Regarding Game Update Note: Game Developers updated the game with a new item for each equipment category. They also introduced an unlockable enemy list with names which were not there before. At this point in time I do not have the time to dig into the update so names of enemies will remain as is, and equipment won't be updated until I get around to it.

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As far as settings go I would recommend a couple settings.

Turn off Blood in the Gameplay section of Settings. There are lots of red colored objects and turning off blood spatters can make some areas easier to differentiate between floor and enemies and bullets.

Also recommending to turn off Reflection found in Graphics in the Settings. The last boss has a laser attack that reflects off the floor making it appear like there are two lasers instead of one. Turning Reflection off makes it easier to see the actual laser properly.

When Playing for the Challenge Badges or points turn on the In Game Timer display.

1) Movement

While you can move around the map freely be careful of edges and environmental objects. These objects can stop your movement if your movement angles are not perfectly aligned with it. Some edges do not seem perfectly straight either. It is much safer to never grind along walls or objects. Environmental objects in particular can cause you to get caught on them and not move smoothly.

Dashing can be forcibly cancelled by the game during object spawning if Kill Knight is in the same place as the object. This can be extremely bad in certain spots. One spot this is noticeable is on the four corners of the moving four laser room in Layer 5. When the room causes pillars to grow on the corners if you were in a dash the dash becomes cancelled and you will most likely take laser damage.

Also, do not stand on top of respawning objects since once those objects respawn he will be moved in a direction you may not expect. A good object to see this in action is the mine type pillars in some levels that after exploding will respawn in place and grow up out of the ground.

2) Dash

Dash is a critical part of avoiding damage in Kill Knight, and there are a couple useful points to keep in mind about it. While dash gives invincibility during it there is no guarantee that where you end up will be safe. Dashing into a laser will result in damage being taken. There is a higher chance of avoiding damage if you are going to bad spot if you start mashing the dash again however. Dash is also a good way to counter long recovery times for larger sword swings.

Some equipment can modify or enhance the Dash. Armors can have from one to three dashes total.

Dash recovery can be enhanced with the Carnelian Memory amulet. This amulet is unlocked just by going through the tutorial.

Hadesurge armor has a Trait that creates a energy shield that is charged by the collection of Health shards. It causes a Wrath Explosion when dashing into enemies or when taking damage.

Demiguard armor has a Trait that makes higher Kill Power levels increase dash recovery speed. It also has a property of causing a Wrath Explosion if dashing through an enemy that has Inflictum.

3) Enemy Drops

a) Blood Gems
Blood Gems are dropped by killing enemies. There are equipment that can enhance the number or effectiveness of Blood Gems. Kill Power is increased with Blood Gem collection. Wrath Burst meter is filled by using Absorb.

Killblade has a Trait where sword kills spawn additional Blood Gems, with more spawning when Sword Charge is higher.

b) Health Shards
Health Shards are dropped upon killing enemies that are killed with a Wrath Burst or that have Inflictum. Health Shards recover 3.8% of the health. More on this below.

Templar's Alexandrite amulet will increase effect of Health Shards by 15%. Equipping Templar's Alexandrite, health recovers around 4.37% with Demiguard armor.

c) Heavy Ammo
Heavy ammo is acquired automatically by using a sword to kill enemies. The more powerful the enemy the more heavy ammo is dropped. Sword Triggers will Pulse Countering an enemy gives a lot of heavy ammo. Executing an enemy will fully charge Heavy Ammo.

Some useful equipment for Heavy Ammo drops.

Twilight Amethyst amulet increases Heavy Ammo drops from killed enemies.
Divination sword increases heavy ammo drop on kills. Description is unclear if it is only on Divination sword kills.

4) Absorb
Absorbing Blood Gems dropped from enemies using the Absorb button will increase the Wrath Burst meter bar. Once that meter is full a Wrath Burst can be used. Also, after the Wrath Burst meter is full Absorb will no longer function and the Blood Gems will stop moving towards the Kill Knight. Absorbing Blood Gems does not increase Kill Power.

Celestial Ceruleite is an amulet that makes absorbing Blood Gems gives more Wrath Energy.
Heaven's Quartz increases the collection radius of Absorb.

4) Wrath Burst

Wrath Bursts are based on the selected heavy weapon. Each heavy weapon has a unique Wrath Burst. Wrath Burst meter can be charged by using Absorb. Wrath Bursts can cause Inflictum which appears as a purple colored effect on an enemy that causes enemy actions to slow down significantly and also decreases their defense. Enemies killed with the Wrath Burst or under Inflictum will drop Health Shards instead of Blood Gems. There are a couple exceptions to this. The Blood Gem Worm if under Inflictum will drop both. Enemies that are Executed that have Inflictum will also drop both. Wrath Burst also recharges slowly over time.

Ruby's Eye amulet will cause Inflictum to last longer.
Celestial Ceruleite amulet makes absorbing Blood Gems gives more Wrath Energy.

4) Kill Power

Kill Power is one of the most important things to get and keep at a high level. Kill Power most importantly increases movement speed. There are 5 levels of Kill Power. Kill Power can be seen on top of the screen. The more red dots the higher the Kill Power. Kill Power decreases if you take damage. Kill Power also does not increase the Wrath Bar. Kill Power is also not increased by collecting Health Shards.

Emerald Remembrance is an amulet that allows receiving more Kill Power from Blood Gems.

5) Active Triggers

The Active Trigger can be activated once you run out of bullets from firing the pistol. There is a bar that appears on screen and pressing the desired button during the white area on the bar will activate the trigger.

a) Absorb Trigger
This will instantly absorb all Blood Gems even outside the normal Absorb range. Will stop absorbing Blood Gems once the Wrath Burst Meter is full. Note this does not increase the Kill Power.

b) Sword Trigger
This will activate the equipped Sword's Trigger. This is a a unique move for the sword that tends to have some invincibility and some other unique properties.

c) Gun Overdrive Trigger
This activates the Overdrive for the equipped pistol. Each pistol has its own Overdrive.

6) Pulse Counter
Pulse Counter means to attack specific enemies right before they perform certain attacks which are called Demon Pulse Attacks. An enemy ready to be Pulse Countered will flash red several times. When that effect occurs hit them with a normal sword swing or a Sword Trigger and the enemy will be countered. The only enemy that does not die immediately from a Pulse Counter is the Carapace Leaping Slasher due to its armor. Pulse Counter is a great way to increase Heavy Ammo as well as the Sword Charge. Pulse Countering gives a short period of invincibility.

Enemies that can be Pulse Countered include the Leaping Slasher, The Carapace Leaping Slasher, the Three-way Laser Demon, the Red Blaster Spinner, and the Carapace Leaping Slasher.

7) Execution
Enemies that can be stunned can be Executed. Getting them into that executable state is done by dealing a certain amount of damage to their weak point which is usually a tentacle like appendage If they are in a state ready to be Executed they will be stationary and flash yellow. Be close by and use the sword to attack them. Once Executed the Knight's Heavy Ammo will be fully filled. Enemies Executed that have Inflictum will drop both Blood Gems and Health Shards. Execution also increases Sword Charge. During Execution gives invincibility during it.

Enemies that can be Executed include the Large Charger, the Tentacle Demon, and the Carapace Leaping Slasher.

Large Charger has a weak point near its back area.
Tentacle Demon after appearing will have a tentacle as a weak point that appears after a couple seconds when it starts firing.
Super Carapace Leaping Slasher also has a tentacle that can appear out of its chest after a Pulse Counter.

8) Sword Charge
Sword Charge is a meter at the bottom of the screen divided in two thirds. Sword Charge is used for Hyper Drive and Sword Surge. Sword Charge is not affected by multiplier. There is 999 total sword charge in game tougher enemies give more sword charge. Pulse Counters give 167, 217, 242 sword charge depending on the circumstances. Refer to chart below. Execution gives 333 sword charge which is one third of the bar.

Some equipment that is related to Sword Charge.

Fallen Pyrite amulet makes all sword actions grant extra sword charge by roughly 15%. Numbers seem to get rounded up for the sword charge.
Swiftshade's attacks absorb small bullet shots and this increases Sword Charge slightly by 1 per bullet. Would take absorption of 999 bullets to fully charge the Sword Charge meter.
Killblade sword has a Trait that causes Sword Charge to slowly decrease over time.

9) Hyper Drive
Hyper Drive is a slowdown effect activated when holding the attack button after using a Pulse Counter. When an enemy is flashing red and ready to be countered attack with the sword and hold that button down. Hyper Drive will activate if you have one third of the full Sword Charge meter filled. Hyper Drive will then use up that third of the Sword Charge meter. Activating Hyper Drive gives a brief period of invincibility.

Illustrious Moonstone amulet makes the Hyper Drive stay Activated for longer.

10) Sword Surge
Sword Surge is Kill Knight's Ultimate. It causes a large AOE explosion around Kill Knight and for a time afterward falling debris will hit enemies. Sword Surge can only be activated when the Sword Charge meter is full. This move is best used as a life saving measure, or when clearing out many enemies. Gaining more Sword Charge during the Sword Surge will increase the duration of the falling debris that damages and kills enemies. Activating Sword Surge gives a brief period of invincibility. Sword Surge's small meteor like attacks give Sword Charge. During Kuriel the Last Angel fight using Sword Surge give near constant use of your Heavy Weapon for example since it is constantly killing the small spawning enemies.

11) Kill Stream
Continually killing enemies will increase the Kill Stream. However the main thing to keep in mind to keep the Kill Stream going is to try to have the heavy ammo and Wrath Burst full as much as possible. This will help prevent situations where there are only tough enemies left in a room and you only have the pistol to deal damage which takes a long time and probably will cause the Kill Stream to drop.

Several pieces of equipment can be unlocked by performing actions related to having a minimum Kill Stream.

Kill Knight has equipped one of each type of equipment. One pistol, heavy weapon, sword, armor, and amulet. Equipment must be unlocked in sequential order in each type. Meaning even if you fulfill the conditions to unlock later equipment it will not unlock. The unlock order goes from left to right with only the leftmost equipment being unlocked by default.

For Pistols and Heavy Weapons modified the descriptions for the Fire Rate and Ammo, since they do not really make sense. Judgecannon in the standard description has two (2) but it really should four (4) for ammo.

1) Pistol

I) Fluxstrikers
Damage: 5
Fire Rate: High
Ammo: 7

Description
-Fires a steady and reliable stream of bullets
Overdrive
-Increased fire rate

Note: Not bad for the initial unlocked weapon, but it has no special Traits.

II) Revolters
Damage: 6
Fire Rate: Medium
Ammo: 6

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 2000
Unlock Method 2
-Kill 200 enemies with Overdriven Pistols in a single Layer

Description
-Fires bullets that penetrate through an enemy
Overdrive
-Bullets penetrate through all enemies

Note: Without Overdrive it only pierces through a single enemy. This gun is very effective at targeting enemies that are behind layers of enemies especially once the Overdrive is active.

Unlock Note: After running out of ammo on the pistol there is a bar that will appear on screen. The bar has an area in there that when pressed in that area will cause the weapon to activate its Overdrive. Press the fire button for the gun in that area for bullets that will then look slightly larger and pierce through all enemies and you know you got it correct.

III) Soulrenders
Damage: 3
Fire Rate: Low to Very High
Ammo 9

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 3000
Unlock Method 2
-Complete Solitude without lowering Kill Power once.

Description
-Fires rate starts slow then speeds up quickly
Overdrive
-Fires more bullets

Note: Very fast rate of fire, but the bullets tend to spray which means that some bullets will inevitably not hit a specific target once they are beyond medium range. They have an unique property that actually pushes enemies back away from you. The increasing fire rate as the clip gets near the end seems more effective to use on tougher enemies.

Unlock Note: Kill Power lowers upon not getting Blood Gems or taking damage so to complete the unlocking avoid taking unnecessary damage, and keep up the Kill Stream to keep getting those Blood Gems. The amulet Emerald Remembrance increases Kill Power from Blood Gems.

IV) Exhausters
Damage: 7
Fire Rate: Medium
Ammo: 3

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 4000
Unlock Method 2
-Kill 15 enemies with Pistols during a single Hyper Drive

Description
-Fires short-ranged, high damage spread shots
Overdrive
-Spinning spread shot burst

Note: The standard shot is strong, but does not have good range. The best aspect of the gun is that the Overdrive is quite good at killing weak Slashers and Blaster Spiders that spawn around you. The downside to the special is that its spin Overdrive damage has minimal damage for specific directions. Also while it shoots around in a circle it does not necessarily kill everything around around it which could leave you open to taking a hit. In addition, during the Overdrive player movement speed is greatly reduced, and this makes it very important to only use it in situations where it is safe to.

Unlock Note: Hyper Drive is where after countering an attacking enemy you hold the attack button and it causes the game to slow down and turn gray. This weapon can be unlocked easily if you wait for there to be a lot of small enemies and then counter one of the leaping Slasher type enemies since every stage has them and they are easy to counter by attacking them with the sword when they jump at you. If you have waited a very long time to unlock these then the Illustrious Moonstone which increases Hyper Drive should help.

V) Conflictors
Damage: 9
Fire Rate: Low
Ammo: 4

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 5000
Unlock Method 2
-Complete a Layer without failing a single active trigger

Description
-Fires powerful explosive rounds that hit multiple enemies
Overdrive
Ejects a firecracker round that on contact releases recurring explosions on the spot

Note: Overdrive explosions are powerful and linger on screen, but effect can hide enemies and bullets. This pistol's Overdrive is extremely useful on higher difficulties since the enemies move faster towards you which causes them to run into the Overdrive's AOE damage and die in droves. Conflictors' Overdrive causes large AOE explosions and this works very well when shooting the Archblight's Wrath Burst ball it sends out to increase its size and potentially cause it to explode.

Unlock Note: Completing a full level while doing dozens of Active triggers to reload the pistol is very difficult. Try instead to beat Solitude on Regret using Direthorn armor, a sword, heavy weapons, and Wrath Bursts instead.

2) Heavy Weapon

I) Ruinshot
Damage: 6
Fire Rate: High
Ammo: 5

Description
-Powerful short-ranged shotgun that fires spread blast rounds
Wrath Burst
-Ejects a huge Wrath Ball that explodes on contact with the environment

Note: Shots are excellent at clearing out smaller to medium size enemies. Downside with this weapon is that it is most effective at point blank range and it has a very short range compared to all other heavy weapons. The Wrath Burst also does not deal that much damage, but it is straight forward to use with a huge range and piercing effect.

II) Rectifire
Damage: 4
Fire Rate: Very High
Ammo: 30

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 3000
Unlock Method 2
-Detonate 8 Demonic Carapaces with Wrath Bursts in a single Layer

Description
-Multi-faceted assault rifle that deals moderate damage at medium and long ranges
Wrath Burst
-Releases a swarm of homing Wrath Projectiles that automatically track and explode on enemies

Note: This at first glance does not seem great compared to the previous weapon, however this has several advantages over the other heavy weapons. Its very high ammo clip and very high rate of fire comes in handy when trying to cutting down an enemy's health without killing it. This means you can use Rectifire to make enemy's health close to death so you can finish them with a sword more easily. Most swords will kill an enemy as long as they look fairly damaged with blood splatters. This weapon also has the most heavy ammo gain advantages due to how ammo is gained. When gaining ammo the fractional parts tend to be lost with weapons with low ammo, however due to its high ammo this is not much of an issue. This is particularly works well with Divination and/or Twilight Amethyst. Its shots are just strong enough to also deal with Exploders. Its Wrath Burst is also the most damaging for a single target among all heavy weapons. The Wrath Burst can be used from close or far away without needing to aim much and the damage is mostly immediate unless it hits multiple times.

Unlock Note: The Demonic Carapaces are the purple sheen that is seen on certain enemies. The most common enemy that has a Demonic Carapace is the medium size blaster spider. Ruinshot's Wrath Burst is effective enough to unlock this on the first Layer Solitude.

III) Judgecannon
Damage: 10
Fire Rate: Very Low
Ammo: 4

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 3000
Unlock Method 2
-Perform 15 Wrath Bursts with Rectifire in a single layer

Description
-Super heavy cannon that shoots huge shells that explode on contact
Wrath Burst
-Fires multiple Wrath Mortars in the air in close proximity

Note: Judgecannon excels at dealing high damage quickly regardless of environment at close to medium range. Best used immediately upon spawning of target to get a close and accurate placement of shots. The largest downside of Judgecannon is that there is no piercing effect so that means it can miss larger targets if smaller enemies or obstacles get in the way. The second biggest downside s the lack of ammo. Judgecannon also is rather inflexible in its use compared to most other heavy weapons. However Judgecannon shines in areas where you want something dead fast.

IV) Holybane
Damage: 8
Fire Rate: Medium
Ammo: 5

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 4000
Unlock Method 2
-Complete Echelon without ever running out of Heavy Ammo

Description
-Long-range high-damage sniper rifle that fires three penetrating and rebounding projectiles at high velocity
Wrath Burst
-Shoots out five Wrath Seekers that automatically track and harass enemies.

Note: Technical and complex weapon that can be used to do high damage with its rebound effect against walls. This means that with proper aiming the bullets will ricochet hitting a target multiple times. In addition because the shots are spread apart the bouncing bullets can clear large swathes of weak enemies as well. Floating stationary slightly off the platform are often walls that Holybane can be bounced off of to then come back and hit enemies too. Its lingering Wrath Burst shots cause Inflictum in many enemies. This pairs quite well with Ruby's Eye for the 40% Inflictum time increase and the Demiguard armor's Trait of causing Wrath Explosions when dashing through an enemy with Inflictum. The biggest downside to this weapon is that the Wrath Burst is rather random. While you can point it in the direction you want the homing bullets to go they may not hit the targets you want them to. Also the Wrath Explosion effect may take a couple seconds on enemies like the Carapace Slasher.

Unlock Note: This unlock requires careful use of the heavy ammo. If you are using a heavy weapon with low ammo try counting the shots and do not fully use up the heavy ammo.

V) Archblight
Damage 6
Fire Rate: High
Ammo: 13

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 5000
Unlock Method 2
-Kill 200 Enemies with reflected Holybane shots in a single Layer

Description
-High powered technical weapon that fires powerful projectiles that splinter upon hitting an enemy
Wrath Burst
-Fires a slow-moving Wrath Orb that zaps nearby enemies, and can be detonated by shooting it.

Note: The most complex weapon and probably the hardest to use effectively. The Archblight standard shot is good against small and medium enemies, but lacks damage against larger targets. The Wrath Orb comes out and as it is damaged by shots it grows in size. It moves at a very slow pace forward causing damage and Inflictum upon enemies. The ball can also be attacked with a sword swing causing the ball to shoot forward damaging targets. Conflictors' Overdrive that causes large AOE explosions and this works very well when shooting the Archblight's Wrath Burst ball it sends out to increase its size and potentially cause it to explode. This pairs quite well with the Demiguard armor's Trait of causing Wrath explosions when dashing through an enemy with Inflictum.

Unlock Note: Holybane is easy to reflect shots off of walls especially in Viscera.

3) Swords

I) Seraphedge
Damage: High
Speed: High

Description
-A balanced first order blade that once wounded an Angel
Sword Trigger
-Forward slice attack

Note: While not excelling in any aspect, this sword has a decent sword trigger and its default swings have enough damage and speed to be a good fit for any layer and difficulty.

II) Swiftshade
Damage: Low
Speed: Very High

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 2500
Unlock Method 2
-Pulse Counter an enemy while at a 500x Kill Stream in a single Layer.

Description
-A lighter blade meant for skilled knights that absorbs demon energy
Sword Trigger
-Spins around furiously for a short time
Trait
-3-hit attack combo
Trait
-Can absorb some enemy projectiles in Sword Charge by slicing them

Note: This sword's main selling point is that it can absorb the small enemy shots through standard attacks and its Sword Trigger. It can also absorb the yellow mine-like shots that the Cannon Spider and Kuriel the Last Angel use. However it has the weakest standard attacks. Swiftshade's Sword Trigger also does not offer a period of invincibility unlike the other swords.

Swiftshade's absorb effect on bullets increases Sword Charge by 1. Fallen Pyrite's effect of increasing sword charge does not stack with the absorb effect.

Unlock Note: The Pulse Counter is done by attacking with the sword on an enemy that is flashing right before attacking. Only certain enemies are counterable and the easiest one to do this on is the jumping Slasher enemy.

III) Divination
Damage: Very High
Speed: Low

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 3000
Unlock Method 2
-Absorb 250 enemy projectiles with Swiftshade in Entanglement, with a Kill Stream over 100x

Description
-A heavy blade wielded by those with the guts for it
Sword Trigger
-Spin attack
Trait
Increased knockback
Trait
Increased heavy weapon ammunition drop on kill

Note: Very powerful but also extremely slow to attack and recover. Only use when you have enough space to avoid taking a hit after use. Even basic attacks are enough to take out medium size enemies.

Divination has a Trait that gives more heavy ammo per kill with the sword, and Twilight Amethyst increases heavy ammo per kill. This combo doubles down on additional heavy ammo per each sword kill. Divination is applied first which increases the Heavy Weapon ammo by 50% for sword kills, then Twilight Amethyst's 10% Heavy Weapon ammo is applied next which adds up to a little more than 60% at 65% increase

Unlock Note: Make use of the Carapace Blaster Spiders for this since they will shoot out large amounts of bullets at a time. Kill the other smaller enemies one at a time just to keep the Kill Stream going in between using the Sword Trigger for Swiftshade.

IV) Heavensworn
Damage: Medium
Speed: Medium Low

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 4000
Unlock Method 2
-Kill 20 enemies suffering Inflictum with the Sword in a single Layer

Description
-A mechanical armament built for technical warriors seeking respite
Sword Trigger
-Sends a shockwave of ground projectiles spiraling outwards
Trait
-After a cooldown, Sword attacks release a spread of arcing ground projectiles

Note: Heavensworn is an interesting weapon that can really shine when used correctly. If you choose this sword you want to use it for its Sword Trigger and shockwave attack. The Sword Trigger can be very strong if used strategically can take down larger enemies than expected with the additional spiraling blades. For example using the Sword Trigger while inside an Exploder Pillar will one shot it. In a couple cases I have seen it kill other enemies like the Blaster Spinners in one go if you use it just as it spawns within the area it spawns in. The Sword Trigger is basically a large Area of Effect (AOE) attack. Another very nice aspect of the Sword Trigger is its rather lengthy invincibility. The shockwave that is generated every once in a while from a standard attack is a nice effect to get some additional heavy weapon ammo. This seems to occur roughly the same time it takes for a gun reload after firing. You can tell exactly with the shockwave is ready by the small red circular effect around Kill Knight once it is ready to be used again. Its standard attack without the shockwave is terrible. Its standard attack is about as weak as the Swiftshade but with roughly the recovery of the extra large Divination sword. Make no mistake about this weapon however, if you are not good with using Sword Triggers or with keeping track of the sword wave cooldown you might want to consider a different weapon.

Unlock Note: This weapon can easily be unlocked if using Holy Bane's Wrath Burst since it lingers and causes Inflictum on even small enemies. Archblight would make this even easier.

V) Killblade
Damage: Medium High
Speed: Medium

Unlock Method 1
-Pay ???
Unlock Method 2
-Kill the Final Angel (aka Last Boss in Layer 5 Reflection)

Description
-An accursed blade that drains the memories of souls that wield it
Sword Trigger
-Piercing dash attack
Trait
-Burns through Sword Charge over time
Trait
-Sword kills spawn additional Blood Gems, with more spawning when Sword Charge is higher.

Note: Killblade is almost a direct upgrade over Seraphedge due to the only differences being the Sword Trigger and the Traits. The Sword Trigger makes the knight invincible during its use so it can be used offensively and as a way to reposition. The Sword Charge drain can be a real issue if you are struggling since if you expect to use the full Sword Charge for the Sword Surge the drain effect can put the Sword Charge JUST under 100%.

The way this Sword Charge drain works is the following. The sword charge drains 5 sword charge every 1.5 seconds only if there have been no sword charge increases in around the past 7 seconds. If the Sword Charge meter is completely full then that grace period is increased to around 10 seconds. If using the Killblade keep killing enemies with the sword within those grace periods to prevent Sword Charge loss.

Unlock Note: The unlock description just means to beat the boss in Reflection which beats the game and unlocks Killblade.

4) Armor

For armor I am going to just list the number of Dashes instead of the strange bar for "Dashes" the game display has for it. Used recordings to check the number of frames that dashes actually recover. Using 60 frames per second to display dash recovery speed. Ex: 107 frames would be 60 frames for one second and 47 frames for the remainder.

I) Resolverite
Number of Dashes: 2
Dash Recovery: Very High
Protection: 5

Description
-Kill Knight's eternal resolve laid bare; a damned soul imbued upon living armor

Dash Recovery : 49 frames
Dash Recovery With Carnelian Memory: 46 frames

Note: This is one of the best armors in the game with the fastest dash recovery and two dashes.

II) Direthorn
Number of Dashes: 1
Dash Recovery: Medium
Protection: 8

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 2500
Unlock Method 2
-Collect 200 Health Shards in a single Layer

Description
-A fitting armor for wayward souls, embraced by thorns of endless solitude
Trait: Dashing into enemies deals damage and knockback

Dash Recovery : 62 frames
Dash Recovery With Carnelian Memory: 57 frames

Note: This armor has the best defense, but in exchange it only has a single dash with poor recovery. Its dash will slightly damage enemies. Armor dash can kill the blasting spiders with a single dash.

Unlock Note: Health Shards are dropped from defeating enemies that are under Inflictum or are destroyed with a Wrath Burst if they have a Demonic Carapace. The Wrath Burst can be used once the Wrath bar is filled after collecting enough Blood Gems. Use the Wrath Bursts when there are lots of enemies ideally with enemies that have Demonic Carapaces mixed in since those will explode and give more Health Shards than small enemies.

III) Voidfract
Number of Dashes: 3
Dash Recovery:Medium
Protection: 2

Unlock Method 1
-Pay ???
Unlock Method 2
-Kill 75 enemies by dashing into them with Direthorn in a single Layer.

Description
-Quickened armor designed so as not to hinder recklessness

Dash Recovery : 61 frames
Dash Recovery With Carnelian Memory: 57 frames

Note: This armor is for those that have confidence in rarely taking damage since its protection is extremely poor. The three dashes can help moving around quickly.

Unlock Note: Equip the Carnelian Memory for slightly better dash recovery. This challenge is not hard just focus on using the dash to kill the small enemies.

IV) Hadesurge
Number of Dashes: 2
Dash Recovery: Very Low
Protection: 5

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 4000
Unlock Method 2
-Complete Viscera without dashing through any laser traps

Dash Recovery : 107 frames
Dash Recovery With Carnelian Memory: 95 frames

Description
-Armor of enraptured penance, said to shield oneself from temptations
Trait
-Vengeful energy shield, charged by collection of Health shards, causes a Wrath Explosion when dashing into enemies or when taking damage

Note: Unique armor that has an offensive and defensive property after collecting a bunch of health shards. This armor might be the most challenging armor to use effectively. Getting the extra shield is not overly difficult, but keeping it to use at the spot you want is tricky. The aspect of the charge going off when dashing through enemies means that when there are lots of enemies around, the player would need to be extra careful to avoid dashing through them until the charged Wrath Explosion's intended use. However, this armor can be great if you can get a lot of Health Shards to drop all at once by dashing into several tougher enemies or a horde of smaller enemies. When that happens you can charge up the energy shield, dash to cause a Wrath Explosion, collect more health Shards to refill the energy shield, and dash again to cause yet another Wrath Explosion. Time it well and you can get two or three of the energy shields filled up for use. Try pairing this armor with the amulet Carnelian Memory to improve dash recovery since the dash recovery is very slow.

Unlock Note: One of the harder unlocks in the game imo. To do this the player would have to carefully maneuver around the spinning lasers while also dodging all the other attacks. Author just used Tokkens for this one.

V) Demiguard
Number of Dashes: 2
Dash Recovery: Low to High
Protection: 5

Unlock Method 1
-Pay 5000
Unlock Method 2
-Defeat the Last Angel on Sufferance Difficulty

Description
-Once a symbol of pride and glory, Demiguard's fall from grace demands much from its inhibitor
Trait
-Kill Power drains much faster
Trait
-Higher Kill Power levels increases dash recovery speed
Trait
-Dashing into enemies suffering Inflictum triggers a Wrath Explosion

Dash Recovery Blood Level 0: 88 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 1: 82 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 2: 76 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 3: 71 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 4: 68 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 5: 63 frames

Dash Recovery Blood Level 0 With Carnelian Memory: 82 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 1 With Carnelian Memory: 75 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 2 With Carnelian Memory: 70 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 3 With Carnelian Memory: 67 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 4 With Carnelian Memory: 62 frames
Dash Recovery Blood Level 5 With Carnelian Memory: 57 frames

Note: Almost a direct upgrade over the initial Resolverite armor, but Kill Power drain can be a detriment. However playing normally increases the Kill Power almost as fast so it is not very noticeable. If this is an issue try to equip the amulet Emerald Remembrance for increased Kill Power from Blood Gems. The increased dash recovery at higher Kill Power levels is noticeable and can be life saving. The Wrath Explosions are very effective caused by dashing into enemies suffering from Inflictum (the purple effect on some enemies by default or the applied effect from a Wrath Special). When using Dash with enemies that have Inflictum certain enemies do not seem to explode with the Wrath Explosion during certain actions like during the Large Slasher's attack animation. So watch out for that. Most high ranking Layer completions use this armor.

Unlock Note: Expect just in pure attempts to beat Sufferance to generate 5000 Tokkens (money) to simply buy this very good armor.

5) Amulets
Many of these effects seem quite subtle and understated to the point where it is not clear how much benefit they offer.

I) Emerald Remembrance
Description
-Blood for the Kill God
Trait
-Receive more Kill Power from Blood Gems

II) Carnelian Memory
Unlock Method 1
-Pay ???
Unlock Method 2
-Complete all the Tutorials

Description
-The ceaseless rush of memories
Trait
-Dash cooldown time is reduced

Note: Reduces Dash Recovery time by about 10%. This also works for each Blood Level for Demiguard armor. Look at the armor section above in this guide for the frame reductions.

Unlock Note: Highly recommend going through the tutorials to get this. It teaches a lot of the basics of how to play the game.

III) Twilight Amethyst
Unlock Method 1
-Pay ???
Unlock Method 2
-Reach a Kill Stream of 999 in a single Layer

Description
-A heavier blade cleaves deeper
Trait
-Enemies drop more heavy ammo from sword kills

Note: This unlock increases the ammo drop by a small percentage. However the main thing to keep in mind to keep the Kill Stream going is to try to have the heavy ammo and Wrath Burst full as much as possible. This will help prevent situations where there are only tough enemies left in a room and you only have the pistol to deal damage which takes a long time and probably will cause the Kill Stream to drop.

Divination has a Trait that gives more heavy ammo per kill with the sword, and Twilight Amethyst increases heavy ammo per kill. This combo doubles down on additional heavy ammo per each sword kill. Divination is applied first which increases the Heavy Weapon ammo by 50% for sword kills, then Twilight Amethyst's 10% Heavy Weapon ammo is applied next which adds up to a little more than 60% at 65% increase. Note the fractional portion of the Heavy Ammo increases are dropped if the Ammo fully reloads. This means that for Heavy Weapons with a lack of ammo like Judgecannon to realize those fractional gains the player needs to not fully reload all the ammo slots. The Heavy Weapons Rectifire and Archblight are able to immediately get additional ammo per kill with both Divination and Twilight Amethyst equipped.

Unlock Note: This is easiest to do in Solitude. The main issue with this is keeping the kills going even when there are tougher enemies left. To do this make sure to keep the heavy ammo plentiful by using the sword to defeat enemies. Having a Wrath Burst in reserve is also helpful.

IV) Heaven's Quartz
Unlock Method 1
-Pay 3000
Unlock Method 2
-Reach a carnage bonus of over 15000 in a single layer

Description
-Blooded osmosis
Trait
-Blood Gem collection radius increased

Note: Arguably the worst amulet. There are much better options available. The increase is simply not that large to justify this amulet.

Unlock Note: This can easily be achieved through using a Sword Surge or a couple Hyper Drives.

V) Templar's Alexandrite
Unlock Method 1
-Pay 3500
Unlock Method 2
-Kill 200 enemies with environmental hazards in a single layer

Note: Templar's Alexandrite amulet will increase effect of Health Shards by 15%.

Unlocking Note: Unlocking this amulet is rather easy since there are several stages that feature reusable explosions. Just let the stage kill the enemies for those sections.

Description
-Healthy mind, healthy death
Trait
-Health Shards grant more healing

VI) Fallen Pyrite
Unlock Method 1
-Pay 4000
Unlock Method 2
-Kill 100 enemies during Hyper Drive in a single Layer

Description
-The ultimate surge of swords
Trait
-All sword actions grant extra sword charge

Note: Increases sword charge by 15% and numbers get rounded up for the sword charge. Ex: Executing an enemy normally gives 333 sword charge, but with Fallen Pyrite gives 383 sword charge.

Unlock Note: You can use the Hyper Drive as many times as you wish to keep adding to the score.

VII) Ruby's Eye
Unlock Method 1
-Pay 4500
Unlock Method 2
-Reach a Kill Stream of 999x with a Carnage Bonus over 50000 in a single Layer.

Description
-Inflict upon them pain eternal
Trait
-Enemies suffer from Inflictum for longer

Note: The Inflictum lasts about 5 seconds normally but with Ruby's Eye it lasts 7 seconds. This is 40% increase in time for Inflictum. This amulet works very well with Holybane and Archblight with the Demiguard armor.

Unlock Note: The later levels allow easier Carnage Points since the levels offer more enemies that can be Pulse Countered and Executed since those offer the most Sword Charge points. Also later levels tend to have more than one Blood Gem Worm that gives 166 (about half of one 1/3 of the Sword Charge meter). See the section about Carnage Points for more info.


VIII) Celestial Ceruleite
Unlock Method 1
-Pay 5000
Unlock Method 2
-Perform 3 Executions while at full health on a single Layer

Description
-Uncontrollable Wrath
Trait
-Absorbing Blood Gems gives more Wrath Energy

Unlock Note: The final Layer Reflection has many enemies that an Execution can be performed upon.

IX) Illustrious Moonstone
Unlock Method 1
-Pay 5500
Unlock Method 2
-Reach the Abyssal Sphere without dropping the Kill Stream

Description
-Hyperactive Kill Disorder
Trait
-Hyper Drive stays Activated for longer

Unlock Note: Abyssal Sphere is the first form of the Final Boss of Layer 5 Reflection.

X) Master's Bismuth
Unlock Method 1
-Pay 6000
Unlock Method 2
-Complete Sever Mode

Description
-The Demon With, Mastered
Trait
-Carnage actions increase Pistol, Heavy Weapons and Sword damage for a short duration. During this time, any damage will kill the Knight.

Unlock Note: Sever Mode is unlocked upon completing the game and can be accessed right on the screen above the displayed Layers on the selection screen.

Certain equipment loadouts work well together to either enhance or offset equipment Trait strengths and weaknesses.

a) Direthorn or Voidfract or Hadesurge or Demiguard with Carnelian Memory
Direthorn has a similar issue with Dash since it only has a single dash and this can offset that issue.
Carnelian Memory helps offset Hadesurge's poor Dash Recovery since Carnelion Memory increases Dash Recovery.
Voidfract armor has the highest number of dashes (3) and Carnelion Memory increases Dash Recovery which increases Dash potential usage.
While Demiguard is equipped the Dash Recovery increases with Kill Power, and Carnelion Memory increases Dash Recovery and would make the Dash Recovery even better.

b) Hadesurge with Celestial Ceruleite
Hadesurge's energy shield depends on getting a lot of Health Shards so using Celestial Ceruleite that increases your chances to use Wrath Burst.

c) Rectifire or Archblight with Divination and Twilight Amethyst
Divination has a Trait that gives more heavy ammo per kill with the sword, and Twilight Amethyst increases heavy ammo per kill. This combo doubles down on additional heavy ammo per each sword kill. Divination is applied first which increases the Heavy Weapon ammo by 50% for sword kills, then Twilight Amethyst's 10% Heavy Weapon ammo is applied next which adds up to a little more than 60% at 65% increase. Note the fractional portion of the Heavy Ammo increases is dropped if the Ammo fully reloads. This means that for Heavy Weapons with a lack of ammo like Judgecannon to realize those fractional gains the player needs to not fully reload all the ammo slots. The Heavy Weapons Rectifire and Archblight are able to immediately get additional ammo per kill with both Divination and Twilight Amethyst equipped.

d) Holybane or Archblight with Ruby's Eye
Archblight and Holybane can cause lots of Inflictum and Ruby's Eye can make that Inflictum last even longer giving you more time to deal with the enemies.

e) Swiftshade or Killblade with Fallen Pyrite
Killblade decreases Sword Charge constantly and Fallen Pyrite offsets that by giving more Sword Charge for each kill.

f) Demiguard with Emerald Remembrance
Killblade decreases Kill Power constantly and Emerald Remembrance offsets that by giving more Kill Power from Blood Gems.

g) Conflictors with Archblight
Conflictors have an Overdrive that causes large AOE explosions and this works very well when shooting the Archblight's Wrath Burst ball it sends out to increase its size and potentially cause it to explode.

h) Holybane or Archblight with Demiguard
Archblight and Holybane can cause lots of Inflictum with their Wrath Bursts and Demiguard armor causes Wrath Explosions when Dashing through enemies with Inflictum.

Putting this into its own section since it is more subjective. Includes my thoughts on the equipment and what I like or dislike about them.

Pistol Ranking
Conflictors (V)
Revolters (II)
Exhausters (IV)
Fluxstrikers (I)
Soulrenders (III)

For Pistols my favorites for taking out enemies are Conflictors and the Revolters. Conflictors are powerful and deal short range AOE damage and good at clearing out enemies quickly. Conflictors are my go to when I am struggling with a part. Revolters are great at piercing through enemies and taking out the Blaster Spiders. Like the Revolters quite a bit since they work well for clearing and for point farming. Exhausters are quite strong per shot and the Active Trigger for it can be used to clear out surrounding enemies well, but the slow down for it and the unreliability close range can be frustrating. The Fluxstrikers are pretty standard, but they are very good are specific enemies and only dealing damage to enemies you want to. Soulrenders I am not really a fan of due to the low damage, but suspect that may be intentional to keep enemies alive to either farm Sword Charge or to try and keep them alive for Carnage Point farming.

Heavy Weapon Ranking
Holybane (IV)
Ruinshot (I)
Rectifire (II)
Judgecannon (III)
Archblight (V)

Holybane works the best overall in most situations and trivializes most sections if you already know how the enemies will appear. The bouncing bullets can clear out enemies well. This weapon makes the last boss pretty easy with the piercing aspect too. It works extremely well with the Demiguard armor and with the Wrath Explosions getting full health from Health Shards is quite easy. The only thing I dislike is the sort of random nature of the Holybane's Wrath Shot which makes it not great at taking out enemies immediately. Ruinshot is like a wide shotgun and can clear out lots of enemies quickly. Trivializes areas with lots of small enemies and Exploders. Ruinshot's Wrath Burst is slightly hard to aim and it does not have a continuous effect like Holybane, but it is strong and immediate. Ruinshot is just an easy to use weapon that has enough firepower to quickly take down enemies. Rectifire is another easy to use weapon that is also very good for farming Sword Charge. It has a lot of shots so even if you miss there are plenty more left. The Wrath Burst of Rectifire is quite flexible and strong which makes it a good choice if you know where to use it. One issue is that the Rectifire's normal shots may have trouble with taking down harder guys if they spawn with smaller enemies in the way. My complaints about the Wrath Burst is that sometimes it does not quite go where you want to, and also often it is too strong and will outright kill enemies you want to farm sword charge from. Archblight I have seen some players use this very well, but I just seem to mess it up and then things start going downhill. The main shots of it have less ammo than Rectifire so it is less forgiving of missed shots. The Wrath Burst is likewise quite unforgiving in the direction of where you use it. I don't know if this would work better with keyboard and mouse to get really precise aiming, but I use a gamepad controller and find I am often JUST off from being able to get the perfect direction I was trying for. Same difficulties with directing the ball after striking it with a sword.

Sword Ranking
Divination (III)
Heavensworn (IV)
Seraphedge (I)
Killblade (V)
Swiftshade (II)

Divination is the big screw off sword that gives 50% more ammo per sword kill. That aspect alone is great, but the Sword Trigger has a large AOE range too. The power of its normal swings means that even if you mess up the Sword Trigger you will at least be able to deal large damage in a pretty big area. The slowness of the sword is a big issue however so being able to dash out of an attack is often recommended. Also fun to just smack some guys around with it. If you had messed up and don't have any Wrath Burst or heavy weapon ammo and there is a tougher guy remaining then having this as a backup is really nice. Heavensworn is probably the most fun sword when you are able to consistently get the Sword Triggers down. Those extra spinning blades can really chop up lots of enemies and even some harder ones. The sword wave attack is a nice option that gives good distance to even take out enemies that other swords would be more risky to get close in with. The main issue with this weapon is when you mess up the Sword Trigger or the sword wave and end up using the normal attack. The normal sword swing is such a let down since it is really slow and weak. Honestly the devs could have made that a little stronger and it would have been fine. Seraphedge is the most stable and easy to use sword of the bunch. Not particularly great at killing larger enemies, but its speed means you can recover easily even if you mess up a Sword Trigger. Its Sword Trigger is quite good at clearing bunched up enemies, but definitely not good when surrounded. I do like that this sword does not decrease Sword Charge unlike the Killblade. The Killblade is quite a fun sword, but its tricky to kill large amounts of enemies with it for Sword Charge. The mobility the Sword Trigger has is very nice, but when trying to defeat enemies quickly it suffers imo. The last boss can be annoying with this sword since the full Sword Surge tends to go away quickly right with the Sword Charge drain. Swiftshade I dislike its weak normal attack, its lack of invincibility during Sword Trigger, and the fact that the Sword Trigger only erases the small bullets and the yellow mines. The absorption only gives a minuscule 1 sword charge per bullet as well. If Swiftshade was slightly stronger, and its Sword Trigger erased other bullets I would have liked it more. It does seem useful on the last boss, but then you have to get through Reflection with it and I would rather use any other sword over this.

Armor Ranking
Demiguard (V)
Resolverite (I)
Hadesurge (IV)
Direthorn (II)
Voidfract (III)

Demiguard is a excellent armor with certain heavy weapons like Holybane. Getting those extra Wrath Explosions by dashing is really satisfying. This armor is hard to get going on harder stages due to the very slow dash recovery at lower Kill Power levels, but once you have Kill Power level 5, it is easy to start steamrolling with it. Resolverite is a very easy armor to use. Fastest possible dash recovery and good right from the start. Find that this one gives me lots of the highest successful completions. Hadesurge I have a love hate relationship with. I love the fact that you can charge up shield and use a Wrath Explosion, but it is too easy use the explosions on small inconsequential enemies. The dash recovery is terrible so I find to be more effective on harder stages I use Carnelian Memory just to offset that. Direthorn is a cool armor with ability to do damage to enemies, but the single dash causes me to fail at dodging in more demanding sections. Have much more success with armors that have two dashes. Voidfract gives an extra dash, but for vastly decreased defense and I do not like that trade off. At no point in the game are three dashes necessary to dodge anything either. This armor has no other Traits that would make me want to use it.

Amulet Ranking
Templar's Alexandrite (V)
Carnelian Memory (II)
Fallen Pyrite (VI)
Ruby's Eye (VII)
Celestial Ceruleite (VIII)
Emerald Remembrance (I)
Illustrious Moonstone (IX)
Twilight Amethyst (III)
Master's Bismuth (X)
Heaven's Quartz(IV)

The amulets are rather hard to rank since they are all dependent on what you have equipped and what you are trying to do. Probably my favorite amulet is Templar's Alexandrite while playing through since it makes surviving much easier with that extra bit that Health Shards give you. When playing for Challenge Badges or points there are better options, but for beating the game

Trying to give them names that will make sense as to what they are just based on the names. Looked around, but did not see any names for the enemies anywhere. Generally the harder an enemy is to take down the more score, ammo, and sword charge it can provide. You can tell if an enemy is near death based on the graphics. Enemies nearer death will have signs of damage and what look like blood flecks on it.

Ironically the enemies that will kill you most often are the swarming small enemies that give the least amount of points.

AMMO NOTE: I display the percentage of ammo given first, then the amount you would receive if you had Ruinshot (or Holybane) in parenthesis. Ruinshot or Holybane have five (5) ammo for a full clip as a base since it makes the values much easier to understand than something like Archblight which has 15 ammo. Want to show the partial ammo values since that is how the game stores it internally to maybe make it clearer for the reader.

1) Slasher
Small swarming enemy whose only attack is a close range slash. Increasing Kill Power increases your movement speed which is important to out maneuver these enemies at higher difficulties. These small enemies can cause issues since they tend to get in the way when attacking larger enemies and can spawn right on top of you.

Score: 160
Ammo: 10% (0.5)
Sword Charge: 5

3) Large Slasher
Larger beefier version of the small slasher. These are more aggressive and fast than their small counterpart. They can also shoot out a larger shot that cannot be absorbed by Swiftshade. This enemy can be very dangerous if you do not know where they spawn since they can spawn right on top of you and attack immediately. On higher difficulties like Sufferance they move very fast.

Score: 350
Ammo: 20% (1)
Sword Charge: 25

4) Carapace Slasher
Larger faster version of the Large Slasher that comes with Demonic Carapace armor. After destroying the Demonic Carapace it will shoot out these stationary mine like bombs in every direction near it. Try killing this enemy from medium range quickly to prevent any damage. Once dead its mines will disappear. Recommended to blast this enemy with a Wrath Burst as soon as they appear.

Score: 600
Ammo: 30% (1.5)
Sword Charge: 25

5) Blaster Spider
Small swarming enemy that stays at medium range to long range and attacks with three shots in a line. They shake slightly before attacking. Prioritize defeating these enemies unless there are more dangerous targets. These enemies can fill the screen with shots if left alone. They are particularly dangerous in cramped areas or areas with lots of environmental hazards like laser traps or spinning spike traps. Their shots can be absorbed by Swiftshade.

Score: 160
Ammo: 10% (0.5)
Sword Charge: 5

6) Carapace Blaster Spider
Larger version of the Blaster Spider that has a purple Demonic Carapace that acts as armor. The carapace will explode upon receiving damage from a Wrath Burst. These enemies shoot out a wide swath of shots that can be dangerous since these enemies tend to appear in groups.

Score: 350
Ammo: 20% (1)
Sword Charge: 25

7) Cannon Blaster Spider
About the same size as the Carapace Blaster Spider but without the carapace and has a more cannon like body. This fires 9 medium sized bullets in your direction and can also set orange mines around itself. While not particularly powerful or fast these can make areas dense with shots.

Score: 600
Ammo: 20% (1.5)
Sword Charge: 50

8) Single Laser Demon
These enemies appear and will track your movements with a slowly charging laser attack that appears as a thin red line. When the tracking red line starts blinking the laser is about to fire. Moving as perpendicular as possible to the laser will ensure the laser will miss. These enemies do not have that much armor but are harder to take down than the small enemies.

Score: 500
Ammo: 30% (1.5)
Sword Charge: 50

9) Three-Way Laser Demon
An upgraded version of the Single Laser Demon that can be countered right before it fires off its laser by using a sword attack. In addition to the single tracking laser there are two others that fire off at about 30 degree angles on either side. Counter these to increase the Sword Charge.

Score: 825
Ammo: 1.75
Pulse Counter Ammo: 60% (3)
Sword Charge: 75
Pulse Counter Sword Charge: 242

10) Tentacle Demon
These are most similar to the Three-Way Laser Demon in appearance and movement. This demon can fill the screen with streams of bullets as well as homing orange shots. It has a gimmick where it is most vulnerable shortly after it appears when its tentacle comes out of its chest. Once you see this, hit it with some shots using a heavy weapon and it will look stunned while bending over. When it does this you can run or dash up to it and Execute it.

Score: 1550
Ammo: 2.5
Execution Ammo: 100% (5)
Sword Charge: 100
Execution: 333

11) Leaping Slasher
These upright humanoid looking enemies have blades for hands. They can slash you at close range if you are close, but at medium range they will flash then leap at you trying to slash you. They can be countered by attacking them with a sword. Consider these enemies as a boon since they will rapidly increase the Sword Charge upon Countering as well as giving some Carnage points. If you hold the attack button on countering and if you have a single bar of Sword Charge then a Hyper Drive can be used to clear out enemies in the slowdown.

Score: 500
Ammo: 25% (1.25)
Pulse Counter Ammo: 50% (2.5)
Sword Charge: 50
Pulse Counter Sword Charge: 217

12) Carapace Leaping Slasher
Upgraded version of the Leaping Slasher. It has the added bonus of the Demonic Carapace armor and will take more than one Counter to defeat. This enemy tends to run slow and try to slash you if it does not jump slash at you.

Score: 825
Ammo: 15% (0.75)
Sword Charge (Non Counter Sword Kill): ???
Pulse Counter Sword Charge (Non Killing Counter): 217
Pulse Counter Sword Charge (Killing Counter): 242

13) Super Carapace Leaping Slasher
Upgraded version of the Carapace Leaping Slasher that you can do three Pulse Counters on before it dies. This enemy can stand still and rapidly fire large bullet shots. These look very similar to the slightly easier Carapace Leaping Slasher, but seem slightly bigger and have much larger arms. After the first Pulse Counter, a tentacle will come out of its chest. Shoot the tentacle to stun it, then run up and attack with the sword to perform an Execution on this enemy. Executions will fully restore Heavy Ammo.

Score: 1250
Ammo (Non Execution): ???
Execution Ammo: 5
Sword Charge (Non Counter Sword Kill): ???
Pulse Counter Sword Charge (Non Killing Counter): 167
Pulse Counter Sword Charge (Killing Counter): 267
Execution: 333

14) Spinner
Do not be fooled by their seemingly random movements, these spinning blades are always moving towards your position. They can bounce of off other spinners and walls and sometimes perform improbably turns to move in your direction. Be careful when attacking these with swords since their hit boxes are quite large. Additionally certain swords have a large forward step that may bring you into the Spinner's hitbox so give yourself enough room. Spinners can be hit with a sword into other enemies to deal low damage to them.

Score: 200
Ammo: 10% (0.5)
Sword Charge: 15

15) Blaster Spinner
These are a larger form of the Spinner enemy, but they will fire out streams of bullets. One of the more dangerous enemies when combined with swarms of enemies due to the bullets removing good room to move, sometimes forcing a dash to evade. Spinners can be hit with a sword into other enemies to deal low damage to them.

Score: 425
Ammo: 20% (1)
Sword Charge: 35

16) Red Blaster Spinner
This spinner will shoot out small AOE orange shots that pepper the area surrounding it. Right before firing this enemy can be countered.

Score: 650
Ammo: 30% (1.5)
Sword Charge: ???
Sword Charge: 167

17) Small Exploder
These small slightly homing exploding balls will detonate upon taking enough damage or hitting a wall. Guns can explode these very quickly. Also, if you hit these with a sword they will be reflected and then explode if they hit an hit damaging or killing it.

Score: ???
Ammo: ???

18) Large Exploder
Similar to the Small Exploder these are larger and do more damage if you are caught in the blast radius.

Score: ???
Ammo: ???

19) Exploder Pillar
This enemy fires out orange shots that pepper your location. They have no close range attack, but its orange shots can come down very fast if you are close to it. After defeating the Exploder Pillar several Small Exploders will appear and try to hit you. These enemies also seem to take damage as they absorb Blood Gems until they die.

Score: 625
Ammo: 25% (1.25)
Sword Charge: 50

20) Large Exploder Pillar
Same as the Exploder Pillar but larger with more shots that are more rapid. Additionally upon death Large Exploders are spawned that try to ram you. These enemies also seem to take damage as they absorb Blood Gems until they die.

Score: 1135
Ammo: ???
Sword Charge: 75

21) Charger
Large purplish enemy whose main attack is a rapid charge attack that deals massive damage. While charging the Charger may have bullets streaming away from it depending on the difficulty. It also has close range crushing attacks. Like most dangerous enemies attempt to kill these these promptly. Watch out for a large distortion effect on the ground as a warning for when these will appear.

Score: 500
Ammo: 20% (1)
Sword Charge: 50

22) Large Charger
This extra large Charger is the tankiest enemy in the game with some of the strongest attacks. After appearing small orange homing bullets can appear and home in on your location. Like the Charger bullets can stream away from it, but also the small orange AOE shots like the Pillar enemies will shoot out while charging. These are easy to tell when they appear since there is a very large distortion effect on the ground. This enemy is the easiest enemy to Execute since once it takes enough damage it will start flashing orange and a close range sword attack will Execute it.

Score: 1250
Ammo (Non Execution): 20% (1)
Sword Charge: 100
Execution: 333
Execution Ammo: 5

23) Berserk Icon Rod
Arguably one of the most dangerous enemies. While its own larger spread out blaster attacks are sporadic once this enemy has been on screen for a couple seconds it causes all enemies to gain a massive speed boost. This effect is easy to see since there is a reddish effect on screen. Defeat these promptly or what might have been a mildly difficult section might become fatal.

Score: 1000
Ammo: ???
Sword Charge: 75

24) Blood Gem Worm
These are worm like creatures that move quickly upon taking damage while releasing Blood Gems. These are non aggressive bonus like enemies. Upon death these tend to spit out enough Blood Gems to advance your Kill Power level about one full level. They also can release large amounts of Health Shards if you kill them with a Wrath Burst or if they are have Inflictum. Killing this enemy with a sword gives about a large amount of Sword Charge, about 1/6 of the Sword Charge meter. A good strategy for these guys is to try and get Inflictum from a Wrath Burst on them to be able to do more damage and then take them out with the sword. These enemies are rather tanky and they are fast and tend to run away as you damage them.

Score: 3500
Ammo: 100% (5)
Sword Charge: 166

Generally here are a couple tips for completion of the Layers.

a) Complete the TUTORIALS! Understanding the gameplay mechanics helps immensely. Also you get one of the best amulets, the Carnelion Memory which improves Dash Recovery, right at the start. This also lets you work on the third amulet immediately. The third amulet is Twilight Amethyst which improves heavy ammo drop on sword kills which is also one of the best amulets.
b) Use your Heavy Ammo to take out medium or large sized enemies quickly.
c) Keep your Heavy Ammo amount full or near full as much as possible by using the Sword and Sword Triggers.
d) Use the Wrath Burst on groups of enemies to get Health Shards. Especially target enemies with the purple Demonic Carapaces. Detonating those will kill enemies nearby and give even more Health Shards.
e) Learn the timing to use the Active Triggers for the pistols Overdrive, the Sword Trigger, and the Reload Trigger as appropriate.
f) Memorize spawn locations of difficult enemies or at least be able to guess more difficult enemies based on the size of their floor distortion. These enemies can be attacked and killed even before they fully appear if you time it right.
g) Keep trying to get better equipment. Some unlocks may be hard to get so for those maybe use the Tokkens. I would recommend going for better Heavy Weapons first. While the initial Ruinshot is not a bad Heavy Weapon by any means there are better choices for later levels like Holybane or Archblight. Certain amulets unlocks can be very helpful too. The second amulet, Carnelion Memory (better Dash Recovery), the third Twilight Amethyst which improves heavy ammo drop on sword kills, and fifth Templar's Alexandrite improves the amount of health Health Shards give. Pistols have a great option early on in the Revolters, but the last two offerings Exhausters and Conflictors are great choices too. The swords I did not find as impactful on most of the levels as far as just being able to clear them.
h) Use the Hyper Drive and the Sword Surge when needed. Hyper Drive can be a life saver on dense parts since it gives you chance to wipe out the enemies. Sword Surge I would recommend using on parts that you find very difficult to clear them out or as a last resort.
i) Equipment unlocks stay unlocked across difficulties. Meaning you can play through the game on Regret, unlock a bunch of equipment, switch it to Acolyte then go through the Layers with all those previous equipment still unlocked.
j) Collect the Blood Gems to increase the Kill Power. Higher Kill Power means better movement speed and that helps a lot to decrease the difficulty.
h) Position and aim your weapons according to the stage layout for your weapons. This is particularly important for the Heavy Weapon Holybane due to its bouncing effect. Floating stationary slightly off the platform are often walls that Holybane can be bounced off of to then come back and hit enemies.

There are five stages called Layers. These layers are unlocked sequentially per each difficulty. The difficulties are, from easiest to hardest, Regret, Acolyte, Knight, and Sufferance. Each harder difficulty will give a 10% additional bonus to the final score. Higher difficulties increase enemy movement speed, attack speed, and damage. While each successive step in difficulty is not as large a jump as in some games, but because this game is already tuned to be challenging for players each minor increase can be difficult to overcome.

Below Layers will be described as being divided into Rooms. A Room will be considered setup once the geometry is finished morphing. Rooms usually have timed appearances of enemy layered in with needing to defeat certain waves to advance. Failing to defeat harder enemies can cause them to survive into the next hard wave of enemies. However this aspect of leaving enemies is important for getting lots of Carnage points since killing until there are only three or four small Slashers and Blaster Spiders will often cause the next enemies to appear. This lets you build up more enemies for a Hyper Drive or a Sword Surge. The enemies that appear in each room will be described. Advice for the Layer and specific parts will be listed on as needed basis.

Finally, remember than putting down the difficulty to Regret from the default Acolyte is an option. Slowly ratcheting up the difficulties starting from Regret makes learning how to improve on the Layers much easier.

Solitude is the initial stage and any kind of loadout works. Use the gameplay mechanics of the equipment and this first Layer will be defeated. Collect the Blood Gems to increase the Kill Power to increase your movement speed. Use Absorb for Wrath Bursts. Use those Wrath Bursts on groups of enemies to get lots of Health Shards. Get used to using the Active Triggers. Also, keep your Heavy Ammo up by using the Sword and Sword Triggers. Through the level kill enemies with the sword frequently to increase the Sword Charge. Using the sword to keep killing groups of small enemies, finishing larger enemies, the Blood Gem Worm, and doing the Pulse Counter on the Leaping Slasher is enough to fill the Sword Charge meter by the final Room. Consider using the Sword Surge on the final room if you are able to fill the Sword Charge meter fully.

a) First Room in the game introduces the most abundant enemies in the game. There are the groups of Slashers, Blaster Spiders, and a two Large Slashers. Here is a good place to gather the Blood Gems to gain a couple Kill Power levels which increases your speed most importantly. Try to Absorb Blood Gems to fill the Wrath Burst meter as well.

b) Second Room is much like the first with the addition of a couple Carapace Blaster Spiders. These medium sized enemies are upgrades of the Blaster Spider with a Demonic Carapace and wide spread shot. Use the Wrath Burst to cause a Wrath Explosion to blow up their Demonic Carapace to severely damage them and other enemies in the vicinity. The Wrath Explosion is enough to kill weaker or weakened enemies. If the Wrath Explosion is not enough to kill a damage they will be inflicted with Inflictum (purple looking effect) which causes them to slow down and take more damage for a time. Enemies defeated with the Wrath Burst, the Wrath Explosion, or killed while having Inflictum will drop Health Shards. The green Health Shards don't give much individually so killing lots of enemies at once with the Wrath Burst can give enough to fully replenish your health. Detonating the Demonic Carapaces each give 500 points. Try to kill these Carapace Blaster Spiders quickly since they tend to appear in groups and will fill the screen with bullets if you let them.

c) Third Room's orientation differs from the other two with less space to maneuver. Here try to move in a circle when moving towards enemies. In other words try not to run directly at farther away enemies, but approach them in a curve. Do it this way since the Blaster Spiders and the Carapace Blaster Spiders can fill the space with bullets directly heading in your direction. Large Slashers attack almost immediately after spawning so keep an eye out for larger distortions on ground.

This room introduces Spinners, one of the most unintuitive enemies due to how strangely they move. These spiked spinning blades are always slightly maneuvering to move in your direction so despite them seeming to just bounce around they are actually going towards you. They can bounce off other Spinners and walls and make very unusual turns to try and hit you. Attacking them will bounce them away from you and they deal small damage to other enemies when you do this.

d) Fourth Room's has two important features that have not been seen yet. The Laser Trap and the Blood Gem Worm. The Laser Traps seem here are out of the way and rather innocuous. The important thing here is not bump into them accidentally since they do some of the highest damage in the game. The Blood Gem Worm is an important enemy since it can give the most Blood Gems, Health Shards, Sword Charge, and points. Recommend using a Wrath Burst on it then killing it with the sword. This single enemy gives a 1/3 of one of the bars for the Sword Charge alone.

Besides those two new elements this room builds on the previous one with Slashers, Blaster Spiders, Large Slashers, and Spinners appearing. The frequency of the tougher enemies starts increasing around this room. Use the Heavy Weapon shots to clear them out if you start to get overwhelmed. Also use the Sword Trigger from the Active Trigger reload to quickly gain more Heavy Weapon ammo.

e) Fifth Room is a long section with some walls near the bottom that can obscure some enemies fro view. My advice to stay away from the bottom section since smaller enemies can actually spawn out of view and take stab or shot at you.

There is an initial wave of Slashers and Blaster Spiders, followed by some Spinners. After that is a Leaping Slasher, a humanoid enemy with blades on its arms that will flash red, jumps, and attacks you with its bladed arms. When this Leaping Slasher flashes red it can be Pulse Countered, which means if you hit it with the sword it will take massive damage and giving you a about half of one of the thirds of the Sword Charge meter. Pulse Counters give 1500 Carnage points. The Leaping Slasher dies after a Pulse Counter. In addition to being Pulse Counter-able, while using the sword if you hold that attack button and if after the Pulse Counter you have a single bar filled, you can activate Hyper Drive. Hyper Drive makes everything besides Kill Knight move super slow. Hyper Drive is an important gameplay mechanic to make difficult areas more manageable in later Layers. While in Hyper Drive kill as many enemies as possible to increase the Carnage Score.

Once the Leaping Slasher is dead another group of small enemies appear. Then there are four Carapace Blaster Spiders, which two on each side of the long platform. If you are using the initial Heavy Weapon go to one side of the platform when they appear, aim towards the other end and fire off the Wrath Burst. The Wrath Burst will continue on after detonating the two Carapace Blaster Spiders' demonic carapaces then hit the other two on the other side of the platform off screen. Done correctly this will kill all four along with a bunch of smaller enemies. The other Heavy Weapons have similar setups with trying to detonate as many of the demonic carapaces as possible.

f) In the Sixth Room the main threat here is the spinning red laser alongside the many enemies. Dash through the laser when necessary but mostly move clockwise along with the laser. Lasers in this game are extremely deadly and pose major issues. Most rooms with moving lasers should be treated with extreme caution. Solitude gives enough room with its moving lasers but in later Layers these can prove challenging. Note how right before the lasers appear at full width they are a thin red line. When in the thin red line state they do no damage. This is the time to move away from them before taking damage.

The enemies that appear here are ones that have been seen so far but in greater frequency and number. Now is the time to try and fill out your Sword Charge meter with Pulse Counters if it is not filled already in preparation for the next and final room.

g) Seventh Room is very similar the Sixth, but the laser moves in the counter clockwise direction, and the layout is a little more crammed with the room becoming more circular. Do not move along the edges of this room since you could get caught due to the uneven nature of the edges. In general it is a good idea to never move along the edges if you can help it.

Small enemies rapidly appear alongside Large Slashers, Carapace Blaster Spiders. Some spinners join the fun as well. Leaping Slashers appear right near the end for some extra Sword Charge, or Hyper Drives, or to maybe finish with a Sword Surge.

Entanglement ups the general difficulty from the previous stage with more traps, and harder enemies. However if I had to point to a theme it would be "Explosions". There a lot of explosive traps and enemies. Try and get whatever upgrades you can by completing the challenges since the newer equipment might work better for your playstyle. I would at least get Carnelian Memory due to the only requirement being to complete the Tutorials. The second equipment's unlock requirements are not that difficult to perform either.

a) In this Room there are explosive proximity explosive traps are on the left and right side. When triggered there is a gold ring around them that appears a couple seconds before they explode. You can also trigger one by shooting it. For these be extremely careful with how you shoot while near them since dealing too much damage to them will explode them. Explosion damage is really high in this game. Moving from right to left triggering these traps deliberately is a great way to deal large damage to lots of enemies at once.

As far as enemies go this room this room has the standard assortment of Slashers, Blaster Spiders, Carapace Blaster Spider, and Large Slashers.

b) The next Room is very similar to the one in Solitude, but this one has a moving Laser. Moving lasers are dangerous. Use the Dash to move through lasers. If you need to certain swords have their Sword Trigger that gives invincibility for a while during use. However, good swords for that are Divination and Killblade, which are probably still locked by this point.

c) Try to stay near the center of this Room. This rather small platform is the first appearance of the Exploders which appear in a ring near the edges of the platform. Exploders can be Dashed through or destroyed through shooting. You can also hit them in a different direction with the sword however their effectiveness on other enemies is rather limited. They explode on contact with the kill knight, walls, or other obstacles. They deal explosive damage so just like with the explosive traps avoid them as much as possible. There is a rather subtle tell for Exploders and that is that the distortion that appears on the ground is reddish and kind of oily looking.

After the Exploders, a Carapace Blaster Spider and the small Slashers appear. Use the Wrath Burst here to explode the carapace and many of the small enemies. This is a good spot to gain some Health Shards. Also get your Heavy Weapon ammo full here for the next new spawn.

At the end of the Room yet another new enemy appears, the Charger. The Charger is a high HP unit that has slow powerful close in stomps if you you are close by, but the main threat is its charge. On lower difficulties the charge is very slow, but on higher difficulties it damn near zooms and does large damage. Make sure to keep some heavy ammo available for these types of units. The Wrath Burst works well to slow these down and make them easier to kill.

d) The next Room's visibility is rather poor with the walls up around the edges, there is an explosive trap in the middle, and it is cramped. What I recommend doing here is to keep triggering the explosive trap as it respawns. This serves to remove the trap for a time and to kill enemies. I do not really recommend moving back and forth across the full platform since the Blaster Spiders on the opposite end that you cannot see most of the time will fire at you filling that very cramped center area with bullets. Makes it very easy to take damage if you do that. Keep the heavy ammo and Wrath Burst full for Large Slashers and Spinners.

e) Stay near the middle to right side of this Room. This rectangular room will spawn Exploders on the left side. While that happens there are two moving lasers as well. Of course the usual swarming small enemies are coming at you too. Not the easiest of rooms. After that there is a group with small enemies with a Carapace Blaster Spider just asking for a good Wrath Burst.

Next, another new unit is introduced here, the Laser Demon. They start tracking your position with a guiding laser, then after it blinks rapidly it will fire. However as long as you have a Kill Power level of two or so and moving sort of perpendicular to the laser's path will allow you more than enough room to comfortably dodge it. Failing that, then use a dodge right before it goes off. While the overall threat these enemies pose is low through the game, they can cause you do take damage when they appear in groups. My recommendation is to use your Heavy Weapon and shut them down as fast as possible. They do give 50 Sword Charge each which is worth ten of the smaller Slashers and Blaster Spiders, so if you feel more Sword Charge is what you want try to soften them up with a Heavy Weapon or the pistol then finish them with the sword. Note that you cannot Pulse Counter the Laser Demon that only fires a single laser. You can Pulse Counter the type that fires a three way laser though that appears in a later Room.

f) Two exploding pillars with some walls causing some movement blockage in this next Room. In can be a tricky to avoid damage in this Room since there is a lot of ranged units. After the initial small units two Leaping Slashers can provide some relief if you use a Hyper Drive with one to wipe out the current enemies. Keep the Wrath Burst and heavy ammo up to clear out the Spinners.

The orange colored Blaster Spinner can easily deny a lot of space to move to around without Dashing if you let it stay on screen for too long and start firing. Wipe them out on sight. If they do get shots off they do not completely cover the screen with shots but leave gaps that you can move through. Here just be careful of the exploding traps.

g) This one is one of the harder Rooms despite the large area. The lasers periodically deny you areas to move through without dashing and there are a lot of Blaster Spiders. There is an upgraded version of the Laser Demon that shoots three lasers at once. This Three-way Laser Demon can be Pulse Countered right before it shoots. Good way to accumulate Sword Charge or to use a Hyper Drive.

h) Things start to get hectic and these next few Room are brief but they change quickly adding in more exploding traps as it progresses. This is very dangerous since it is easy to caught on the traps themselves as they spawn in. You can also accidentally destroy the explosive trap by shooting at enemies and also hitting it, causing the explosion to go off potentially dealing lethal damage to you.

For this first iteration of the Room some small enemies and a Charger appear. Again keep the heavy ammo up but take out the Charger once it starts appearing.

i) Second Iteration of the Room adds more explosive traps, and there are two Laser Demons that appear at the top and bottom of the map. If you cannot take them out quick enough they tend to move to another location near another explosive trap. There is a Leaping Slasher here so decide if you want to use Hyper Drive with it, or go for the Sword Surge. A Carapace Blaster Spider can make for some much needed health too if you use the Wrath Burst on it.

j) This last section is rather hectic with explosive traps covering the entire platform and enemies spawning in rapidly. Use the heavy weapons on the tougher enemies while you run around dodging explosions. The Wrath Burst is a good choice once you see more Carapace Blaster Spiders.

This is where most players start feeling the bite. Getting more and different equipment is again recommended.

a) First Room has a new trap, Floor Spikes. Floor Spikes are triggered when Kill Knight walks over them and can be a nice way to increase the kill speed of smaller enemies. Here try moving around in a tight circle only touching the very edges of the spikes to start them going. They trigger after a couple seconds dealing damage to units above.

There are the usual small enemies, three Laser Demons, and A Charger that appear. The Wrath Burst works well on the Charger to make it easier to kill.

b) This room has these two spinning spike pillars that make moving around troublesome. There is a Three-Way Laser Demon along with two Large Slashers in the first wave. The second wave has two Large Spinners and a Carapace Blaster Spider.

c) The third room has a large area with several rectangular blocks taken out forming some holes in the middle of the area. After the small enemies, another wave of smaller enemies alongside a Blood Worm Gem spawn. Following that wave more small swarming enemies including a Cannon Blaster Spider attack. This enemy fires nine larger bullets in a tight spread in kill knight's direction. They also have a defensive type move that can shoot out this little yellow bullets that surround it. This move makes trying to be overly aggressive with a sword risky. It is recommended to take out most of its health outside of close range then finish it with the sword if farming sword charge. The final wave of this area is another Cannon Blaster Spider with a couple of Laser Demons.

d) Once the next Room loads try to be on the lower left side. There is a good amount of room to maneuver on the bottom of the map and being on the far left gives you more space. This space is important since there are spinning lasers on the right side of the screen. These spinning lasers are obnoxious and dangerous here if you are on the upper portion of the map. The lasers get interrupted by obstacles, and if you cannot see the lasers well then once the lasers move past the blockage they can immediately hit you if you wander too far over. Being on the lower part gives you great visibility and it is not too hard to dash through them as they spin.

Blast through through some small swarming enemies, while keeping the heavy ammo and Wrath Burst Up. A Large Slasher spawns shortly followed by two Carapace Blaster Spiders.

e) This Next Room has a similar setup with the same strategy being used for placement. Try to keep yourself towards the lower left side of the screen. Here you can clearly see the rotating lasers with enough room to dodge and defeat enemies. That spot also gives you plenty of space to not accidentally bump into the spinning spike pillar traps.

Kill the swarming small enemies, but be prepared for the group of Spinners and the Leaping Slasher. The Leaping Slasher is useful for Hyper Drive.

f) The following room can be hard if you are not aware of what is coming. First do not stay super close to the moving spinning spike pillar in the middle. Use the initial swarming small enemies to get heavy ammo and fill your Wrath Burst.

Next a Carapace Slasher comes out which can ruin your attempt, but with a Wrath Burst or enough heavy ammo shots will go down without too much trouble. This guy moves fast, but it also large so it is easy to shoot. Do not stay close to it since it has a defensive move just like the Cannon Spider with the yellow mine-like shots that shoot out around it.

After killing the Carapace Slasher stay away from the edges of the map due to Exploders spawning suddenly around the area. Try to stay near the middle if possible while moving in a circular pattern. After those guys a Blaster Spinner and a Three-Way Laser Demon pop out. Consider Pulse Countering the Three-way Laser Demon for Hyper Drive.

g) Certain close range pistol choices can make this room more difficult than necessary. The reason for that is there are four platforms floating off the corners of the main one that kill knight is on and Blaster Spiders will spawn on those. Killing those should be a priority since they will just hang out constantly shooting at you with usually two to three of them off screen.

Fill up your heavy ammo and Wrath Burst on the small enemies as usual. A Exploder Pillar spawns right in the middle of this cramped area. It shoots these yellow bombs that have a highlighted area on the ground for where it will land. Give that area a very generous space since the hitboxes on those things are slightly large than they appear. The easiest way to deal with these is to kill them just as they appear. After dying several Exploders spawn from within the body and home in on your position. Make sure to not be near them when they appear. Shooting them or smacking them away with a sword works.

Wrath Burst the Charger that spawns after the Exploder Pillar and attack it to take it down. The Charger is quite dangerous in the small area if you fail to take it down fast. Its large wave-like stomp attack reduces space further and it will charge at you pretty quickly otherwise.

Echelon has some of the most difficult rooms in the game, and will require some practice. Keep up your heavy weapon ammo filled as much as possible or you will be in for a bad time. In fact there is an equipment unlock for the Heavy Weapon Holybane for completing this stage without fully depleting your ammo.

There are two rooms in particular that are of note in this Layer and may change how you approach it. The first is this tiny room with moving lasers and a Carapace Slasher with Spinners that rushes in, and the second is this long room with Large Exploder Pillars. You may want to consider a Heavy Weapon that deals high damage quickly just for those two rooms.

For this stage and the next I am going to give less mention of the small Slashers and Blaster Spiders unless they make a section harder. Waves of smaller enemies are very common at this point so putting more emphasis on the tougher enemies and the obstacles in the rooms.

a) The starting room has no traps and the only part that is slightly tricky is that the room is rather large with some of the harder enemies being spread out. Try to get your Kill Power level to 1 or 2 by the end of this room for the speed boost.

Exploder Pillar and a Cannon Blaster Spider come out with the first wave. The Exploder Pillar appears in a spot slightly distant from your position. The Cannon Blaster Spider appears near the middle.

A Leaping Slasher and two Laser Demons appear in the final wave of enemies. Unless you were aggressively building Sword Charge don't expect to be able to pull off a Hyper Drive with the Leaping Slasher on a Pulse Counter here.

b) This room has a swamp like area that causes massive slow down. Do not go into this muck here or in other areas unless you really need to. Being slow is very dangerous, but dashing helps.

The Blaster Spiders line up on either side so just start shooting as they appear. Two Spinners and Blaster Spinner popup in the middle and are pretty obnoxious if you let them bounce around due to the strange movement.

Next a Red Blaster Spinner spawns surrounded by Blaster Spiders. The Red Blaster Spinner shoots out the yellow bombs, but you can Pulse Counter this enemy before it shoots.

Stay near the middle and move around to avoid the Exploders. After those a Red Blaster Spinner and four Carapace Blaster Spiders start causing problems. Wrath Bursts are effective on at least a pair of them depending on your weapon. Try to Pulse Counter the Red Blaster Spinner.

c) Watch out for the lasers going across the area while taking out enemies. A Exploder Pillar spawns on the left followed by two Large Slashers.

d) This room has vertical lasers as opposed to the horizontal ones from the previous room. Here some Exploders and a Leaping Slasher comes out as part of the first wave. There is a Blood Gem Worm that spawns a short while after those spawn. Then there is Carapace Slasher with a whole bunch of small enemies. Remember that killing the Blood Worm Gem with the sword gives a lot of sword charge.

e) This next room is very challenging. As I mentioned before any room with moving lasers tends to be among the hardest in the game and this one is no exception. There are two lasers that cross each other and move back and forth across the platform. These lasers also alternate between fully crossing one side and then leaving a space on the side.

First wave has a Carapace Leaping Slasher and a Exploder Pillar. This is a rather dangerous combination with the lasers moving around. A Hyper Drive would not be a bad choice to use on this wave.

Second wave has a bunch of Spinners, two Blaster Spinners, and a Laser Demon. This is in addition to all the small swarming Slashers and Blaster Spiders. If you place yourself near the middle off to the right and aim slightly up left you can take out the Laser Demon and the two Blaster Spinners if you have the Holybane. Try and find a way to take out a bunch of enemies all at once. Be aggressive here with heavy weapons and Wrath Burst or you may find your attempt ending on this wave.

f) This is another tough room without knowing what to do. Stay away from the muck surrounding the stage and in two big pools.

There is a Tentacle Demon that appears in the middle of the stage. Calling it that since once it starts firing a large tentacle comes out of its chest. Shoot this weapon point tentacle a bit and it will kneel over bleeding. This is the correct time to get close and perform an Execution.

Getting an Execution fills your heavy weapon ammo which is very important. On this big stage there are two Berserk Idol Rods that appear on the upper left and the bottom right of the stage. The key to beating this room is kill these as fast and as clean as possible. Try to kill at least one as soon as it appears then go for the other one. A Wrath Burst to inflict Inflictum will help make killing them easier. Note that a Large Slasher appears shortly after those two spawn in and with the berserk effect it may need to be killed before them if you wait too long.

g) The room modifies itself slightly to have a moving spiky pillar in the middle. Listen to the audio and you may hear the Blood Worm Gem that spawns before you see it. The room is rather large so you not even see it depending on where you are. After that a Three-Way Laser Demon appears near the bottom middle of the area. It is not hard to Pulse Counter this enemy as long as you know where it spawns.

h) Now for one of the hardest rooms in the game in my personal opinion. The very small room with four spinning lasers. This room has walls that can obscure or outright hide enemies. Due to the cramped space it can be difficult to use the sword to effectively farm heavy weapon ammo too.

After the initial small enemies a Exploder Pillar appears on the right side. While you could leave this be, and it will naturally just die as you defeat enemies, its Exploders that is leaves to home in your position might catch you by surprise. After that there is a tough wave or small enemies, Spinners, and a Carapace Slasher. Try not to be on the bottom section of the room when it spawns since it can attack you almost as soon as it spawns giving little time to dodge. Use Wrath Burst and your Heavy Weapon as needed. If you can get Inflictum on the Carapace Slasher you can at least buy time to deal with Spinners moving towards you or reposition if you cannot kill it quickly.

i) Unusual room with a large chunk missing from the middle and exploding traps all around it. You won't go wrong by just moving around in a circular motion and taking out enemies. Avoid walking over the exploded traps otherwise you may get stuck on it for a time. In between the smaller enemies there is a Large Slasher, a couple Carapace Blaster Spiders, and a couple of Laser Demons.

j) This is a pretty large room with a lot of spike traps. The enemies appear in groups of threes for the most part. Three Carapace Blaster Spiders, one Super Carapace Leaping Slasher, three Blaster Spinners, and three Spinners.
The Super Carapace Leaping Slasher takes one more Pulse Counter to defeat than a Carapace Leaping Slasher, but instead of using that instead shoot it a bit and then it can be Executed. Be careful of its rapid large bullet shots it can shoot out of its arms.

k) This is one of the hardest rooms in the game especially on higher difficulties imo. This long room with two moving lasers that starts with two Large Exploder Pillars, then a Charger in the middle. This room is hard, and gets very hard on higher difficulties due to the increased damage and fire rate of the Large Exploder Pillars. These Large Exploder Pillars have a large amount of health and fire their bomb like shots in a wide area. If you can take out one at the start at least you will be in a better position. At least try to get Inflictum on one and whittle down its health. Getting in close range to these enemies is very dangerous and they can destroy your entire health bar in seconds on Sufferance.

The Charger spawns surrounded by Blaster Spiders. The Charger starts off with a thin fire wave attack that expands out, and combined with the moving lasers and the Blaster Spider attacks can see your health plummet. If you are in a tough spot, a Sword Surge here could save your attempt. Although using a Sword Surge won't give as many points as in some later spots.

l) This room has a lot of enemies without much of a break. There is the muck slowdown around the corners so watch out. First a Cannon Spider and some Spinners are part of the first wave, then a Large Charger pops out to say hello from the upper right. it is placed near the edge of the platform facing in so use piercing or exploding shots to cause it to be ready for Execution. Shortly after Exploders spawn around the perimeter of the platform and a Three-way Laser Demon shows up in the middle. Then is a rather tricky wave if you are not ready for it, two Tentacle Demons and a Large Slasher. Wait for one's tentacle to pop out, shoot it, then get in there to Execute when it is ready. Take care of the Large Slasher, then do the same for the other Tentacle Demon.

m) The previous room is modified to have two moving spinning spike pillars with two lasers interrupted by them leaving a small gap in the middle. After a lot of small enemies the first wave kicks off with a Red Blaster Spinner, a Large Exploder Pillar, and a Carapace Blaster Spider.

n) Final room time for Echelon. Two additional spinning spike traps with lasers being interrupted are added. A Super Carapace Leaping Slasher drops into the middle of the screen followed by two Large Slashers. The final wave has two Carapace Slashers.

Reflection is overall the hardest Layer, but there are only a couple truly exceptional parts. This Layer is mostly an intense long endurance stage with each room having tons of enemies with no breaks. One difficult aspect of this stage is that most of the counterable enemies are at the end of the areas instead of near the start. This means that their usefulness is reduced.

My personal favorite equipment loadout for this Layer is Conflictors, Holybane, Divination, Demiguard, and Carnelian Memory aka (V IV III V II). I like that slight decrease in dodge cooldown that Carnelian Memory gives since there are a lot of lasers causing problems in this Layer. Consider trying the Resolverite armor if increasing the Kill Power level and keeping it high is hard. Resolverite has the highest dash recovery without needing to increase the Kill Power level and also has two dashes. I cannot recommend Direthorn armor with its single dash. If you do not expect to beat the boss on your first attempt, then dying and restarting from the boss checkpoints resets your Kill Power level and would make the Demiguard armor more difficult to use than Resolverite. Demiguard armor initially has rather poor dash recovery speed at the first couple Kill Power levels and only gets good at the last couple of Kill power levels. Getting that Kill Power level high also makes your speed faster overall and will make the Layer much easier than if it is consistently low.

However you do not need to have a lot of the later equipment unlocked. The starting initial equipment is perfectly fine to complete this Layer. The main difficulty is learning a couple of the harder rooms and the boss. I will say that the boss is easier if you have equipment that damages at long distance however. The boss has lots of moves that try to keep you at a distance.

a) First room has some spike traps on the side that you can trigger to take out some smaller enemies. There are also walls on the top and bottom section that you could use to bounce Holybane shots off if you are using that. Initial wave has a bunch of Spinners bouncing around. Second wave has two Exploder Pillars with a Carapace Slasher with a bunch of Blaster Spiders. A lone Large Slasher spawns in the middle. Two Carapace Blaster Spiders come out, and with a slight delay so does two Blaster Spinners.

b) This is the warmup configuration of the hardest room with only two lasers that rotate positions. There is no special strategy needed for this, but try to take out the mass of Blaster Spiders that constantly appear. First wave has some Spinners and a Tentacle Demon. Might as well use the heavy weapon before shooting the tentacle pre-Execution since the Execution gives you full heavy weapon ammo.

c) Now two lasers are added to the previous room making this the hardest room in the game IMO. At least the developers put this as only the second room in this Layer instead of near the end so players can spend some time to learn it.

To dodge the lasers there are a couple main ways but they all depend on dashing through lasers at points that cross each other to reduce the number of dashes. Understand that these lasers rotate 90 degrees inward, then go back to the original position by rotating 90 degrees in the opposite direction. There are two tiny ledges that jut out on the bottom and top of the platform to give you a little leeway as well. Sword Trigger can be useful to go through lasers, but keep in mind Swiftshade (II) does not give i frames through lasers.

One method is to alternate sides on the left and right dashing through lasers as they start to rotate inward. Make sure to dash through two lasers at once otherwise you could potentially get caught out by an additional third laser. When dashing through one move in the direction that gives you the most space.

Second method is similar to the first where the idea is to try dash through the top left and/or the top right as the lasers cross. Then try to move giving yourself enough time and space for the dashes to recover.

Third way is by Extra Big Swimjim with Cheese's suggestion of using the Sword Trigger for Swords 3 (III), 4 (IV), or 5 (V) that have lengthy i-frames (invincibility frames) to dodge at the point three lasers are stacked up to avoid damage without using a dodge.

Get your Wrath Burst and Heavy Weapon ammo ready since a Charger spawns in the middle. After taking that down a Large Slasher spawns. Then thankfully two Leaping Slashers spawn so you can use those for Hyper Drive to clear out the rest of the stage. Activating Hyper Drive gives invincibility for a short period which comes in huge help for this part if pressured.

d) Next area does not have any obstacles and is more of a break than anything compared to the previous one. There is a Berserk Icon Rod in the next wave with two Laser Demons above and below it that come out after a bit. Then two more of the Berserk Icon Rods appear on the left and right side of the platform. There is a Red Blaster Spinner to finish off this area.

e) The actual area you can move around in the next area is small despite it looking large because of the muck. As usual do not go into the muck since it will muck things up. Use a Wrath Burst on the Large Exploder Pillar and go to town on it to kill it as fast as possible. Small areas and Large Exploder Pillars are not a good combination for your continued health. Stay near the middle for the next part with the Exploders killing or dodging them as you can. Some Spinners and Blaster Spinners come out next. Give them some space while killing them.

f) This area only has some spikes surrounding a small area. First wave begins with a Cannon Spider then four Carapace Blaster Spider appear near the four corners. Second wave has a Carapace Leaping Slasher surrounded by Spinners. The final enemy to note would be the Tentacle Demon.

g) This area modifies the previous area and starts with an exploding trap in the middle where it shortly disappears and then four exploding trap appear on the corners. Prepare for the wave consisting of three Laser Demons and a Carapace Slasher.

h) One of the tougher areas of the game here with the lasers across the platforms being hidden and revealed by the spinning spike traps. While it is possible to have the character be in between the lasers it is a terrible position to be in. Try to stay even with the moving spike traps to have the most room to maneuver. The left and right sides of the platform are safe areas away from lasers and can be safe if you get caught out and fail to move with the lasers although it is way more risky to be there. First wave has a Red Blaster Spinner. Second wave has two Blaster Spinners, and the final wave has three Carapace Blaster Spiders.

i) This is a medium sized area with some raised corners. First wave has a Large Charger, and the second has four Laser Demons. The Laser Demons appear in the order of up and down, then left and right.

j) This area is 100% muck. Try to stay near the middle here. A Large Slasher comes out from the upper left so blast him as soon as possible. The enemies are not disadvantaged from the muck so having that enemy loose is terrible. Again stay near the middle for the Exploders. If you kill or dodge one that side becomes more safe since there is no second spawning wave. I suggest killing them starting from the left moving clockwise.

k) This area is a large platform with repeating grid lasers. Try really hard to take out the Blaster Spiders and larger enemies. You can dash to another cell in the grid if you really need to dodge, but it is risky since the lasers even on touch do so much damage. First wave has a Large Slasher. Second wave has a Charger in the middle and two Blaster Spinners. Wrath Burst works to slow them down so you can take them out while the lasers are not on. A Three-Way Demon appears in the middle followed by a wave with two Cannon Spiders. The ending wave has two Leaping Slashers.

l) Medium area with a small circle of muck in the middle. Note that the grid lasers turn on after awhile here so move quickly. First wave has a Tentacle Demon on the bottom left as well as the upper right. After a few seconds six Spinners spawn so expect having to move to the next position of the Tentacle Demon to take it out. The final wave has a Red Blaster Spinner.

m) This area is similar to the final area of Echelon with the spinning spike traps in a larger area. Similar to the last couple previous areas the grid lasers are still going on and off. First wave has two Large Exploder Pillars and a Large Slasher. A short time after a Blood Gem Worm comes out near the top left area of the platform. Next wave has a Carapace Slasher and a Large Slasher. The final wave of four Carapace Blaster Spider blends into the next configuration with four exploding traps since the next area loads even when they are out. However once they are defeated those disappear oddly enough.

n) Final area is one of the hardest in the game if you do not know what is going to happen so it is rather unfortunate it is at the end of the Layer. While there are no obstacles on the platform it is a large with tougher enemies spread out which makes it harder to take them down. Name of the game here is to kill the Berserk Icon Rods ASAP.

The first wave is not bad, a Large Charger and a Laser Demon. However next wave has four Berserk Icon Rods that all spawn at the same time at the far corners. Use whatever you can here to take them out quick. After that first wave you should be ready and waiting on the corners facing a nearby Berserk Icon Rod and be blasting those to nothing as soon as they spawn. There is a Large Slasher than spawns near the right side, and when it is sped up it can near instant hit you if you are nearby when it spawns. Also quickly kill all of those Berserk Icon Rods since if you wait too long a sped up Large Exploder Pillar spawns. Do not attempt to get close to that Large Exploder Pillar if it is sped up since the shots will fall on you near instantly. Those warning yellow circles cannot be relied on here since they fire very quickly when close. Farm the smaller enemies for Wrath Burst and heavy weapon ammo if you have some Berserk Icon Rods left. If this area if getting too wild then use a Sword Surge if you can. A Three-way Laser Demon Spawns on the bottom area followed by a Blaster Spinner surrounded by Spinners. The final enemy is a Super Carapace Leaping Slasher.

n) INTERMISSION. This is the only spot in the game where you can actually take a short breather without enemies. There is a long platform with a cube you need to interact with to access the next area which contains the final boss. Note that your Health is fully restored here.

Abyssal Sphere)
First it should be noted there is a checkpoint here so if you die you can restart from here. The boss is a giant sphere with pillars that circle around it. These pillars can be used in several different attacks. The Abyssal Sphere has several checkpoints in its health bar, and when you do enough damage it will be stunned and fall down. When this happens you can perform Executions on it. Remember that Executions fully restore heavy weapon ammo so use that freely. After Executions the Abyssal Sphere drops lots of Health Shards. Additionally the Abyssal Sphere has tentacles that serve as weak points which can be shot. If you deal enough damage to all the tentacles it can also be stunned and be Executed yet again. The pillars also act as part of the boss which can be destroyed and also deals damage to the boss. If destroyed with the sword they give Blood Gems and Sword Charge. If there is Inflictum on them they will give Health Shards.

The Abyssal Sphere is mostly a low danger fight but it has a lot of attacks that Kuriel the Final Angel also uses.

The most common attack is where it uses a stream of bullets that fan out as it rotates. Just move along with the bullets sort of close to the boss to dodge while doing damage.

The second most common attack is a bombardment using those yellow shots that the Exploder Pillars use.

Another attack is it uses the Charger's thin red ground wave attack. This one can be kind of tricky since it comes out suddenly. You may take damage from this if you are being aggressive with the sword.

It can use its pillars to attack by lining them up in front of it and pushing them forward rapidly as a wedge. Dashing through or to the side can work to dodge them.

The most dangerous attack from this form is where the pillars spread out across the level and fire homing yellow shots. These are the same shots that the Tentacle Demon and the Large Charger use.

Kuriel, the Last Angel Phase 1)
There is an additional checkpoint after defeating the Abyssal Sphere.
This is a tougher version of the Abyssal Sphere where it will not be stunned and cannot be Executed. It uses attacks similar to the Abyssal Sphere with a couple additions and typically much higher volume of shots.

It uses the mine-like shots similar to the Cannon Spider but in huge amounts. While shooting those out lasers are shot out from the rotating pillars. If you can take out a pillar or two this attack become much easier to deal with. If you are not able to just stay far away and use the pistol and heavy weapon and dodge through the lasers. Stay in place and dodge the lasers as they come or move circular with the motion of the lasers to dodge.

There is another attack where the pillars spread out and the pillars will use a homing laser like the Laser Demon. A dash will be necessary to avoid the laser once it fires due to the lock on. Look for when the laser is flashing right before it fires.

An attack where the pillars are spread out and it is firing the slow moving yellow homing shots while the main body is using the ground wave is a tough one to dodge. Hopefully you can knock its health down to the halfway point or fully deplete this form's health to stop the attack. Otherwise try and move circular and keep dealing damage.

The pillars pushed out as a wedge attack remains the same as the first form.

Another attack that is upgraded from the first form is the bombardment type attack. This form shoots them out in a huge mass that lasts for a good amount of time. Just stay back and keep using long range attacks.

Its most dangerous attack comes out after its health drops to 50%. It will move off near an edge and fire six laser shots that are spread out. This attack has the lasers reflect off the ground and makes focusing on the actual lasers difficult. I recommend turning off Reflection found in Graphics in the Settings. You have a couple options to dodge this. First back up and start dashing through the lasers only waiting to recharge when needed. Second would be to use your Sword Trigger if you are not using Swiftshade.

Kuriel the Last Angel Phase 2)

During Kuriel the Last Angel fight using Sword Surge gives near constant use of your Heavy Weapon for example since it is constantly killing the small spawning enemies. If you have Sword Surge at the start of this phase then you completed the other two phases without dying. Use it and shoot up the boss while making sure to stay away from the small Slashers.

However if you don't have Sword Surge things can get hairy. The pillars that rotate around the boss keep shooting out large bullets, and the Slashers keep rushing you. The movement for the enemies is slowed down so there is some leeway if your Kill Power is low. Move away from the bottom to the upper area of the platform since it is really hard to fully see the enemies due to the camera and the large non-transparent health bar. Defeat the Slashers with the sword and pistol and keep dealing damage to the boss. Eventually its health will go down. Walk up to the front and use the sword to finish it.

SEVER is unlocked once the game is beaten after Layer 5 Reflection is complete. SEVER is a remix of all five Layers which does include the last boss. SEVER Mode does not have a difficulty, but it seems to scale in difficulty as the Layers progress. Rooms are slightly modified by adding more enemies or different enemies. Most also have more enemies. SEVER needs to be completed in one life. Highly suggest being able to complete each Layer on Sufferance. To get even better practice try to get the K Ranks first before trying to beat SEVER Mode. Expected completion time is around 40 to 45 minutes.

Some tips for SEVER Mode
1) Stay away from the room edges for the most part, because this remix likes adding in lots of Exploders that spawn quickly and can immediately cause massive damage.
2) Make sure to select an equipment loadout that you are comfortable with to complete all the Layers in one continuous fight with no breaks.
3) If a Room has one or two hard enemies expect SEVER to double or triple their number in worse cases.

*Note: According to user Rancra and his provided screenshot, there is are Challenge Badges that can be acquired in this mode. However, the exact requirements are unknown at this point.

Link to video of completed SEVER mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M413L-0xXVc

Leaving enemies alive is important for getting lots of Carnage points since killing until there are only three or four small Slashers and Blaster Spiders will often cause the next enemies to appear. This lets you build up more enemies for a Hyper Drive or a Sword Surge. Make use of the Blood Gems when possible since they give a lot of Sword Charge. Fallen Pyrite helps increase Sword Charge. Celestial Ceruleite increases Wrath Burst which are good on enemies with the Demonic Carapace. Killblade may not be a good choice since if you are not constantly gaining Sword Charge it will slowly decrease.

Getting high Carnage points is usually finding a good flow for the levels in knowing when the use the Hyper Drive or the Sword Surges.

There is a farming trick with the Swiftshade if you leave alive some Blaster Spiders or Carapace Blaster Spiders and use the Sword Trigger to farm the bullets. Overall points will be terrible, but if you want to this is an option. This is not necessary to reach the Challenge Badges goals.

Link below to a video that has all the Layers completed for their Carnage score.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNwGc5Cx_0I

Certain actions will cause Carnage Points to occur.
a) Wrath Explosions due to hitting Demonic Carapaces
500 points per enemy

b) Pulse Counter
1500 points

c) Hyper Drive
Kills during Hyper Drive seem to become Carnage Points. Activate the Hyper Drive during areas of high enemy density and when you have the Wrath Burst meter ready to go. A decent score for a Hyper Drive is somewhere around 7000 Carnage points. This can go higher, but that probably means deliberately leaving tougher enemies alive while focusing on the smaller enemies to get the next wave to spawn in a room. Meaning the difficulty goes up and higher chance of dying. However the one enemy that is worth leaving alive are the Leaping Slasher variety, since those can let use the Hyper Drive when more enemies are around and are usually not too hard to dodge around.

d) Execution
2500 points

e) Sword Surge
The more enemies killed with the initial Sword Surge the more points possible. Waiting until there are a large amount of enemies can result in a very large Carnage Score. In Solitude it is possible to get a 53 kill on the Sword Surge usage in the final room . This gave me at the time about 34,000 Carnage points all at once. Note that the Carnage Point Challenge for Solitude only requires 25,000 Carnage points for the entire level.

Note: Sword Charge Farming with Swiftshade Trick:
Swiftshade normal attack and Sword Trigger absorb small bullets fired by enemies. If you have the patience fire the pistol away from the enemies until there is only a shot or two left, then wait until the enemies fire at you then trigger the Sword Trigger and spin to absorb the bullets. Dash away at the end if there are bullets remaining. Note this will take really long and will tank your point total.

Each Layer has three challenge badges. They are the time to beat, a Carnage score goal, and to maintain a kill combo (aka Kill Stream) all layer. The beat time can be challenging, but use loadouts that feature high damage attacks. Ruinshot seems to work very well for speed. For Carnage points you want to use a loadout geared for gaining Sword Charge. Also try to keep your Wrath Bursts up. Look at the Carnage section above for more info on specifics. The Carnage score Challenge Badges seem to by far the hardest to accomplish. The kill combo all layer is tricky, but keeping your Wrath Burst and heavy weapon ammo up should be enough to keep the Kill Stream going. Watch out for Spinners since they can sometimes go off away from you into stuck into weird corners bouncing off the walls.

As of V1.10 "Challenge badges achieved on a specific difficulty will now unlock across all difficulties".

Link below to a video that has all the Layers completed for their Carnage score.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNwGc5Cx_0I

1) Solitude
beat time 6'00"
carnage score 25,000
maintain a kill combo all layer

2) Entanglement
beat time 5'45"
carnage score 40,000
maintain a kill combo all layer

3) Viscera
beat time 8'00"
carnage score 60,000
maintain a kill combo all layer

4) Echelon
beat time 9'00"
carnage score 100,000
maintain a kill combo all layer

5) Reflection
beat time 12'15"
carnage score 125,000
maintain a kill combo all layer

Note: The game only checks for the continuation of the combo (Kill Stream) until the end of the last room of the Layer. The middle area with no enemies and the last boss do not count for that combo.

There are several ranks in Kill Knight.
K Rank
S Rank
A Rank
B Rank
C Rank
D Rank

K Rank
Not completely clear how to get a K Rank, but a good rule of thumb is that it is done by achieving a certain point total in a level. In the leaderboards there are a handful of S ranks with higher scores than some K ranks, but it is unclear why. It is easier to achieve higher point total by increasing the difficulty with the lion's share of K Ranks being Sufferance difficulty. While there are Knight difficulty K Ranks, Sufferance's 1.3 point multiplier really helps massively. The later levels on Knight are much harder to get K Rank since even if you complete the level with a Kill Stream the whole level and beat the time for the Challenge Badge there is no guarantee of K Rank. Also on higher difficulties enemies move towards you faster so it is easier to kill them in groups. Having enemies more aggressive also allows the point multiplier to continue more easily due to there being fewer gaps. K-Rank really feels tuned for Sufferance difficulty. You can drop the Kill Stream once and still get K-Rank, but even then it is cutting it close point wise.

Video with all Layers with K-Rank. Video does not contain K-Rank for SEVER mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sveRZpyBCVQ


Rough Point estimates for K rank
Layer 1 Solitude: 712,000
Layer 2 Entanglement : 816,000
Layer 3 Viscera : 1,074,000
Layer 4 Echelon : 1,249,000
Layer 5 Reflection : 1,602,000
Sever : 5,000,000

The only potentially miss-able Achievement is "Tokkens to Kill" if you fail to buy anything with the Tokkens. Make sure to buy at least one piece of equipment if you plan on getting all Achievements.

This list below is according to the Global Achievements on Steam. Completion scores are as the date of this article.

1) Killer
Kill 1,111 Demons
Completion: 87.1%

2) Demolition Expert (Hidden Achievement)
Detonate a Demonic Carapace with a Wrath Burst
Completion: 85.3%

3) Counterance (Hidden Achievement)
Pulse Counter an incoming Demon Pulse Attack
Completion: 82.4%

4) I Know Kill Flux
Complete all of the Tutorials
Completion: 75.9%

5) Revolters
Unlock the second Pistol
Completion: 55.5%

6) Krazed
Kill 11,111 Demons
Completion: 45.2%

7) Maximum Kill Engaged (Hidden Achievement)
Reach Kill Power Level 5
Completion: 44.7%

8) Rectifire
Unlock the second Heavy Weapon
Completion: 35.8%

9) Solitude Complete
Complete Layer 1 on Acolyte or above
Completion: 34.9%

10) Swiftshade
Unlock the second Sword
Completion: 30.9%

11) Direthorn
Unlock the second Armor
Completion: 29.6%

12) Angelic (Hidden Achievement)
Reach a Kill Stream of 777
Completion: 24.7%

13) Tokkens to Kill
Use Tokkens to unlock something
Completion: 21.4%

14) Judgecannon
Unlock the third Heavy Weapon
Completion: 21.2%

15) Voidfract
Unlock the third Armor
Completion: 16.1%

16) Soulrenders
Unlock the third Pistol
Completion: 15.7%

17) Entanglement Complete
Complete Layer 2 on Acolyte or above
Completion: 12.6%

18) Kracked
Kill 111,111 Demons
Completion: 9.9%

19) Divination
Unlock the third Sword
Completion: 9.1%

20) Exhausters
Unlock the fourth Pistol
Completion: 7.7%

21) Viscera Complete
Complete Layer 3 on Acolyte or above
Completion: 4.6%

22) Conflictors
Unlock the fifth Pistol
Completion: 4.0%

23) Hadesurge
Unlock the fourth Armor
Completion: 4.0%

24) Akimbo Killer
Unlock all Pistols
Completion: 3.9%

25) Heavensworn
Unlock the fourth Sword
Completion: 3.6%

26) Holybane
Unlock the fourth Heavy Weapon
Completion: 3.6%

27) Archblight
Unlock the fifth Heavy Weapon
Completion: 2.4%

28) Heavy Lifter
Unlock all heavies
Completion: 2.3%

29) Studied the Blade
Unlock all Swords
Completion: 2.0%

30) Killblade
Unlock the fifth Sword
Completion: 2.0%

31) Demiguard
Unlock the fifth Armor
Completion: 1.8%

32) Armor Array
Unlock all Armors
Completion: 1.7%

33) Echelon Complete
Complete Layer 4 on Acolyte or above
Completion: 1.7%

34) Condemned
Kill the Last Angel
Completion: 1.6%

35) Rank and File
Earn a K-Rank on any Layer
Completion: 1.4%

36) Do you regret it?
Complete all Layers on Regret Difficulty
Completion: 1.2%

37) Knight's Arsenal
Unlock every piece of Equipment
Completion: 1.0%

38) SSStyle
Unlock all Augments
Completion: 1.0%

Note: Augments aka Equipment.

39) Reflection Complete
Complete Layer 5 on Acolyte or above
Completion: 0.9%

40) Followed the path
Complete all Layers on Acolyte Difficulty
Completion: 0.8%

41) Abyssal Detonation
Detonate the Last Angel's Carapace
Completion: 0.6%

Note: Thanks to arc279 for sharing how to do this. You just need to kill the final form of the Last Boss using a Wrath Burst.

42) Knighthood
Complete all Layers on Knight Difficulty
Completion: 0.4%

43) Abyssal Speed (Hidden Achievement)
Defeat the Last Angel with the highest possible Score Multiplier
Completion: 0.4%

44) A New Challenger
Earn all Challenge Badges on any Layer
Completion: 0.3%

45) You've Suffered Enough
Complete All Layers on Sufferance Difficulty
Completion: 0.2%

46) The Kingdom is Yours
Earn a K-Rank on All Layers
Completion: 0.2%

Note: You can complete them on different difficulties as long as all the layers have a K Rank.

47) Master Mode
Complete Sever Mode
Completion: 0.2%

48) Challenge Master
Earn All Challenge Badges on all Layers
Completion: 0.1%

Uses Roman alphabet in the category sequence of pistol, heavy weapon, sword, armor, amulet.

Ex: V IV III I III
Which would be Conflictors, Holybane, Divination, Resolverite, and Twilight Amethyst.

Roman Numerals
I : 1
II : 2
III : 3
IV : 4
V : 5
VI : 6
VII: 7
VIII:8
IX : 9
X: 10

For any feedback leave it below in the comments and I will take a look at it.