Larva Mortus/Gameplay

As a shooter, Larva Mortus has some simple mechanics. See below for details.

HUD
Available weapons are on the right, ammo appears at the bottom left, score appears at the top (experience appears as the white bar below score), and mission info/pause menu appears at the top left.

Mission notes
At the top left of the HUD is a piece of paper. Click on it to find four pages of information:
 * Stats
 * Quest
 * Bestiary: as you defeat new monsters, they will be recorded in the Bestiary section of your notes. See ../Bestiary for more details.

Movement
Strafing around your enemies is your best defensive maneuver. You will need to get good at going around in circles around slower enemies, and grabbing power-ups and lost souls amidst the chaos of battle.

Damage
In Larva Mortus, you have to use your weapons to deal damage to enemies. On the other hand, you can receive damage from touching enemies or traps, or by getting hit by an enemy's projectile.

If you touch an enemy you both take damage. Typically this is only effective against bats, and the amount of damage you take will be relatively high so it is never advisable unless you have the Berserk power-up.
 * Touch damage

Objects
There are two types of objects: treasure objects and traps. Treasure objects are destructible objects that have a chance to drop ammo or a power-up. They appear as boxes, treasure chests, barrels, and coffins. Traps appear as moving spiked blocks, or late in the game as large bear traps (they look like a ladder until you or an enemy walks on them). Traps can be handy in defeating enemies, as they will quickly kill enemies. So, by maneuvering around traps you can save yourself time and ammo.

Power-ups
Power-ups, a.k.a. bonuses, are temporary boosts that will give you special abilities. If you acquire the ENCHANTED SCROLL trophy, they will last 50% longer. There are five different power-ups:
 * Ammo: gain unlimited ammo for all weapons.
 * Armor: gain invincibility. This pairs well with Berserk.
 * Berserk: gain a red saw-blade around your body. You can now deal lots of damage when running into enemies. You may still receive touch damage, so be careful.
 * Double Score: gain twice as many points and experience.
 * Speed: move twice as fast. Great for utilizing your power-ups and getting through dungeons quickly.

Weapons
As you play through the game you will eventually find new weapons. There are eight unique weapons in the game, plus dynamite; some of which can be upgraded by finding permanent power-ups. They are:
 * Dynamite: once acquired, you can use these at any time by pressing Space or.
 * Sword: this is the only melee weapon in the game. Use it whenever ammo is scarce, or against enemies that it works well against.
 * Pistol. This can be upgraded to dual pistols by finding another pistol. Its damage can be upgraded by two trophies: SILVER BULLETS (deal 100% bonus damage to Werewolves) and DUMDUM BULLETS (deal +25% damage).
 * Shotgun: this can be upgraded with the LARGE SHELLS trophy (fire more bullets with each shot).
 * Gatling Gun: this can be upgraded with the EXPANDED MAGAZINE trophy (hold +10 bullets per clip).
 * Crossbow: this can be upgraded with the BURNING BOLTS trophy (+10 fire damage per shot).
 * Cannon: fire a cannon ball that explodes on impact.
 * Flamethrower: deal massive fire damage over time to enemies hit.
 * Dynamo Gun: fire a bolt of electricity that spreads to nearby enemies.

Trophies
Trophies double as achievements. They either give you additional points or upgrade your stats.