Combat partners are AI-controlled allies you can call into the field in Duet Night Abyss. They act autonomously while you focus on your active character, adding extra damage, crowd control, and team effects. Used well, they smooth out difficult encounters and speed up repetitive runs.
Set up combat partners (Tactical Backpack)
Before you can summon anyone, configure your loadout:
- Open your Tactical Backpack and equip the Sigils for the partners you want to bring.
- Assign gear to each partner. They can carry one weapon and its upgrades (such as Demon Wedges) — choose carefully.
- Partners are fully AI-driven in combat; you do not directly control their movement or attacks.
Summon in missions
During a mission or while exploring, you can deploy partners on demand:
- Open the Tactical Backpack and select the Sigil/token for the partner you want to call.
- They will appear and begin acting immediately, moving and attacking on their own.
- You can enable auto-deploy if you prefer them to join without manual input.
Focus your attention on positioning, weapon swapping, and dodging; partners keep pressure on enemies and create openings without additional micromanagement.
Summon limits by mode
| Mode | How many combat partners you can summon |
|---|---|
| Solo missions and world exploration | Up to 2 |
| Online co-op (2 players) | 1 per player |
| Online co-op (3 players) | None |
Loadout choices that actually matter
Two systems drive how partners contribute: element and physical attack type. Elements govern bonus effects on skills and ultimates, while physical type influences how hits interact with enemy defenses and posture.
- Elements: Characters belong to Hydro, Anemo, Electro, Pyro, Lumino, or Umbro. Elements can apply bonus effects; for example, Umbro can deal periodic Umbro damage and slow an enemy’s stance recovery.
- Physical attack types: Slash, Spike, or Smash. These affect shields, HP, and stance differently:
| Physical type | Bonus effect |
|---|---|
| Slash | Deals more damage to the target’s shield. |
| Spike | Deals more damage to the target’s HP. |
| Smash | Weakens the target’s stance more effectively. |
Practical pairing ideas:
- Boss control: Bring a Smash-focused partner to drain stance quickly, then capitalize with your burst while the boss is stunned.
- Shield-heavy fights: A Slash weapon on your partner chips barriers while you conserve your own resources.
- Element synergies: Many partners provide passive attack boosts or periodic damage tied to their element, amplifying teams built around a shared element.
Where partners shine (and when to skip them)
- Efficient farming: On repeatable, low-risk content, partners clear waves reliably. Auto-deploy lets you focus on routing and objectives.
- Maps with predictable lanes: When enemies come in waves or from fixed spawns, AI pathing performs consistently.
- Tight co-op rules: In 2-player co-op, you’re limited to one partner each; in 3-player missions, partners are unavailable, so plan around that.
Stance, shields, and why partners help
Bosses often have a visible stance meter beneath their HP. Depleting it staggers them and opens a powerful punish window. A partner equipped with Smash-type weapons or skills that slow stance recovery can accelerate this cycle. Likewise, a Slash-oriented partner can strip shields so your main hits land on HP sooner.
This division of labor — your character managing space, dodges, and bursts while an AI ally chips shields or pushes bosses toward a stun — is where partners produce the most value per summon.
Geniemon and Demon Wedges
- Geniemon: Separate companion summons with active and passive effects. They can deal damage, buff allies, or restore sanity alongside your partners.
- Demon Wedges: Weapon upgrades that increase damage or utility. Outfitting a partner’s single weapon with the right Wedges meaningfully raises their output.
Fast answers
- Can you control partners directly? No — they move and attack automatically.
- Where do you equip them? In the Tactical Backpack via their Sigils.
- How many can you bring? Up to two in solo; one per player in 2-player co-op; none in 3-player co-op.
- Do they need gear? Yes. Each partner uses one weapon; equip upgrades like Demon Wedges to boost performance.
- Can they auto-deploy? Yes, if you enable it.
Treat combat partners as the steady second thread in your combat rhythm. Let them grind shields, chip stance, and apply element effects while you manage movement, swaps, and burst timing — the result is cleaner clears with less risk.
