The game has two layers of intervention. Wisp devices change the roads and the entrance; companion skills act on the people. Knowing which layer a problem belongs to saves both AP and tokens.
Two layers, and they are not interchangeable
Wisp devices are placed on the map and cost wisps, with the schedule strip showing when each returns. Companion skills are character actions: they belong to Sara, Butter, Bami or May and do something no device does — end a fight, earn reputation in town, or drop a facility onto the road for a single turn.
The practical rule from the recorded play is that a device manages distance, and a skill manages an incident.
Who has what
| Character or companion | Skill | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Bami | Busker | Performs in town: raises reputation, earns income, and may attract skilled adventurers |
| May | Cleanup | Ends a fight instantly by knocking the adventurers out of action |
| Butter | Ambush | Catches passing adventurers off guard |
| Sara | Portable facilities | Installs roadside facilities that last a single turn |
The last two arrived with the chapter 5 and 6 update, which also introduced the heatwave. That timing is not a coincidence: portable facilities are a way to solve a single crowded turn, and an ambush is a way to take value from a traveller you were never going to bed.
Action points, and why an upgrade can raise them
Sara, Butter and Bami each spend action points. The 27 October 2026 hotfix contains two details that together explain a common confusion:
- When a facility upgrade increases the AP cost of a character token, the upgrade window now says so before you buy.
- In chapter 11, restoring AP for Sara, Butter and Bami also refreshes the skill card interface.
The first means AP cost is not fixed. A cheap-looking upgrade can quietly make every future use of a character more expensive, which is why the game added the warning. The second confirms the three characters share the same AP presentation, even though their skills differ.
Using a skill without wasting it
Cleanup is the clearest example. It ends a fight, so its value is highest when a fight is already inevitable and when the side you want to win is the side that needs its suspicion lowered. Firing it early to clear a nuisance spends the same resource for a smaller return.
Busker is the opposite kind of tool: it does not resolve anything, it adds. Its value appears when the inn has room for new guests, because part of the payoff is attracting more of them. Running a performance on a night when every bed is full leaves half the benefit on the table.
What is not published
The unlock chapters for each skill, any upgrade path for a skill, and the cooldowns are not in the material checked here. The official February 2026 update announces the skills; it does not publish their progression. If a guide hands you a skill tree, check whether it also shows the screen it came from.