How to Play We Happy Few

For those struggling with the game, we hope the information below is enough to successfully escape the treacherous grounds that is Wellington Wells.

## Beating the Game

The main goal of each playable character is to get up and out of Wellington Wells. Every playable character has story quests that need to be completed in order to advance to the next area, and get closer to the end of their journeys. Arthur and Ollie do not require any special items in order to complete their Acts, but Sally requires both the Baby Feeder and the Carrycot in order to finally escape.

In Survival Mode, the player isn't restrained by quests to keep them going, instead they have to collect the necessary items in order to advance to the end.

Side quests are not necessary to complete in order to finish the game, though they might give useful rewards and skill points.

## The Skill Tree

### The Basics

The Skill Tree is an ability tree that all characters have. It displays the character's current abilities and weaknesses, upcoming skills they can learn, and a special tree specific to that character.

There are three skill tress that each character have; *Combat*, *Stealth*, and *Survival*. Arthur has Combat and Stealth, Sally has Survival and Stealth, and Ollie has Survival and Combat. Victoria Byng gets a special skill tree in her DLC which'll upgrade her abilities, her whip, and her dart gun. Roger and Nick only gets upgrades for their respective weapon through story progression.

Skill Points are earned through various different means. In Story Mode, side quests will give some amount of skill points varying from 3 to 5, while story quests will give skill points varying from 3 to 18. In Survival Mode, the player only earns skills points by collecting Gilded Pleasure Masks, which can only be gathered from safes and other special locations, usually hidden.

### **Useful Skills**

#### Survival Tree

**Trackstar** is essential to upgrade early in the game since neither Sally or Ollie run as fast as Arthur does. Additionally, the skill will consume less of their stamina when sprinting, letting the player run for longer.

**Hauler** is quite important, given the amount of useful stuff the player may want to carry. The player is given an additional 50 pounds of carrying capacity in their inventory.

**Picky Picky** is an important skill to upgrade early in the game as it not only lets the player take an additional resource from plants, which is very useful when it comes to healing balms and rowan berries, but it also lets them unlock other integral skills afterwards.

**Haggler** and **Hustler** are two of the most important skills to unlock as it allows the player to purchase and sell items at its base price. These are especially integral for Sally as she is required to purchase both the Baby Feeder and Carrycot from Lionel Castershire in order to escape with her daughter.

#### Combat Tree

**Wait for It** and **Worth the Wait** will let the player hold down their attack button to build up a charge attack, dealing much more damage than regular swing attacks.

**Chain Sweep** lets the player attack multiple targets at a time. Subsequent targets do not receive as much damage as the primary target.

**Bloody Hell** doubles the player's chances to cause the opponent to bleed from sharp weapons.

#### Stealth Tree

**Sweet Dreams** is essential for all of the characters as it lets the player silently choke out/drug enemies from behind. It's important to note that one of Ollie's already available skills involves him choking out larger targets such as Bobbies and Joy Doctors.

**Oh You** is another integral skill to unlock as it allows the player to freely run, jump, crouch and climb without any of the other NPCs paying any mind, so long as the player isn't performing any other kind of illegal behaviour.

**Sneak Thief** is a very useful skill for those who find themselves raiding and looting from other unfortunate individuals. Jimmy Bars and Lockpicks can be used twice before breaking.

**Nothing to See Here** means that the curfew (9pm-7am) no longer applies to the player in Hamlyn Village. Bobbies and Peepers no longer care about the player's presence outdoors. However, this does not apply to the Garden District with the Headboys, as they follow their own rules.

### **Unnecessary Skills**

#### Survival Tree

**Iron Stomach** is not a highly important skill, given that the player can tell which foods are dangerous to their health, and can easily find better alternatives by gathering food from either the wild, or from others.

**High Tolerance** is another skill that is not very useful, given that the player can usually bypass many of the Joy Detectors and similar obstacles by simply picking another route, or by taking Sunshine.

#### Stealth Tree

While neat, **Backstabber** is not an ideal skill as it's far more reliable to choke the enemy rather than using a weapon.

## Food/Drinks

Eating and Drinking have different mechanics depending on the game mode the player has chosen.

### **Story Mode**

When the player eats something, their hunger/thirst increases by a set amount of time. The timer cannot be increased by eating multiple food items, it only increases by a food or drink that has a higher value.

The max amount of time for hunger is 23'00'' minutes (V-Meat, War Ration, Pie, Sandwich, Chunky Stew) and the max amount of thirst is 20'00'' minutes (Toasted Chicory).

When one of the timers reaches 00'00'', the player gets an extra 30'00'' minutes of hunger/thirst before needing to eat or drink some more. Additionally, any food or drink consumed below the extra 30'00'' minutes will surpass it, even if the value is as low as 00'16'' seconds. Within the extra 30'00'' timer, some of the player's stamina cuts off at around 00'20''.

When the value reaches 00'00'' (the value that would usually starve/dehydrate the player), it reads --'--'' and will cut off more of the player's stamina.

If the player had food above 30'00'' (ex. 00'01'') but their thirst was below 30'00'' (ex. 27'46), then, when the food's value reaches 00'00'' it'll even out with the exact same amount as the thirst's value (ex. 27'45), and vice versa.

### **Survival Mode**

When the player eats something, their hunger/thirst increases by a set percentage. The percentage can be increased by eating multiple food items.

When either hunger or thirst reached 0%, the player enters the dying stage and has to eat or drink something or else they'll die.

### **Scavenging Food**

Food is scarce. Most food in the Garden District is either rotten, or has very low time value. Looting food off of Wastrels can be useful, though it's purely based on luck whether they get fresh or rotten food, or none at all.

In Hamlyn, food is somewhat more abundant, and Wellies are more likely to carry fresh food as opposed to rotten food.

The best location to gather food is through fridges, ovens, campfires, crates, and cupboards. The player can also buy food from Vending Machines or from Shopkeepers such as Reg Cutty and Steve McDonald.

While not deadly in Story Mode, refusing to eat will cut off the player's stamina bar by a significant amount, limiting actions they can perform.

Like items, food can be used for crafting, and some foods are best reserved for crafting than for consumption. For example, Blue Currants are ideal early in the game if the player doesn't have other food around them, and Rowan Berries are best reserved for medicated balms and sunshine.

### **Food Poisoning**

Eating rotten food has a chance of causing food poisoning, though how severe the poisoning is depends on the food item. Rotten fruits and vegetables will cause Mild Food Poisoning, eating multiple- or bigger foodstuffs (Rancid Stew) will cause Serious Food Poisoning, and any more than that will cause Fatal Food Poisoning.

If the player has Neximide Pills or Sick Up Tea, they can cure the player of all Food Poisoning stages, making the negative effects essentially obsolete.

Regardless, it isn't ideal to eat rotten foods at all since they don't give back much hunger, and some of the rotten food items are best used for crafting other things.

### **Water Intoxication**

All water in Hamlyn Village is laced with Joy, and fresh water can only be gathered from water pumps in the Garden District. There's only one water pump in Hamlyn Village that is not laced with Joy, it's behind the Old Printing Office.

Tea and Toasted Chicory are good alternatives to water, and Scotch is best reserved for Bobbies.

## Stamina

Every character has a stamina bar which limits how many or how often the player can perform an action. Almost every interaction costs stamina, including running, jumping, shoving, climbing, vaulting, punching, swinging and throwing weapons and items.

Stamina management can be rather difficult, considering its different for Arthur, Sally, and Ollie. It's best to avoid clothing items that reduce stamina by a large amount, such as Army Boots, and use drugs such as Dexipam to permanently max out the stamina bar.

Stamina regeneration happens naturally by either standing still, walking, or crouching. If the player is blocking with a weapon, their stamina will still regenerate, albeit slowly. If the player is hit with a strong attack from an enemy (blocking or not), it'll take a second before their stamina regenerates again.

Starving, Dehydrating, Fatigue, Withdrawal, and Memory Loss will reduce the player's stamina, making them vulnerable to enemies who wants to give them a good trashing. Because of this, it's highly recommended to keep a food item in the inventory at all times.

## Drugs are Good, and Bad for You

### **Joy**

Taking Joy only lets the player pass through Downer Detectors, it doesn't excerpt them from breaking the social rules, such as running, jumping, crouching, and more. It is possible to travel across Hamlyn Village without ever taking Joy, as Wellies will only be suspicious of the player if they're going through Withdrawal or Memory Loss.

There's no real penalty for taking too many Joy Pills, apart from eventually enduring Memory Loss.

The player can go through the entire game without ever taking Joy, with the exception for Arthur in Story Mode. Ollie can't tolerate Joy and will get the status effect, Joy Poisoning, which will cause him to occasionally vomit.

### **Sunshine**

A counterfeit pill that makes the player look as if they're on Joy, it functions exactly the same as Joy does, but doesn't have the negative effects or environmental changes that Joy brings.

### **Crash**

A pill that immediately drains all Joy from the player's system, they'll enter the Withdrawal stage. Useful if the player has accidentally been exposed to Joy, or if they're suffering through Joy Poisoning as Ollie.

### **Neximide**

A pill that gets rid of all forms of Food Poisoning with no negative effects, more ideal than Sick Up Tea, which completely drains Hunger and Thirst.

### **Sanitol**

Sanitol and Extra Strength Sanitol both permanently increases the player's health by 3-7%. Sanitol has to be used twice, and Extra Strength Sanitol can only be used once, taking more doesn't do anything.

### **Dexipam**

Dexipam and New Formula Dexipam both permanently increases the player's stamina by 10-20%. Dexipam has to be used twice, and New Formula Dexipam can only be used once, taking more doesn't do anything.

### **Phlash**

Increases the player's walking and running speed by 25% for 30 seconds.

### **Feramyle**

Increases the player's stamina regeneration speed by 100%, also giving them a temporary 10% stamina boost. It lasts for a minute and 30 seconds.

## Safe Houses

There are many different kinds of safe houses in Wellington Wells, specific to the Garden District and Hamlyn Village.

Aside from Abbott Estate and Lud's Holm's Station, the easiest way to find safe houses is to look for smoke in the sky, as it'll lead to a small shed guarded by Headboys. Hamlyn Village is somewhat harder to find safe houses, though the player should be on the lookout for corner parks.

Additionally, the player can find safe houses by icons on the map, the blue house indicate where they are, and the blue arrow indicates that the player can fast travel there.

If the player is in need of sleeping, there are some abandoned houses in the Garden District which contain a bed on either the first, second, or third floor.

## Blueprints

Blueprints/Recipes are pieces of paper that gives the player access to a new craftable gadget, weapon, clothing, food, drug, and more. Blueprints can only be found in specific locations, most commonly on a Workbench or Chemistry Set. Other locations include buildings encountered during Story quests.

1 to 2 recipes can spawn on a Crafting bench, sometimes none at all. If the latter is the case, search the map for any crafting bench inside of houses in the Garden District.

The location for most blueprints are randomly generated, although some blueprints are rewards for completing side quests, and are therefore not randomized.

Recipes can sometimes be found inside of safes or chests in Survival Mode.

## Distractions

The player can throw most objects in a direction to make some noise for an NPC to investigate, but throwing items can also target the NPC the player is trying to distract. To avoid this, hold down the **left mouse button** or **right trigger** to show an indicator that'll not only shows where the item will end up, but also forces the item to be thrown in that direction. The player can cancel the throw by **right clicking** or pressing **left trigger**.

Other distractions include the music box and Rick the Stunt Duck, though the player should be careful and not let it accidentally hit anyone.

## Blending In

### **Dress For Success**

Outfits impact the gameplay. For example, the Torn Suit allows the player to walk around in the Garden District without any trouble, and the Proper Suit allows the player to walk around in Hamlyn Village. However, the Boiler Suit has an added benefit of letting the player disable control panels without anyone getting suspicious, as they assume they're a worker.

Shoes give various added benefits as well, from running faster and longer, to walking and running quietly.

Headgear is also beneficial, gas masks let the player breathe in otherwise toxic gas, and the Bobby Helmet works as a hands-off flashlight.

It's worth noting that some outfits cannot be obtained by some characters, specifically Sally, who cannot get a Boiler Suit or Military Outfit. Sally also needs to buy all of her clothes from Mrs. Pankhurst's shop, A Stitch in Time.

### **Know the Rules**

There are various social rules the player must follow to fit in and avoid confrontation in the districts.

Wastrels will be suspicious if the player does any of the following:

* Attacking somebody
* Breaking curfew
* Breaking into and looting coin boxes from the phone booths
* Carrying or searching a corpse
* Picking locks with a Lockpick
* Stealing items
* Trespassing restricted areas
* Using the Extractor to extract a car
* Walking around in inappropriate clothes (or none at all)

Wellies will be suspicious if the player does any of the following:

* Attacking somebody
* Attacking Peepers, Jubilators and other machines
* Breaking curfew
* Breaking open windows and/or containers with a Jimmy Bar
* Carrying or searching a corpse
* Picking locks
* Running, jumping, crouching or climbing up anything
* Staring at wellies for over 15 seconds, 7 seconds if it's from behind
* Stealing items
* Tampering with control boxes
* Trespassing restricted areas
* Tripping off a downer detector
* Using the Extractor to extract a car
* Walking around in inappropriate clothes (or none at all)

Upgrading Skills will let the player perform certain actions, such as running and jumping in Hamlyn Village. However, being allowed to break curfew only applies to Hamlyn Village, as the Headboys won't care for what the player is or isn't allowed to do.

## Hiding

Hiding is a perfectly viable strategy, though it can only be done with certain objects, most commonly the Rubbish Bin.

All characters can hide in Rubbish Bins to hide from the public eye, but only Arthur and Sally can use newspapers to hide on benches.

Tall grass with yellow flowers indicate a hiding spot, crouch in the grass to hide. If nobody saw the player hide in the grass, or didn't bump into them, they'll be hidden.

Hiding can also be done by climbing up on higher surfaces above the enemies, though there is a small chance of them still seeing the player.

## Finding Items

Items can be found by searching containers, though some items are required to complete a quest. Most of these items tend to be close by where they're needed, such as the valve for James Maxwell.

Some objects will not contain anything, though it isn't determined until the player actually searches the container.

## Inventory Management

### **Weight and Overburden**

Weight is a system that prevents the player from carrying every single item in Wellington Wells on them. In story mode, the player can put away most items in their pneumatic stash and still be able to craft items using the stashed away loot.

All items in the crafting components category can be stashed away, as crafting is all they're used for. Other items, like rotten food, is better off stashed away than taking up weight on the player. Scotch can be stashed away when entering the Garden District, as they don't have much use and only take up more space.

The player should always have a torn suit AND a proper suit on them, as to make it easier when entering and exiting the two opposing Districts.

The player should keep track of items they are more likely to use, and those they don't.

Throughout Wellington Wells are Inventory Expansions that the player can collect and use, this will not only extend the weight limit, but also loose some weight that the player is currently carrying. Do be aware that the player can only use Inventory Expansions 3 times before they can't anymore, but Pocket Expansion Kits can be used indefinitely.

### **Survival Mode**

Survival mode is different in terms of the player not being able to use their items from the pneumatic stash. In this scenario, it's suggested to only have the essentials on, and to craft items whilst in the hatches.

## Taking Care of Gwen

In Act II, the player takes control of Sally Boyle who has a baby daughter, Gwen Boyle. Like all infant children, Gwen needs to be taken care of by the player.

Throughout the Act, Gwen needs to be fed and changed, requiring the player to craft either a milk bottle or nappy and use it on Gwen. When the player completes Story Quests, a timer representing Gwen's needs appears. If the player lets the timer run out, they get a status effect that'll remain until the player finally takes care of Gwen, the effect will periodically add a totem of parental neglect into the player's inventory to overburden and slow them down.

Because the player can complete many quests one after the other, Gwen's needs stack up, meaning the player has to take care of Gwen's needs multiple times until she's finally happy. The player can use this factor to their advantage to steadily control when they have the time to return home and care for Gwen, even if it's under a time limit.

The player needs pure water to craft baby milk and change Gwen, so it's best to utilize water pumps in the Garden District or behind the old Government Printing Office.

## Controls

### **Keyboard and Mouse**

Move - W, A, S, D

Sprint - Left Shift

Interact - E

Secondary Interaction - V

Attack - Left Click

Block - Right Click (hold)

Shove - R

Jump - Space

Crouch - Ctrl

Holster Weapons - Q

Quickslot 1 - 1

Quickslot 2 - 2

Quickslot 3 - 3

Quickslot 4 - 4

### **Controller**

Move - Left Stick

Sprint - Left Stick (hold)

Interact - X

Secondary Interaction - Y

Attack - Right Trigger

Block - Left Trigger

Shove - Right Stick (click)

Jump - A

Crouch - B

Holster Weapons - Right Bumper

Quickslot 1, 2, 3, 4 - Left Bumper to use item, D-Pad to cycle through