Combos

**Combos** are a mechanic in *Downwell* that is earned by killing strings of enemies before landing on the ground. Achieving high combos will yield certain rewards, though it may put the player at risk if not done carefully.

## Mechanics

To start a combo, the player must first jump off or fall from a solid platform and eliminate as many enemies as possible before landing again. Dead enemies will increase the combo counter by one; However, the enemies do not have to be killed directly by the player. Enemies killed by safe zones will count towards combos.

Combos are retained when stomping on doodads, moving between levels, landing in safe zones, wall jumping, or when a player is hit by an enemy while airborne.

A combo will end if the player lands on breakable rocks or solid ground.

## Rewards

Ending a combo with a sufficiently high enough count will yield the following rewards:

Landing a 30 and 100 combo will make the player earn the *Wow Combo* and *Sugoi Combo* achievements, respectively. Outside achievements, landing a combo beyond 25 does not grant any more bonuses.

## Tips

The increased airtime while using the Levitate style provides easier combo execution. Some upgrades can also assist the player during a combo, such as the Blast Module to eliminate groups of enemies at once, the Heart Balloon to decrease falling speed, and the Safety Jetpack in case the player runs out of charge.

Combos can be a very consistent way to get more charge, which will then allow for the player to have more ammo to manuever with in future combos. This allows for a high charge count if done correctly.

Ideally, a player would want to get the bare minimum number of kills to receive bonuses. As a result, ending a combo as soon as possible after matching the minimum number of kills is recommended.

While executing combos, gunboots are generally better suited for maneuvering rather than killing. Firing periodically resets the falling speed, allowing the player more airtime. As well, the player would ideally want their weapons to have a lower cost (the two cheapest cost guns are Noppy and the Machine Gun).

#### **Combos in Limbo**

However, the player will need to shoot to kill in Limbo as all enemies in the area on normal are immune to stomps. However, the frequent Doodad spawns allow the player to refill charges easily. Due to the high health and required shooting-to-kill in Limbo, the opposite is often true; players may want to pick up high-charge and high-damage weapons, especially Laser due to enemies' predictable movement. Additionally, there are no platforms in Limbo outside of the timevoids/safe zones.

In Limbo, there are additionally safe zones which appear to have no landable platforms outside them for completing combos. If the player clips the very edge of the safe zone, the game will read this as a regular platform land, allowing combos to be ended.

**Combos as a "minigame" or "training"**

In addition to the primary benefit of the combo rewards, you can think of combo as a minigame that helps you train your precision of movement. The immediate counter and rewards of the combo can be motivational for learning to land exactly on an enemy.

**"Pushing Your Luck"**

That all said, you may sometimes find yourself trying to get a higher combo, and end up taking damage in the process. Remember, if you end up losing a hitpoint while trying to gain an extra hitpoint, you won't have gained anything (and if you end up taking damage multiple times you'll have lost resources overall). If you find yourself in a chaotic situation, it may be better to land and restore your gunboots than to try for the next highest combo.