There are no traditional difficulty settings inWuchang: Fallen Feathers, but it does include a very strange and unique mechanic that will let you throttle your difficulty in a sense, and it might be slightly confusing for players at first. Unlike many soulslikes,Wuchanggives players a bit of control over the nature of the challenge. This is done using two key mechanics: the Inner Demon and Madness systems.
WhileWuchang: Fallen Feathersis heavily inspired by FromSoftware’s belovedDark Soulsfranchise, it also includes completely original mechanics that stand out in the genre. The Inner Demon system isWuchang’score soulslike mechanic, while Madness is an original feature that allows players to enhance their abilities at the cost of taking more damage. These two systems are interconnected, and they may take a minute for players to fully grasp.
How Madness Works In Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
Madness Is Gained Or Lost Based On Which Enemy Types You Defeat
Madness is a relatively straightforward mechanic once you’ve spent some time playingWuchang,and intrue soulslike fashion, it primarily functions around the number of times you die. At the most basic level,the more you die, the more your Madness level will increase. As your Madness level gets higher, you’ll deal more damage once you reach the 90% Madness threshold. At the same time, you’ll also take increased amounts of damage when above 90% Madness.
While this is the basic principle behind Madness, it becomes a bit more complex when you start todive into the Impetus Repository nodesdedicated to Madness-enhancing features. For example, the Conversion node will allow your Swift Draw attacks to absorb health when above 90% Madness, while the Steel Resolve node will grant a stack of Skyborn Might on a successful Deflect when above 50% Madness.
These sorts of nodes incentivize players toembrace Madness for additional buffsas opposed to keeping Madness levels low. Madness nodes can be used strategically based on specific bosses you’re struggling with, or ignored completely if you’d rather keep things simple. This is part of what makesWuchangsuch a dynamic experience, and it allows for a wide range of playstyles.
Divine Gifts will completely cleanse your Madness at the Shu statue, while Divine Gift Shards will only partially cleanse Madness.
While Madness will automatically increase when you die, it can also be increased intentionally in other ways, including using Maddening Incense, purchasing items in the Invoke menu at shrines, orby killing non-Feathered humanoid enemies (i.e. innocents). Conversely, you can decrease your Madness in various ways, such as defeating Feathered enemies and bosses, making offerings at God of Shu’s golden statue in Shu Sanctum with Divine Gifts or Divine Gift Shards, or most significantly, by defeating your Inner Demon.
How Madness Impacts Red Mercury Acquisition
You Will Gain & Lose More Red Mercury Based On Madness Levels
While damage dealt and received is increased at the 90% Madness threshold, it also impacts the amount of Red Mercury gained or lost during gameplay. Red Mercury is essentiallytheWuchang: Fallen Feathersequivalent to “Souls” in the FromSoft universe. At shrines, it’s converted into Red Mercury Essence to increase player level and award skill points that can be invested in nodes in the Impetus Repository.
50% to 90%
Increased
All
Basically, the higher your Madness levels, the more Red Mercury you’re able to earn from defeating opponents and bosses, but you will also risk losing more - and possibly all - of your Red Mercury.Depending on your skill level, you may benefit from higher or lower levels of Madness in terms of Red Mercury acquisition.
On the one hand, you can earn Red Mercury much faster at higher levels, but if you often end up dying, you run the risk of losing all of it. On the other hand, you will earn lower amounts of Red Mercury at lower Madness levels, butwill be able to salvage most of it if you end up dying. The choice is yours, and you’ll have to weigh the risk versus the reward for yourself.
How To Stave Off Madness With The Inner Demon System
Defeating Wuchang’s Inner Demon Saves Your Red Mercury
Once you’ve died too many times or intentionally raised your Madness levels to the max, you’ll have the chance to fight Wuchang’s Inner Demon. This basically means that when you die at the 90% or above Madness threshold, you’re able to return to your location of death andface off against a spirit version of Wuchang herself.
Luckily, if you die in a boss arena while at maximum Madness, your Inner Demon will NOT spawn and attack you, but you will still lose all your Red Mercury.
Defeating the Inner Demon will preserve your Red Mercury andreset your Madness to zero, and will also typically reward you with an item such as a Divine Gift Shard. Being defeated by your Inner Demon will also reset your Madness to zero, but unfortunately, you will lose any Red Mercury that could have been salvaged otherwise. There are also ways to avoid losing Red Mercury on death, such as Golden Feather Pearl consumables.
you’re able to use the Inner Demon to reset your Madness to zero by intentionally dying and returning to that spot, which is a perfectly fine strategy if you don’t have any Red Mercury to salvage. However, if you have a lot of Red Mercury stacked up, it’s probably a better idea to make an offering at the Shu Sanctum to decrease Madness instead. Alternatively, if you want to keep your Madness level high but end up dying, you can use Madness Incense before defeating your Inner Demon to maintain Madness levels.
You Should Embrace Your Inner Demon In Wuchang
There Are More Benefits Than Drawbacks To Madness
While the system will be slightly confusing to players at first, the game more or less forces you to face your Inner Demon to progress, which makes it easy to ultimately catch on. That said, I highly recommend embracing the Inner Demon and keeping Madness at least at the 90% or above threshold. Not only will this let you take advantage of the various Madness nodes in the Impetus Repository, butyou can also earn more Red Mercury and deal increased damage.
You can slightly mitigate increased damage received during 90% Madness with various Benediction and Consumable effects.
These nodes will give you a significant leg up againstdifficult early bosses like Honglanand Liu Cheng’en, and you’ll need every bit of help you can get against even tougher bosses in the late game. However, there’snot as much incentive to keep your Madness at the 50% to 90% levelduring the regular course of gameplay or while exploring and defeating lesser enemies.
Outside of fighting bosses, playing at 50% Madness is the least advantageous option. If you’re prone to dying often, you may end up losing a significant amount of Red Mercury should you fail to defeat your Inner Demon, andthere’s no additional Red Mercury earned at these levels.
That said, the beauty of this system is thatevery player can decide for themselveshow difficult they want things to be and how much risk they’re willing to take. If you choose to play at higher Madness levels, be sure to utilize the various Madness-based Impetus Repository nodes for whatever weapon you’re using.
Madness and the Inner Demon system can completely change the way you playWuchang: Fallen Feathers, and whether you choose to embrace Madness or defeat your Inner Demon is entirely up to you. Regardless of your playstyle, you may make progress through the game at any Madness level.
