SPecial Surprise Pixel Dungeon

[This wiki page is updated with the changes from the developer's latest release "Part 3 - Time Cave".]

Overview

SPecial Surprise Pixel Dungeon (formerly Special Sprouted Pixel Dungeon), commonly referred to as SPS-PD, is an in-development fork of Sprouted Pixel Dungeon, but with some elements, especially items, borrowed from Shattered Pixel Dungeon, Yet Another Pixel Dungeon, and a few other mods. It was created by Reddit user hmdzl001.  This version aims to add several improvements to the overall gameplay, while still retaining a small part of the grindiness of Sprouted. Like its predecessor, it allows players to farm stat boosts to a high degree, and grants access to items of very high levels. However, the gameplay of killing all of the mobs on the floor as fast as possible, something that before had been an optional choice, has become the front and center of SPS-PD's gameplay, whereas grinding for rare resources like Scrolls of Magical Infusion or Phase Pitchers, while still possible, has lost much of its importance. These, among many other rebalances, make gameplay much more fast-paced, less grindy and up the challenge to a relatively constant level. There are new items, new bosses and a boss rush, new floors, a whole lot of new items, a whole new hero, and much more added to the already sizable Sprouted package, some of which are from other versions of PD. It's worth a shot to any and all that don't mind its unfinished state or its occasional language mistakes and “No text found” game messages.

Although these guide sections are rather extensive, they presuppose knowledge of the items and mechanics of Sprouted Pixel Dungeon, on which SPS-PD is based (yes, they contain only SPS-PD's new elements), so if details about a mechanic (like alchemy) are missing, that means that they are exactly the same with Sprouted - when a reader thinks that some information about SPS-PD that he/she needs is missing, he/she should search for it in the Sprouted pages of wiki and there is a 99% chance he/she will find it there. Also, whenever a feature, item etc. is described in the guide sections as “new”, that means “new compared to Sprouted”, or else a more detailed expression is used (“totally new” / “new compared to all other mods” or something similar). Lastly, there is a good amount of spelling and expression mistakes in the game messages and even in the name of items, that are mostly put in correct form in this guide, occasionally with also a mention to the game’s initial language form.

New Features

Dew Vial and Dew / Upgrading

As if Sprouted's version wasn't already strong enough, the Dew Vial now has even more features packed into it. Most notably, the Dew Vial's choice between Draw Out Dew and Water With Dew after the completion of the Tinkerer’s quest in Sprouted has been replaced by a relatively new choice: "Accurate Upgrade", which imitates the Upgrade behavior of “Draw Out Dew” from Sprouted, or "Random Upgrade", which offers similar Upgrades to those of “Water with Dew” (if by chance the hero meets the developer without having the dew vial, the Developer will just say "it's a great place", so apart from the toadstool mushroom also the dew vial must be in the inventory for the quest to get fulfilled). Heroes who choose Accurate Upgrade can identify their items through upgrades from the Dew Vial, and can choose a single item to upgrade - when the item is cursed the negative stat will reversed to positive but the curse will not be removed (for example a cursed -1 weapon will become +1 with an accurate upgrade, but will remain unable to be unequipped until a scroll of Remove Curse is used). Accurate upgrade can also randomly give +2 upgrades to an item, even surpassing the floor dew level cap by +1, based on luck and dungeon depth. Random Upgrades uncurse the player's inventory as a whole, but randomly choose any amount of items to upgrade and do not identify the items they upgrade (rarely they do not upgrade anything at all). The only upgading mechanism in SPS-PD that is accurate and also uncurses is reading a Scroll of Upgrade or Magical Infusion.

The Dew Vial also starts with 120 max drops, instead of 100, and has its familiar healing ability from the beginning (“Drink”, +1 HP per dew drop). When the dew vial is full and the hero without full health, stepping on 1 white dew drop heals 1 HP, 1 yellow dew drop heals 5 HP, 1 red dew drop 10 HP and 1 violet dew drop 50 HP - while starving the amount of healing might seem slightly less because of the simultaneous loss of HP. Whatever option of Upgrade the hero chooses, he/she will start each new floor with a Dew Drop buff (the Dew Charge buff of Sprouted). Lastly, unlike Sprouted, this choice wil follow the hero until the end of the game, as the Dew Developer in the Power Trial / Book of the Living floor, will not change random upgrading with accurate upgrading, as he does in Sprouted.

Initially items can get upgraded with dew up to +2 in floor 2 (and by the Mage up to +3) and up to +3 in floor 3 (by the Mage up to +4), but from that point and on 1 extra Dew Upgrade is possible only every 3 levels, with a level cap at +10, in other words it is possible for the hero's equipment to reach 10 upgrades (or 11 if he is a Mage) by the Dew Vial only by level 24 (on the other hand, Scrolls of Upgrade and Magical Infusion don’t have any floor limit, apart from the general level cap at +15 for equipment that are not reinforced). Upgrades do not lower the Strength requirement for all armor and almost all weapons at all. By the end of the game, once the player has defeated Shadow Yog, the cap jumps up to +13 (+14 for mages). Although the game warns the player about the contrary, dew drops are not evaporated when the hero goes down a level. Dew drops are also not evaporated by fire, even the white ones that drop from high grass, and can’t be destroyed by bombs. Lastly, compared to Sprouted, Yellow dew is now worth 5 dew, up from 2, and Red dew is now worth 10 dew, up from 5. White and Violet dew drops remain at 1 and 50, like Sprouted.

New Abilities Available From The Beginning

Drink: The familiar healing ability from Sprouted. Can't be used with only 1 Dew in the vial.
Light: Grants invisibility and light at the cost of 10 dew. Can't be used if there is less than 30 Dew in the Vial.
Peek: At the cost of 5 drops, players get 2 turns of Mind Vision and get to see where the floor's exit is. Can't be used if there is less than 30 Dew in the Vial.
Refine: For 10 dew, the player gets Clean Water which is needed for many cooking recipes. Can't be used if there is less than 30 Dew in the Vial.
In previous versions of SPS-PD there was also the Escape ability available, that allowed the hero to leave all special levels and repeat them, but it is now removed from SPS-PD.

Abilities Unlocked by the Dew Developer (Sprouted’s Tinkerer) on Floor 2

No matter what option heroes choose (Accurate vs. Random Ugrade), they will always get to Draw Out Dew, and to a lesser extent, Water With Dew.

Plant: The equivalent to “Water” in Sprouted, but nearly impossible to infinitely farm due to now costing 15 dew, up from 2. Generally, farming is only possible with an upgraded Ring of Haste and upgraded Greaves of Nature both equipped, or Greaves of Nature +10 inside of a 3x3 room. It's still only usable with a minimum of 50 Dew in the Vial.
Upgread (i.e. Upgrade): Same as “Bless” in Sprouted, but it costs 70 Dew if the hero chooses Accurate Upgrade, or 60 Dew if he/she chooses Random Upgrade. their different behaviors have been described in the first paragraph. Both are only usable with 100 or more Dew in the Vial.

Abilities Unlocked by Rune Scholar Lynn (Sprouted’s Tinkerer) on Floor 12

Clean: Costs 5 drops, Extinguishes Fire, and washes off Tar and Caustic Ooze. Only in the Demon Halls it can randomly also grant the Blessed buff. Can't be used if there is less than 30 Dew in the Vial.
Speed: Costs 15 drops for a Haste buff (similar to Splash of Sprouted but without invisibility). Can't be used if there is less than 30 Dew in the Vial.

Abilities Unlocked by the Dew Developer at the Power Trial floor / Change from Sprouted

The Dew Vial's max dew capacity will be increased to 350 after this upgrade, up from the usual amount of 300 in Sprouted.
Speed grants Levitation in addition to Haste.
The heroes who had chosen Random Upgrade won't have it changed to Accurate Upgrade, as it happens in Sprouted, and will continue to upgrade equipment randomly.

Food and Hunger

Main article: Food

Changed NPCs

[Only NPC's that the hero meets in the regular dungeon and the Book/Trial floors are mentioned here. The 30 or so NPCs of the Dolyahaven village will be presented in a forthcoming article.]

Old Wandmaker: He is always located at Floor 7 of the dungeon, and gives an Adamant (Sprouted's Adamantite) Wand to all classes, and not only to the Mage. On the option to choose between a battle and a non battle wand, the player should take into account that the game makes the distinction between battle and non battle wands rather randomly because most of its wands are offensive, and the Wandamker will give as battle wand reward a Wand of Acid / Blood / Disintegration / Firebolt / Freeze / Light / Lightning and as non battle wand reward a Wand of Charm / Flock / Flow / Meteorite / Poison / Thundercloud. The reward wand is always upgraded and rarely cursed. Picking up he Rotberry Seed will release a cloud of toxic gas and root the hero, but will not function as an alarm trap.
Rune Scholar Lynn is SPS-PD's equivalent of Sprouted’s Tinkerer in Floor 12. Apart from the Dew Vial upgrade, she also gives a Mr. Destructo or a better version of it (Mr. Destructo 2.0), if the hero has already one from Goo, exactly like the Tinkerer in Sprouted. After the hero interacts with her in floor 12 for the first time, he/she will be finding Lynn in Dolyahaven for the rest of the game, saying that she had fixed the altar and and the hero can use it now (it is the altar that the T6 weapons are created).
Shopkeepers are now invincible, and don't care if anything tries to harm or debuff them.
The Troll Blacksmiths (renamed from Bip and Bop to Troll Blacksmith and Troll Welder) are always located at floor 11. Adamantite weapon/armor/wand/rings are now renamed to Adamant weapon/armor/wand/rings, without any change to their function. Also, all classes and not only the Mage get the Adamant Wand, after they finish the Wandmaker quest and there is one extra adamant ring, that drops from the Gnoll King in the Treasure Map key level.
Two of the Sprouted’s Tinkerers (those in floor 2 and in the Book of Life / Power Trial level) are renamed to Dew Developers. The Tinkerer in floor 12 is transformed to Rune Scholar Lynn.

Weather Rooms / Light and Darkness

Main article: Weather Rooms / Light and Darkness

Stronger Classes and Subclasses

Classes have all been buffed very much compared to Sprouted, boasting much more versatile starting equipment and higher stats. This greatly reduces the initial difficulty of the Sewers, which were sometimes nearly impossible in Sprouted without the help of an early lucky weapon drop and/or the initial 50 dew needed to start watering.

All Classes

Start with 30 HP, 10 Strength, 10 Accuracy, 5 Dexterity (Evasion) and 0 Magic Power (apart from the Mage, who starts with 3).
Gain 4 HP, 1 Accuracy, and 1 Dexterity on level ups.
Start with a Random Soul which they can use to summon their first pet, something that may be needed to deal with some of the dungeon's stronger regular enemies. They all also have a Lantern of Soul Collect, that can be used to store any pet ny throwing the lantern at it (it can be used only once, but lanterns are sold in every regular dungeon shop). The lantern's game description is misleading in the part that it describes the lantern's damage - the lantern can not be used as a thrown weapon.
Have a bag of Pet Food, which can give a pet several level ups immediately after hatching, as it instantly adds 120 XP to it. Typically, it offers enough experience to boost a level 1 pet to level 7.
Get Jump Shoes, which are used to jump to tiles from two up to five tiles away (depending on the class), and come with class-specific bonuses in addition to slightly more or less charges, though the charge differences offer no serious impact on the gameplay. The Jump Shoes fill a main inventory slot, but cannot get dropped or thrown.
Receive an Ankh Shield, which is used to deal 5 damage to and stun every enemy in sight for many turns. This is exceedingly useful throughout the entire game. From mobs that run away like Gnoll Archers, the Gnoll Trickster, and Crazy Thieves, to evasive mobs like Wraiths and the Giant Crab, and even extra difficult mobs for the hero’s level like Living Mosses and Troll Warriors, the stun effect of this is one of the strongest in the game as long as it has enough charges to be used when needed. Despite being called a shield, the Ankh shield can’t be upgraded and doesn’t block damage like a normal shield would do. The Ankh Shield fills a main inventory slot, but cannot get dropped or thrown.
Are able to equip a third Ring or Artifact.
No longer keep the Tome of Mastery after beating the second boss once. Instead, it is always received from the second boss.
Like Sprouted, a Ration of Food, a tier 1 Armor, and a Key Ring are also included.

Warrior

Warrior has become a very stun-heavy class, in addition to his various defensive capabilities.

His short sword can't be reforged anymore. Instead, it has the "rupture" weapon attribute which causes bleeding and has an excellent upgrade scaling, making it useful as a melee weapon as far as the end of the Mining Caves (but not for the DM-300/Spider Queen).
Now has a Wooden Shield, which can either be thrown like a boomerang to stun an enemy, or can be used to switch to "defense mode" that increases the Warrior's defense but decreases his attack. Like the Ankh Shield, the Wooden Shield can’t be upgraded, and doesn’t block damage by itself, like a normal shield would.
Requires 2 less strength to use armors, instead of having +1 Strength in general. This is represented in-game as an armor's strength requirement dropping by 2 points if it's equipped, but showing its regular strength requirement otherwise.
His Jump Shoes can get him five tiles away and stun enemies adjacent to the place where he lands.
No longer starts with any Darts.
Like Sprouted, Potions of Strength are automatically identified.
His subclasses are almost identical with Sprouted: a) Gladiator gains the Combo buff, which grants bonus damage with each successive succesful hit, ranging from +20% bonus damage with a 3-hit combo to +120% bonus damage with a 8-hit combo (after that, the combo counter starts again), b) Berserker gains the Furious buff when his HP are below 60% of max HP and retains it as long as he stays below 60% HP, getting his physical damage increased by 25% and the damage dealt to him reduced by 25%.
From all the available items he can equip, he is the only class with ease to equip heavy armors due to the -2 strength requirement, and when he chooses the Gladiator subclass, he is benefited very much by a Ring of Accuracy and also by Ring of Force, due to its bonus damage modifier which stacks with the combo damage modifier.

Mage

Mage is now focused around the new Magic Power stat (MIG), which increases damage dealt by wands.

Starts with a Magic Book instead of the Knuckledusters. The Magic Book can stun enemies with its "blunt" attribute, and it's also one of a few weapons to have its strength requirement decreased by upgrades.
Uses wands faster than normal.
Starts with 3 Magic Power instead of 0.
His starting Wand of Magic Missile can no longer be disenchanted. Instead, it has 1 higher max charge than normal.
Also gets a Wand of Disintegration from start.
His Jump Shoes can take him two tiles away, allow him to teleport past enemies (or through them), and have a chance of giving the Arcane buff to increase his Magic Power by 10.
Like Sprouted, he gains a wand charge after eating, has a higher upgrade limit, and automatically identifies Scrolls of Identify.
His subclasses are somewhat similar to Sprouted, but with many differences, especially for the Battlemage: A) Warlock can "Soul Mark" enemies with a succesful wand hit, and from that point on he will be slightly healed with any succeful hit to them. After the enemy's death he's slightly healed again and also his hunger is slightly satisifed (usually for +10). After some turns, the soul mark can get erased from the enemy, if no succesful wand hit is repeated.
B) Battlemage doesn't equip wands. Instead, choosing this subclass allows wands to take even less time to be used and higher attack speed with them, as the subclass gains +5 Magic Power. The absence of the subclass ability to equip wands and therefore to recharge them quickly by using them as melee, makes familiar Battlemage builds from Sprouted with very highly upgraded wands lose some of their advantage in SPS-PD. On the other hand, a highly upgraded ring of Magic can make this build viable. Important note: a highly upgraded Wand of Firebolt is SPS-PD doesn’t backfire, so it is probably the best choice for a highly upgraded wand due to its damage output.
From all the available items he can equip, Rings of Magic (bonus wand damage) and Energy (bonus recharging rate) apparently benefit all mages very much and can make a Battlemage OP when upgraded as the three bonuses (subclass + Magic bonus damage + Energy quick recharging) stack.
The Book of Heavens / Courage Trial is not repeatable by falling into the chasms anymore and Phase Pitchers are generally a rare resource is SPS-PD, so transmuting all the Scrolls of Magical Infusion to Scrolls of Upgrade and putting all of them on a wand Sprouted-style, is simply not possible in SPS-PD. The closest a hero can get to this build, is to use all of his/her Scrolls of Upgrade in one reinforced wand (and a Ring of Magic / Energy if they are available) and use the Scrolls of Magical Infusion on his/her end-game weapon and armor.

Rogue

Rogue is now very much about good weapons, in addition to even more invisibility-related techniques.

Instead of having high accuracy, his starting Dagger has “puncture” to hit enemies with a second, weaker attack with each successful swing.
Has 10 Throwing Knives instead of 10 Darts.
Requires 2 less strength to use weapons. This is shown in the game as a weapon's strength requirement being lowered by 2 when equipped, but showing its regular strength requirement otherwise.
His Cloak of Shadows has been altered to work more like Shattered's current version of it, where it only starts with 3 max charges, but each individual charge lasts several turns.
No longer starts with a Bomb.
No longer lasts longer without food, gains free evasion from light armor, or instantly identifies equipped rings.
His jumping range with the Jump Shoes is only 2 tiles, but he gets 2 turns of levitation when jumping, effectively allowing flight-on-demand that offers a distance of about 10 tiles if started at full charge. There is also a chance to become invisible for 5 turns when jumping.
Like Sprouted, he is more proficient as detecting traps and identifies Scrolls of Magic Mapping.
His subclasses are identical with Sprouted: a) Freerunner is very quick, when unencumbered and not starving, and although the game does not display a speed stat or a speed buff with a description, practically he can be almost a quick as a cave vampire bat, b) Assassin inflicts additional damage, when he performs a surprise attack (SPS-PD has the pequliarity though, that among all of its weapons' attributes there is not an "effective against unaware enemies" one).
From all the available items he can equip, when he chooses the Assassin subclass, he should prefer light armors, as they have the highest stealth stats, and should avoid at all costs heavy armors, as some high tier ones even have stealth penalties and can make a surprise attack miss. All blunt weapons by stunning the enemy provide the Assassin with extra surprise attacks, so they should also be preferred. When he chooses the Freerunner subclass he is benefited very much by a Ring of Haste as its bonus speed stacks with the subclass bonus.

Huntress

Out of all the classes, she is changed the least.

Starts with Knuckleduster that can cripple enemies instead of a dagger.
When jumping with the Jump Shoes, she can move two tiles away and has a chance to throw Spectral Blades at nearby enemies (but also the pet) for extra damage based on the strength of her melee weapon.
No longer gets bonus damage for excess strength with Missile Weapons.
No longer gets unlocked after a hero first beats DM-300. Instead, she is unlocked only after killing 10 monsters, so she is practically available after the first game with any other class.
Like Sprouted, she starts with a Boomerang, can recover a used Missile Weapon from enemies, gains more health from dew drops (even if this isn't stated), senses mobs behind walls, and identifies Potions of Mind Vision.
Her subclasses are similar to Sprouted; a) Warden gets more seeds and dew from trampling grass (as if she was having a +3 Sandals of Nature equipped), gets 4 times the regular HP from dew drops (4 HP from one white dew drop/one dew vial drop, 20 HP from one yellow etc.) and instead of the Barkskin buff she gets Invisibility for 2 turns for each tile of high grass that she steps on b) Sniper gets the Sniper's Mark buff after each succesful hit with a missile or thrown weapon (but loses it after an unsuccesful hit, if she switches targets, stops attacking or the target dies), wihch grants quicker attack speed and armor penetration.
From all the available items she can equip, when she chooses the Warden subclass, she is benefited much by also equipping the Sandals of Nature artifact. When she chooses the Sniper subclass she is benefited very much by the ring of Accuracy as its bonus accuracy stacks with the subclass bonus, by the Ring of Sharpshooting as it increases her ranged damage output and by the Ring of Furor, as its bonus attack speed stacks with the subclass bonus.

Performer

A completely new class focused around the Rhythm/Echo buff of defeating enemies to gain accuracy and evasion bonus and the Glass Shield buff that grants much higher defense.

Starts with a Triangolo, a new weapon with the "resonance" mechanic that lets attacks also hit enemies (and allies) adjacent to the target.
Gets a unique Shovel that can be used to destroy any regular wall, even those that belong to pit rooms and locked rooms. It has three charges (3X50/150). The Shovel fills a main inventory slot, but cannot get dropped or thrown.
Finds bombs more often.
Gains the Rhythm buff, which grants increased Accuracy and Dodge for 10 turns after levelling up, killing monsters or using the jumps shoes.
Leveling up or using the jump shoes also provide the Glass Shield buff, which reduces damage by about 80% for 10 turns. (Currently there is a happy bug concerning the Glass Shield, as from floor 1 to floor 7 or 8 it does not wear off at all, making the Performer OP during this period).
His Jump Shoes can move him three tiles away and provide both the Glass Shield and Rhythm buffs.
If he chooses the Superstar subclass it grants him the Echo buff after killing enemies, which increases Speed for 10 turns.
If he chooses the Joker subclass, his attack range is increased by 1 and also knocks back enemies.
He is not benefited especially from any ring or artifact like the other classes.

New Armor Characteristics

Tiers

SPS-PD armors have an extra tier, so there are 6 tiers of armor and with three different types of armor (light, normal, heavy) each:

Tier 1

Vest: Strength 9, Defense 0-2, Scaling +0/+1, Dexterity 4, Stealth 12, Light armor (starting armor of Rogue)

Cloth armor: Str. 10, Def. 0-4, Scal. +1/+3, Dex. 2, Stlth 6, Normal armor (starting armor of Huntress, Mage, Performer)

Wooden armor: Str. 11, Def 2-6, Scal +2/+4, Dex. 1, Stlth 1, Heavy armor (starting armor of Warrior)

Tier 2

Rubber armor: Str. 11, Def 0-9, Scal. +0/+1, Dex. 3.6, Stlth 10, Light armor

Leather armor: Str. 12, Def. 0-12, Scal. +1/+3, Dex. 1.8, Stlth 5, Normal armor

Ceramic armor: Str. 13, Def 4-18, Scal. +2/+4, Dex 0.8, Stlth 0.5, Heavy armor

Tier 3

CD armor: Str. 12, Def. 0-15, Scal. +0/+2, Dex. 3.2, Stlth 8, Light armor

Disc armor: Str 14, Def 0-20, Scal. +1/+3, Dex. 1.6, Stlth 4, Normal armor

Stone armor: Str. 15, Def. 6-26, Scal. +2/+5, Dex. 0.6, Stlth 0, Heavy armor

Tier 4

PVC armor: Str. 15, Def. 0-22, Scal. +0/+2, Dex. 2.8, Stlth 6, Light armor (this is not stated explicitly in the game message, but becomes obvious from its stats)

Mail armor: Str 16, Def. 0-28, Scal. +1/+3, Dex. 1.4, Stlth 3, Normal armor

Double Mail armor: Str. 17, Def. 8-36, Scal. +2/+5, Dex 0.4, Stlth -0.5, Heavy armor

Tier 5

Protective armor: Str. 17, Def. 0-30, Scal. +0/+3, Dex. 2.4, Stlth 4, Light armor

Scale armor: Str. 18, Def. 0-36, Scal. +1/+3, Dex. 1, Stlth 2, Normal armor

Bullet armor: Str. 19, Def. 10-46, Scal. +2/+6, Dex. 0.2, Stlth -1, Heavy armor

Tier 6

Phantom armor: Str. 19, Def. 0-35, Scal. +0/+3, Dex. 2, Stlth 2, Light armor

Plate armor: Str. 20, Def 0-44, Scal. +1/+3, Dex. 1.2, Stlth 1, Normal armor

Machine armor: Str. 21, Def. 15-60, Scal. +3/+8, Dex. 0 Stlth -2, Heavy armor

Apparently light armors of all tiers have lower strrength requirements and grant high evasion and stealth but also low defense, heavy armors give the exact opposite results, and normal armors have the more balanced stats between defense, strength and dexterity/stealth. Although all classes can benefit from all types of armor by adapting their gameplay accordingly, light armors are highly advised for the Assassin subclass due to their high stealth (heavy armors on the other hand might even make a stealth attack miss due to their stealth penalties and should be avoided at all costs), and heavy armors for the Warrior class, due to the lower strength requirements of the Warrior. All types and tiers of armor have an extra stat, Energy Base, with the common value 1, which currently does not play any role in the gameplay.

Notes: Equipping different types of armor does not change the dexterity stat in the hero's tab, but practically affects the gameplay. Also, equipping armor of higher strength requirement can be very punishing in floors with high attack speed enemies, like the Dwarven Metropolis, even if the armor is just +1 higher. Don't do it.

Former Epic Armor skills

There is no Epic Armor in SPS-PD anymore, and the Armor Kit that the Dwarf King was dropping is renamed to Skill Kit but retains the same sprite. When this is used it produces an item resembling the familiar epic armor from most of the other mods and having the same name with it, but which cannot get equipped and instead activates a unique skill for each class:

Hunter Instinct for Huntress, which gives randomly a buff like Imbued with Fire / Mind Vision and Treasure Search / Regeneration,
Molten Earth for the Mage, which causes at the same time Caustic Ooze, Burning and Crippled/Rooted debuffs to all enemies in sight,
Shadow Bless for the Rogue, which grants randomly the Invisibility / Haste buff,
Source Power - Blood Imbue for the Warrior, which grants immuity to debuffs and improves damage,
Special Dance for the Performer, which causes at the same time Amok, Armor Break and Charmed debuffs to all enemies in sight and +25% Attack Up & Defense Up to the hero.

When any of these special skills is activated, it also drains instantly 50% of the hero’s maximum HP and at first can’t be used again until more 1000 turns have passed (but in higher levels it recharges quickly and by end-game instantly). The Skill Kit has no counter, so in early levels the player will have to check to hero's tab to see if enough turns have passed, if he/she is planning to use it in a battle.

New Armor Glyphs

Most of the "traditional" armor glyphs of Vanilla PD and other mods are reshuffled in SPS-PD and become parts of totally new glyphs. This is the list of SPS-PD's new armor glyphs:

Adapt: It is the more complicated in its effects. a) If it gets activated with the hero standing on stepped grass, it grants the Imbued with Earth buff (this part is similar to the Entanglement glyph), b) If it gets activated with the hero standing on water, it grants the Haste buff (this part is similar to the Flow glyph), c) If it gets activated with the hero standing on high grass, it grants the Invisibility buff (this part is similar tot the Camouflage glyph), d) If it gets activated with the hero standing next to a chasm, it grants the Levitation buff and e) If it gets activated with the hero standing on an inactive trap, it grants the Recharging buff (this part is similar to the Potential glyph).
Breakrock: grants +20% Defence up, +50% Herbal Armor (this part is similar to the Entanglement glyph), and creates a rock avalache on the attacker,
Change: a) If it gets activated with the hero standing on water, it creates a Mirror Image (this part is similar to the Multiplicity glyph), b) If it gets activated with the hero standing on dry land, it teleports the hero nearby (this part is similar to the Displacement glyph) and grants the Invisibility buff (this part is similar to the Camouflage glyph),
Crystal: grants the Glass Shield buff, which gets activated with each succesful enemy hit,
Electricweb: Paralyzes the attacker and randomly grants the Recharging buff (this part is similar to the Potential glyph), grants high resistance to electricity damage to the hero,
Firecover: Ignites the attacker and grants the Attack Up buff to the hero, grants high resistance to fire damage to the hero (this part is similat to the Brimstone glyph),
Holy: Charms (this part is similar to the Affection glyph) and Amoks the attacker,
Recoil: knocks back (this part is similar to the Bounce glyph) and causes bleeding to the the attacker (this part is similar to the Thorns glyph),
Revival: has a small chance to block a deadly hit while also healing the hero,
Snowhouse: freezes the attacker and defers damage for the hero (this part is similar to the Visocosity glyph), grants high resistance to cold / freeze debuffs to the hero,
Shadow: vampiric effect,
Testpaint: produces various harmful gases with their debuffs, grants the Immune to gases buff to hero (this part is similar to the Stench glyph).

Weapons

Main article: Weapons

Dolyahaven

Main article: Dolyahaven

Limited Saving

Rarely, the player can find rooms that are always hidden and are listed as Memory of Fire in the Journal, but have the same appearance as Vanilla's sacrificial chambers. They allow the player to create a single save point (up to the number of 5): this save point can be used only once, and the save file persists for each class even after a run is complete. Each chamber can also be used only once, and that only if it's found (be careful not to check on the pedestal but decide to leave saving for later, as the game considers the save point used and deactivates it). A similar save is offered with the Chocolate Pudding Cup item that is found after beating Yog-Dzewa in the same place that the Amulet of Yendor is normally found [In relation to Sprouted, it is a swapping: the Chocolate Pudding Cup is located where the Amulet is in Sprouted, and Otiluke in the end of SPS-PD gives the hero an Amulet of Yendor instead of a pudding cup.] Due to their limited nature, it's best to use them after important milestones, or before attempting something very risky.

Rebalances and other Changes

Strength and Strength Requirements

There are many changes to how the game handles the player's Strength, and what equipment can be used. No longer is it possible, at all, to decrease almost all items’ strength requirement through upgrades. Additionally, Potions of Might give +15 max HP and no additional Strength instead of +5 max HP and +1 Strength, and no longer always transmute into Potions of Strength. Effectively, this means that methods of gaining strength are few and far in between, so players will be switching to higher tier weapons at a much slower rate, even possibly as late in the game as the Demon Halls.

Key Floors

Main article: Key Floors

Book Floors

Main article: Book Floors

Safe Room (Floor 50)

Main article: Safe Room

Pets

Main article: Pets

Enemies

Main article: Enemies

Extra or Changed Mini-Bosses

In the Sewers, Prison and Caves the mini-bosses that spawn are now randomly selected each time out of a list of three or two different bosses. They’re different in each game, so the players should always be prepared for all possibilities when entering these floors. Like Sprouted, the Sewers mini-bosses all drop the Sokoban 1 journal page, the Prison mini-bosses the Sokoban 2 journal page and the Tome of Mastery, and the Mining Caves mini-bosses the Sokoban 3 journal page and Dwarf King the Sokoban 4 journal page.

Sewers Mini-Bosses (Floor 5)

Sewer Goo

Renamed from Goo, but behaves the same as Sprouted’s Goo. Mini Goos are also renamed to Poison Goos, and the Sewer Goo doesn't drop a Bloodlust Chainsaw any more. Instead, it either drops a Mr. Destructo or a Violet Upgrade Item (upgrade goo).

Sewer Heart

A sewers boss version of the Rot Heart from Shattered Pixel Dungeon's rotberry quest. Unlike the Rot Heart, it can teleport around and spawn extra Sewer Lashes (which don't move but cause a crippled debuff). In addition to spewing Toxic Gas on hit, it has a charge-up laser attack similar to those of Shattered's Evil Eyes, both in how long it must charge up before shooting, and in deadliness. Those without caution can easily find themselves one-shot by this powerful attack. In addition to that, the Sewer Heart will teleport away from the player from time to time. On death, it drops always a seed or nut and has a small chance to drop a rare seed like a Phase Pitcher.

Plague Doctor

Borrowed from Remixed Pixel Dungeon, he is perhaps the most dangerous out of these three, as this boss is the only one to have different phases. At first, he simply faces the hero in melee combat while providing him/her with randomly selected healing, attack up, defense up, and speed up. It can be advisable to let him hit you a couple times, so you can use these buffs against him and make the trickier phases a little easier. However, throughout the battle, it repeatedly summons Shadow Rats that can cause a long-lasting Attack Down debuff after hitting the hero. The Plague Doctor also moves around quickly. When its health is reduced to 75%, it begins phase 2 where it releases various gases like Dark Gas that blinds the hero, Confusion Gas, Toxic Gas, and sometimes Paralytic Gas, all while fleeing the player. Players should save up charges of their Jump Shoes and any limited-use range items like wands or missiles, so they don’t need to waste time chasing the Plague Doctor through all of these gases. Phase 3 begins when its health is reduced below 50%, and ends the Plague Doctor’s fleeing. Instead, it opts to attack the hero, now being able to cause him/her to bleed with its attacks. Then, when its health is reduced below 25%, it can gain the Attack Up and Defense Up buffs for 10 turns when it attacks, making it incredibly dangerous to fight up close. It's usually best to take out the Plague Doctor as fast as possible, before too many Shadow Rats can be spawned, as the barrage can easily become relentless and fatal. That being said, at the same time, extreme caution must be taken, especially at the end of the fight, as the Plague Doctor’s abilities can overwhelm heroes in a wide variety of ways. Leaving a level up pet to beat him (as pets are immune to all of his debuffs and gases), with the hero staying in the background is probably the best tactic with this boss. On death, he has a small chance (20%) to drop an Alchemist's Toolkit, and an even smaller chance (10%) to drop a random potion.

Prison Mini-Bosses (Floor 10)

All three bosses are located in a different, bigger arena, in comparison to Sprouted, with more walls in it.

Tank

It resembles a clay giant. The simplest of the three bosses, it knocks back the hero, paralyzing him/her when he/she hits a wall, randomly explodes destroying walls, can cause vertigo, and upon defeat drops a potion of Toxic Gas (like zombies in Prison also do - the game message describes the Tank as undead).

Tengu

Similar to Sprouted, with same attack but also causes the Locked and Silence debuffs. Additionally, the version of Tengu in the Hideout (floor 36) is the same with Sprouted, apart from the fact that he has also a very high dodge ability, so the hero should better visit the Hideout after he/she reaches a rather high level, or with many upgraded battle wands, if the player doesn’t want the battle to last forever. On death, regular dungeon Tengu may drop shurikens.

Prison Warden

This boss is very versatile, with a variety of attacks like planting harmful plants and throwing seeking bombs. His attacks pull or knock the player back and forth, he gets the Glass Shield buff that greatly reduces the player's attack and also causes Crippled, Vertigo and Weakened (-2 Strength) debuffs to the Hero. On death, he may drop Ethereal Chains.

Mining Caves Mini-Bosses

DM-300

It is exactly the same with Sprouted, with the only minor difference being that it is not the mob that exlusively drops the Cape of Thorns anymore. Instead it drops a Norn/Magic Stone.

Spider Queen

She is borrowed from Remixed Pixel Dungeon and has rather similar behavior with her equivalent there, but she is adapted to a spouted-styled gameplay. Her only attack is poisoning the hero and fleeing while the poison effect lasts, like the cave spinners do in caves, but at the same time spider nests spawn, produce a rooting cloud around them and hatch different types of spider minions: Spider Golders (have a defence up buff and produce confusion and locking gas), Spider Jumpers (produce slowing gas) and Spider Minders (produce blinding gas). All spider minions drop mystery meat. After the Spider Queen is defeated, she might drop a Robot DMT artifact and all the spider nests die, but not the spiders that had already been hatched.

Dwarven Metropolis Mini-Boss (Dwarf King - floor 20)

It is the only mini-boss fight that is left in SPS-PD with only one option. The Dwarf King fight is very similar to Sprouted, with three minor differences that have some importance though: a) the Dwarf Liches that spawn after the Dwarf King is beaten are much stronger and have much higher defense and evasion than Sprouted, b) the Dwarf King tomb can be destroyed before the Dwarf Liches die, so if the hero has the means to paralyze them for some time (for example, an Eye of Skadi) the second part of the fight can end very quickly, c) the Armor Kit reward is renamed to Skill Kit, and after it is applied, it does not transform an armor to Epic Armor, but creates an item that looks like the familiar epic armor of each class from Vanilla and other mods and has its name, has a class specific ability, but does not get equipped.

BossRush challenge (floor 71)

While the Dolyahaven Mines have been removed, the secret entrance in Dolyahaven hasn't. The floor exit is blocked by a statue, and that statue is guarded by a very strong Guardian Dragon that has tens of thousands of HP, a strong melee attack, and a ranged poison attack. Upon defeat, it drops a BossRush Challenge book that can be used to teleport to the BossRush, a floor identical to the one in the First Yog fight but colored purple and brown. However, unlike traditional boss rushes, this BossRush isn't just fighting each of the standard bosses at once. Instead, it presents multiple entirely new bosses themed around the game's bosses, most with their own unique abilities.

Guardian Dragon Strategy

The Guardian Dragon in Dolyahaven, despite not being part of the BossRush itself, is easily the most difficult challenge for players looking to get their hands on the Overload Hand Cannon (or possibly the Player Icon out of vanity), due to its massive health and the damage it can deal to mid-game heroes. However, for how strong it is, its health is its biggest weakness. Because of items in the game that deal damage based on max HP, it's possible to defeat the Guardian Dragon right after beating the second floor’s boss and buying the Hometown journal page. Deathcap Mushrooms and Jack-O-Lantern Mushrooms tend to be the most effective against it, as two Deathcaps will reduce it to 25% of its max HP, and fire damage from a Jack-O-Lantern can be enough to finish it off, though a second may be needed. It's resistant to bleed damage, so the Earthstar Mushroom isn't effective. These mushrooms are handy, as they can be used without letting the Guardian Dragon free to attack a low player that could be killed in only one or two attacks. Alternatively, if the player is willing to risk some damage, a weapon with the Shock enchantment can defeat the Guardian Dragon in around 5 blows, as long as they can either get it into water, or they also have a Wand of Flow to apply the Wet Debuff. Bombs can be fairly effective as well, but they're harder to use as the Guardian Dragon has rather high movement speed. The Leech Seed debuff from the Earth enchantment is also fairly effective, and is able to heal the player when adjacent to the Guardian Dragon. Due to its infinite duration, Caustic Ooze from either the Acid enchantment or Wand of Acid can lead to a safer defeat, with some setup; through items like the Etheral Chains or Wand of Flow that can move around NPCs and mobs, it's possible to apply Caustic Ooze to the dragon before it leaves the cave, stun it with the Ankh Shield, and seal up the entrance with a few villagers, re-trapping the Guardian Dragon until its inevitable doom.

While there are a lot of easier/safer strategies for defeating the Guardian Dragon as early as possible, a lot of them are luck-based, and won't be possible in a large number of runs. That being said, it is just as important to be able to survive the Guardian Dragon's attacks. Mobility, range, and stuns are the three most effective means of not dying to a couple of its hits, and having enough of any to survive against the Guardian Dragon for a prolonged amount of time is a good sign that surviving in the BossRush Challenge will not be too difficult.

General Boss Strategy

All of the BossRush Bosses (except Dragon King) have common stats. Their damage scales by the player's level, specifically on a range of player's level / 2 to player's level per hit. Their HP is always exactly 1000, but everything that damages them only deals 10-20 damage, no matter how strong the original attack would have been. Their evasion is only 5, but their accuracy is 100, and their armor is only 2. Lastly, and most notably, any attacks over 15 damage will cause them to spew Demon Blood that bleeds, vertigos, and cripples any hero or pet caught inside. Wise use of the Jump Shoes, Ankh Shield, and available ranged weapons in combination with the Towel are essential to prevent a truckload of damage. Generally, the Guardian Dragon is a decent indicator of how much more one should level before challenging the BossRush. If that fight is only tedious, go ahead. If the battle requires constant use of healing sources, back out and wait until later. If the player easily crushes the Guardian Dragon, there is no reason to challenge the BossRush outside of personal satisfaction. Lastly, pets can get bugged in the BossRush Challenge and not be able to eat and heal, so it is better for the hero not to take them with him/her at all.

List of Bosses

Dragon King: This "boss" only has a hundred or so HP, so most attacks will kill it very quickly. The BossRush technically doesn't start until it's dead. It drops a Skeleton Key that can be used to unlock the floor exit, which is useless because the floor exit can't be entered, even after being unlocked.

Void Goo: This first Boss can be the most confusing, as throughout the fight, it will spawn four Elemental Goos and become completely invulnerable while even one of them is still alive: "Earth Goo" that applies caustic ooze and roots, "Shock Goo" that spawns a field of electricity on death, "Fire Goo" that is surrounded by fire, and "Ice Goo" that chills the air around it (all the elemental goos have a “no text found” description). The elemental goos die fairly quickly, so once it's clear how to damage Void Goo, the fight becomes very manageable. However, once its health is reduced to 25%, its movement speed is suddenly multiplied by 6, which makes the final set of Elemental Goos more difficult, but not too difficult, to hunt down. On death, it drops a Hand Cannon, and is the only way to get such a weapon.

Young Tengu: He is described as another Tengu, uses a combination of ranged attacks (which randomly ignite, stun, cause slowness etc.) and knockbacks to fight the player. This fight works in two phases. During Phase 1, this boss pelts the player with ranged attacks that induce knockback, something that could have caused difficulty for melee users if it weren't for the Jump Shoes and Ankh Shield, which can both be used to halt this behavior. After this boss's health is reduced to 50%, it opts instead to rush the player with melee attacks and doubled movement speed, though this mostly just makes the fight more straightforward.

Killing Machine: Likely the most dangerous boss within the BossRush, the Killing Machine has two distinct abilities. The more noticeable one would be the Hunting Bombs that it occasionally spawns around the level, which chase after the player, can be shot to blow up instantly, and will otherwise blow up 10 turns after being spawned. The other, less noticeable but far more dangerous, is the Killing Machine's thorns effect. When the player attacks, the amount of damage their blow would have dealt had the damage not been changed to 10-20, will instead be dealt back to the player in full. This means that if a weapon is a sufficiently high level, that damage can one-shot the player from full health. Other than that, the fight words in four phases. During phase one, the Killing Machine simply poisons the player on hit. After it is reduced to 75% HP, it enters phase 2, where it begins to chill the air around it, and its attacks coat the enemy in Tar. Phase 3 begins at 50% hp and below, where Tar Gas is spawned instead of chilled air and attacks ignite the player. Lastly, at 25% hp and below, the Killing Machine loses all of its melee enhancements to double its speed and spawn Darkness Gas that blinds everything inside it, including the Killing Machine itself. With Mind Vision and a ranged weapon handy, this last phase can easily become the easiest. Note that the Hunting Bombs will only spawn when a phase change happens, and that the Overload Hand Cannon may be destroyed if it's left on the ground.

Element King: This boss has a null item sprite, but it's meant to be a BossRush version of the Dwarf King. It's the first of the simpler fights, which don't have any kind of minions or particularly threatening special abilities to endanger the player. It has four different phases, but only its on hit effect changes as its health depletes. In phase 1, it cripples the player on hit. Phase 2 has it rooting the player instead. In Phase 3, it causes rooting. In phase 4 it causes Weakness and doubles its movement speed.

Ice Corps: Another boss that has a null item sprite and also a “No text found” description, but the first to bear no resemblance in theme to other bosses in the game. This is a fight that works in only two Phases, the second phase starting at 25% HP and granting the Ice Corps double speed. Until then, it only occasionally spawns rocks in random cells adjacent to it when moving, which slow anything caught within for 5 turns without dealing direct damage. It's rather easy to avoid, as they only spawn close to the Ice Corps.

Original Yog: The third boss in a row that has a null item sprite, has no special abilities and only one extra phase, the usual double movement speed at 25% HP. It is described as the original Yog with a tentacle.

Shadow of Amulet: The last Boss, and yet another Boss to have a null item sprite. It is described as the of Bossrush, is identical in behavior with the Original Yog, and drops a trophy called the Player Icon, which has no other use than satisfying the player’s vanity.

Overview of Rewards

Overall, the BossRush isn't particularly rewarding, at all. The Skeleton Key isn't actually used for anything purposeful, and the Player Icon can't be used period. The only strategic reason to challenge the BossRush is to obtain the Overload Hand Cannon, a particularly powerful gun with a whopping 7 range. It's always given at +0 and uncursed, so if the player wishes, he/she could actually face the Bosses after the Void Goo with this equipped, although it can be hard to use without a Ring of Furor due to its Attack Delay of 2. Don't worry about losing it, as the BossRush can be faced an infinite number of times.

End Game Boss Changes

First Yog Fight – Yog-Dzewa (Floor 25)

The Guardian Statue/Animated Steel in level 24 doesn’t drop a special key for it anymore, but just releases the tile of the ladder that leads to level 25, which needs to get broken with the Magic Breaker. Yog’s Fists have all a “No text found” description, but they all behave the same with Sprouted (Burning Fist: ranged, has a fire cloud around it, Infecting fist: melee, secretes toxic gas and can poison the hero, Pinning Fist: ranged, can root the hero, Rotting Fist: melee, applies caustic ooze), with the exception of the Rotting Fist that takes minimal physical damage without an Attack up buff by the Glass Totem/Robot DMT or by an Energy enchanted weapon from all classes apart from the Huntress and Rogue. If these artifacts or enchantment are not available, wands or other sources of damage must be used to kill it, or just leave it as it is and proceed to kill Yog after the Mage/Performer/Warrior finishes with all the other Fists. Lastly, when Yog’s health reaches a point approximately below 10% (again with the exception of the Huntress and Rogue), it starts teleporting around after a few hits and can also spawns Evil Eyes and Fists again (the Fists only once). After Yog is defeated, it drops the Sokoban Journal / Dolya Slate page "Spring Festival Land" and also a Ghost Elevator, a new item that allows the hero to travel up and down regular floors with ease (however, pets will not be taken along). In all the other parts that were not mentioned, this fight is the same with Sprouted.

Second Yog Fight - Shadow Yog (Floor 35)

After the Troll Welder forges together the three parts of the Triforce into a Source Triforce, the hero can teleport to the Shadow Yog level, which is almost identical in shape to the DM-300 floor, apart from the fact that it has no water or trap tiles. The Shadow Yogs are also identical to those of Sprouted, but their minions are different. There are no Onis and Shadow Rats any more, but Fiends (they zap Shadow Bolts and cause a Weakened Debuff, drop various regular scrolls) and Gold Eye Bokoblins, which are identical to the Power Trial Bokoblins (secrete Demon Blood etc. and drop nothing). Both kinds of minions spawn constantly, and when the Shadow Yogs become low in health, they teleport around the floor rapidly, but if the hero will go there with his/her weapon or battle wand upgraded to a high degree, by having used the Scrolls of Upgrade and Magical Infusion he has collected so far, this will be an extremely easy fight. On the other hand, with a weapon just upgraded to 10, this fight will not be manageable at all. The last Shadow Yog will drop the Orb of Zot and the hero must break it to find the last Sokoban page, that will teleport him/her to Otiluke (until the hero decides to break it, he/she can use it as a more powerful Mr. Destructo, that needs 500 charges to get ready).

Energy Core Battle (Floor 67)

This fight is almost the same with Sprouted, only a little easier. The hero must defeat at least some of the Animated Steels (Statues) in the level, in order to reach the Palantir, which is located at the west of the floor, with Animated Steels and Otiluke Lightning Slates (Sprouted’s Lightning Towers) surrounding it; they zap deadly beams that can one shot the hero and cannot get destroyed, but get deactivated after the Otiluke Corrupted Mirror at the east of the floor is defeated - the hero must absolutely avoid the east part of the floor until he/she defeats the Otiluke Corrupted Mirror. All the Animated Steels carry upgraded +10 weapons of various tiers and enchantments, and they attack en masse, so the hero might carry 10 debuffs at the same time at some point of the fight (an upgraded Ring of Elements will be very useful in this fight), but they don’t pose a serious threat, taken into consideration that the hero has survived the previous fight with Shadow Yog and has fully upgraded his/her equipment. The Otiluke Corrupted Mirror zaps the hero with Shadow Bolts which also cause an Attack Down debuff, but he also doesn’t pose a serious threat – for some unknown reason after he is beaten he drops an edible Crystal Nucleus which looks like a Magic Stone, with no obvious purpose other than the hero to sell it for 1000 gold. After the hero reaches the Palantir, he/she can take it and use it to teleport to the Second Final battle (he/she can't do that from the Energy Core floor, but must return to the regular dungeon, and use the Palantir from there to teleport to Zot).

Zot Battle (Floor 99)

This floor is identical in shape to the DM-300 floor (without the traps and the water tiles) and in color to the BossRush floor, and as in the previous floor this fight is almost the same with Sprouted, only a little easier. The hero will meet finally the evil Zot there, that spawns Magic Eyes each time he takes damage (a blueish version of the Evil Eyes from Demon Halls, that zap laser beams and drop healing potions) and Zot Mirrors (they zap lightning bolts and drop various regular scrolls). DoT debuffs that do little damage like the Molten Earth special skill of the Mage is not a good idea for Zot as he will spawn constantly new Evil Eyes. If the hero doesn’t stand in the middle and get zapped by all evil eyes at once (perhaps the best position is by the door inside the central square, so as to take the Magic Eyes one by one), this fight is also manageable. After Zot is defeated, all the remaining Magic Eyes dissolve and Zot drops a "Soul collect stone" in which Otiluke is imprisoned. The hero will have to use the Palantir to go back to the regular dungeon, and then he/she will be able to break the Soul Collect Stone, and receive the message that Otiluke is rescued. From there, he/she can teleport to Dolyahaven and find Otiluke standing in the north east corner of the village. Otiluke will say "Finally, after so many time, I see my hometown again" and "I will help you enter Tower if you want", but if the hero insists in bugging him, he will finally respond "Ok, I know what you want, take this counterfeit Amulet. I had to give the real one to the Tower, but don't worry. This works the same way, and I have more if you need them". If the hero continues to talk to him, he will give another amulet, and another amulet etc. Then the hero can end the game immediately or return to the dungeon and finally to the surface for the Happy Ending. Without having grinded for XP but having completed all floors that grant XP once, the hero would be around level 70 at this point.

New or Changed Buffs

There are some new buffs, some class specific to the Performer, and some other caused by the consumption of food or the use of enchanted weapons or artifacts.

Class / Subclass specific Buffs

Source Power - Blood Imbue: only the Warrior class can gain it, after the Dwarf King is beaten and the hero gets the Skill kit: it grants immunity to debuffs and improves damage for 30 turns.
Combo: only the Warrior subclass Berserker can gain it, and grants bonus damage with each successive succesful hit, ranging from +20% bonus damage with a 3-hit combo to +120% bonus damage with a 8-hit combo (after that, the combo counter starts again)
Echo: Only the Performer’s subclass Superstar can gain it after killing enemies – it increases Speed for 10 turns.
Furious: Only the Warrior subclass Berserker can gain it, when the hero's health is below 60% of max HP, and retains it as long as his HP remain below 60% - it increases physical damage to enemies by 25% and decreases damage to hero by 25%.
Glass Shield: Mostly the Performer can gain it after leveling up or by using the jump shoes - it is a strong Defense Up buff that reduces damage to the hero by 80% (all the other classes can gain it only by using the Defense mode of the Glass Totem). Mini bosses can also gain a glass shield, with various degrees of damage reduction.
Rhythm: Only the Performer can gain it, after leveling up or killing monsters - it increases Accuracy and Dodge for 10 turns.

Hero Buffs

Arcane: it is gained by all classes by using a Scroll of Recharging or visiting a room with this climate and by the Mage also by using the jump shoes, and provides +10 Magic Power.
Armor Break: is gained as a side effect or reading a Scroll of Lullaby, reduces enemies' armor and increases damage as a consequence.
Attack Down: It is gained by using the defense mode of the wooden shield or as a side effect or reading a Scroll of Lullaby, reduces 25% of enemies attack.
Attack Up: It is gained by using an enchanted with Energy weapon, as a side effect of drinking a Potion of Invisibility, or by activating the Robot DMT (randomly) / Glass Totem (optionally) artifacts and provides +20 % to attack (the Performer special skill Special Dance also grants 25% Attack Up) . Various enemies and especially mini bosses can also have an attack buff with various degrees of attack increase.
Blessed: It is same with its equivalent in Vanilla and other mods (increased accuracy and evasion) and not with that of Sprouted (increased damage). Note: The Starflower plant doesn’t grant the Blessed buff, but the Strength/Fury buff, like Sprouted.
Defense Up: It is gained by using an enchanted with Dance weapon, using the defense mode of the wooden shield, as a side effect of drinking a potion of Levitation, or by activating the Robot DMT (randomly) / Glass Totem (optionally) artifacts and provides +20%-50% to defense (the Performer special skill Special Dance also grants 25% Defense Up). Various enemies and especially mini bosses can also have a defense buff with various degrees of defense increase.
Dew Drop: it is gained by visiting every new floor, after meeting the Dew Developer in floor 2, and makes the enemies drop dew after they get killed.
Drowsy: it is gained by reading a Scroll of Lullaby and leads to magical sleep that rapidly replenish HP, can be negated by taking damage or being in full health.
Foresight: It is gained by having the Talisman of Foresight equipped and is activated when the hero is close to a trap.
Haste: It is gained by using the Speed ability of the Dew Vial and only by the Rogue class by using the class Special Skill.
Illuminated / High Light: it is gained with long duration by using a torch, and with shorter duration by using the Light ability of the Dew Vial, by zapping an enemy with a Wand of Light, as a side effect of drinking a potion of Purification but also when ignited by a fire trap. Grants better vision.
Immune to Gases: gained by drinking a Potion of Purification and as a parallel effect to the production of harmful gases from the Testpaint glyph.
Invisibility: gained by using the Light ability of the Dew Vial, by drinking a potion of Invisibility, and only by the Rogue class by using the Jump Shoes / the Cloak of Shadows / the class Special Skill and by the Warden subclass by stepping on high grass.
Muscle: A +2 Strength buff for 200 turns, which is gained after consuming a Power Pill.
Overfed: An Attack Up buff, which is gained after overeating, that is consuming food that its nutritional value surpasses the point 0 of the hunger counter..
Recharging: Unlike Sprouted, Scrolls of Recharging don’t instantly recharge all wands to full charge, but grant a much higher rate of recharging, like Shattered.
Shadowmelded: It is always gained while the hero stays in a garden. grants Invisiblity and Slower Metabolism (less hunger increase).
Strength: It is the Fury and the Moon Fury buffs of Sprouted just renamed – one or many extra powerful hits.

Hero Debuffs

Attack Down: caused by various monsters and mini bosses, reduces the hero's Attack.
Armor Break: caused by the Dwarf Musketeer, the Demon Flower and various mini bosses, reduces the hero's Armor > increases damage to the hero.
Burning: caused by stepping on a fire trap or a Firebloom plant, drinking a potion of Liquid Flame, eating raw meat, by an Animated Steel with a Fire enchanted weapon equipped and other enemies. It causes damage and can destroy scrolls, when the hero doesn't have the scroll holder. Fire can be extinguished by shattering a potion, stepping on water or with the Clean ability of the dew vial.
Caustic Ooze: caused by Demon Goos, Animated Steels with an Acid enchanted weapon equipped or by stepping on ooze traps, can be removed by stepping on water or by the clean function of the dew vial.
Cold: caused by certain climate or Animated Statues with a Coldwave enchanted weapon equipped, makes the hero Slow.
Dry: caused by certain climate, reduces Damage from hero.
Electrostatic Turbulence: caused by Animated Steels with an Electric enchanted weapon equipped or by enemies that zap lightning bolts while the hero is standing on water. It reduces wands' damage and recharge rate and also has a DoT effect (there is currently a bug involved with this debuff and sometimes never wears off - normally it gets away with time or by getting zapped again).
Frozen: caused by stepping on an ice trap or an Icecap plant, drinking a potion of Frost, or by an Animated Steel with an Ice enchanted weapon equipped. It paralyzes the hero but doesn't seem to make potions shatter like in other mods.
Hot: caused by certain climate or Animated Steels with a Tar enchanted weapon equipped, causes Easier Damage to hero.
Leech Seed: caused by the Living Moss and Animated Steels with an Earth enchanted weapon equipped, causes a DoT vampiric effect that heals all nearby characters.
Locked: caused by Thieves in Prison when they flee, makes the hero unable to consume anything.
Poisoned: caused by various enemies, stepping on a poison trap or a Sorrowmoss plant.
Raise Dead: caused by certain climate - Skeletons are probable to spawn (not according to level, but same with those in Caves, so this climate can be lethal in early levels).
Silence: caused by regular level Skeletons when they die, makes the hero unable to read scrolls and use wands.
Tar: caused by the tar gas of Broken Robots and Golems or by Animated Steels with a Tar enchanted weapon equipped, and makes the hero slower - also the fire debuff does not go away at all until the hero steps on water or uses the Clean function from the dew vial.
Weakness: caused by stepping on weakening traps and by various enemies. It is applied by much more monsters and mini bosses compared to Sprouted, but is same with Sprouted in all the rest (except that when it is caused specifically by Dwarf Warlocks it causes -3 instead of the regular -2 strength reduction, unlike what the game says).
Wet: caused by certain climate or Animated Steels with a Coldwave enchanted weapon equipped, causes Reduced Accuracy and Dodge for hero.

New Bags

A Scarecrow Heart that the hero gets from killing the Clockwork Scarecrow in Dolyahaven, a bag that holds up to 22 different weapons, melee or missile.
A Shopping Cart can now be found in a garden, and can be used for storing all of the game's edible items, from berries to mushrooms to other such foods, up to 24 different items. A shopping cart in a garden always spawns in each run, and usually by the end of prison one will have already been spawned, but rarely this can happen in caves and even in the metropolis or demon halls. If by the time the hero reaches floor 24 he/she hasn’t found one yet, it would be useful to go back to the previous floors and map them, until he/she finds the hidden garden.

Sokoban Changes

Main article: Sokoban

About Grinding

If it is Considered Needed

Dew: The Dew Drop buff will have a limited duration in regular floors, when the hero had missed some enemies in a hidden room or had just wasted time and so had finished the previous floor under the goal moves. Fortunately, all the key/challenge floors (Forest, Prison, Caves, City) provide generous amounts of Dew and are repeatable. On the other hand, the Plant ability of the Dew Vial, due to costing 15 dew, is efficient in farming dew only with an upgraded Ring of Haste and +10 Greaves of Nature both equipped, or with +10 Greaves of Nature in a 3X3 room, unlike Sprouted, where watering with dew costs only 2 drops.

Food: Half of the enemies in the Sewers drop regular or mystery meat, various enemies in the subsequent chapters also drop meat (Cave Spinners, Scorpions etc. just like Sprouted) and Dwarf Monks in the Metropolis drop regular rations of food or pasty, with an upgraded Lucky Charm helping the rate of these drops very much. Additionally, the Caves challenge floor is ideal for grinding meat from the piranhas, especially when a Lucky Charm is equipped.

Gold: The hero can repeat the Sokoban puzzle floors as the gold chests contain good loot as many times as the hero visits the level, and can also fall many times in the Thief Lair's basement (he/she will also have already gathered appr. 12.000 gold from the City challenge floor, if he/she had followed the correct method). Lastly, if the player is interested in a higher ranking, in which having a lot of gold helps, he/she can collect all the +10 upgraded and enchanted weapons that are dropped by Animated Steels in the Mirror Otiluke battle and sell them at a Dolyahaven shop, but collecting gold in literal end-game will have no other effect.

Mushrooms: They are useful in good cooking recipes, so a hero might need to farm them. The only monsters that drop mushrooms are the prison Thief (rarely, even with an upgraded Lucky Charm equipped) and the Living Moss in the sewers, but both appear rather randomly. Practically, only piranhas in the Caves challenge floor can be farmed for mushrooms, but with limited results even with an upgraded Lucky Charm equipped. Also, all the floors with lots of high grass (Forest, Prison, Power Trial) can give good drops of mushrooms with +10 Greaves of Nature equipped.

Magic Stones (Norn stones renamed): Their drops from mobs are limited to 6 but are easier to gather in comparison to Sprouted, as they can be farmed from Golems in the Dwarven Metropolis. The can also be bought in the Dolyahaven shops.

Phase Pitchers: Unlike Sprouted, Phase Pitchers are a very rare resource is SPS-PD, as the Book of Heavens / Widom Trial has become unrepeatable (and even in that one visit, phase pitchers spawn very rarely), so there is no way to obtain them through farming. Nevertheless the hero can buy them from the northwest shop in Dolya Town, which restocks in each visit or after a sleep in the hotel room.

Scrolls in general: If the hero wants to upgrade the Unstable Spellbook, he/she will need many scrolls to add XP to the artifact. Gnoll Shamans in prison, caves and metropolis, Broken Robots in caves and metropolis, and Succubi in demon halls, all drop scrolls, especially when an upgraded Lucky Charm is equipped. Also, like Sprouted, the hero can leave a Robot Printer intact in the DM-300 battle, and after he/she has beaten DM-300, he/she can equip the Lucky Charm and farm scrolls of Recharging from the Broken Robots that will constantly spawn from the Robot Printer.

Scrolls of Upgrade and Magical Infusion: Upgrading the Lucky Charm to +15 will help very much with the Wraith drops of these scrolls but will not guarantee them and the Lucky Charm cannot get upgraded above +15. The grave stone that spawns in the southeast of Dolya Town in late levels and reappears in each visit, even when the hero had just destroyed it in the previous visit, and also after a sleep in the Dolya Town hotel room, is currently the only location to farm SoUs and SoMIs in SPS-PD, nevertheless it is very limited due to 500 charges of the Dolya Slate needed for each new visit. The hero also buy these scrolls from the west shop in Dolya Town, which restocks in each visit or after a sleep in the hotel room.

Seeds and Nuts: The only regular enemy that drops seeds is the Dust Elemental in the Sewers. Also, as stated right before, the Plant ability of the Dew Vial, due to costing 15 dew, is efficient in farming only with an upgraded Ring of Haste and Greaves of Nature both equipped or with +10 Greaves of Nature in a 3X3 room. Besides that, the Forest, Prison and the Power Trial special floors are filled with high grass, like Sprouted, with all being repeatable, and especially with Greaves of Nature they can drop many seeds and nuts. Lastly, scrolls of Regrowth are not unique items anymore, but rare, and are sold in the Dolyahaven shops, so they can be repeatedly used to fill a big floor with high grass (with the Vault floor having been removed, the Dolyahaven village is the best candidate as it is one of the biggest game floors and with no aggressive enemies at all).

Loot in general: Item generation has been heavily nerfed in the Wisdom Trial/Book of the Heavens (which is not repeatable anymore) and there is also no way to fall in the Thief King's basement anymore, so the hero will have to be content with what he he/she had managed to find in the regular dungeon. Nevertheless in those floors an upgraded Lucky Charm has a very positive effect in item generation in general and spawning of Scroll of Magical Infusion and Potions of Might in particular.

When Grinding is not needed and also is not possible

Among the most famous (or infamous) characteristics of Sprouted Pixel Dungeon is its grindiness: in order to survive the Dolyahaven Mines and especially to win the final Otiluke and Zot Battles, the hero must do at least some of the following: a) Grind Red Wraiths until they drop a Ring of Wealth b) Reinforce and Upgrade the ring to +28 and grind Grave Wraiths for Scrolls of Magical Infusion, c) Grind the Book of Heavens floor for an equal number of Phase Pitchers to the Scrolls of Magic Infusion that he/she has already collected, d) Drop all the scrolls one by one to phase pitcher wells of transmutation, e) Farm for all or most of the 15 Upgrade Eaters available in the game, f) Upgrade 15 items to +10, g) Throw these 15 items to the Upgrade Eaters and collect the 15 Violet Upgrade Goos, h) Drop all the new Scrolls of Upgrade and Violet Upgrade Goos to his/her Tier 6 weapon (for which the Norn Stones he/she has also grinded in the Dolyahaven Mines) and possibly to some other equipment. All this procedure takes days, literally.

From all these grindings, none is really needed in SPS-PD. The game provides the hero with approximately 140 to 170 Scrolls of Upgrade and Magical Infusion if he//she has upgraded his/her Lucky Charm to +15 before robbing the game graves and has had a little success in the Sokoban puzzles and he/she can also by some more from the Dolyahaven shop, which restocks in every visit. There are no Dolyahaven Mines any more, and no enemy in general has high resistance to highly upgraded Tier 5 weapons, so there is no need of transmuting the Scrolls of Magical Infusion to Scrolls of Upgrade, in order for them to be able to upgrade a Tier 6 weapon (these weapons also have a rather worse rate of upgrading compared to the T5 and even some of the T4 weapons). He/she will just reinforce his/her weapon of choice, drop most of the Scrolls of Upgrade and Magical Infusion on it (some builds would benefit also from upgraded rings, and the Battlemage will need a small collection of rather upgraded wands or one very highly upgraded, but you get the spirit) and then proceed to the Shadow Yog and the two Final Battles without any real problem. But even if a player wants to be faithful to the Sprouted original and grind Phae Pitchers, he will not be able to: the Book of Heavens / Wisdom Trial doesn't allow falling anymore and does not spawn Phase Pitchers as loot.

Misc.

Cursed armors, weapons and rings can have negative levels (for example a cursed Cloth Armor can be –2), but not cursed wands. Scrolls of Remove Curse and any form of upgrading reverses the negative stat to positive (e.g. from -2 to +2).
In Rooms with Bookshelves that don’t contain scrolls, there are instead hidden bone piles behind the bookshelves, that contain items and spawn Red Wraiths, so the hero has to burn the bookshelves to get to them, like YAPD. If there is a room like that in a floor, a Potion of Liquid Flame will spawn.
Pit Rooms have two differences from all other PD mods: a) Their walls can be destroyed by bombs or the shovel, so the hero doesn’t have to jump into pits any more, if he/she has either of these two items available b) they don’t have a locked entrance, but an “air wall” which cannot be unlocked or destroyed by any means.
Traps new and changed: Fire traps when activated cause a fire cloud like those in Shattered and not a single tile explosion like those in Sprouted. Storm traps create a cloud of paralytic gas and lightning. Warping traps teleport the hero to a previous dungeon floor without unidentifying their floor like they used to do in Shattered. There are also Alarm, Blazing, Chilling (don't shatter potions), Confusion, Cursing, Disarming, Disintegration, Explosive, Flashing, Frost (don't shatter potions), Gripping, Guardian, Lightning, Ooze, Paralytic gas, Pitfall, Poison, Rockfall, Shock, Spear, Summoning, Teleportation, Toxic gas, Venom and Weakening traps in the game, all borrowed from Shattered or Sprouted and almost exactly the same in function. Distortion and Grim traps exist also in the SPS-PD code but are extremely rare and sometimes happily bugged, as they don’t seem to work at all. Trap tiles in general can’t be destroyed by bombs.
Few monsters’ special abilities (like the Shielded Brute’s rage), have a “No text found” message displayed instead of a relevant message by the game. Thus, when the hero sees a “No text found” message during a fight, he/she should expect a special attack from the enemy.
Walls in general can be destroyed by bombs or the Shovel. The only walls that the shovel and bombs can't destroy are a) special colored walls (dark gold veins etc.) and b) the pit room air walls.
Wells: The Well of Health now fills the whole Dew Vial, even if it is upgraded to the capacity of 350. The Well of Transmutation, like the Phase Pitcher plant, no longer necessarily drops the same tier weapon, and due to the artifacts not being unique drops anymore, the well can rarely drop back the same artifact. Lastly, the Well of Awareness, unlike the Scrolls of Magic Mapping and Blue berry, does show hidden doors and traps and also loot, keys and the exit.
Without the "More QuickSlot" option selected, there are two quickslots at the bottom of the screen and one at the right side, under the menu button. With "More QuickSlot" Selected, one is added at the bottom of the screen and two are added below the one next to the menu button.

Bugs

Special Surprise Pixel Dungeon is still in development, so the existence of bugs is rather expected and to a major degree forgiven. The following list doesn’t intend to shame the developer or the mod, but only to compile a list that will be useful for the new player, who might already be struggling with the huge amount of changes and novelties in SPS-PD that do work.

Major bug

The only major bug currently in SPS-PD is when using the shovel in the outer walls of a dungeon floor, that have no wall afterwards but only void space. If the hero destroys that wall and he/she or a pet steps on the "chasm" that is opened, the game will crash and the save file will be possibly corrupted. Don't do it.

Minor bugs

Dolya Stale (Sprouted's Sokoban Journal) can’t be used, if the hero is stepping on a ladder tile.
Ethereal Chains sometimes can't get upgraded or their upgrading stoprs midways. The Dried Rose has the same problem as the hero stops finding rose petals at some point before the rose gets +10, even if he/she had found the Dried Rose in the first dungeon floors.
Pets in the BossRush Challenge might not be able to eat and heal, which is a serious problem because they are not immune to Demon blood. Also if the Sad Ghost is summoned along with a pet, it can vanish without ar reason, or very rarely make the game crash and the save file corrupted.
Shadow Dragon when is ready to get hatched, nothing is heard from inside the Soul Mob.