Hero

In Survarium, **heroes** are the player characters who must survive in the world after the mysterious green apocalypse. Heroes develop their skills by accumulating experience and rewards through missions. Completing tasks at camp will convince traders to offer their goods, allowing for equipment upgrades.

## Roles

Roles are types of player in the world of Survarium. Players do not arbitrarily choose a pre-set role when modifying their character, their role is defined by how they play. As such, roles can be mixed and matched depending on what areas players choose to specialise in.

There are many roles available to heroes, including but not necessarily limited to:

* Scout: A stealthy survivor who relies on hiding from the enemy.
* Marksman: A mobile hero who uses a sniper rifle to kill the enemy at long range.
* Artifact hunter: A hero with the knowledge and equipment to survive in anomalies and find artifacts.
* Trapper: A light, stealthy fighter who relies on traps and snares.
* Punisher: A fast, mobile fighter who relies on fast maneuvers to gain advantage over his enemies.
* Goon: A fighter who relies on heavy armor to survive.

## Skills

*Main article: Skills*

Each level allows one experience point to be distributed in advancing skills. For every 5 levels in a given skill, survivors can choose to specialise in one of two abilities. Upon reaching level 20, survivors are able to attain a master ability.

Skills are organized into the following categories:

* **Firearms training**: improves usage of weapons.
* **Physical training**: improves the amount the hero can carry and the hero's stamina.
* **Medical skills**: increases the effectiveness of drugs and stimulators.
* **Technical skills**: increases the efficiency of traps and devices.
* **Art of survival**: woodcraft and ability to deal with anomalies and artifacts.

## Characteristics

* **Condition**: the health of the hero.
* **Weight**: the weight of the character's equipment, which affects acceleration and energy expenditure.
* **Energy**: used during sprinting and other physical activities.
* **Disguise**: A measure of how difficult the hero is to notice.
* **Protection**: How protected the character is from damage.
* **Insulation**: How well the character is isolated from the outside environment.
* **Oxygen**: The hero's oxygen reserve.

## Customisation

*Main article: Equipment*
Character statistics are largely modified by the type of armour they wear and the equipment they choose to use. Players are free to mix and match different types of items to adjust their character to their playstyle. There is nothing stopping a player from wearing a biker jacket for torso protection and anomalous boots for moving across anomalies.

The types of equipment are as follows:

* **Assault**: Focus on protection and frontal combat.
* **Subversive**: Focus on mobility and speed.
* **Sniper**: Focus on disguise and concealment.
* **Anomalous**: Focus on isolation from anomalies.

## Damage system

Survarium uses a realistic damage system that takes the health of each body part into account. Different types of damage can cause different health effects. Physical damage from sources such as firearms cause bleeding, concussion, and damaged limbs, while fire causes burns and radiation causes longer-term sickness that needs to be treated with drugs.

## References

1. ↑ Vostok Games Developer's Diary #5 - YouTube, YouTube. Retrieved 06 April 2013.