If you have any improvement suggestions, please comment below. Let me know if things needs to be corrected, clarified, or if you'd like to see something explained that isn't here. This is a work in progress.

We Who Are About To Die is a brutal roguelike. It's kind of like Chivalry 2 and Human Fall Flat or Gang Beasts had a weird baby together. Be prepared to die, a lot. Your decisions matter, a lot.

Once you have selected your backstory, you begin the game.

There are two phases to the game; the preparation phase, and the combat phase. After healing, buying and selling gear, and making an assessment on which fights are best to participate in, you select a scenario to participate in, then you hope that you survive.

The first few matches are usually pretty easy, but it quickly escalates in difficulty and your decision making will have a big impact on your success. Even the combat itself requires careful assessment to reduce risk and improve your odds of survival.

Backstories determine the starting attributes of your character, modifiers to your playthrough, and determine your starting gold and fame.

[1/X] Professional Aspirant

• Your Scollo takes 50% of the fame you earn
  
• Starting Specialist combat skills from training in the Scollo
  
• Some starting equipment provided by the Scollo
  
• It is easier for you to win over the audience from combat.
  
• Training gear at the Scollo is cheaper.
  
• Starting Gold: (~1,000)
  
• Starting Fame: (~2,000)
  
• Victory Condition: Reach Aspired rank.

The armory menu is the main screen you are brought to after initially selecting your backstory and after each combat phase. Here you can buy/sell your gear and review basic info about your character like health and stamina, armor ratings, weapon damage, etc.

Selling Gear

WHY DOES MY AIM SUCK?
The combat system is physics based, so despite there being neat UI elements showing you which direction you chose to attack from and whether or not you are guarding, these are not guarantees that you will land your strike or safely block an attack. You have to pay attention to the actual weapon and shield models to land your swings more effectively. There seems to be a bit of randomness with some weapons, especially when throwing. Even if your crosshair started a swing directly on your opponent's head, this doesn't ensure that the hit will land, sometimes you have to aim off center of where you want to hit so that the physical weapon will actually move the way you want it to. It takes some time to get comfortable with this.

WHY DOES MY BLOCK SUCK?
Pretty much the same as above. But there's an easier way to recognize the likelihood of failure/success with a block than with an attack. When blocking, your mouse reticle changes to a shield icon. This icon will be brighter if a block is more likely, and darker if a block is less likely. Improve your chances of blocking an attack by hovering your mouse reticle over the opponents' weapon while holding block before they release their attack. You don't always have to have a bright blue shield reticle to block. Sometimes you can block an attack without blocking, and sometimes you can block an attack while attacking. Your shield and weapon are physics objects, and they will collide with enemy weapons. As long as the enemy weapon doesn't hit your player model, you're safe from damage.

HOW DO I HIT HARDER?

TBD

As you earn character score, you will hit ranking milestones. Each rank milestone that is reached allows you to choose between two random bonuses after completing the combat phase and returning to the preparation phase.

List of Rankings

• 0 Larvae
  
• 5,000 Blood Fodder
  
• 12,500 Unproven
  
• 25,000 Rising Trainee
  
• 35,000 Adept Aspirant
  
• 50,000 Proven
  
• 65,000 Feral Beast
  
• 80,000 Legshaker
  
• 100,000 Inspirator
  
• 125,000 Champion
  
• 175,000 Grand Champion
  
• 250,000 Aspired
  
• 350,000 Living Legend
  
• 500,000 Demigod
  
• 750,000 God of Blood
  
• 1,000,000 Prime Aspired
  
• 10,000,000 Ascended

• A

Equipment Qualities

Ordered by best to worst.

• Godlike ?
  
• Masterwork ?
  
• Impressive
  
• Sturdy
  
• Adequate
  
• Ordinary

The combat phase scenario is determined by the combat bracket that the player selects in the preparation phase under the Battle Menu.

The available brackets are as follows:

• 1 vs 1
  
• 1 vs Many
  
• Many vs 1
  
• Many vs Many
  
• Pitfight
  
• Wildcard

Generally, the easiest scenarios are going to be the 1 vs 1 and the Many vs 1 scenarios. However, sometimes the combat level of the scenario can make these "easier" scenarios more difficult than the others. If you are poor and have cheap gear, you might want to take a level 3 Many vs Many scenario instead of a level 5 1 v 1 or Many vs 1.

Each time you play a combat bracket, you rank that bracket up and it becomes more challenging the next time you play it. As the difficulty increases, so do the rewards.

1 vs. 1 Bracket
Exactly what it sounds like. Hot man on man action.

1 vs Many Bracket
The daredevil challenge. Take on a bunch of weaker opponents all at once. The amount of opponents is random and can be anywhere from 2 - X opponents. Although they are generally weaker, this is definitely one of the most challenging modes of play. You will need the right weapon and good armor to survive this, even at the lower difficulty levels.

Many vs 1 Bracket
The amount of opponents is random and can be anywhere from 2 - X opponents.

Many vs Many Bracket
Although you have teammates, you can't really take a backseat approach on these, otherwise you are likely to be fighting solo against strong opponents by the end of the match. The teams are always an equal size, and the amount of players is random and can be anywhere from 2 - X.

Pitfight Bracket

Wildcard Bracket
Randomly selects one of the above Combat Brackets. The reward calculations are the same as the rewards for the scenario.