Monsters can appear outside their usual environments. The Director draws from the complete global monster pool instead of each stage's specific list - 3 Basic Monsters, 3 Minibosses, and 3 Champions from every enemy in the game. Grandparents on Stage 1, Void Reavers in Titanic Plains, Clay Dunestriders on Distant Roost. Best used with Kin for maximum chaos.
Each stage the Director selects a fixed number of monster types from the global pool, ignoring which enemies normally belong to that environment.
Champions cost only 600 credits minimum, making Horde of Many events possible on Stage 1 with Dissonance. Normally you'd never see this early. Grandparents, Clay Dunestriders, and Wandering Vagrants can all appear as teleporter bosses from Stage 1 onward.
Fixed scripted spawns (Mithrix Phase 2 initial 6 enemies), the Escape Director (Void Reavers in Void Seeds), and the Voidling Director all ignore Dissonance. Hermit Crabs are explicitly excluded from the selectable pool. These are edge cases but worth knowing.
The signature combo. Kin picks one monster type per stage - Dissonance lets that type come from the entire global pool. Void Reavers on Distant Roost. Grandparents on Stage 1. Maximum chaos.
All enemies are elites AND drawn from the full pool. Brainstalks becomes exceptional here. Unexpected elite types from other stages keep every encounter fresh.
High-value enemies from anywhere drop items on death. Champions spawning on early stages drop better items than normal Stage 1 enemies. Riskier but more rewarding early.
Globally-sourced monsters gain items between stages. Champions that normally appear late game show up early AND carry items. Extremely difficult by Stage 4.
Good variety modifier. Early stages can see high-tier enemies, late stages can see easy early-stage enemies. Experienced players who know all enemy types appreciate the unpredictability.
Choose every item while facing a globally-sourced enemy pool. Your items scale up while the enemies are unpredictable. Helps compensate for unexpected Champions early.
The Artifact of Dissonance makes monsters spawn from the global monster pool rather than each stage's specific list. The Director picks 3 Basic Monsters, 3 Minibosses, and 3 Champions from every monster in the game. This means you can face Clay Dunestriders on Stage 1, Grandparents on Distant Roost, or Elder Wisps in the Abyssal Depths.
The Artifact of Dissonance code is ●■■ ■■■ ■■● - Circle top-left, all Squares across the center, Circle bottom-right. The code tablet is on Abyssal Depths, on one of the high platforms near the ceiling. Note: the tablet is on its side so the code appears rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Dissonance + Kin is the signature combo. Kin restricts all enemies on a stage to one type - Dissonance lets that type be anything from the full global pool. This can result in Grandparents, Void Reavers, or Wandering Vagrants appearing on Stage 1. Extremely unpredictable and dangerous.
Not quite. Hermit Crabs are excluded from the Dissonance pool. Fixed scripted spawns (like the 6 initial enemies in Mithrix Phase 2) are not affected. Directors that use their own pools (Escape Director spawning Void Reavers, Voidling Director) are also unaffected. The Lunar Chimera Golems and Wisps count as Minibosses under Dissonance.
Yes. Grandparents are Champions and can be drawn into any stage's Champion pool with Dissonance active. A Stage 1 run encountering a Grandparent as the teleporter boss is a legitimate outcome. This is part of why the early game becomes unpredictable and difficult with Dissonance enabled.
