Overview
While The God Slayer's combat system is its most visible feature, missions are designed with multiple approach paths. Cheng is not limited to fighting through every challenge. Stealth, relationship manipulation, elemental diversion, and hidden routes all offer viable alternatives that reward creative thinking.
Relationship-Based Approaches
One of the most distinctive non-combat options comes from the NPC relationship system. The developers gave a specific example: befriending an NPC who controls a particular building can lead that NPC to remove the guards from the premises, allowing Cheng to complete the mission without any combat at all. This means time spent building relationships through Cheng's civilian identity can directly translate into easier, non-violent mission paths.
Stealth
Stealth routes allow Cheng to bypass guards, avoid combat encounters, and infiltrate restricted areas without raising alarms. The Star Fall Society provides stealth tools, including smoke devices, distractions, and infiltration aids, that facilitate non-lethal approaches. Rooftop paths, underground tunnels, and environmental cover in Zhou's dense urban layout all support stealth gameplay.
Elemental diversion
The Elemancer system opens up creative diversion options. Fire diversions draw enemies away from their posts, as shown in gameplay footage. Freezing water creates new traversal paths that bypass guarded chokepoints. Earth walls can block line of sight entirely. These environmental manipulations blur the line between stealth and combat approaches, turning the elements into a toolkit for creative problem-solving.
Hidden Routes
Zhou's layered architecture contains hidden passages, forgotten tunnels, and unconventional paths. Some of these hidden routes are only accessible using specific elemental abilities, meaning a player who has invested in a particular element may discover paths that others miss entirely. Observant players who explore thoroughly can bypass major combat encounters.
Non-Lethal Options
The Star Fall Society's gadgets and Wood element's entangling abilities support non-lethal gameplay. While the game does not track a binary lethal/non-lethal state, players who prefer to minimize violence have viable tools to do so for many encounters.