Pascal's Wager has six playable heroes. Each has its own weapon set, Rage and resource rules, talent tree and its own Abnormal state (a side effect that switches on when Sanity runs low). This page compares them side by side and links to each hero's page. Hero data lives in HeroData, HeroPropertyData, HeroAttributeData and SkillData; every number below comes from there.
The playable heroes#
| Hero | Id | Style in one line | Where you get them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terrence | 10001 | Cane and Knight's Sword duelist; Light/Heavy chains feed Rage for Lunge, Discipline, Sanction and Rising Slash; sword guard with a counter window | Starting hero |
| Viola | 10002 | Ranged fighter: quick shots, a charged shot, a snipe and rapid fire, with swappable special bullets and a melee swing | Base game |
| Benita | 10003 | Whip fighter who also fights with alchemy: blood tubes, elixir effects and "Monstrance" whip skills | Base game |
| Norwood | 10004 | Fist fighter with a Griminess resource, a Shield of Griminess and the chained-soul skill lines | Base game; the data marks him available from story id 3 (inferred: a region/story gate) |
| Jerold | 10005 | Swordsman from the cursed land of Ichthyosauria: the "Soul Sword" and "Serene" skill lines, Sendril marks, and a Rage-draining mode (Sendril's Arrival) that makes his attacks mark enemies | Story DLC (Tides of Oblivion), story id 9 in the data |
| Elena | 10007 | Leader of the Demiurges; one blade or two, switched on the fly, with a Sword Dance skill line | Arcade mode hero |
A seventh hero id, 10006 "The First Messenger", is in the same table but is not selectable. It is flagged unavailable (Available 0), runs as a monster in the code and is fought as a boss; see Bosses. Two achievements are tied to it: one for defeating it, and "For Teresa" for beating it in the Obsession Challenge#Achievements with any hero except Terrence.
Starting stats compared#
Starting stats are computed from each hero's starting attributes with the game's own formulas (the same method as on Terrence).
| Hero | Attack | Health | Stamina | Defence | Crit rate | Crit damage | Health Potions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrence | 59 | 849 | 303 | 63 | 34 | 201 | 3 |
| Viola | 56 | 724 | 398 | 39 | 64 | 307 | 2 |
| Benita | 80 | 849 | 308 | 43 | 48 | 272 | 2 |
| Norwood | 58 | 984 | 351 | 59 | 22 | 147 | 2 |
| Jerold | 62 | 826 | 281 | 52 | 40 | 254 | 2 |
| Elena | 104 | 1392 | 375 | 86 | 41 | 258 | 2 |
Starting attributes (Strength / Dexterity / Vigor / Intellect / Vitality / Endurance):
| Hero | Attributes | Sum |
|---|---|---|
| Terrence | 15 / 9 / 14 / 8 / 13 / 12 | 71 |
| Viola | 9 / 15 / 13 / 11 / 10 / 14 | 72 |
| Benita | 11 / 12 / 14 / 15 / 10 / 9 | 71 |
| Norwood | 13 / 8 / 15 / 6 / 13 / 14 | 69 |
| Jerold | 10 / 8 / 14 / 12 / 12 / 14 | 70 |
| Elena | 10 / 8 / 34 / 12 / 22 / 24 | 110 |
How attributes turn into stats is explained on Attributes#The formula and Character stats#How the number in battle is built. All six heroes have a Physical attack stat only; the other damage types come from items and statuses (see Damage types and resistances).
Abnormal states#
When Sanity falls to 70% or below, each hero changes in its own way. The effects stay on in the Lunatic state (50% or below). The full numbers are in Abnormal state#Effects by hero; in short:
| Hero | While abnormal |
|---|---|
| Terrence | Max Health -30%, damage +10%, no chained dodge |
| Viola | Bleeds when hit; cannot regain stamina right after exhausting it while bleeding; critical hits do 10% more extra damage |
| Benita | Elixirs are used up 33% faster; potions and Reclaiming Pure Blood build drug resistance until healing is halved; damage +15% when below half Health |
| Norwood | Breaking his guard leaves him Weakened; Fire, Poison, Arcane and Dark resistance -50%; Poise +10 |
| Jerold | Hits on Sendril-marked targets give 10% more Rage; Shadow resistance -50%; loses 10 Rage when a hit knocks him out of an attack |
| Elena | No abnormal-state text exists in the game data |
Shared rules#
- Health Potions. Terrence starts with 3; everyone else with 2. All have 4 in the second consumable stock. See Consumables#Health Potions and Items.
- Rage tutorial cap. In Normal story mode a hero's Rage is capped at 99 until that hero's Rage tutorial quest is done; Elena has none. See Rage#Hidden mechanics.
- Guard. The guard page lists Terrence, Norwood and Elena as the heroes with a guard move, and Jerold with a Rage pose. See Guarding#Who can guard.
- Talent trees. Each hero has four pages: Attack, Special, Alchemy, Sanity. See Talents and the trees: Terrence talent tree, Viola talent tree, Benita talent tree.
- Outfits. Alternate outfits are downloadable content: Terrence ("Herald Outfit"), Viola ("Initiation Rite") and Benita ("Sleeping Beauty") are changed by talking to the owl in the carriage; Elena has one for Dance of the Throne. See Skins#All skins and Carriage.
Story characters#
Beyond the playable heroes, the story includes many named people; the full list is on NPCs. The ones the hero data points to:
- Teresa, the wife Terrence is looking for (a dialogue line calls her "my wife"; the name comes from that and from the "For Teresa" achievement). See Teresa.
- Vaillant, a missing figure whom Elena's background text says she is still looking for.
- The Demiurges, the group Elena led before her plan against the Church failed. See Demiurges and Factions.
- Glenn's Owl, the carriage character who changes outfits.
- Jerold, a native of the cursed land of Ichthyosauria. According to the DLC store text, you accept his request at the bottom of the Holy Tower in Katib, and after the Edith chapter he joins you.
Hidden mechanics#
- Fixed pools. Every hero has 100 maximum Rage, Sanity 100 and Power 100 as fixed values that do not come from the six attributes. Elena's Rage bar marks its threshold at 33 instead of 30 (
UIRageMin). - Only Terrence has 3 potions. The extra slot is plain data:
HpAddNumis 3 for Terrence and 2 for the rest. - Elena is built differently. Her starting attributes add up to 110 against about 70 for everyone else, with Vigor 34 and Endurance 24, so she starts with 1,392 Health and 104 Attack. She is also the only hero taller than 2 m in the hit-box data (2.375 against 1.9).
- Guard stamina ratios. The stamina-cost ratio for blocking (
GuardEnergyRatio) is 0.35 for Terrence, Viola and Benita, 0.45 for Norwood and 0.25 for Jerold and Elena. See Guarding#How a blocked hit is resolved. - Only Terrence never regains Poise. Poise Regen is 0 for Terrence and 240 (24% of the pool per second) for the other five; Poise itself starts at 0 for all of them. See Poise and stagger#Hidden mechanics.
- Hero id gates.
Availableis read byMS_HeroData.IsAvailableInSceneas a "minimum story id" test, which is why Norwood (3) and Jerold (9) behave as later unlocks (inferred from the function name and values).
Sources#
es_herodata.luarows HeroId 10001-10007 (Attribute_1-7, Available, HpAddNum, MpAddNum, GuardEnergyRatio, UIRageMin, BodyHeight); text sections HeroData (Name, UIDescription, UISanityDescription, UISkillDescription), StorySkin, Achievement 50004.es_heropropertydata.lua,es_heroattributedata.lua: starting stats computed withscripts/characters_a/stats.py(output inbuild/wiki/data/characters_a/hero_stats.json).ms_herodata.lua177-186 (IsAvailableInScene);es_storydata.lua(story ids);reports/talent_trees.md(skill line names).GameTextUI_DLC_ITEM_DETAIL_INTRO_dlcstory1, hero11001/11002/11003/11007 outfit entries;StoryDialog9921022;controller/controllerstorymode.lua9465-9477 andlogic/playervalue/animalbase_value.lua1194-1196 (Rage cap);es_heropropertydata.luaToughnessRecovery (PropertyId 14).- Abnormal-state table (heroes_a pass):
logic/playervalue/animalbase_value.lua421-441 (Terrence Health/Attack, Viola crit damage, Norwood Fire/Poison/Arcane/Dark resistance and Toughness +10, Jerold Dark resistance); wording follows Abnormal state#Effects by hero.ES_HeroDatarows 10001-10007 re-read forAvailable,HpAddNum,GuardEnergyRatio,UIRageMin,BodyHeight.