Sword of the Stars: The Pit is a rogue-like turn-based RPG. It is set in the Sword of the Stars universe where all previous titles were strategy games. The story takes place on Arbuda IV, a human-controlled colony. After a deadly plague turned the majority of the colony’s citizens into ghouls, the only hope of finding the cure is the rumour of ancient alien facility built by the Sull’ka, hidden in the Feldspar mountains. You must descend the 30 level of The Pit to get to it.
There are three main stats that govern player’s performance: Strength (bonus for tasks that requires brute force, physical resistance, etc), Finesse (bonus for accuracy, Electronics-related task, etc) and Brains (bonus for Computer, Decryption skills, etc). As the player levels up, the character acquires bonus stats and skill points that can be distributed at will. Player can choose one from three character classes to play. The Marine has Strength as his main stat, gains the most stat points but the least skill points at each level up, the Scout (Finesse-based character) is just the opposite, and the Engineer (Brain-based) is at the middle.
Aside from leveling up, players can find a variety of items that, either permanently or temporarily, boost (or lower) their stats and skills. There are dozens of weapon of different types (melee, pistol, rifle, explosives), armors and other equipment. Player can also find Bio-mod that can be installed on weapon and armor, which increases or decreases one of its stats (each Bio-mod has a distinct color, but what they do is determined randomly in each playthrough, so the only way to know what the Green one does in a particular playthrough is actually installing it), or Serums which does the same for the character. It is also possible to craft equipment from parts collected in containers or dropped by monsters.
As the player descends the Pit, stronger and more dangerous types of monsters are to be expected. While the more basic ones only deals damage, the more advanced monsters can inflict status ailments and damage weapons, armors or items. There are also floor traps and door traps that have either negative effects (such as poisons, blinds, destroys a random items) or positive effects (increases movement speed, heals, etc) to the player character.
In the Pit, player can also interact with dozens of object types. There are various types of container that randomly drops items, equipments, medicine, food (it’s possible to starve to death) or crafting parts (provided the player can bypass the electronic that hold them shut, or pry open the container if they are broken). Player can also heals themselves at Med Bay, repair item, hack into Computer Console to read background information or acquire useful recipes, Lab Bay to craft equipment, Cooker to cook food, etc.
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