Every Day We Fight time loop guide: Progression and Reset Rules
The Every Day We Fight time loop resets your squad after death while preserving character skills, discovered equipment in the hideout item pool, and advancing the campaign timeline each time you defeat key Rifter leaders across the wartorn city.
The Every Day We Fight time loop resets your squad after death while preserving character skills, discovered equipment in the hideout item pool, and advancing the campaign timeline each time you defeat key Rifter leaders across the wartorn city.
How Timeline Resets and Death Work
The story begins when the alien Rifters establish a dome over the city and freeze the population in place to harvest Elixium. Three survivors—Dylan, Leopold, and Vivian—form a resistance squad known as the Thorns. Whenever the squad suffers defeat in combat, the timeline snaps backward rather than resulting in a standard game over screen.
Upon resetting, the Thorns awaken at an earlier point in the mission timeline. The city changes slightly across parallel loops. Vehicle placements shift, enemy patrol routes differ, and environmental pathways open or close. Obstacles previously cleared or barricades breached may appear intact again, forcing you to adjust your approach through the streets.
Retained Upgrades versus Lost Field Gear
When a loop resets after a squad wipe, your active weapons and consumables do not remain on your characters. Instead, the squad wakes up with basic sidearms such as pistols and must re-equip gear from safe locations or crates.
Skill progression remains permanent. Experience earned by performing actions and defeating Rifters stays with each fighter, keeping their assigned skill points and branch upgrades across deaths. For detailed builds, consult the skills guide.
Items and weapon modifications discovered in the field expand your future options. Once you uncover weapons and attachments in the districts, those items enter the randomized starting pool in the Sewer Hideout. In Act 2 and Act 3, additional loot spawners appear inside the hideout, drawing from previously locked item pools so each subsequent attempt begins with better options.
Shifting Checkpoints by Eliminating Rifter Leaders
Campaign progression relies on defeating alien commanders rather than simply reaching map exits. Rifter leaders, including the boss Carg encountered near the Faber Labs facility, serve as primary timeline anchors.
Each time a Rifter leader is eliminated, the loop's starting point advances. Following the first defeat of Carg, the Thorns no longer wake up on the shoreline; they awaken on the bridge closer to the lab facility under bright daylight. Defeating commanders shortens travel distances across the city and brings the team closer to rescuing Dr. Selena Faber. Review the Rifter leaders guide for boss tactics.
Loop Structure Across Campaign Modes
Campaign presets and settings modify how severely mission failure impacts your time loop run. The table below outlines how each difficulty setting changes the campaign experience:
| Campaign Mode | Reset and Combat Impact | Strategic Trade-Off |
|---|---|---|
| Story to Medium | Standard damage values with regular timeline rollbacks | Allows riskier exploration without sudden squad wipes |
| Nightmare Mode | High enemy health, heavier armor, and higher damage multipliers | Demands strict cover discipline because minor errors end runs quickly |
| Iron Man mode | Permanent failure settings that restrict save reloading | Eliminates test runs, requiring calculated turn management |
| Forever War mode | Continuous combat encounters and heightened enemy deployments | Focuses purely on battle survival over standard story progression |
Preventing Premature Resets During Tactical Combat
Managing tactical resources reduces the frequency of unintended loop resets. In turn-based skirmishes, up to 5 unspent action points carry over to the subsequent turn, providing resources for emergency repositioning or attacks.
Before engaging enemies, switch to stealth and split squad members to set up flanking lines. Entering a combat zone without detection allows your units to strike first. If enemies initiate combat, immediate reflex actions help protect the team. The Scramble ability enables fighters to dodge incoming grenades, while reactive abilities such as Dylan's Proximity Punch interrupt rushing hostiles. Environmental objects like vehicle gas tanks can be detonated to destroy Rifter groups and prevent overwhelming counterattacks.