Volatiles perks, artifacts and the death loop

Volatiles’ progression story is told in three places: a perks panel, an artifacts panel, and a tank full of water. This page collects what the announcement material actually shows about how a run grows and what death gives back — everything checked against the official screenshots and store description as of October 11, 2026.

What are perks?

The tile-selection screenshot shows a PERKS column on the right side of the screen, and separately, a “LEVEL UP” marker floating in the arena during combat. Read together, the in-run growth loop is the genre standard: fight, level up, choose a perk, repeat. The perk system is one of the two reward axes you build a run’s power curve on.

What is not visible yet: the perk pool size, whether upgrades are points-based or card-choice-based, and whether perks are tied to specific weapons. Expect the classic roguelike three-choice-screen once gameplay footage arrives; do not treat that as confirmed.

What are artifacts?

Beside PERKS, the same screenshot shows an ARTIFACTS column, currently locked (door-like icons). In the roguelike vocabulary, two readings dominate:

1. In-run pickups — powerful items you assemble during a run, the archetype being Binding of Isaac’s item synergies. The locked icons would then be slots you fill as you find artifacts.
2. Meta unlocks — permanent equipment kept between runs, unlocked via the lab. The locked/framed presentation and the “lab is studying you” framing support this reading too.

Most likely it is in-run items seeded by meta unlocks — the layered pattern (Hades’ boons, Dead Cells’ blueprints) — but that synthesis is inference, clearly labelled as such.

How does the death loop work?

This part is confirmed, because the store description says it outright: “when you fail… wake up in the cold, water-filled tank with new knowledge that might save your life next time.”

So the meta loop is:

• You die in the nightmare → cut to the lab tank.
• You wake with “new knowledge” — the framing for meta progression. In genre terms: anything unlocked or improved here persists.
• You go deeper next time — “each run sends you deeper into a nightmare experiment”, implying progression is also measured as depth reached, not just power gained.

The narrative engine under all of this: “strangers in a covert lab are watching closely. And whatever is growing in your mind is learning how to take control.” At minimum that is flavor text; at most it hints the game adapts to your habits — an “enemy learning” system is a known roguelike device, and the wording is suspiciously specific. Treat the adaptation theory as a theory until the game ships. See everything we know for the sourced facts.

What grows during a run versus between runs?

Assembling the visible pieces into a working model (labelled as model, not fact):

Layer	Grows during a run	Persists after death
Weapons	Yes — slots show Lv0 → Lv2 within screenshots	Unclear
Character	“LEVEL UP” appears in-run	Unclear
Perks	Panel exists in-run	Likely partially, via “knowledge”
Artifacts	Panel exists, locked slots	Likely partially, via “knowledge”
Arena/tiles	Tile choices shape each run’s land	New tile types likely unlocked
Objective progress	Capsule count runs (7/9, 8/9)	Possibly — see combat breakdown

The double question marks are the honest state of things. The announcement revealed a concept, not a systems spreadsheet.

What should you watch to resolve these questions?

A gameplay trailer with commentary, a demo, or preview coverage from outlets like Gematsu — any of these answers the perk/artifact/meta questions in five minutes. Our release date tracker logs when new official material lands, and everything we know is where each confirmed answer gets recorded.