How Strength, Resilience and Intelligence work in Casualties: Unknown: exact bonuses per level, XP sources, soft caps and which trait to raise first.
Casualties: Unknown Traits: STR, RES and INT Explained
Casualties: Unknown has three traits: Strength (STR), Resilience (RES) and Intelligence (INT). All three start at 10 and are raised by doing things, not by spending points. Each level is small; the combination decides whether a run can fight, carry loot or craft its way out.
This page lists the actual per-level effects, the fastest way to train each trait, and the order that makes sense for a first character.
Official source: Casualties: Unknown on Steam ↗
How levels work
Skills are measured in experience points and displayed on the health panel's right side. Levels 0–9 cost 60 XP each, so level 10 begins at 640 XP. After that the curve steepens: level 20 begins at 3,416 XP and level 30 at 54,632 XP.
In normal play, getting past level 25 in any trait is unlikely, even across several loops. The practical target for a long run is 15–20 in one trait and 10–12 in the others.
Every value that depends on a skill is calculated relative to 10. A STR of 9 is a -1 modifier; a STR of 13 is +3.
Strength
Strength is muscle mass. It affects:
- Attack damage: +3.34% of base damage per level.
- Throw velocity: +10% per level. This is why a high-STR character can throw a rock across a cavern.
- Hand acceleration in minigames: faster, more responsive tools.
- Carry capacity: +0.5 per level, shared with Resilience.
How to train Strength
- Push-ups and planks: 0.5 XP/s for push-ups, 0.25 XP/s for plank. These are workout actions at the life-pod.
- Hitting things: damage ÷ 300 XP per physical swing. A 90-damage pickaxe swing gives 0.3 XP, so mining trains STR slowly.
- Moving while over-encumbered: 0.2 XP/s, as long as you are standing and holding a direction with more than 15% encumbrance.
Strength is the slowest trait to level through normal play. Mining all of layer 1 might give one level. The workout actions are boring but efficient if you are waiting out an infection timer anyway.
Resilience
Resilience is mental and physical fortitude. It affects:
- Stamina regeneration: +2% per level.
- Pain tolerance: +2.5% per level, applied to total pain, not limb pain.
- Carry capacity: +0.5 per level, shared with Strength.
- Hand shakiness in minigames: -6% per level above 10. Levels 1–10 do nothing for shakiness.
How to train Resilience
- Squats and planks: 0.4 XP/s and 0.25 XP/s.
- Being in pain while conscious: pain ÷ 8 XP/s. This is the dark one: a character in controlled pain levels fastest.
- Jumping and landing: 0.1 XP per jump, 0.05 per wall jump, 0.5 per landing from at least ~9.5 tiles.
- Killing enemies: enemy HP ÷ 100 XP.
- Witnessing a trader's death: 60 XP. Not worth the mood and sickness.
- Over-encumbered movement: 0.2 XP/s.
Resilience levels quickly in combat because kills and pain both feed it. That is also why combat characters feel smoother over time: pain tolerance rises exactly when the run is at its most painful.
Intelligence
Intelligence is knowledge and cleverness. It affects:
- Recognising items. Low INT means unidentified gear and uncertain stats.
- Available crafting recipes. Each recipe has an INT requirement.
- Trader reputation: ±4 starting reputation per level.
- Lockpicking: lock turn rate is 0.66/s at level 9, changing by 0.065 per level (about 9.84% per level from 9). Progress decay also falls above level 9, by 20% per level, to a maximum of -95% at level 14.
- Defibrillator power estimation: ±5 per level around a base of 70. At level 10 the range is -70 to +70; the minimum range of 5 is reached at level 23.
How to train Intelligence
- Crafting a new recipe: +10 XP. The first craft of each recipe is the big payout.
- Reading a Blueprint: +25 XP, and it lowers one recipe's INT requirement to 0.
- Reading an E-PDA: +35 XP.
- Successful haggling: +2.5 XP.
- Buying items: +1 XP each.
- Crossing a layer boundary: +80 XP. Descending is the fastest INT trainer in the game.
INT is the only trait that can go down. A Mindwipe resets Intelligence to 0. That is a story and medical event, not a routine respec.
Which trait first?
For a first run, Intelligence to 12–14, then Resilience, then Strength.
The reasoning:
- INT unlocks the recipes that keep you alive. Bandages, splints, antiseptic, canteens and bags all sit behind recipe requirements. A low-INT character can loot medicine but cannot make it.
- INT pays for itself at traders. Four reputation per level is a real discount, and better stock.
- RES is the combat stat that prevents panic. Pain tolerance and stamina regen matter more than raw damage in the first five layers.
- STR is a luxury early. Carry weight is useful, but a backpack solves more than a level of Strength. Damage scales slowly: +3.34% per level is not a reason to grind push-ups.
A combat-focused player can flip RES and INT, but should still take INT to 11 or 12 for the medical recipes.
Trait synergies
- STR + RES is the hauling build: 0.5 carry capacity per level from each, plus over-encumbered XP from both. It is the slowest, safest way to move ore.
- INT + RES is the medic build: recipes, pain tolerance and steady hands. It is the best first-run combination.
- STR + INT is the tool build: hit harder, craft better tools, throw further. It is strong in the mid-game but fragile in the first two layers.
There is no respec. The only reset is the Mindwipe, and it costs your Intelligence.
Training without wasting time
The efficient routine:
- Craft one new recipe per layer. Ten INT XP each, and you need the item anyway.
- Read every Blueprint and E-PDA. 25 and 35 XP are large relative to the early curve.
- Descend. 80 XP per boundary is the single biggest repeatable INT source.
- Do push-ups while healing. If you are waiting out a bleed or an infection timer, the workout is free XP.
- Fight normally. Kills train RES through HP ÷ 100, and pain trains it further.
- Do not farm trader deaths. 60 RES XP is not worth the mood, trauma and lost stock.
What the numbers mean in practice
At STR 10, a titanium machete does its base 80 damage to enemies. At STR 20, it does roughly 107. That is a meaningful difference, but it is not a substitute for hitting the right body part.
At RES 20, pain tolerance is 25% higher than baseline. You can keep fighting at pain levels that would have dropped a fresh character. Stamina regen is 20% faster.
At INT 20, traders start 40 reputation higher, recipes unlock earlier and lockpicking is much more forgiving. The defibrillator estimate is still ±70, which is why the manual defibrillator remains a gamble at any level.
INT unlocks recipes, improves trader prices and speeds lockpicking. It is the economy stat before it is a combat stat.
FAQ
What is the max trait level? There is no hard cap, but the XP curve makes levels above 25 impractical.
Do traits reset between runs? Yes. A new run starts at 10 in all three.
Can you lose Intelligence permanently? A Mindwipe resets it to 0. That is the only way to lose a trait.
Which trait gives carry weight? Strength and Resilience both give +0.5 per level.
Does Strength affect guns? It affects physical swing damage and throw velocity, not bullet damage.
Is Intelligence worth it if I loot my medicine? Yes. Recipes, trader prices and item identification all depend on it.
Sources and further reading
Related guides
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How blood volume, bleeding rate, tourniquets and transfusions work in Casualties: Unknown, and the order to treat a bleeding limb.
The three playable characters in Casualties: Unknown, what Experiment can do in the demo, and what is actually confirmed about Milky and Dune.
How crafting works in Casualties: Unknown: the five tabs, Intelligence requirements, failure tiers, blueprints and the recipes worth making first.
What the free Casualties: Unknown demo includes, how long it takes, where it ends, what carries over and how to install it on Steam.
All six Casualties: Unknown presets plus the 41 custom run settings, with defaults, ranges and the options that actually change survival.
Casualties: Unknown endings explained: the confirmed story goal, the unreleased final layers, what the demo does at layer 5, and what is still speculation.
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