Official cover for the “Dichotomy Beta Test Gameplay Showcase — The Raven and the Rose”, © Elementa Games. Source: the official media gallery.
Silver Palace’s combat is a loop you can draw in one line: read the tell → parry or dodge → break the Stun gauge → Execution → faster energy → Tactical Assault swap → repeat. The official Combat Edition article and beta guides describe the same chain, so this page leads with the color legend, then walks the loop. Everything mechanical here is officially confirmed in the official Combat Edition article; pacing and feel notes are CBT2-observed.
The color legend
| Telegraph | Response | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow circle | Tap parry just before impact | Cuts or avoids damage, counters, and chunks the enemy’s Stun gauge |
| Red circle | Dodge — it cannot be parried | A Perfect Dodge can slow time and open a pursuit window |
| Blue circle | Interrupt with a heavy or charged skill | Breaks the wind-up and staggers the enemy briefly |
Two rules fall out of that table. First, parry yellow attacks instead of burning dodges: dodging costs stamina, and parries are what feed Executions. Second, red is not a punishment — a Perfect Dodge is an offense, not a retreat.
Parry when the yellow circle appears, just before the hit lands. Official still from the Combat Edition article, © Elementa Games.
The loop, step by step
- Read the tell. Every dangerous enemy action announces itself with a colored circle. This is the whole skill floor of the game: name the color, do the response.
- Break the Stun gauge. Parries and repeated hits chunk the gauge under the enemy’s health bar.
- Execution. A Stunned enemy can be Executed. The Execution buffs the party and accelerates Reactor Energy gain.
Perform an Execution once the enemy is Stunned. Official still from the Combat Edition article, © Elementa Games.
- Tactical Assault. Reactor Energy is spent by swapping in a teammate for a Tactical Assault — the burst entry that keeps damage rolling while your on-field character resets.
- Repeat, faster. Each Execution makes the next cycle quicker, which is why good fights accelerate.
Skills, swaps, and Synchronised Combat
- Skills have no cooldowns. They spend a resource unique to each character, so rotation planning is about that resource, not a cooldown bar.
- Swapping mid-animation is legal. Swap during a Charged Attack or Charged Skill and the outgoing character finishes the animation — official materials call this Synchronised Combat.
Swap during a Charged Attack or Charged Skill to keep both characters in the action. Official still from the Combat Edition article, © Elementa Games.
- Teams fill Resonance. Characters fill a Resonance meter in combat and trigger an effect based on their Reactor Attribute — worth knowing before you pick a fourth slot.
Casual Mode
If the telegraphs come too fast, Casual Mode adds time dilation on incoming attacks and a prominent hit prompt. Repeated Basic Attacks also chain into combos with hit prompts. It is a difficulty option, not a separate mode — switch it off when the colors are second nature.
Casual Mode adds time dilation and an incoming-hit prompt. Official still from the Combat Edition article, © Elementa Games.
Practice route
- Play the opening story fights in Casual Mode until the three colors are automatic.
- Clear each new character’s Character Tutorial once — they teach individual kit rhythms cheaply.
- Take one Hilbert’s Hotel run per week and try to reach the first Execution without taking a red-circle hit.
Last verified November 14, 2026, against the official Combat Edition article and Dichotomy beta coverage. Launch-client rebalances land in News first.