One of the most interesting mechanics in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is Madness. As soon as the game begins, one NPC tells you that Wuchang has been infected with a thing called “Feathering.” Many other characters will make remarks about her arms, but these aren’t only a narrative aspect. The Feathering has an impact on Wuchang’s abilities and even visuals, and here I’ll tell you how this amazing yet a bit convoluted mechanic works.
Madness in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Explained
Madness is a not-so-hidden system in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. However, the game is not that clear in explaining it. Out of the sudden, you’ll notice Wuchang’s eyes turn red and will see that some feathers are coming out of her arm and a few red marks growing from her shoulder to her neck. Then, you might notice that it resembles Wuchang will spawn to kick your butt and end up wondering what the heck happened. Allow me to explain.
First, let’s go over what the game says:
- Killing non-feathered humanoids or dying in combat will increase your Madness.
- Defeating most Feathered enemies and key targets will reduce your Madness.
- You will only lose some red mercury (level-up and shop currency) if you perish while at less than 50% Madness.
- You will lose plenty of red mercury if you perish while at above 50% but below 90% Madness.
- You will lose all red mercury if you perish while at above 90% Madness.
Let’s translate all of this. First, you’ll gain Madness by killing human enemies, including the poor NPCs who are only crying for help. You lose Madness if you kill the bird-like creatures, a few with feathers and weird spells, and bosses. There are three Madness thresholds. One makes you lose a bit of mercury when dying, another half of it, and another all of it.
However, here comes the kicker. If you lose all your mercury at above 90% Madness, your Inner Demon will appear. Look at her like the evil version of Wuchang. She’ll often wield any of the weapons in the game and use their skills and even heal herself. However, defeating her is not that challenging. You can parry all her attacks, and she has almost no poise, meaning you can Obliterate the Inner Demon.
How To Reduce Your Madness
Outside of defeating Feathered enemies and bosses, there are items called Divine Gifts, which you can use at Shu Sanctum to decrease your Madness. The amount of Madness you can remove will depend on the item, but if you really want to go the fast route, you can just defeat all the Feathered enemies that spawn in the forest below the Refugee Camp, reset the area, and keep going until Wuchang is Madness-free.
