Mechanics (My Normal Obsession)

My Normal Obsession is a fairly complex game, as it's bloated with a broad range of mechanics from combat to character and item-specific quirks. Not all of them are self-explanatory, although some are indeed simpler than others. Don't expect all of these mechanics to be 100% original, as mechanics such as Proficiencies are taken from other games, i.e. Stardew Valley. This is more so a general list of mechanics, I'll make a separate category for other mechanics. 
=== UI Elements ===
The first thing the player notices when starting their first save is the three bars on their screen: a green bar at the top left, a blue bar on the middle right, and a light green bar at the bottom. The bar at the top left is the player's Stamina, which is consumed when performing certain activities (such as sprinting or blocking an attack), the segmented bar on the right is the player's Magic Power (which will be further explained in the "combat" section), and the light green bar on the bottom is the current character's health.
== Default Keybinds (work in progress) ==
Action 	Corresponding key (PC) 	Corresponding button (Xbox One/PS4 controller) 	Function
Sprint 	Left shift 	R3 	Causes the player to sprint, consuming Stamina in the process.
Inventory 	Tab 	Back (Xbox One), menu (PS4) 	Opens the player's inventory, allowing them to access their items, weapons, etc., as well as equip them to their individual characters.
Dodge Roll 	Left control 	B (circle for PS4 users) 	Performs an evasive dodge-roll.
Interact 	E 	X (square for PS4 users) 	Allows the player to interact with NPCs, doors, and most important objects in the players environment.
Pause 	Escape key 	Options on PS4 	Pauses the game.
Inventory buttons	Enter or Space to select/confirm, Backspace to go back, arrow keys/scroll wheel to navigate or scroll up and down, F to search, Tab or Escape to close the inventory.	X/Square to select/confirm, B/Circle to go back, joystick/D-pad to navigate or scroll up and down, Y/Triangle to search, Back/Menu to close the inventory.	For navigating the player's inventory.
Use Oblation 	T or O 	D-pad Down. 	Uses an Oblation.
Armor Ability 	Q 	D-pad Up. 	Activates the chosen Armor ability.
Switch weapons 	Scroll wheel 	Left/right bumpers 	Switches the currently held weapon.
Switch Characters	T 	L3 	Displays a wheel that allows the player to effortlessly change their character, showing each character's HUD icons. The player can either click or use the joystick + X/A to confirm their selection.
== Movement ==
My Normal Obsession doesn't have many movement options. 95% of the time, the player is traveling on foot, and the game's lack of any sort of "fast travel" is definitely an inconvenience, especially since there are no horses like in Red Dead Redemption, Stardew Valley, Elden Ring, or The Legend of Zelda. The game is also "open-world", and so accessories that increase mobility are a must.
=== Dodge-rolling ===
Dodge-rolling is a very self-explanatory feature. Much like in certain popular RPGs and Souls-likes (such as Cult of the Lamb, Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Hollow Knight), the player can perform a short-ranged roll/dodge that gives them a short window of invincibility frames, essentially allowing them to dodge projectiles and melee attacks. Much like in Dark Souls, doing this consumes a bit of Stamina. However, this only applies if the player is being actively pursued by an enemy. The default keybind for dodge-rolling is left CTRL on PC.
=== Sprinting ===
Another very self-explanatory movement option. Hold left SHIFT to move much faster, although this consumes a lot of stamina (even outside of combat).
== Elements & Damage Types ==
The game features a total of 22 damage types, each with varying effects. These include:
* Brimstone
* Thunder
* Sprouting
* Water
* Ice
* Fire
* BlackFire
* Holiness
* Unholiness
* Dream
* Nightmare
* Light
* Dark
* Venom
* Bleeding
* Blood
* Gash
* HellRot
* Necromancy
* Explosive
* Blight
* Eternal
=== Brimstone ===
Brimstone, also called Brimstone Flames, is a scarlet fire that acts like a more intense version of Fire. It can be inflicted by certain weapons or characters (such as Peyero), or by loading Brimstone ammunition into a bow/firearm. It's one of the most powerful elements, as it can easily chip away large portions of health. However, it can be hard to come by, and certain bosses have a high immunity to it.
=== BlackFire ===
BlackFire takes direct inspiration from Shadowflame, a debuff originating from Terraria. It's essentially a hybrid between Dark and Fire, although taking too much BlackFire damage will cause the player to become possessed over the course of a few in-game days. It's very destructive, and can be perfect for crowd control. However, most Blood/Blighted Moon enemies (as well as most bosses) are immune to it.
=== Dream ===
A reliable element that can cause enemies to pass out on the battlefield, assuming they take enough Dream damage. Once this happens, they take reduced damage, but they won't be able to fight back. All bosses have a high immunity to Dream.
=== Nightmare ===
A much more potent version of Dream. Enemies that pass out from Nightmare actually take more damage, but will wake up after a bit (or once they're low on health) and have a chance of auto-dodging attacks. A majority of the game's bosses have a relatively high immunity to it, but unlike common enemies, they only stay unconscious for a short duration.
=== Bleeding, Blood, & Gash ===
All relatively similar elements, but they have their differences.
Bleeding causes enemies to lose health, Blood is basically blood magic that deals critical damage to the undead, and Gash is a more potent form of Bleeding. Wearing armor usually raises the player's immunity to these damage types, but it's all dependent on how heavy or reinforced the armor in question is.
=== HellRot ===
An immensely powerful element usually sourced from Hell (duh), as EternaRot Crystals are often found in Styx River.
HellRot is the only element capable of damaging Infinimites and "immortal" enemies, although it's very limited and extremely hard to come by. HellRot ammunition can also chew through light armor, such as chainmail.
=== Blight ===
A pretty strong alternative to Blood. Blight takes on the form of bony, cancerous masses that attach to living enemies, basically infecting them. Taking too much Blight damage causes the skin to wither away, ultimately replacing it with malignant tissue.
=== Eternal ===
Ever wanted to manipulate time like Link? Ever wanted to strike fear into the hearts of your enemies as you rapidly age them into nothingness? If you said "yes" to either of those questions, you're either some form of sadist, or you're looking for immense, physics-breaking firepower.
Eternal damage is incredibly powerful, as it can rapidly age enemies, turning them into ashes over time. As an enemy ages, their health will increase, but their damage will steadily decrease until they're either too weak to fight back, or they're dry-aged into a raisin.
Its only drawback is that all bosses, Infinimites, and "immortal" enemies are immune to the ageing effects of Eternal damage. It's also the rarest element in the game, and Eternal ammunition is thrice as expensive as HellRot Ammo.
== Equipment ==
=== Armor/Pendants ===
Armor is protective gear that can be worn on the body, head, one or both hands, both feet, or one of two misc. slots. It generally provides protection and several pros and cons that makes each set of armor have its own unique risks. You can see the category page for armor here, though not all of it is from My Normal Obsession. Pendants, on the other hand, are simple pieces of armor worn around the neck. They only sometimes have cons, but when they do, they can be quite severe.
=== Oblations ===
Oblations are items triggered by using the Oblation key. They cost health to use, but provide strong buffs in return. Some Oblations also inflict elemental damage, lower immunities to specific elements, and/or decrease stats to avoid being too overpowered.
=== Firearm Attachments ===
In My Normal Obsession, there are various attachments that can be added to firearms, such as scopes, red dot sights, suppressors, foregrips, buttstocks, etc. Inspired by CS:GO (specifically, Gunsmith Reloaded and Arc9 Weapon Base, two addons for Garry's Mod), attachments can make or break a gun's performance. Not all guns support attachments, and not all attachments are supported by every weapon. Each attachment can select one of 4 qualities (and/or an attachment-specific Hex): Cheap, Intermediate/Standard, Tactical, and Marksman/Gunslinger. Higher-quality attachments are usually better at doing their job and have certain added benefits, such as reducing jamming odds or increasing Headshot/critical strike chance.
== Combat ==
The game's combat is where the bulk of its complexity is focused. Many mechanics are taken into consideration, such as Guard, immunities, weaknesses, etc. Some of the basic features include:
* Critical Strikes, or Headshots for Gunners and Archers, are attacks that have a specific chance of happening (which varies based on equipment and the chosen character/weapon). Crits deal more damage than a regular attack and have the added bonus of being able to stun certain bosses/enemies.
* Guard, which is a Melee/Classless specific stat. Basically, when blocking an incoming blow, the recipient's Guard will determine if they're able to successfully block the attack, or if the attack will break their guard and leave them vulnerable for a short period of time.
* Immunities/Weaknesses, which affects enemies, players, and even bosses. Essentially, each entity that can be damaged has specific elements that it's weak/invulnerable to. For the player, immunities and weaknesses can be changed with armor and other equipment. Some characters, however, are naturally weak/invulnerable to certain elements, such as Peyero being immune to all forms of Fire.
* Stamina, which primarily affects the player. Sprinting, attacking, blocking, and dodge-rolling will all consume varying amounts of Stamina, which, like most stats, varies based on the chosen character and selected equipment.
* Proficiencies, or values that govern how well a character can play as a certain class. This affects their damage, accuracy, attack speed, and several class-specific stats.
* Favorite/least favorite classes, which affects characters. Some characters are more naturally proficient and therefore will always prefer some classes over others, which will further reduce their stats if they choose a class they hate. A very similar thing happens with elements, where some characters deal less damage with (and take even more damage from) their least favorite element, and vice versa.
In total, the game has 6 major classes with 2 sub-classes: Melee, Gunner, Archer, Sorcerer, Classless, Alchemist, Assassin, and VoidLander. Each class has their own strengths and weaknesses that set them apart from one another, such as Melee only being effective at close quarters, and Sorcerers depending on Magic Power, which, unlike in Terraria, doesn’t regenerate on its own.
=== Melee ===
Melee characters must maintain a short distance between their target in order to be effective, although polearms have a generally long range and can even pierce through multiple targets. Boomerangs, although not as fatal, are still considered melee weapons. Guard is an important stat for melee attackers, as it’s required for parrying and blocking. Attack speed is important as well, and is calculated as the amount of time, in seconds, between attacks.
Characters that start off with high Melee proficiency include: Deirdre, Sawyer, The Doctor, Ratilla, Carrie, Frim, James, Peyero, and Animus.
=== Gunner ===
Firearms have a multitude of advantages over bows. They deal more damage, their projectiles travel much faster, and they don’t require a quiver. Regardless, bullets and shells are more expensive than arrows, especially if they're imbued with an element, not to mention that you can't reuse bullets (duh). While Firearms might sound pretty straightforward, there are important stats such as Spread, Range, Muzzle Velocity, etc. that add a bit of complexity to firearms. If you've played Escape from Tarkov or some of the better Call of Duty games, then I'm sure you already know what these stats mean. Not all weapons have ADS (Aim Down Sights) support, and some replace this feature with an alt fire (much like in games such as ULTRAKILL, Prodeus, Postal: Brain Damaged, Half-Life 2, etc.).
Characters that start off as Gunners are: Frim, Nova, Ratilla, Glaive, Father Pohut, Sawyer, and Martyr. Mary, Rhetina, and North are all Gunners in the Second Mirror DLC.
Handling
A stat that determines how fast the wielder can aim down sights, alongside their movement speed while shooting.
Muzzle Velocity
A stat that determines how fast a weapon's bullets are once they leave the barrel. For sniper rifles, this stat is very important.
Range and Spread
Range is self-explanatory, but spread is how much bullets will spread out once they leave a weapon's barrel. Less spread = more accuracy, but spread can sometimes be helpful to make sure a weapon isn't just a laser pointer that shoots. In shotguns, spread is crucial, as low spread can increase a shotgun's range, but high spread is best for consistently damaging closely grouped targets.
Jamming and Chain Firing
Just like in real firearms, weapons that get to hot or are exposed to too much wear and tear will begin to fail. When a weapon jams in My Normal Obsession, the player will struggle with their gun for a moment before either ejecting the round in the chamber or reloading completely. Most of the time, a jammed revolver is a very quick fix, as it can be resolved simply by pressing R. Old revolvers and caplock firearms hold a risk of chain firing as opposed to jamming, in which case every loaded round will fire at once, which can be annoying throughout early game progression.
Using high-quality ammunition, fixing the components of old firearms at Musket & Brisket's, using modern firearms, refurbishing worn firearms at certain shops (preferably by bringing them to Mammon, The Stitched One, or Beelzebub), and using certain equipment can decrease the risk of a gun jamming or experiencing a chain fire. However, this chance is never zero.
=== Sorcerer ===
Sorcerers are some of the most versatile characters in My Normal Obsession. They can fire projectiles, they can form protective barriers around themselves, and they often put up a good fight against enemies that rely on element-based damage. However, Sorcerers tend to be vulnerable to physical damage, especially to Bleeding and Gash. Switching a character to a mage also sacrifices their defense and/or stamina, as sorcerers have less of a need for stamina anyway.
Characters that start off as Sorcerers (or can become one without upgrading their magic proficiency) are: Arjun, Peyero, Carrie, Martyr, Father Pohut, Animus, The Doctor, and Rhetina (in the Second Mirror DLC).
Magic Power
All Spells and Curses require Magic Power, which is a form of energy that circulates through the arms and forehead. Magic Power only naturally regenerates when sleeping, praying to a god or goddess, or tuning oneself to the world. There are various non-natural ways of replenishing Magic Power, such as with Alchemy Potions, certain armors, etc. If the player overspends too much Magic Power, the casted spell will be significantly weaker and their character will fall to the floor and lose all their Stamina for a short while. This is known as Magic Power Exhaustion, and cannot be prevented unless the player strategically chooses when to cast spells and when (and how much) Magic Power to overspend.
Magic Sidearms
Not all of a Mage's defenses are centered around magic. When push comes to shove, it's handy to have a sidearm ready. My Normal Obsession addresses this by adding a new kind of sidearm, mostly consisting of shortswords and daggers enchanted with some form of magic. These can be true melee weapons, or they can be thrown, fire projectiles, or telepathically damage enemies, depending on the weapon.
Curses vs Spells
"Curse" and "Spell" are two different terms in the series, with Curses being offensive magic and Spells being defensive magic.
=== Alchemist ===
Alchemists are support classes that harvest resources to craft two types of items; Alchemy Potions (which are drinkable) and Alchemy Flasks (which are throwable and usually have some form of Area of Effect), both of which have several tiers; weak, dilute, average, strong, and pure. Characters that start off as Alchemists (or are able to become one without upgrading their Alchemy proficiency) are: Al-0, The Doctor, Artuk, Nova, and Animus. In the Second Mirror DLC, Mare will be an Alchemist.
When brewing a potion or flask, the player must wait for it to react. There area several kinds of reactions, each of which can be sped up in different ways. Reaction times are sometimes slower when out of combat, and are paused entirely if the player goes AFK for more than 1.5-2 minutes.
Reaction type	Average duration 	Can be sped up? 	Duration when sped up: 	Can be prolonged? 	Duration when prolonged:
Boiling 	5 minutes. 	Yes, by taking Fire damage or using EternaFlame dust. 	3 minutes. 	Yes, by taking Ice damage or using EternaFrost dust.	8 minutes.
Freezing 	7 minutes. 	Yes, by taking Ice damage or using EternaFrost dust. 	5 minutes and 30 seconds.	Can be interrupted by taking Fire damage. 	12 minutes.
Dissolving 	2 minutes. 	No. 	N/A 	No. 	N/A
Liquifying 	4 minutes. 	Yes, by taking Water damage (although the result will be diluted, weakening its effect) or mixing it with Bottled Water.	1 minute. 	Yes, by taking Fire damage. 	6 minutes.
Straining 	1 minute and 30 seconds.	No. 	N/A. 	Yes, by taking damage from any source. 	2 minutes and 15 seconds.
Fermenting 	20 minutes. 	Yes, by adding Powdered Sugar or Vinegar. 	15 minutes. 	No. 	N/A.
=== Classless ===
Classless characters use nothing but their fists or martial arts to attack. They typically have great Stamina, but their attack speed and movement speed can vary, plus they have less defense than Melee characters. Though they don't have much Guard, they are able to dodge quite well, and some weapons (such as Shuko) allow them to catch or deflect blades.
Characters that start off as Classless are: Sawyer, Skinner, James, and Carrie.
Category:My Normal Obsession
Category:Guides/tutorials
Category:Mechanics