In TUNIC, some things like bushes never respawn once you destroy them. A record of their destruction is stored in the save file as “permanentlyDead”, “Librarian Dead Forever|1”, and similar. However, some entities only remain dead temporarily. Enemies generally will not respawn if you’re just walking around an area, even if you are going through loading zones, but if you revisit the area later in your playthrough (or do certain things like resting at a shrine or dying), those enemies will respawn. I call these temporarily dead (I’m not sure what it’s called in the game’s code). The save file contains no record of which enemies are temporarily dead. The details of this can create some odd behaviors, which are the focus of this document.

Temporarily Dead

The game has a list of temporarily dead entities. When you kill an enemy, it is added to this list. When an area of the game is loaded, each enemy will fail to spawn if it is on that list. Entities that appear after an area is loaded (like the enemies in the Gauntlet) also check the list before appearing.

The following actions will erase the list of temporarily dead entities (the list may be incomplete):

• Resting at a shrine
• Dying
• Closing and reopening the game
• Choosing “New Game” on the title screen

The following actions will NOT erase the list of temporarily dead entities:

• Going through loading zones
• Quitting back to the title screen
• Choosing “Continue” on the title screen
• Choosing “Load Game” on the title screen and selecting ANY file, regardless of whether it is the most recently opened file

The last bullet point is notable because it means information about which enemies are currently alive can be transferred between save files.

Examples

Example 1: Resurrect an enemy from a different save file

Kill an enemy in Save File #1 (I’m using 1 for the example, but this could be any file). Save and quit to the title screen. Open a different save file. Rest at a shrine or die. Save and quit and then reload Save File #1. The enemy will be alive again.

You could also resurrect the enemy by performing any of the other actions that clear the list of temporarily dead entities, such as creating a new save file or closing and relaunching the game.

Note that if you reload the Save File #1 immediately, instead of dying or resting in a separate file, the enemy will not respawn. It doesn't matter if you select "Continue" or reload the file from the "Load Game" menu.

Example 2: Kill an enemy from a different save file

Verify an enemy is alive in Save File #1 and then quit to the title screen. Open a different save file and go to the same area. Kill the enemy. Save and quit and reload Save File #1. The enemy will not spawn.

Rolling Back Save Files

If you are using a save file manager, save files with glitched timestamps, or any other means of rolling back a save file for speedrun practice or experimentation, you’ll need to make sure the temporarily dead entities get cleared when rolling back. If you don’t clear the list, then any enemies (including bosses) you kill will remain dead even after you roll back the save file.

Bosses

Bosses are odd cases because they can be both temporarily and permanently dead. If a boss is marked as permanently dead in a save file, it will never respawn in that save. However, when you defeat a boss, it is also added to the list of temporarily dead entities. This will prevent the boss from spawning in ANY save file until the list of temporarily dead entities is cleared.

When a boss fails to spawn because it is temporarily dead, you do not get credit for killing it. The cutscene that normally plays when you kill a boss will not happen and you won't get any item the boss would normally drop on death. Once you clear the list of temporarily dead entities, the boss will spawn as usual.

If you are practicing a boss fight by repeatedly rolling back the file, I recommend taking a deliberate death after each successful attempt to force the boss to respawn.

The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet is under the cathedral and is where the Laurels/Hyperdash are unlocked. The enemies in the Gauntlet spawn on a strict timer. This is most obvious in the Garden Knight fight. If you kill the first Garden Knight quickly, you will have to wait a long time for the second one to spawn.

If you die during the fight, all the enemies will respawn. But if you save and quit and reload the area, any enemies you killed will still be temporarily dead. This does not affect the timers. If the first Garden Knight is already dead, then you'll still have to wait the same length of time for the second one to spawn. If both knights are already dead, the phase will end as soon as the game tries and fails to spawn the second knight.

If you are practicing the gauntlet by repeatedly rolling back the file, I recommend taking a deliberate death after each successful attempt to force all the enemies to respawn.