Lethality

Lethality is an unlockable difficulty setting that can be purchased from Kleines after clearing Floor 6 for the first time. There are 3 Lethality modes, Mild, Intense, and Sudden Death, which the player can select from at the Hub terminal before starting a run. Rather than changing enemy behaviors or attack patterns, Lethality lowers the player's max health and ammo in exchange for higher damage. It's a tradeoff and not strictly meant to make the game harder; the lower max HP means a smaller margin for error but the higher damage means that enemies die sooner and don't need to be evaded for as long. Some experienced players even consider Intense and Sudden Death to be easier than Mild, though opinions vary. Due to the different health mechanics some Upgrades, Cartridges and other things do not appear on Intense or Sudden Death, listed below in their respective sections.

Mild

Mild is the default Lethality mode, and is the only option available before unlocking Lethality at the hub terminal. Starting stats are 10 max HP, 100% damage, and 100% max ammo. Max HP can be increased during the run, bombing has no effect on multiplier, and no items are excluded.

Intense

This Lethality gives the player 5 max HP, 150% damage, and 50% max ammo. Max HP cannot be increased in this mode; anything that normally increases max HP instead grants a shield, similar to the Ironheart Cartridge. In addition, if the player loses max HP for any reason (such as Life Shops or spr_eatrs), they will be unable to regain it.

To balance out the easier multiplier gains from having frequent shields and high damage, using a bomb on Intense lowers the multiplier by 1.0. This only applies during combat though, so the player is still free to open shortcuts and secret rooms without it hurting their multiplier.

The changes to damage and max ammo take affect through their respective stats visible on the map screen. Normally these stats each start at 100% and increase when the player finds damage or max ammo pickups, but on Intense the damage stat starts at 150% and max ammo starts at 50%. While these stats can still be increased during a run, the new starting values cause damage pickups to have a smaller impact (going from 150% to 160% is proportionally less than going from 100% to 110%), whereas max ammo pickups have a larger impact.

Excluded Items

Some items do not appear on Intense Lethality as they are either too powerful or made obsolete:

• Upgrades
  • Autobomb
  • Plating
• Cartridges
  • Bandage
  • Bulwark
  • Ironheart
• The Trader's offer of 2 max HP

Sudden Death

Sudden death's stats are 1 max HP, 300% damage, and 30% max ammo. Like on Intense, max HP increases are impossible and instead grant shields, allowing at least some margin for error. Sudden death also has the same 1.0 multiplier loss from bombing during combat that Intense does.

Like Intense, the relative impact of damage and max ammo pickups is different, but Sudden Death makes it even more apparent. With 300% damage right from the start, an additive 10% increase doesn't change much, while with 30% max ammo, an additive 10% increase makes weapons last much longer.

Excluded Items

Some items do not appear on Sudden Death Lethality as they are either too powerful or made obsolete:

• Upgrades
  • Autobomb
  • Focus
  • Plating
  • Quickening
  • Second Wind
• Cartridges
  • Bandage
  • Braveheart
  • Bulwark
  • Ironheart
  • Plate
  • Reflector
• Shrine deals
  • "Gain 20% damage, but halves your current health."
  • "Lose all your held bombs, and gain HP for each."
• Weapon Curses
  • Curse of Numbness
  • Curse of Pain
• The Trader's offer of 2 max HP

Notes

• Intense and Sudden Death are generally better for getting high scores, as the high damage and abundance of shields makes it easier to keep a high multiplier.
  • Sudden Death is also very helpful when going for an S rank in Damage, even though shield hits do count towards the Times Hit total.
• A useful strategy for Sudden Death is to deliberately stay at 3 HP parts, making it easier to get a new shield after taking a hit.
• Notably, the Magic Shield cartridge is still available on Sudden Death and is one of the only ways to survive taking damage in that mode.

Star of Providence
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