shd.build/docs/TALENT_MECHANIC_RULES.md

Talent Mechanic Rules

The project owner confirmed these game rules on July 29, 2026. Apply them when importing Talents, editing mechanic programs, evaluating combat events, or deciding whether a Talent still requires assumptions.

Shared timed-stack lifecycle

Timed stack pools use one shared duration:

• Gaining a stack refreshes the duration for the full pool.
• The pool loses all stacks when the duration expires.
• A qualifying activation at maximum stacks refreshes the duration. The stack count remains at its maximum.

This rule covers Combat Inspiration, Simple Pleasures, Explosive Fury, Injured Taunt, Defense Enhancement, Explosive Burst, Unstoppable, Painkillers, Injured Concealment, Hypervigilant, Suppressive Fire, Defensive Charge, and Battlelust.

Trigger definitions

Use these event boundaries:

• Hit taken: Count any hit, including a hit absorbed by Extra Health. Friendly Skill healing also counts as a hit.
• Healing: Count each healing event. A heal-over-time effect counts each tick as a separate event.
• Extra Health gained: Count every Extra Health grant, including a grant received while the Agent already has Extra Health. Use extra_health_granted for the grant action.
• Extra Health state changed: extra_health_changed is Agent-scoped. Emit it when the Agent receives a grant, when the remaining amount changes, and when it is depleted to zero. Every event requires the boolean values.hasExtraHealth. It may include the non-negative values.currentExtraHealth, which must agree with that status. This state event is distinct from the extra_health_granted grant action.
• Reloading: Trigger on reload completion when the weapon had at least one round to load. A canceled reload does not count. A weapon that loads one round at a time produces one completed-reload event for each round.
• Taking damage: Require Health loss. A hit absorbed by Extra Health does not count as taking damage.

Talent cooldowns

A Talent starts its cooldown when it activates. A failed chance roll does not start the cooldown.

Battlelust can grant no more than one stack per second because a successful activation starts its one-second cooldown. Its five-second duration and three-stack maximum still allow the Agent to reach three stacks. A successful activation at maximum stacks refreshes the five-second duration.

Apply the same activation-only cooldown rule to Explosive Fury and Explosive Burst. A trigger that occurs during cooldown cannot activate the Talent.

Persistent deployed Skills

Inspiration and Crossfire use a binary deployed-Skill state:

• The benefit remains active while the Agent has at least one persistent deployed Skill object.
• Destruction or timed expiration removes that object from the active count. The benefit ends when no qualifying objects remain.
• Instant-use Skills do not qualify.
• Multiple deployed Skill objects do not multiply the benefit.

Ability data must identify whether an ability leaves a persistent deployed object. Use that flag instead of inferring deployment behavior from an ability name or category.

Downed allies

Suppression Rescue and Instant Triage activate while a downed ally is within 30 meters:

• Moving within 30 meters of an ally who is already downed qualifies.
• Each qualifying presence refreshes the ten-second duration.
• Leaving the radius or reviving the ally does not cancel the current ten-second duration.
• The wearer does not count as an ally.

Emergency Retreat

Emergency Retreat activates whenever at least one enemy is within 20 meters and the Talent is off cooldown. The same enemy can activate it again when the cooldown ends. Each activation lasts three seconds from its activation time. Leaving the radius does not end that active three-second effect.

Second Wind

Second Wind follows the shared reload-completion rule. Any completed reload qualifies when the weapon had at least one round to load. This includes each round inserted by a weapon that reloads one round at a time. A canceled reload does not qualify.

Resolve the Extra Health amount from the Agent's displayed Firepower when Second Wind activates. Include all equipped-item and active-buff contributions in that Firepower value:

• Tier I grants Extra Health equal to 600% of displayed Firepower.
• Tier II grants Extra Health equal to 840% of displayed Firepower.

Second Wind adds its Extra Health to Extra Health from other sources. Its five-second duration and five-second cooldown start when it activates. Expiry removes only the Second Wind contribution. At the five-second boundary, the prior grant can expire as a qualifying reload completion grants a new amount. If Second Wind supplies the Agent's only Extra Health, the old amount expires and the new amount begins at that boundary.

Nothing to Lose

Nothing to Lose uses a forward-looking deployment window:

• Each Health-damage instance makes its own 50% activation roll. Damage absorbed by Extra Health does not roll.
• A successful activation applies to every Skill deployed during the five seconds after that damage instance. Several Skills can qualify during the same window.
• Calculate each reduction from the Skill's total cooldown after equipment modifiers.
• A Skill can receive no more than three reductions during one cooldown cycle.