How the ship works

DERELICT reinterprets NetHack's pillars — hunger, identification, permadeath, a long descent — in a failing starship.

Power — the clock

Your suit reserve starts at 400 and drains every turn. At zero you lose 2 hull per turn. Reaching a new deck tops it up by 130, each kill salvages 7, and power cells and $ recharge stations refill it. Below 60 the HUD warns you. The clock is what stops you clearing every deck: dive with purpose.

Combat

Walk into an enemy to attack. Damage is your power against its defense, ±25%; about 1 hit in 16 is a critical for ×2. Evasion can dodge a hit (capped at 60%). Everything acts by speed: a speed-200 hound moves twice for each of your turns.

Tells and telegraphs

Big attacks are announced a turn ahead: the tiles they will hit are painted on the map (with an optional “!” marker for colour-blind play). Step off them. Elites from deck 9 and every boss fight around this.

Unknown salvage

Stims have randomised looks each run; about 30% of gear is unidentified. Using an item identifies it. Cursed gear locks its slot until cleansed; a diagnostic scanner identifies without the risk, and experience gives you hunches.

Decks, vaults and secrets

Every deck is generated: rooms, caves, halls or rings. Some hold locked vaults (bring a keycard), secret passages ([s] to search), traps from deck 2, vendors, crew data-logs and black-box objectives worth 45 scrip. A cutting tool lets you breach bulkheads.

Levels and perks

Kills give XP; every level raises a stat, and every 3 levels you pick a perk (see Perks).

Bosses and the descent

A boss guards every third deck and seals the breach until destroyed (see Bosses). Past deck 26 loot is graded Mk II–VI. The escape craft waits on deck 60.

Death, saves and runs

Death is permanent. The run is saved on quit, every 40 turns and on each new deck, with a one-deck backup. Runs, achievements and discoveries carry over: achievements unlock four more backgrounds, and the Archive remembers what you've met. Options offer difficulty levels, an assist mode (unscored), run modifiers and a Daily seed.