for example waiting until a Cutthroat dies of old age).

Upon clearing a room, a chest appears (except for some miniboss rooms or if the zone has the Barren Modifier). A Flawless Chest appears when the room is cleared flawlessly; otherwise a Plain Chest appears. There is a random chance that a more rare chest will appear regardless of the clear quality.