Beginner's Guide

When a thorn's health is depleted in combat they become incapacitated and can be revived with a med kit. If the combat encounter is won all incapacitated thorns will revive with minimal HP.

If a previously-seen enemy movies outside the line of sight of all thorns, a red hologram will display their last seen position.

Outside combat, the selected thorn moves in real time. The other thorns will follow the currently selected thorn. Small obstacles can be mantled over. Actions do not cost AP outside combat. Walls that appear cracked can be broken by any explosion.

Actions

First-person mode

Most actions cost Action Points, or AP. In combat, each thorn has limited AP to spend during its turn. Up to 5 unspent AP can be carried over to the next turn.

• Move: Moves to a specific location or cover position. Costs various amount of AP depending on the distance traveled.
• Aim: Enters aiming mode.
• Overwatch: Set a cone area for the rest of the current turn. If any enemy moves within the cone area, automatically enter aiming mode to attack it. Costs 10 AP and a reflex action. Requires weapon ammo.
• Punch: Moves to an enemy in range and melee strikes them. Costs 5 AP and has a cooldown of 1 turn.

Reloading a weapon costs varying amounts of AP depending on the equipped weapon. It can be done in both regular and first-person view.

Shooting

Shooting enemies is done manually in first-person view. Before shooting, you can lean into cover or peek from the other side to get a better shot angle. Holding breath costs 3 AP during combat and will zoom in and increase accuracy. Environmental objects that explore can be shot, and the radius of the explosion will be displayed when aiming at them. Weapons attacks cannot piece obstructions. Shooting enemies in the head deals more damage than the rest of their body.

Reflex Actions

Every turn, each thorn and rifter has a Reflex Action. The Reflex Action is used by reaction abilities like Scramble, and can also be spent on some actions.

Scramble is a reaction ability that triggers when a thorn or rifter is attacked with a weapon or grenade and allows they to move up to 7m in any direction. Both thorns and rifters can shoot while an attacked enemy is performing a Scramble. Scramble is most effective when used to hide behind the nearest available cover.

Status effects

Certain status effect persist based on the unit's health, while others last a few turns in combat, indicated by a number over the status effect icon.

Status	Effect
Bleeding	Inflicts 5 damage to the unit for every AP they spend during their turn
Blinded	Greatly reduces the unit's accuracy
Suppressed	Increases the unit's AP cost to shoot
Encouraged	Awards the unit with bonus AP during their turn
Injured	Reduces the unit's capacity to perform actions
Critically Injured	Greatly reduces the unit's capacity to perform actions
Taunted	The unit will focus on Dylan for a few turns
Bullet Force	The damage output of the unit's weapons is increased by 25%
Brass Knuckles	The damage output of the unit's punches is increased by 25%

Status	Effect
Ignitable	The unit can be set on fire
Ignited	Inflicts damage on the unit at the start of their turn
Electrifiable	The unit can be electrified
Electrified	Inflicts damage on the unit at the start of their turn
Paralyzed Arms	The unit cannot attack
Paralyzed Legs	The unit cannot move
Encrusted	The unit cannot perform any action
Knocked Out	The unit cannot perform any action
Strong Willed	The unit is immune to negative status effects