Obliteration

Aligned with the power to destroy everything in their way, an Obliteration vessel will undoubtedly be one of your greatest adversaries.
Should I be a pacifist.. or should I use my fist.. I'm feeling evil, think I'll kill them all...
==DESCRIPTION==
Obliteration, (also known as genocide). Is a main route that can be obtained by solely killing enemies until you reach a LV (aka LOVE) of 8. A player that is going Obliteration specializes in dealing large amounts of damage at close range, and has a multitude of options to debuff enemies trying to zone or run away. Obliteration's Denounce abilities allow them to drain an enemy's stamina and speed as well as lowering their defense to allow them to quickly dispatch enemies that do not maintain effective distance from them. Despite this they still have relatively notable flaws, due to their large amount of Max Health, their Max Armor gradually lowers scaling with their LVL. Additionally while they do have options to close the gap and punish enemies for zoning incorrectly, if these moves miss they essentially give the enemy free reign to utilize projectiles as long as they maintain stamina.
Unlike Pacifist, which can still deal direct damage via their largely-unchanged FIGHT command, Obliteration fully cannot abandon their route without either being fully SAVEd by a Savior or completely Restarting. Their ACT command can no longer provide Mercy, there is no way for another player to make you deal Mercy damage, and your MERCY command (which appears visibly damaged while on Obliteration) will instead perform Execute, a dash attack that instantly kills enemies at low HP and reduces your own MERCY by a large amount when landed.
==ACT's==
===Denounce===
"Debuffs." 
Denounce is Obliterations unique take on the Talk action. Instead of being able to apply Mercy, Denounce focuses solely on debuffing your enemy.
Denounce	Denounce 	Denounce 	Denounce 	Denounce 	Denounce
Name 	Debuffs 	Projectile Properties 	Visual Example	Summary 	Extra Info
Speak 	-Attack, -Stamina 	The projectile takes the form of a large horizontal 'slash', resembling a red-colored verison of the orange Encourage projectile.	 	This move is a simple, projectile-based debuff that reduces your opponent's movement and attack power. It is useful in most situations, but especially against other Obliteration players or if someone is attempting to run from you while you're low on TP or your specials are on cooldown. 	
Threaten	-Speed, -Mercy M1, -Defense 	It has a direct hitbox instead of a projectile extending as a rectangular prism a large distance forward. 	 	This move is a non-projectile ranged attack that is best used just before closing into melee, especially on Pacifist players. It hampers them from getting away, makes them more vulnerable, and temporarily blocks them from dealing MERCY damage with M1. The speed and defense reduction are useful in melee against any opponent, though.	
* Pacifist players under the influence of this move can in fact kill enemies normally. It is advisable as an Obliteration player to hold off on this if you are low on HP while fighting a Pacifist, as your Mercy being filled is marginally less dangerous than your HP reaching 0 given it requires your opponent landing a Spare to defeat you. You should also be sure not to underestimate a Pacifist player's conventional damage potential, as they still have access to large bursts of it with FIGHT; if they use a successful Threaten as an opportunity to try to kill you outright, keep your guard up.
Deprive 	-Attack, +Armor Pierce (allows you to pierce your ENEMY's Armor)	 	 	 	
=== Specials===
"Powerful Attacks" 
Specials are powerful attacks that can be used to make up for what a obliteration player lacks in the rest of their moveset. Capable of clearing mercy, gaining distance, and combating zoners while dealing large amounts of damage. Each special is best used in specific situations, potentially turning the tide of battle when utilized as such.
Specials	Specials 	Specials 	Specials 	Specials 	Specials
Name 	Visual Example	Strategy 	Unique Properties 	Summary 	Extra Info
Lunge
(48% TP)	 	Lunge can come out relatively fast and deals a large amount of damage depending on the enemy's HP. It is a useful way to close in on an opponent for melee, especially if you don't feel confident in using a Clash or don't want to risk it with you already having the advantage. 	Lunge launches you forward fast before slowing down near the end. 	 	
Clash
(70% TP)	 	
*Clash is the only move in the game that can be an active detriment to land, but on the other hand if the player is skilled enough with timing FIGHT reticals it can turn the tide of battle in your favor. It is generally best to use this either against less-skilled players who cannot time the bars consistently, or when you're otherwise in a bad position and have little to lose.
*Clash has an incredibly forgiving hitbox and ignores blocking, meaning that even if your opponent has proven otherwise hard to hit it will be highly unlikely for this move to fail to connect. Additionally, while you are in its dash animation or the Clash itself, you cannot be damaged by any means. The move can still miss though, so be cautious if your opponent is far enough away.	While the Clash is active, other players - even on the same team in the case of a Pacifist player being caught in the Clash - will be launched back a significant distance by a constant spherical pulse effect that also damages them by a small amount.	Clash opens with the player using it entering a crouched position before the Deltarune battle-engage sound effect plays. The user will then fling themself forward at an incredible speed, and the first target to be connected with by a large hitbox will be forced into a FIGHT minigame along with the user. Both sides will be given a large number of bars to time, and the closer a bar is confirmed to the center the greater it will add to that player's score. Whoever achieves the highest score by the time both have finished the clash will win, with varying effects depending on the route but usually heavily damaging and/or lightly MERCYing the loser.	
Revoke
(20% TP)	 	Revoke is a generally weak move on its own. However, where it really shines is in its utility against any situation aswell as its strength against Pacifists. Using it will cause you to do a backflip that allows you to gain a very large distance from your enemy. Afterwards you will be required to hit a set combination while a timer ticks down, you have [???] seconds until the timer reaches zero. Once that happens the move will automatically be fired without reprecussions (this does however make the move easier for the enemy to dodge).	 	 	
# The pattern that you need to hit is always the same, this combination is S, A, D, W. 
#*Additionally there is no delay between pressing each button, allowing you to fire Revoke almost instantly with enough muscle memory.
#
Buster
(50% TP)	 	 	 	 	
Execute
(NO TP, accessed through MERCY command)	 	 	 	It functions initially similar to Spare, with the player entering the same animation and doing the same thing (nothing) when the bar is not timed in contact with the center. However, if confirmed well, the player will appear to summon a SOUL-colored knife before lunging forward at a rapid pace. Anyone they pass through in their charge (stopped only by moving the full distance. hitting a wall or killing someone outright) will be killed instantly if their name is red: otherwise, they will take a base of 6 damage. Additionally, if this hits an opponent, the user will remove a sizable chunk of Mercy from themself. 	
* If the enemy is at max Mercy Execute will instead land as a "Critical Hit". Removing all of the enemy's Armor and dealing 30% of the max health. This mostly results in the enemy being at ≤20 HP if they are a Pacifist.
==STRATEGY==
In general:
*You have few means to improve your Armor being unable to Spare opponents, meaning that unless you buy Armor-increasing items you'll usually only have HP. As such, it may be better to focus on purchasing items that recover large amounts of HP at once instead, such as Bandages and Gauze.
* Becoming skilled with the FIGHT minigame and optimally timing Blocks is crucial to Obliteration's melee-oriented playstyle; a good Block can interrupt an enemy's LMB or soften a painful FIGHT/Fake Hit or Buster, and many of your most reliable moves (FIGHT, Clash, Buster, Execute) use the FIGHT minigame in some form or another.
*However, when choosing upgrades, it is rarely worthwhile to Strengthen SOUL (flat damage taken reduction on Guard) since small amounts of HP saved are not as valuable with Obliteration's high HP pool. Though guarding is important for Obliteration players, especially in the lategame it isn't worth upgrading, especially compared to other options competing for upgrades.
**An exception to this may be if you're going for a defense-oriented playstyle (for example Perseverance). Strengthening Soul can make you even tanker against enemies if you're willing to sacrifice LMB speed and STM/TP gain for it.
Against Pacifist players:
*Threaten is your best friend if they try to keep you at range. It hampers a Pacifist's ability to deal their preferred damage type in your preferred range and lets you better clear out their large amounts of Armor (which they have a much harder time healing since most items recover much less of it), and it both makes them more vulnerable to your large amounts of damage and hampers their ability to get away.
*If the Pacifist player makes the mistake of trying to match you in melee (likely relying on Boast into Fake Hits), Deprive lets you punish them quite effectively by bypassing their Armor. If you can land this, a well-timed FIGHT can put them to critically low HP and get them to either withdraw or, if they stay anyway, die on the next pass.
*Execute and Revoke are practically built for killing Pacifists. If you can Deprive into FIGHT on a Pacifist player and make their name red, Execute will instantly kill them even if they still have plenty of Armor left, and both it and Revoke are good ways to remove Mercy they apply to you despite their low damage.
*Don't forget your daggers. They function like a chargeable LMB at range, and can put pressure on a Pacifist player at ranges they're otherwise best at. Especially if they try to pull straight backwards, a fully-charged dagger-throw can be surprisingly effective.
*However, the most important weapon you have against Pacifists is, ironically, courtesy. Every Pacifist player in the game is effectively on the same team, meaning that if they think you're toxic and don't respect you enough for a 1v1 you can be overwhelmed by a whole hugbox going after you at once. Bloodlust can help alleviate this somewhat, but it's often better to just not draw the horde on you where you can. This can get harder as you get higher and high LV as they might seek you out to progress faster or stop you from erasing the world - but it's still worth trying, especially since a group headed by a Savior can end your route completely if they land enough successful SAVEs on you.
Against Neutral players:
*Neutral players are by far the least predictable route to fight against. They might act more like a Pacifist or an Obliteration player depending on what subroute they have, but even an Empty subroute might see you have a near-full Mercy meter and go for the Spare, or an Empathetic might pounce on you at low HP for a quick kill. When fighting a Neutral player, expect the unexpected and don't forget to Check.
*The above applies especially to Clueless subroute players in the early game, since despite a rather barebones moveset there's little to go off of for how they intend to play even if you do Check. If you're grinding your way to starting Obliteration or just started it, keep a careful eye on your lower-LOVE/LVL counterparts.
*On some rare occasions, you might come across a True or Empty Neutral player at both a high LOVE and LVL, and these are among the most fearsome opponents you can face. With both high Armor and HP and respectable attack and defenses, they combine the strengths of both routes and can both handle themselves in melee and pummel you at range. However, these players are also incredibly valuable kills; if you can beat one, they might even take you all the way to LV 20 yourself.
Against other Obliteration players:
*As mentioned in the general section, being able to block LMB combos or FIGHTs semi-consistently is very valuable against other Obliteration players, as landing one can immediately shift the initiative to you. However, be careful if you try to block a FIGHT; do it too early and they'll outright break it, dealing increased damage and stunning you instead!
*Execute can often get great utility in fights against other Obliteration players, since a player's name turning red is based on the percentage of max HP they have left; Obliteration players with a lot of max HP often have their name turn red in the high teens. Execute has a much bigger hitbox than FIGHT and is much faster than trying to finish them off with LMB or Buster; if their name turns red, even while they're in melee range, it's usually better to just use it instead.
*Revoke can get some surprising mileage if you're at low HP and trying to keep your distance from your opponent. It blocking the Mercy command also applies to Execute, meaning you deny them both a tool both to finish you off and to get into melee range even if whiffed.
==TRIVIA==
# Obliterations inspiration comes from the Genocide route in Undertale
#*Obliterations name however, is based off of the Obliteration route from Deltatraveler