A Backstab is a scripted stab performed from directly behind an enemy that has not noticed you. Like an Execution, it ignores Poise and snaps both characters into a fixed animation. The game never shows its numbers: a backstab is an ordinary hit of the hero's Backstab move, multiplied by a hidden rear-attack multiplier of x2. The same system gives every attack that lands from behind a quiet +25 % damage bonus.
Conditions#
The game checks these every frame and shows the Backstab prompt (UI text "Backstab") when all of them are true.
| Condition | Value |
|---|---|
| You have the Backstab move | Terrence and Norwood must unlock the Backstab talent; for Viola and Benita it starts unlocked |
| Not in the carriage chapter | Backstab and Execution are disabled in carriage stories |
| You are free to act | moving, or in the exit window of a move (not while holding a charge move) |
| Target can be backstabbed | HeroData HitBackstab = 1; not invulnerable, not a parasite, not dead or hidden |
| Target is unaware or Weakened | the target has no combat target yet, or it is in the Weakened state (any of its three animations; see Weakness and execution#The Weakened state) |
| Distance | under 1.5 m from both your body and your attack point to the target's backstab point (a point BodyBackstabRadius metres behind the enemy) |
| Facing | you face the same way as the enemy, within 60 deg |
| Space | there is room to snap the bodies together (ground and collision check) |
Note that the distance check for Backstab needs both of your reference points in range, while the Execution check needs only one. The Backstab window is therefore a little tighter.
Weakened enemies can be backstabbed in combat. The awareness check is skipped when the target is Weakened. If you are behind a Weakened enemy that allows backstabs, you can backstab it even mid-fight. This is the only way to backstab the three bosses that allow it: Rosen Cavalier Patrick, Frollo and Elena.
Damage#
A Backstab is a normal hit of the hero's Backstab move (SkillData, SkillIndex 107). Its attack value is (Attack stat x BaseRate / 1000) + flat Attack, which then goes through the Damage formula. Because you are behind the target, the hit is then multiplied by the move's BackGuardBreak times the target's BackDamageRate (1 for every model in the game).
| Hero | BaseRate | Flat Attack | Rear multiplier | Effective vs. 100 Attack | Crits? | Poise / Resilience damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrence | 896 | +88 | x2 | (89.6 + 88) x 2 = 355 | no | 20 / 20 |
| Viola | 896 | +100 | x2 | 379 | no | 4 / 4 |
| Benita | 880 | 0 | x2 | 176 | no | 4 / 4 |
| Norwood | 896 | +88 | x1.25 | 222 | no | 8 / 8 |
| Jerold | 960 | +69 | x2 | 330 | yes | 4 / 4 |
| Elena | 1700 | +150 | x2 | 640 | no | 0 / 0 |
"Effective vs. 100 Attack" is the attack value before the target's defence and race bonuses; it shows the relative strength of each hero's backstab. Compare an Execution: Terrence's is 100 x 1.6 + 105 = 265, so his backstab is about a third stronger than his execution (see Weakness and execution#Damage).
Every backstab has ToughnessIgnore = 1 and GuardBreak = 999.
Talents that boost it: Terrence's Backstab: Enhanced (+7 / 14 / 21 %), Viola's Backstab: Enhanced (+10 %) and Break Out (+15% / +20% of base crit rate for 12 s after a backstab or execution, statuses 10038 / 10039; see Buffs), Jerold's Sendril Blast (backstab and execution arm the detonation of his Sendril marks), and several Rage / resource talents for Norwood, Jerold and Benita (e.g. Craze, Forced Bloodsucking). See Talents.
Enemies that cannot be backstabbed#
HitBackstab = 0 for these models that appear in the story: Black Sprite (20003) and Little Black Sprite (20057), Wheel Monster (20004, unused, see Enemies), Poison Fiend (20005), Dog (20006), Moon Monster (20008), Old woman and Little girl (20008-20010), Tentacle Monster (20011), Lizard Fiend (20018), Stag (20029), Stick man (20030), Sunflower (20031), Old monk (20038), Boar Man (20043), Viola's father and mother (20042, 20046), Big Eyeball (20047), 20052, Corpse (20056), all 9xxxx objects, and The First Messenger (10006).
Bosses that cannot be backstabbed: Maddened Ascetic, Holy Father, Jenny of Exilium, Edith, Fused Sprenger, Proxy Higgins, Usurper, Terror Obsession, The First Fallen: Handel, Guderian the Guardian and Treasure Thieves. Bosses that can (when Weakened): Rosen Cavalier Patrick, Frollo and Elena.
Hidden mechanics#
Rear hits deal +25 % damage. Any attack whose attacker stands behind the target's facing plane counts as "from behind". That is any position where the target would have to turn more than 90 deg to face you, not a narrow back arc. Such a hit is multiplied by the move's
BackGuardBreak:BackGuardBreak Moves Examples 1.25 1,459 almost every attack, for heroes and enemies alike 2 113 backstabs, plunge attacks (Drop), some of Viola's charged shots 1.1 26 1 4 0 356 mostly non-attacks (block, idle, alert, dodge, aim) This works both ways: enemies hitting you in the back also deal 1.25x.
- Blocks do not work from behind. A hit from behind ignores your block or guard hand completely: no damage reduction, and Poise damage is not cancelled. See Guarding.
- The same rule makes plunge attacks strong. Every hero's plunge attack (Drop, move 111) has
BackGuardBreak = 2, so a plunge that lands behind the target doubles. - Norwood's oddity. His Backstab row uses 1.25 instead of 2. His backstab does only about 63 % of what an identical move would do with the x2 multiplier. Whether this is intended is unknown.
- Zero multipliers are harmless in practice. 356 SkillData rows have
BackGuardBreak = 0, so a rear hit from one of them would be multiplied by 0. Checking them shows only 6 deal Poise damage or carry flat Attack (an aim-prep row of Viola, two Messenger grab rows and three Poison fiend special rows, ES_SkillData rows 246, 628, 631, 794-796); the rest, including 57 of Viola's gun rows (mostly the charge and reload phases of her gun moves, inferred from their names), are non-damaging phases. Whether those six can actually hit from behind was not traced (unverified). - How enemies notice you (and so whether a Backstab prompt appears). An enemy acquires a target when you are inside its hearing range or its sight cone. Each placement sets its own values in StoryMonster: hearing radius is 5 m and hearing angle 180 deg for almost every placement (the code defaults are 8 m and 180 deg), and sight radius is usually 8 m with a 65 deg cone (defaults 10 m and 55 deg). Walking slowly shrinks your hearing range to just the sum of the two bodies' radii, and the Silent trophy effect does the same permanently. Only the hearing check is affected, so staying out of the sight cone still matters. A Blinded enemy (see Blind) cannot acquire a target at all. (
GameAItarget search,gameai.lua:640-700.)
Sources#
- Backstab checks:
luascript/logic/player/animalbase.lua:9897-10092(CheckSkillBackstabStatus/Enable/Position, IsPermitBackstabAttack/Hit),:10093-10109(backstab point),:7974-8005(HitBackstab snap),:320(HitBackstab flag). - Rear multiplier and block bypass:
luascript/logic/playervalue/animalbase_value.lua:2498-2506;luascript/common/gameai.lua:355-371(IsAnimalBehindPosition);luascript/common/gamecollider.lua:318-320, 426, 546. - Attack value:
luascript/logic/playervalue/animalbase_value.lua:1726-1766. Talent damage::2620-2625. - Constants:
gamedata/playerdefine/animalbase_define.lua:57-60(AI sight/hearing defaults),:70-71(SkillBackstabAngle 60, SkillBackstabDistance 1.5). Detection:luascript/common/gameai.lua:640-700; ES_StoryMonsterHearingRadius,HearingAngle,SightRadius,SightAngle. - Data: ES_SkillData rows 42, 256, 340, 449, 566, 641, 737 (Backstab); distribution of
BackGuardBreakover all 1,958 rows; ES_HeroDataHitBackstab,BackDamageRate,BodyBackstabRadius. Talents:reports/talent_trees.md(Terrence 207/210, Viola 202/207/208, Benita 201). - Computed with
build/wiki/scripts/poise/skills.pyandstats.py. Move columns (BaseRate, Attack, ToughnessSub, WeaknessSub, CritIgnore, BackGuardBreak) and the BackGuardBreak totals (0: 356, 1: 4, 1.1: 26, 1.25: 1459, 2: 113) re-read inbuild/wiki/pass/scripts/combat/c1.py. Break Out: Buffs article, Skill and talent buffs (statuses 10038 / 10039, +15% / +20% of base crit rate, 12 s).