Queen's Domain stamina management has one rule at its centre: the yellow bar under your Life Points is the Power Meter, it never grows over the course of the game, and your damage is multiplied by whatever is left in it. A hit at a full bar does full damage. A hit at an empty bar does almost nothing. Everything else — when to swing, when to back off, which enemy to kite — follows from that.
Queen's Domain stamina management in one line
Your HUD carries a red Life Points bar and, directly under it, a yellow Power Meter. That yellow bar is the game's stamina. It does not increase when you level, when you eat food, or when you find accessories. It stays the same size for the entire run, which means every fight is a question of how you spend a fixed budget rather than whether you can grind it back bigger.
The damage formula reads the meter at the moment of impact, so the same swing deals wildly different numbers depending on what is left. That is also why a weapon's raw damage stat matters less than people expect: a heavy weapon hit on an empty bar can land worse than a light weapon hit on a full one.
One swing empties it, so spam is punished
A single attack empties the whole bar. Hitting twice in a row without waiting means the second hit lands on an empty meter and does almost nothing, while you stand there unable to move out of the enemy's counterattack. This is the reason mashing is punished in this game and why experienced players land one swing at a time.
Running drains the meter as well, and so does Wind Dash. If you are kiting by sprinting in circles, you are spending the same resource you need for damage.
The loop: refill, land one hit, back off
The standard rhythm is simple and worth learning before anything else in the game.
- Let the meter refill.
- Land one swing.
- Back off and let it refill again.
Because the meter and the charge feed the same damage calculation, you can start charging an attack while the meter is still recovering — a partly drained bar still buys you a usable hit. If you want to turn one clean hit into a big one, the charge attack guide has the timing.
Food that raises Attack Speed makes the meter refill faster, which is a quieter stat than it looks. It is one of the reasons collecting food as you go beats saving it all for the end.
What drains the meter besides attacks
Three things pull on the same bar, and it helps to know which is which.
- Attacks — a single swing empties it completely.
- Running and Wind Dash — sprinting and air dashes both cost Power Meter, so a dash-heavy route is also a fight you cannot afford.
- Charged attacks — you cannot run, dash or throw while a charge is held, so the meter is free but your mobility is not.
The Dagger Belt is the exception. Throwing a dagger does not cost your melee meter, which is exactly why throwing is the cheapest way to keep dealing damage while the Power Meter refills. The throwing weapons guide covers what to throw and when.
Weakness beats raw numbers
Where the meter decides how much damage you deal, damage type decides whether that damage lands at all. Skeletons are weak to blunt impact damage and resist swords. Plant and bug enemies are weak to swords. Hitting an enemy in the moment before it swings cancels its attack outright, and an impact-type hit staggers skeletons, so the right weapon can turn a losing exchange into a free counter.
Kiting works well against the enemies with poor tracking — rats and mosquitoes can be circled indefinitely — while the spear's special backstep buys you distance when you genuinely cannot dodge. The damage type and speed rules are set out in the weapons guide.