Conditioning is the thought system in Zero Parades: For Dead Spies: you pick up Thoughts from conversations and events, place them in slots on the Conditioning screen, and each one you condition raises the maximum of certain skills and adds a perk, in exchange for a rule Hershel must not break. Conditioning a thought is free, but each new slot costs a skill point, and breaking a thought’s rule, a violation, switches its bonuses off for a while and gives you a penalty.
ZA/UM calls it “a core gameplay mechanic” that “allows you to recall your operant training to reshape and influence Hershel’s thoughts and skills,” in its post on the Chinese demo. If you played Disco Elysium, it is the closest thing to the Thought Cabinet, with one big difference: here every thought comes with a rule. Below is how each part works.
How You Unlock Thoughts
Thoughts appear on the Conditioning screen as you play. They come from specific conversations, checks and events as you explore Portofiro and work through your tasks.
You do not have to use a thought just because you found it. It sits on the screen until you condition it. The Conditioning achievement (“Internalise a thought.”) is held by 62.1% of Steam players as of November 2, 2026, so many players miss the system entirely early on.
Slots, Skill Points and Conditioning
The Conditioning screen shows your thought slots as circles around a TV. What each step costs:
| Action | Cost |
|---|---|
| Add a new empty slot | 1 skill point |
| Condition (reinforce) a thought into a slot | Free |
| Suppress a reinforced thought | Free |
You earn a skill point every 100 XP, and you can spend it on a skill or on a new Conditioning slot.
Two things trip up new players:
- You cannot condition during dialogue. Leave the conversation first, the same as raising a skill.
- A thought needs an empty slot. If every slot is full, spend a skill point on a new one or suppress a thought to make room.
What a Conditioned Thought Does
A reinforced thought usually does two things:
- Raises skill potential. Each skill has a maximum it can be raised to, and most thoughts lift one or two skills’ potential by 1 or 2. Once a skill reaches its cap, you cannot raise it further until a conditioned thought lifts that cap.
- Adds a perk. The in-game thought descriptions list perks such as a bonus to every red check, more rubbish to raid, faster movement, cheaper exertion on one faculty, or new dialogue topics.
Pushing a skill all the way to its maximum potential unlocks Top Operant (“Raise a skill to its maximum potential (excludes modifiers).”), held by only 5.9% of Steam players. Your starting build sets where each skill’s potential begins, and our best starting skills guide explains those starting numbers.
Violations and Suppressing Thoughts
Every thought has a rule. Break it and you commit a violation: you temporarily lose the thought’s reinforced effects and pick up a Disadvantage on one faculty (Action, Relation or Intellect). The in-game thought descriptions list rules such as:
- Working side jobs while conditioning a money thought.
- Loading a save from the pause menu while conditioning a thought that rewards red checks.
- Failing red checks, getting shot, or choosing a dialogue style the thought disapproves of.
Some rules key off the labels on dialogue options. The game tracks Philosophical, Hardcore, Repentful and Conspiratorial choices, each with its own achievement for leaning into it, and some thoughts punish one of those styles while rewarding another.
When you know you are about to break a rule, suppress the thought first. Suppressing switches its effects off without a violation, and you can condition it again afterward. The key to the system is getting comfortable suppressing thoughts by hand, so you can swap them around or dodge a violation. Remember that the meters still apply: if Fatigue, Anxiety or Delirium fills, you lose a skill point, as our guide to whether Zero Parades has a time limit explains.
How Many Thoughts You Can Have
You can hold as many thoughts as you find, but only conditioned thoughts do anything, and each new slot costs a skill point. With a skill point every 100 XP, adding slots competes with raising skills, so condition a handful that suit your build and swap the rest in when you need them.
Tips for Using Conditioning Well
- Condition a thought before a big check, not after. Raising potential only helps if you can then spend a point.
- Use money thoughts in bursts. Condition a money thought while you scavenge, and suppress it before you take a side job. Our guide on how to get money covers the rest.
- Check the rule before you condition. A thought that punishes loading saves is a bad idea before a risky choice.
Every guide is on our Zero Parades hub, and our list of who you can recruit covers the squad you are building toward.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Conditioning in Zero Parades? The game’s thought system. You condition Thoughts into slots to raise skill caps and gain perks, and each one has a rule you must not break.
Does conditioning a thought cost a skill point? No. Conditioning is free, but each new slot costs a skill point.
How many thoughts can you have in Zero Parades? As many as you find, but only the ones in your Conditioning slots do anything, and each new slot costs a skill point.
What happens when you violate a thought? You temporarily lose its reinforced effects and gain a faculty Disadvantage.
Is Conditioning the same as Disco Elysium’s Thought Cabinet? It is similar: you collect thoughts and slot them for bonuses. The big difference is that every thought in Zero Parades comes with a rule, and breaking it costs you.