True Qi
True Qi (功, Gong) is the central combat resource in A Whisper of Fall: Jinyiwei. Displayed on the HUD as 功, it governs both offensive potential and defensive capacity, creating a feedback loop that defines every fight.
How it works
True Qi increases when the player lands successful attacks or performs parries (rebounds). It decreases when the player takes damage, gets parried by enemies, or has attacks broken. The bar ranges from 0% to 100%, with thresholds at both extremes that trigger specific mechanics.
The cascade effect
True Qi directly controls the maximum capacity of Inner Breath (息), the dodge resource. Inner Breath's cap mirrors the current True Qi percentage at all times. When True Qi drops to 50%, Inner Breath capacity halves. This creates a cascading risk spiral:
Player takes damage, losing True Qi.
Lower True Qi shrinks the Inner Breath cap.
Smaller Inner Breath means fewer dodges available.
Fewer dodges means more hits taken.
More hits drain True Qi further.
The only way to break the spiral is to go on offense. Landing attacks and parries rebuilds True Qi, which restores Inner Breath capacity, which gives the player room to maneuver again.
Thresholds
100% (Full) Finishing techniques (终结技) become available. These consume the entire bar but deal enormous damage. Described as dealing "extremely massive power."
Above 50% Inner Breath functions at full capacity. The player has access to their complete defensive toolkit.
Below 50% Inner Breath capacity is halved. Dodging becomes expensive and limited.
0% (Empty) The player is vulnerable to enemy execution attacks (处决), which deal massive damage. The player can also activate Gather Qi (集气) to channel and restore health, but this requires standing still and can be interrupted.
Building True Qi
Rebounds (parries) are the most efficient builder. A single successful rebound restores approximately 130-150 points of True Qi. After a perfect parry, the Inner Breath maximum temporarily increases before resetting once the player heals. This means a well-timed parry gives a brief window of enhanced dodging capacity.
Regular attacks build True Qi at a lower rate. The martial arts style equipped affects how quickly True Qi accumulates. Faster weapons build through hit volume, heavier weapons through larger per-hit gains.
Design philosophy
The system makes passive play untenable. Blocking does not build True Qi. Running away does not build True Qi. Only attacking and parrying do. The Gather Qi heal at 0% True Qi is a safety valve, not a sustainable strategy. Channeling is slow and interruptible. The game wants players fighting aggressively, reading attack patterns, and committing to parry windows.