How much stamina should you keep before a fight?

How much stamina should you keep?

Keep 20 stamina for the action after the sprint. That is the current critical boundary, and it gives one clear stop point before contact. From a full 100-point bar, spend at most 80 on movement and attacks combined when the next action still matters.

This is a default, not a promise that 20 points solve every fight. A particular shove, kick, or melee swing may cost more. Read that action first and reserve its exact cost when it exceeds 20. The cost of holding a reserve is slower travel. Spending the bar is the alternative only when immediate escape matters more than anything that follows.

The game calls the draining movement state running. This guide uses sprint for the player’s sustained movement choice and running for the named drain value.

What does running cost?

Running drains 5 stamina each second without a running skill. Marathon RunnerMarathon RunnerResponder skillRunning consumes less stamina.0.85x running stamina drain applies a 0.85x multiplier, lowering that to 4.25 per second. Marathon Runner - ExpertMarathon Runner - ExpertResponder skillRunning consumes far less stamina.0.7x running stamina drain uses 0.7x, lowering it to 3.5.

Normal and Expert are replacement tiers. Do not apply 0.85x and 0.7x together. Marathon Runner changes running drain only; it does not reduce the melee cost printed on the weapon record.

running cost = seconds running × current running drain

Without a skill, 16 seconds spends the 80 points above the reserve. Normal funds about 18.82 seconds above the same reserve, and Expert funds about 22.86. Stop earlier when the arrival itself requires stamina.

What does a melee swing cost?

Each current Melee weapon has separate quick, strong, and charged values. Every attack stores a base stamina cost and a cost for each body actually touched:

melee swing cost = attack base stamina + (stamina per contact × connected contacts)

For the CleaverCleaverOneHandedBladeA butcher's tool to chop and split.1.65 m reach · 15 quick torso · 5 base stamina quick attack, the current values are 5 base plus 5 per contact. One connected body costs 10, two cost 15, and three cost 20. Intended targets do not count; only connected contacts add the per-contact cost.

Use the Inventory query for the selected weapon’s quick, strong, and charged fields. The 19 current Melee records do not share one base value, so do not carry the Cleaver result over to another weapon.

How do running and melee combine?

Add the cost of the actions that will actually happen. A 10-second base sprint costs 50. One Cleaver quick swing across three contacts costs 20. The declared sequence spends 70 from a 100-point bar and ends at 30, which holds the 20-point reserve by 10.

remaining stamina = starting stamina - running cost - melee cost

reserve margin = remaining stamina - chosen reserve

The arithmetic is the same whether the completed sprint comes before or after the completed swing. The tactical answer is not. Sprinting into contact spends the movement budget first; attacking and then leaving spends the weapon budget first. Choose the order that protects the route, then check that exact sequence.

Marathon Runner changes only the running part. The same 10-second sprint plus Cleaver swing ends at 37.5 with Normal and 45 with Expert. The melee portion remains 20 in all three fixed states.

Which fixed state matches your route?

The cards below are separate static cases. Each one fixes starting stamina, a 20-point reserve, running time, Marathon Runner tier, and one declared weapon action before showing one next step. The arithmetic checks the printed action; it does not search your Inventory or build a route for you.

Use the matching card, then replace the weapon cost with the exact Inventory record when you carry something other than the Cleaver. The Fire AxeFire AxeTwoHandedBladeTwo-handed pickhead rescue axe capable of extreme leverage and chopping power.2.1 m reach · 35 quick torso · 10 base stamina card shows that weapon change as a separate fixed case. If the connected-contact count changes, recalculate that one swing before changing the sprint.

What if you break the reserve?

A 13-second base sprint plus the three-contact Cleaver swing spends 85 and ends at 15. The sequence can finish, but it breaks the reserve by 5. Cut the sprint to 12 seconds to end at exactly 20. If the route cannot be shortened, break contact before the swing and let stamina return.

A 17-second base sprint plus the same swing asks for 105. Do not commit to an action sequence the starting bar cannot fund. Twelve seconds keeps the 20-point reserve. Sixteen seconds is the absolute movement remainder after paying the 20-point swing, but it leaves nothing for a mistake or another action.

If the bar reaches zero, the game’s current instruction says movement can be slowed or blocked and the player must let stamina recharge. That is why the 20-point reserve is more useful than treating zero as a normal finish line.

How does stamina recover?

Stop running first. Running recovery is 0, so continuing the same movement state does not rebuild the bar. Recovery is 55 per second while idle, 35 while walking, and 15 while targeting.

Ordinary recovery has a 1-second delay. Emptying the bar uses the longer 1.75-second starved delay. Create distance, stop optional attacks, and idle when safe. Walking is the alternative when standing still would expose the Responder. Targeting preserves aim but uses the lowest nonzero recovery rate.

These are recovery boundaries, not a guaranteed wall-clock refill for every interrupted state. Do not turn the idle curve, damage, or an animation into an exact recovery timer.

What changes the answer?

Starting stamina, the reserve you need next, running time, Marathon Runner tier, selected weapon, attack type, connected contacts, and swing count all change the total. Change one of those facts and use another fixed case or the exact weapon fields.

Other skills stay in their own rules. Athlete changes maximum stamina. Caravan trades maximum stamina for carrying capacity. Hitman changes one-handed attack stamina cost. Check those exact effects in the Responder Skills query or skill mechanics guide before using this page’s 100-point base cases.

The weapon combat mechanics guide explains the same per-contact melee formula alongside health and stability. The Inventory capacity mechanism explains Caravan’s stamina tradeoff. The speaker-defense plan places the reserve inside one selected Survival zone. Do not combine skill families not shown here, assume a contact count, or treat the stated seconds as a promise that the route stays clear.