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Hello everyone,

Today I continue talking about mutations and their different types in the game. In the previous devblog, I covered the overall corruption system and how mutations are acquired. As a reminder, the player gains corruption points through various actions, which are displayed in the purple container on the right side of the screen. When it fills up, the character undergoes a mutation – an uncontrolled transformation.

General information about mutations.

1. Mutations are granted randomly and are unavoidable.
2. They cannot be prevented or replaced.
3. Mutations persist until the end of the dungeon run.
4. If the mutation threshold is exceeded, the character dies and the run ends.

From the moment a mutation occurs, the player has to adapt their playstyle to new conditions.

Types of mutations.

Mutations can affect the game in different ways:

• some directly reduce the player’s stats,
• some alter how combat mechanics function,
• and others increase pressure from enemies or the system itself.
• Below are examples of different mutation types.

I will not list all of them, as there are already more than 40 mutations in the game, and the list continues to grow.

Numerical mutations.

• Suppressed Emission – reduces critical strike chance
• Muscular Tremor – reduces hit rating during the first turns of combat
• Structural Degradation – reduces maximum health

Conditional combat mutations.

• Autoattack Overload – reduces defense on the next turn after using a basic skill
• Compromised Immunity – reduces evasion rating for each damage-over-time effect on the player

Out-of-combat mutations.

• Spasmodic Movement – deals damage every 25 steps on the world map
• Sensory Distortion – prevents the player from inspecting enemies before combat
• Genetic Instability – increases the chance of negative traits in the Gene Lab

Build-impacting mutations.

• Second Breath Denial – reduces healing effectiveness of the Second Wind ability after each use in combat
• Autoimmune Response – consumes part of the Fortify effects applied to the player
• Homeostatic Failure – regeneration does not work above a certain health threshold

Mutation progression.

It is also important to explain how mutations evolve.

At the start of the game, the player simply receives random mutations of different types. However, after the corruption bar is filled for the fifth time, existing mutations begin to upgrade instead of new ones being added. Each mutation has three levels. During an upgrade, one of the player’s existing mutations is randomly selected and its level increases by one. Over time, multiple mutations can be upgraded at once. Once the player has reached the maximum number of mutations (9), further corruption will only strengthen existing ones until most of them reach their maximum level.
After upgrading, a mutation may not only change its numerical values, but also alter how it works.

Example of a functional change.
Compromised Healing. Base: reduces healing gained from killing enemies in combat

1. Level 1 – reduces healing by 50%
2. Level 2 – reduces healing by 100%
3. Level 3 – additionally deals damage to the player upon killing an enemy

Example of a numerical scaling.
Spasmodic Movement. Base: deals damage while moving on the world map

1. Level 1 – 7 damage per 25 steps
2. Level 2 – 12 damage per 25 steps
3. Level 3 – 20 damage per 25 steps

Mutation interactions.

Mutations can also interact with each other. For example:

Forced Reflex – forces the player to use only basic skills during certain rounds
Corrupted Precision – adds corruption whenever the player uses basic skills

Individually, these mutations are unpleasant but manageable. However, when combined, the player will inevitably gain additional corruption after each battle. This can significantly accelerate the rate at which new mutations are acquired.

This is an example of how mutations begin to function not as isolated effects, but as a connected system.

Mutations create constant pressure on the player throughout the run. In the first half of the game, the player receives a set of random mutations and still has time to adapt their build. In the second half, mutations begin to intensify and restrict available strategies. This makes them not just a penalty system, but a core mechanic that limits both time and flexibility within a run.