Energy

Energy represents a character's physical and mental reserves. A varied array of actions consume Energy, and Energy naturally regenerates over time fairly rapidly, especially when eschewing strenuous actions. Maximum Energy pool as well as Energy regeneration can be influenced by what Armor and Encumbrance one chooses, which statistic Armor and Weapons one utilizes, as well as the RPG and Advanced Survival Systems.

Because Energy is used to perform actions as well as sprint with your character, those who choose to specialize in higher Energy and Energy regeneration will be able to perform actions in succession more rapidly without having to take breaks, as well as be generally more mobile, though these will also generally come with the trade-off of not being as outright defensible/durable as others who choose to specialize deeper into defense, although because our RPG, Advanced Survival, and Custom Item Systems are all entirely freeform, players are able to mix and match entirely as they see fit, creating highly customized builds for specific purposes in whichever direction they wish.

## Energy Consumption

The following actions will consume Energy.

* Sprinting
* Jumping
* Shooting a gun
* Swinging a melee weapon
* Throwing a weapon and/or shooting an explosive
* Using a medical item

## Energy Regeneration

The following actions will regenerate Energy.

* Resting by not moving (High gain)
* Running rather than Sprinting (Moderate gain)
* Eating foods (Varied gains)
* Consuming certain items (Varied gains)

## Energy Modifiers

Each of these is able to influence a character's maximum Energy pool, Energy regeneration, or Energy efficiency.

* **Encumbrance**: The heavier Armor one wears, in exchange for greatly increased protections, the less maximum Energy and Energy regeneration one will have, while the opposite is true of lighter Armor.
* **RPG System**: Players will be able to specialize deeper into Energy, Energy Regeneration, and Energy Efficiency via the RPG System.
* **Advanced Survival**: Various factors such as Rest Bonus will increase a character's Energy Regeneration
* **Custom Items**: There will be millions of variations of Custom Items with Energy-influencing statistics, ranging from Armor to Weapons and more.
* **Consumables**: Food, Consumables, and Blood Essences (to be implemented with Revenants), will be able to influence Energy by providing temporary buffs.

## Optimal Energy Management

The higher a character's current Energy Pool is (up to Kinetic) the faster they will naturally regenerate Energy, while the inverse is true of lower Energy (down to Depleted), which will not only reduce a character's Energy regeneration due to being at a low Energy Regeneration bracket, but will even prevent a character from sprinting, firing a weapon, or using a medical item until taking a pause to get out of it.

This makes Energy Management a very important player skill, as using Energy as efficiently as possible will provide the potential to greatly "outplay" other players as well as NPC's. For instance, taking brisk breaks to stay in the highest Energy Regeneration group (Kinetic) will always provide the most optimization of one's Energy, while the opposite end of the spectrum of burning through one's Energy fully in one go will make it that much slower to fully replenish it.

Of course, a middle ground can be found as well, but in general, learning to weigh Energy usage vs the benefit it is providing you within a span of time, as well as how to optimize your utilization of the system as a whole via the various variables such as Encumbrance, RPG System, Advanced Survival, Custom Items, Consumables, and so on, can serve to truly set your character performance apart.

## Energy System Examples

With the Custom Items patches, players will be able to create highly customized builds not only via the RPG System but now also via the Armor, Weapons, Tools, and more that they choose for their loadouts.

There can be builds like lightly-armored and mobile shooters who seek to deal as much damage as they can while remaining mobile as they can, to highly-armored and thus defensible protectors who sacrifice some mobility and Energy regeneration to become incredibly defensible and hard to kill, making them a force to be reckoned with and a bastion for their group (or themselves), and finally, a middle-ground option of those opting for a balance between defense, offense, and mobility would be those who opt for medium armors and the accompanying RPG selections and Custom Item statistics to go with it - and all gradients in between that mix and match any of these archetypes as they see fit.

In the end, a major purpose of the Custom Items Patch is to enable massively increased choice and playstyle variance in the hands of the players, and the Energy System helps complement and accomplish these goals.