Game Mechanics

"You got me wrong. You will be dying here much faster than in the Capital. Your body is wasting away just as a boat sinks with its hold full of water. Breathe in this air. Can you feel it?"

- Eva Yan, Day 1 of Pathologic

The Town-on-Gorkhon is unlike a normal world—people can starve or tire themselves to death within a single day. Locals claims that it's in the air; that every breath you inhale is slowly killing you.

The player must manage a variety of stats to stay alive, each function closely linked to the other. Along with basic bodily functions such as health or hunger, the player is also faced with outside forces such as reputation or the flow of time.

Health

 * The player's core stat. It is tied to all other functions—if you become hungry, exhausted, or plagued, your health will suffer. Health can also be lost during combat.


 * Health is increased by healing items such as tourniquets or bandages. Additionally, painkillers increase health should they be taken before the player sleeps.

Immunity

 * Immunity is tied directly to the player's infection and acts as a "buffer" between the plague and the player's other stats. While the immunity meter is full, it slows the progress of infection or can prevent it altogether.


 * It can be be managed and increased by immunity-boosting medicines or preventative vaccines.

Hunger

 * Naturally, hunger is sated by food items. Increases hourly. If the meter is full, the player's health will decrease continually until hunger is decreased, or death.


 * Food can be bought at stores, traded with townsfolk, or occasionally found. Different kinds of food can affect stats in different ways: for example, lemons strengthen immunity but increase hunger, while water lowers hunger but increases exhaustion.

Exhaustion

 * Fatigue increases as the day passes. If the meter reaches full, the player's health will slowly decrease.


 * The ideal way to deal with exhaustion is to sleep—but you can only sleep in the beds of private homes, such as the houses of Bound characters. Coffee can also be used to decrease exhaustion at the expense of health.

Infection

 * The player's level of sickness. Once infected, the meter increases continually; the higher the infection, the more health the player loses over time.


 * Infection cannot be fully removed without the use of special items, but can be managed by using antibiotics.

Reputation

 * The level of respect the townspeople have for the player. The lower the meter, the higher the chances the player has of being attacked and losing services. It can change greatly depending on the day or the choices of the player.


 * Reputation can be increased in a number of ways: completing quests, helping plague victims, getting rid of bandits, or donating money. Likewise, it can also be reduced by killing or insulting townsfolk.


 * While the Bachelor begins the game at full reputation, both the Haruspex and the Changeling begin with low reputation. In addition, the Changeling's reputation is constantly decreasing.

Time

 * Like in our world, the days in the Town-on-Gorkhon remain divided into 24 hours. One in-game hour corresponds to around five real-world minutes.


 * Midnight marks the deadline for quest completion and events, though 7:00AM is considered the start of the next day. Be warned—if quests remain uncompleted by the end of the day, they will be failed and one of the player's Bound will fall ill.

Character Mechanics

 * All characters have access to an oil lamp. This lamp is not an item, but an innate ability. It requires kerosene to work and if the player has kerosene, they may press 'F' to use it. The lamp's only function is to improve the lighting around the player should they wish to see the environment more clearly.

Bachelor

 * The Bachelor has access to the Plaguefinder. It is not an item that can be equipped or found in the inventory, but an innate ability that can only be utilized by the Bachelor.


 * When used, the Bachelor can see Sand Plague clouds further than initial eye sight. By using lenses, the Bachelor is able to upgrade the Plaguefinder and increase the range at which it can detect Plague clouds.


 * The Bachelor can also participate in the Ring of Suok.

Haruspex

 * The Haruspex has the ability to find Herbs throughout the Steppe and in the Town. These can be used to brew tinctures such as Twyrine Extracts and Dead Gruel in the Haruspex's Lair. These herbs can also be traded for from Worms at gatherer huts and traded to Andrey Stamatin in the Broken Heart.


 * For details on trading with Worms, see here. For details on trading with Andrey, see here.


 * The Haruspex can also participate in the Ring of Suok and in Rat Racing.

Changeling

 * The Changeling has the ability to find Herbs throughout the Steppe and in the Town. These herbs can be traded to Andrey Stamatin at the Broken Heart.


 * For details on trading with Andrey, see here.


 * The Changeling has a special ranged melee attack that can also heal infected townsfolk in exchange for some health. The Changeling can also participate in Rat Racing.

Trading

 * All playable characters have the ability to trade with the townsfolk. Trading with different townsfolk allows the player to obtain resources that may be difficult to obtain, if not otherwise impossible.


 * For details on trading and the various types of trades available, see Trading.

Health

 * The player's core stat. It is tied to all other functions—if you become hungry, exhausted, or plagued, your health will suffer. Health can also be lost during combat. If the player caps any of the other body functions they will begin to take health damage.
 * Health can be regained through sleep. Health is increased while awake by healing items such as tourniquets or bandages. Additionally, painkillers increase health a small amount while awake (at the cost of increased exhaustion) and when taken before sleep with increase the speed at which the Haruspex regains health.

Immunity

 * Immunity is tied directly to the player's infection. Touching infected surfaces, being touched by an infected individual, being in an infected district, or being hit by a Plague cloud will decrease immunity. Once immunity hits zero the Haruspex will become vulnerable to infection.
 * It can be increased by drinking Tinctures or taking Immunity Boosters. Basic tinctures will negatively increase another stat at the cost of increasing immunity. Medrel will increase Exhaustion, Yas will increase Hunger, and Zurkh will increase thirst.

Hunger

 * Hunger is decreased by food items. If the meter is full, the player's health will decrease continually until hunger is decreased, or until the Haruspex is dead.
 * Food can be bought at stores or traded with townsfolk. Occasionally food can be found in looted homes. Food will decrease the Hunger need at the cost of increasing Thirst. Using a "Yas" Tincture (+) will also very slightly reduce hunger.

Exhaustion

 * Fatigue increases as the day passes. If the meter reaches full, health will slowly decrease until exhaustion has been lowered.
 * The ideal way to deal with exhaustion is to sleep. The Haruspex is able to sleep at the Haruspex's Lair, Shelter, Willows, Peter Stamatin's Loft, Lump and, if the correct quest is completed, the Stillwater. Coffee can also be used to decrease exhaustion at the expense of health. Lemons will also decrease exhaustion slightly with no negative effects. A "Medrel" Tincture (+) will also slightly lower exhaustion when consumed.

Infection

 * The player's level of sickness. Once infected, the meter increases continually; the higher the infection, the more health the player loses over time. In Pathologic 2 infection starts fairly benign, but as it grows will start to lower Health extremely quickly.
 * Infection cannot be fully removed without the use of special items, but can be managed by using antibiotics. Antibiotics will decrease health upon use. Homemade antibiotics may be used alongside store-bought cures.

Stamina/Thirst

 * Stamina and Thirst effects how quickly the Haruspex is able to move from place to place. Stamina will drain while sprinting and thirst will increase as stamina recovers.
 * Thirst is decreased most commonly by drinking water, but can also be reduced by eating Apples, drinking Milk or Tan, or a "Zürkh" Tincture (+).

Reputation

 * The level of respect the townspeople have for the player. The lower the meter, the higher the chances the player has of being attacked and losing services. It can change greatly depending on the day or the choices of the player. Reputation is most commonly lost by attacking innocent Townsfolk, looting inappropriate houses, and harvesting most organs outside of the Hospital.
 * Reputation in Pathologic 2 is per district. Some actions will effect reputation in nearby districts, but a reputation decrease in the The Bridge Square is unlikely to effect reputation in the The Skinners.


 * Reputation can be increased in a number of ways: killing bandits, completing hospital quests, and curing Bound.


 * On Day 1 the Haruspex will rapidly begin to lose reputation until his name is cleared by Big Vlad

Time

 * Like in our world, the days in the Town-on-Gorkhon remain divided into 24 hours. At the beginning, one day is approximately two real hours. On later days, time will begin to move faster and faster. On Day 1 ten minutes lasts around 40 seconds real time. By Day 11 ten minutes lasts around 27 seconds real time.


 * Time stops while in dialogue or while in menus, but otherwise moves forward.


 * Midnight marks the deadline for some quests and the final chance to assist in danger Bound's immunity. Some quests last only one day, some several. There is no way to know which is which without experience.


 * In Pathologic 2, there are no quicksaves outside of the Prologue. The only way to save the game is to do so at a clock. Clocks can be found in most major buildings such as Bound Character homes and the Town Hall.

Equipment

 * Clothes can be acquired and equipped in four slots: Head, Torso, Hands and Feet. They lower the rate at which immunity decreases when in infected districts, and will lose durability either by spending time in infected areas or from being hit during combat.


 * There are also two slots for Weapons: one for guns, and one for melee weapons. They lose durability on use.

Repair

 * Equipped items will be destroyed when they reach 0% durability. They can be repaired before hitting that point, either by using the bench in the Haruspex's Lair or by interacting with some of the Townsfolk.


 * The lower the durability of an item, the more costly repairs will be. Each tier has to be repaired independently: for example, a Knife at 50% durability would need to be repaired up to 66% using a Grindstone and a Chisel, then from 66% to 100% using another Grindstone.

Inventory

 * In Pathologic 2, each item occupies a given number of slots in a grid, which serves to represent containers. At the start of the game, the player's inventory is limited to two 4x2 grids and a bigger 5x5 one. It can be upgraded over the course of the game in order to have more space.
 * The first upgrade can be acquired as early as 07:30 on Day 2, by speaking to Aspity after Isidor Burakh's funeral in the Cemetery. It adds a 2x5 grid under the central one.
 * All later upgrades are made by using the workbench inside the Haruspex's Lair, which can be done later in Day 2. Each new level will require an increasing amount of materials, and some may not be available until a certain point in the game.
 * The first workbench upgrade requires a Thread, Needle and Cloak, and adds two 2x2 sections.
 * The second workbench upgrade requires a Thread, Thimble, Repellent Cloak and Sewing Box, and adds a 2x5 section. Repellant Cloaks are not available in Stores until Day 4.
 * The third workbench upgrade requires a Thread, Safety Pin, Repellent Cloak and 2 Sewing Boxes, and adds two 4x2 sections.
 * The fourth and final workbench upgrade requires a Thread, Button, Army Cloak and 2 Sewing Boxes, and adds a 3x5 section. Army Cloaks are not available until Day 9.

Trading

 * The ability to trade is available from the beginning of the game. It is introduced to the player during the Prologue along with the game's combat mechanics. Trading with different townsfolk allows the player to obtain resources that may be difficult to obtain, if not otherwise impossible.


 * For details on trading and the various types of trades available, see Trading.

Combat

 * The player receives a combat tutorial during the Prologue. Throughout the game, the player will have to choose between when they should fight and when they should run. Although most encounters can be solved without fighting, there may be situations where combat is unavoidable so the player should seek to familiarize themselves with the combat system.


 * Pressing '1' causes the player to take out their fists. During this time, left-clicking with a mouse will cause the Haruspex to perform a simple attack. Holding the left-click will cause him to perform a larger attack that uses more stamina. Sneaking up on an enemy and attacking from behind will perform a stronger attack. Right-clicking performs a block.


 * Pressing '2' causes the player to take out their gun, if they have one equipped. If they have the correct ammo in their inventory, the Haruspex will load the weapon. Left-clicking causes the gun to shoot while right-clicking can help the player aim by lining up the gun's barrel. All guns have a chance to jam at any durability, with the chance of jamming increasing as durability decreases.


 * Pressing '3' causes the player to take out a melee weapon, if they have one equipped. Similar to fighting with fists, a single left-click will perform a simple attack while a held left-click will perform a stronger attack. Sneaking up on an opponent from behind and then attacking will also deal more damage. Right-click to block.


 * Pressing '4' takes out an oil lamp. This does not take up space within the inventory and is not a weapon, but is still useful to the player. When the player has matches in their inventory, they can press 'F' to light the lamp when the lamp is equipped. Aside from lighting up the environment, it can also be used to dispel Plague clouds.

Lockpicking

 * When the player has a lockpick in their inventory, they will have the option to attempt to lockpick locked doors they come across. In order to successfully do so, the needles on either side must be aligned with the red section. By default left and right click (or trigger, if on console) will lift the corresponding side. Each click will damage lockpick durability: it is therefore preferable to try to reach the red at the same time on both sides.

Autopsy

 * When the Haruspex encounters a corpse and has equipment to cut a body (a Rusty Scalpel, Scalpel, Lancet, or Menkhu's Finger) he is able to attempt to autopsy the body. Bodies contain either infected or healthy organs - a brain, a heart, a liver, and a kidney. Blood can also be drained if the Haruspex has an empty bottle. The lower quality the item used for autopsy, the more likely the Haruspex will damage the organ he is trying to retrieve. Using tools for autopsy will degrade them.

Bound Infection

 * Every day from Day 3 onwards, a number of districts will become infected. Every day at midnight Bound currently living within an infected district will be under threat of being infected with the Sand Plague. The Haruspex is able to assist Bound's immunity through the use of Tinctures or other immunity boosters such as the less effective Immunity Boosters and Twyrine. A boost in immunity does not guarantee that the Bound will be safe, only that they have a better chance at survival. A Bound character infected with the Sand Plague will roll for death on midnight instead. The Haruspex may assist the Bound character by decreasing their infection with antibiotics but, like immunity, assisting a Bound character's infection does not guarantee their survival.

Creating Tinctures

 * Tinctures can be created by combining twyre or otherwise special herbs. Herbs are found within the Steppe and The Town.

Creating Antibiotics/Painkillers

 * Home-brewed Antibiotics can be created by combining a tincture and an infected organ. Painkillers can be created with the combination of a tincture an a healthy organ. The harder the organ is to acquire (blood, kidney, liver, heart, and then brain) the more powerful the creation will be.

Dreams

 * Dreams play an integral role in predicting the future events of the game. For further details, see Dreams.

The Fund

 * At the beginning of the Sand Plague outbreak the powers of the Town create a Fund for the doctors in the Town. The Haruspex will be eligible for Fund rewards by working at the Hospital, curing infected individuals on the street and killing looters in burned districts. Applying antibiotics, even incorrect ones, to infected Townsfolk will increase the Fund meter - though correct diagnosis is awarded much higher. The higher the Fund meter is, the larger the reward is the next day. The Fund reward is collected at the Town Hall.

Death

 * Upon every death (outside of Day 1), the Haruspex will wake in the Theatre. With every death the director, Mark Immortell, will apply a penalty to all of the Player's saves in their individual file. Most penalties are a decrease in total health but other punishments such as a decrease in total hunger, a decrease in total exhaustion, and miscellaneous punishments such as being cursed to occasionally find Cotton Wool instead of organs in corpses all apply.


 * The only way to remove the punishments for death is to restart the game with a new save file, or take the Fellow Traveler's deal.

Punishments
For further details on what happens upon dying, see Theatre of Death.

Health

 * This makes the player more vulnerable to dying in the future. Maximum health is decreased during deaths 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, and 20. If the player receives all of the health deduction punishments, the health bar will have been decreased to 50% of its maximum.

Hunger

 * The player will take damage from hunger sooner. Maximum hunger is decreased during deaths 4, 12, and 21.

Exhaustion

 * The player will take damage from exhaustion sooner. Maximum exhaustion is decreased during deaths 6 and 16.

Other

 * On death 10, Mark will remove the player's ability to touch. Occasionally, the player will now find Cotton Wool rather than organs when performing autopsies.