World of Horror – Tips and Tricks for New Players

Beginners Tips and Tricks

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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 hope you enjoy the game!