Darkness has crept across Nesis for centuries, so gradually that few remember life before it. The songs speak of the Age of Heroes more like myth than history. They sing of a united world where the races stood as one, with bountiful lands, far reaching roads, lamps that never needed tending and wells that never ran dry, and travelers' greatest danger was the weather. Moss-covered roads vanish beneath ancient forests, while broken watchtowers stand over trade routes no caravan has traveled in generations. Each kingdom hides behind its ever increasing defenses. Elves, humans, and dwarves have long been isolated. Travelers, who once returned with stories of distant kingdoms, now bring warnings, if anything at all.

But sometimes, people whisper the old stories of the heaven-blessed, the Anam, warriors who rose when darkness threatened to consume the world. The Anam drove back the darkness, united the great cities, and brought an age of peace. But three hundred years have passed since, and the peace they forged has nearly vanished.

On desktop you can switch between keyboard and mouse at any time. Just use the other one.

Mouse-only is newer and less tested. Expect rough edges.

Full keyboard

WASD moves with your left hand. O K L ; are the four action buttons under your right, laid out like a controller's face buttons.

Keyboard + mouse

WASD still moves; the mouse does the rest.

Press WASD to switch to keyboard mode. Move the mouse, without clicking, to switch to mouse mode.

Mouse only

The same point-and-click as mobile touch, without the keyboard.

Mobile touch

On a phone, held landscape, the game draws an on-screen controller: a d-pad on the left and four face buttons on the right, with three shoulder buttons above them: L1 on the left, R1 and R2 on the right.

Tap for fullscreenthe game fills the screen

Fullscreenthe same, as a button

Movethe d-pad walks and steers

Actconfirm, cancel, menu, details

Cross confirms and Circle cancels, the same as a PlayStation.

Controller

Any controller the browser recognises works. The face buttons match the mobile layout above; the shoulder buttons carry the extras.

Battle speed

Tap R1 to step through 1×, 1.5×, 2× and 4×. One more tap returns to normal.

R2 does one of two things, depending on your speed.

Cycle up to 4×, tap R2 to remember it, then return to normal. Now hold R2 to skim a long enemy turn, and release when your own comes round. The remembered speed carries to the overworld. Nothing latches — releasing always returns you to normal.

Outside battle you can explore Nesis. Talk to people and look around. That is how you learn about the world, and how you find the best items. NPC dialogue changes as the story moves. Someone with nothing to say today may be worth finding again later.

Treasure

Chests and bags across Nesis hold useful items.

Relics turn up in dungeons and towns. Each holds a story of the past and a combat mechanic.

Enemies sometimes drop items in combat. Walk over the chest to take it, before an enemy does or the fight ends.

Resting

A bed restores HP and MP in full. Some places charge to rest, others do not. Elias' house in Laria is free.

Saving

Save from the menu almost anywhere, dungeons included. You cannot save during an event or a fight.

The game also keeps one auto-save of its own, overwritten after you change area, win a fight, or move the story forward.

Scene Exits

An exit marker hovers over every way out of an area. They are on by default; toggle them with outside battle.

Controller Icons

A controller icon shows which mode the game is in: keyboard, mouse, gamepad, or touch (see Controls for details).

There are seven damage types. The six magical types each have a status effect and a ground effect. Units can have affinities for all seven.

Physical defense blocks Physical. Magic defense blocks every element.

	Damage type	Category	Status	Ground
	Physical	Physical	(none)	(none)
	Poison	Magical	Poisoned	Poison
	◈ Acid	Magical	Acid Covered	Acid
	◈ Ice	Magical	Chilled	Icy
	◈ Fire	Magical	Burning	Aflame
	Radiant	Magical	Blinded	Hallowed
	◈ Necrotic	Magical	Cursed	Cursed

Status effects

Any unit under a status effect carries an icon above it, or icons stacked when there is more than one. Every status effect that lands adds a stack. At the start of your turn one stack is spent and the effect takes hold — poison deals its damage. While poison stacks remain, your hit chance drops and attacks against you land more often. Spend your last stack and you act freely that turn. More stacks mean more turns under the effect. Stacks also draw more of the same: the more poison you carry, the more likely the next dose takes hold.

	Status	Comes from	Description
	Poisoned	Poison	Small damage every turn. Less likely to land hits, more likely to be hit.
	◈ Acid Covered	Acid	Damage every turn, and reduced physical defense.
	Blinded	Radiant	Much less likely to land hits, much more likely to be hit.
	Interrupted	A broken charge	The charged attack is cancelled, and the creature cannot react until its next turn.
	◈ Restrained	Web ground	Cannot move, but can still attack from where it stands.
	◈ Chilled	Ice	Movement reduced.
	◈ Burning	Fire	Moderate damage every turn.
	◈ Cursed	Necrotic

Ground effects

	Ground	Description
	Poison	A chance to become Poisoned each time it is walked on. The Mother Slime lays it as she moves, and it lasts the rest of the fight.
	◈ Acid	Damages whoever walks on it and applies Acid Covered.
	◈ Web	Costs double movement to cross, with a chance of Restrained.
	◈ Icy	Costs double movement to cross, with a chance to fall prone.
	◈ Aflame	Applies Burning, and a Burning unit leaves an Aflame trail.
	◈ Hallowed	Radiant ground.

Status Affinities

Beyond raw defense, a unit can have an affinity to a damage type.

Mark	Affinity	Description
	◈ Vulnerable	Damage type does double damage.
	◈ Resistant	Damage type does half damage.
	Immune	Damage type does no damage.
	Absorb	Damage type heals instead of damages.

A permanent affinity shows in the unit's status details panel, readable only with Scan at enough Expertise. A temporary affinity shows as a bubble above the unit, with the turns remaining on it.

◈ Vulnerable and Resistant arrive with the wider damage-mitigation pass.

You learn skills in two ways:

• Class skills, earned on your class tree by spending SP.
• Relic skills, granted by a relic you have slotted. A relic is an item you own.

Three skill types

Whether it comes from your class tree or a slotted relic, every skill is one of three types.

Relic	Icon	Kind	Description	Examples
		Action	used on your turn, often costs MP	Smite Cure Cleanse
		Reaction	triggers automatically in response to something	Counterattack Parry
		Passive	always on, no input needed	Scan Health-up

Class skills

Unlocked by spending SP on your class tree. The tree mixes skills, ability-score nodes that raise a raw stat, and Relic Slot nodes.

Expertise on a class skill unlocks further improvements, but those still have to be purchased in the skill tree. Nodes that need Expertise carry a lock. Revisit the tree whenever a class skill gains Expertise.

Passive class skills can be disabled in the Skills menu. Passive relic skills cannot be disabled, though the relic itself can be unequipped. A passive skill earns no Expertise while it is disabled, and enabling it does not guarantee Expertise either.

Relic skills

It is said a relic carries the story of a hero, and an Anam can tap into that hero’s strength. The Prologue tells more of the Anam.

A relic is an item you can find in the Items menu and equip in the Skills menu. In your bag it does nothing. Slot it into a Relic Slot to turn on the skill it grants. You start with one Relic Slot; further slots are unlocked on the class tree.

Episode One relics:

Relic	Description
Item	Use consumables such as Mugwort during combat.
Scan	Reveals hit chance and enemy HP/MP levels. Without it you aim blind.
Move	Increases movement range.
Health	Increases total HP.
Berserk Counter	Reaction to physical damage, temporarily increasing incoming physical damage in exchange for physical damage output. Dropped by the Mother Slime.

Expertise: skills grow with use

Every skill and relic earns Expertise as you use it in battle. At milestones it improves: harder hits, longer reach, lower cost. Expertise belongs to the relic, so it moves when the relic moves.

See what is needed to increase a particular skill’s Expertise on the Skill Details panel of the Skills menu.

HP	Health Points.
MP	Magic Points. Restore with Irid Liquor.
XP	Experience.
JP	Job Points. Granted at each level-up. Spend on raw stats in the Status menu.
SP	Skill Points. Granted at each level-up. Spend on your class tree in the Skill Tree menu.
EP	Expertise Points. Earned by using a skill or relic.

Stats

There are two types of stats: raw stats, which you increase at level-up, and battle stats, which are determined from your raw stats and the equipment you wear. Stats can also be altered by status effects.

Raw stats

Spend JP in the Status menu to raise a raw stat, or buy stat nodes in the class skill tree.

Three special raw stats, called accumulator stats, cannot be purchased directly. They grow on their own at level-up according to their paired stats, shown in the table below.

Accumulator stats weigh heavily on battle stats. The pairs you invest in shape a build well beyond the raw numbers on the page.

Each class has core stats set by its class tree. Invest further in those, or diverge for a different playstyle.

Battle stats

Each battle stat has one primary raw stat that moves it most, with others chipping in. To raise a battle stat, invest in the raw stat that feeds it.

Battle stats update in real time as you spend on raw stats, before you save, so you can see exactly where an investment lands.

	Battle stat	Grows most from	Also from
	HP	Constitution	Strength
	MP	Intelligence	Wisdom, Constitution
	Move	Agility	Dexterity
	Reflex	Agility	Dexterity
	XP Mod	Intelligence	Wisdom
	Physical Attack	Strength	Dexterity, Constitution
	Physical Hit	Dexterity	Wisdom, Strength, Agility
	Physical Dodge	Agility	Dexterity, Wisdom, Strength
	Physical Defense	Constitution	Strength, Dexterity
	Magic Attack	Intelligence	Wisdom, Dexterity
	Magic Hit	Intelligence	Wisdom
	Magic Dodge	Intelligence	Wisdom, Agility
	Magic Defense	Intelligence	Wisdom, Constitution

No attack is certain, and none is hopeless. The attacker's Physical Hit is weighed against the target's Physical Dodge; magic uses the magical pair.

A physical blow that lands can also crit, for half again the damage. Dexterity and Luck carry that chance in equal measure, with Wisdom adding a little, and where you are standing does the rest.

Symbol	Kind	Description
	Consumable	Used once and consumed. Can be used outside combat, or in combat with the Item relic.
	Equipable	Can be equipped from the Equipment menu.
	Relic	Can be equipped from the Skills menu, according to your slot count.
	Key	Key item, can't be sold.

Quick tip. Buying or finding something is not the same as using it. Equipable gear does nothing until you put it on in the Equipment menu. A relic does nothing until you slot it in the Skills menu.

Laria General Store

Item	Price	Description
Valerian Powder	25	Cures Poisoned.
Mugwort	40	Heals a little HP.
Leather Boots	60	Slightly raises Reflex, Physical Hit, Physical Dodge and Physical Defense.
Irid Liquor	100	Restores MP.
Leather Chestpiece	150	Raises Physical Defense.

Open the menu with Space / K / Tab, the on-screen menu button, or ☐ Square on a controller.

Status: buying stats with JP

The Status menu is where you spend JP (Job Points) to raise your raw stats, your permanent build.

Press + / − on a stat to buy it (each costs JP), then Save to lock it in (Clear resets). Your JP at the top of the menu falls as you spend, and the battle stats on the right recalculate as you go, so you can see what a point would do before you commit to it. Nothing is final until you Save: take a point back, or Clear the lot, and try a few combinations to see what moves. Battle stats are calculated from your raw stats and you never edit them directly. The stats without −/+ (Stamina, Speed, Knowledge) are accumulators, they grow on their own at level-up from your past investment (see Growth & Status).

Skill Tree: learning skills with SP

The Skill Tree (your class tree) is where you spend SP (Skill Points) to unlock skills, stats, and additional relic slots.

	Node	What it is
	Stat	Raises one raw stat, permanently.
	Skill	An action, a reaction, or a passive. Use it from the Skills menu or in battle.
	Relic Slot	Gives you another Relic Slot. Fill the slot in the Skills menu.

A relic improves on its own as its Expertise grows. A class skill does not: Expertise only unlocks the next tier on the tree, and you still pay that node's SP cost to take it.

Each node has a cost that appears in the bottom right corner.

Skills: using skills & slotting relics

The Skills menu lists the skills you've learned and holds your Relic Slots.

Pick a skill on the left (each shows its MP cost) to see its detail panel, type, effect, and its Expertise (EP) growth tiers. The Cast button uses the skill right there, many work outside combat too (e.g. Cure to heal or Cleanse to clear a status between fights). Drop a relic you own into a Relic Slot (unlock slots in the Skill Tree) to turn its skill on.

Equipment: gearing up

The Equipment menu equips a Weapon, Armor, Boots, or Accessory you own into its slot.

Pick a slot and choose a piece of gear from your bag. The battle stats update live, so you see what a swap does before you commit.

Items: using consumables

The Items menu lists the consumables you carry (and your relics).

Each item shows a × quantity; selecting one shows its name and effect. Mugwort heals HP, Irid Liquor restores MP, Valerian Powder cures poison. (Using an item in battle needs the Item relic slotted, see Skills.)

The Waterways under Laria hold one family of foe. Each teaches what the next expects you to know. The tile beneath each is the ground it stands on: the Mother needs four.

	Foe	Affinity	Damage	Reach	Reactions	Skills
	Young Slime	Immune		1	none	none
	Young VSlime	Absorb  Resistant		1	none	none
	Slime	Immune		2	Opportunity Attack	none
	VSlime	Absorb  Resistant		1	Opportunity Attack	Poison Cloud
	Mother Slime	Immune  Resistant		2	Opportunity Attack	Poison Cloud, Poison Walk

• Spend your JP and SP after every level. Leveling grants them; the power only lands once you spend it (JP in Status, SP in the Skill Tree). Don't sit on a pile.

• Fill every Relic Slot the moment you unlock one. An empty slot does nothing. The Item relic (drink Mugwort mid-battle) is a good first choice.

• Equip what you buy or find. Gear in your bag does nothing until you put it on in Equipment.
• Heal between fights. Mugwort is your only HP restore. Top up before the next room, and rest at a bed when you can.

• A winding-up enemy is an opportunity. Leave the painted cells, or stay and fill its stagger bar to break the charge. Retreating deals no damage and costs you ground, so if you can trip the bar, stand and fight. If you are built to heal, leave.

• Crits are on your side. Your crit chance beats most enemies'. Even fights swing your way with a little luck.
• Save often: free in the village.
• Use your favorite skills. Skills grow with use (Expertise). Lean on one and it becomes far stronger over a run.
• Take Counterattack early. It sits near the start of the tree and answers the crowding most early fights are built on. Whenever an enemy lands a melee attack from an adjacent tile, you strike back — every time, however often it swings.
• The Mother keeps her distance. She reaches up to two tiles and prefers to stay back, so most of her attacks land from outside Counterattack's reach. Bring range of your own.