In this Lords of the Fallen Ultimate Beginners Guide, we’ll be walking you through many mechanics that you might not be aware of and well as provide some helpful tips to get you started. These include what Attributes you should prioritize, how to respec your character, how to upgrade your equipment early on, how to tell if enemies are resistant or weak to your damage type, and what Vestige Seeds are and how to get more of them. If you’re new to Lords of the Fallen, and need a bit of help, then this Lords of the Fallen Beginners Guide is for you!
Lords of the Fallen Ultimate Beginners Guide
Lords of the Fallen can be overwhelming when you first begin. Not only is the game massive, but you are thrown a ton of tutorial information right away, and not all of it is retained by the player due to the quantity. Then you’re essentially left to your own devices, trying to figure it all out on your own. Not to worry though, because we have a lot of helpful information for you, and there is an absolute ton of information on the Official Wiki as well. Let’s start with Attributes first, since this is probably one of the first things you’ll be wondering. Note that if you need help choosing a starting Class, we have a whole separate guide covering that, so I suggest you check that out!
- Attributes – Where to spend your points early on
- How to Respec – Is it unlimited?
- Vigor – How do I store it for later?
- Posture – What is it? And why is it important?
- Damage – How can I tell if enemies are weak or resistant to may damage type?
- Healing – How do I get more healing items?
- How to Upgrade your equipment – and what is scaling?
- Magic – How do I get more spells?
- Vestige Seeds – What do they do? And how do I get more?
- Boss Weapons – How do I get them?
- NPCs – How do their quests work? How often should I talk to them?
- Shrines – What are they? And how do I use them?
Attributes – What do I Improve First?
Lords of the Fallen is a tough game, and one of the things you will notice immediately upon playing is that enemies hit extremely hard, and it’s easy to die in just a couple of hits. For this reason, I highly recommend you improve Vitality early on until you have enough Health that you are not dying as quickly.
Sanguinarix, the game’s healing item, heals you for a percentage of your max Health, not a fixed amount of healing. This makes it so increasing your max Health doesn’t come with the drawback of having a high max Health, but not healing much of it when you use a Sanguinarix.
Additionally, the damage you will gain by pumping Strength or Agility early on is negligible due to the poor scaling of early game Weapons, and I recommend only putting enough points into these to meet weapon (or Shield) requirements and then focusing on Vitality. The same is true for Inferno and Radiance as well, except in this case you’ll want to meet the requirements for any spells you want to use, and then focus Vitality for a bit.
How do I Respec in Lords of the Fallen?
After placing a few Attribute Points in Lords of the Fallen, you might be wondering if you can respec your character, and if so how do you do it? And how often can you do it? So let’s dive into that a bit.
Players can respec at Pieta, located in Skyrest Bridge, using the “Reset Build” option. To do this you will need the Rebirth Chrysalis item, and you can purchase one of these from Molhu (also located in Skyrest Bridge), after progressing the game a little ways.
You will find two others as you explore Lords of the Fallen, much further into the game. After acquiring them you will be able to exchange for as many of these items as you wish, at the Shrine of the Putrid Mother in Skyrest Bridge. This makes respeccing only viable for players very far into the game, and so you should plan accordingly.
How to Bank Your Vigor for Later in Lords of the Fallen
Typically, Souls-like games don’t have an option to allow you to store your currency so that you don’t drop it when you die, but Lords of the Fallen has a mechanic that allows you to do this. This can very much help new players that are struggling to keep their Vigor, and those that don’t yet know how they wish to spend it.
To do this you need to seek out Molhu, located in the Umbral Realm version of Skyrest Bridge, and purchase Vigor Skulls from him. These are consumable items that can be consumed to give you Vigor, and these work similarly to the Coin Purse of Sekiro. Only here they cost much more Vigor to purchase then you get back by consuming them (double). So you have to decide if it’s worth doing or not for you, and whether you don’t mind losing some Vigor to preserve essentially half for later.
Posture – What is it? And why is it Important?
Posture is a stagger mechanic that allows players to do what are called Grievous Strikes on enemies once their Posture has been depleted. You can see the Posture of an enemy by looking at the ring around the lock on, and you’ll notice that the more you hit and parry them, the more of the ring vanishes.
Once this ring is completely gone you can either Parry, Kick or Charged Heavy Attack them to knock them down and perform a Grievous Strike by pressing Light Attack near them. This does substantial damage, and is a great way to deal with difficult-to-kill enemies. You can also often hit them while they are getting up from the Grievous Strike, allowing for even more free damage.
Enemy Weakness and Damage
In many Souls-like games you are often guessing what Bosses and Enemies are weak to via extensive trial and error (unless you use the Wiki, which most of us do). However, in Lords of the Fallen you can tell relatively quickly how effective your damage type is:
- Grey – Enemy is resistant to damage of this type of damage
- White – Enemy is neither resistant nor weak to this type of damage
- Red – Enemy is weak to this type of damage
Using these colors you can modify which weapons and spells you use when facing certain enemy types and Bosses, allowing you to aim for those Red numbers that will make your life a lot easier.
And one of the ways you can do this is via Weapon buff consumables, that add certain damage types for a limited time. For example, using Minor Fire Salts to add Fire Damage to your weapon.
Conversely, you can use items to prevent damage as well, if you recognize an enemy is using Fire or Holy Damage, you can use items like Holy or Fire Ward to reduce the damage you take. This can also help make tough bosses much easier for you.
How Do I Get More Healing Items – Sanguinarix & Briostone
One of the issues most new players will be facing is that they won’t have as many healing items as they would like. However, you can get more of these, though it does take some time.
To gain more uses of your Sanguinarix, and to improve its efficacy, you must find Saintly Quintessence and give them to Pieta in Skyrest Bridge. She will require more and more of these items to further upgrade your Sanguinarix, so you will need to find a lot of them.
You can find Saintly Quintessence in the Umbral Realm, by Soulflaying Umbral Tumors that hang from walls. These are very easy to miss if you don’t Umbral often, and are typically guarded by some dangerous Umbral enemies. So make sure to use your lamp often to no only see if it’s worth swapping to the Umbral Realm, but also to see what enemies lie in store for you there.
Optionally, you can also use the Briostone Consumable item that will heal you for a bit of Health over time. These can help push you over the edge in certain Boss fights or stretches of the game you’re having trouble with. You can purchase these from Stomund in Skyrest Bridge if you need more.
How Do I Upgrade My Equipment – Where is the Blacksmith?
Much like typical Souls-like games you will require the help of a Blacksmith in order to upgrade your equipment. You will also need upgrade materials known as Deralium, that can be found throughout the game, drop from enemies, and some can be purchased from merchants as well.
To unlock the Blacksmith you will need to rescue her from her cell below the Bellroom Vestige. This should happen naturally through the progression of the game, and you will likely not find her for the first few hours. This is normal, just keep progressing the game.
You will find her in a cell guarded by a jailor, who can be quite difficult to defeat. I recommend dropping on to him for a plunging attack to make your life easier. Kill him, and use his key to open her cell and exhaust her dialogue. You can then rest at the Bellroom Vestige, and she will return to Skyrest Bridge where you can then upgrade your Weapons and Armor. Note that her cell contains upgrade materials once you free her, so be sure to return and pick it up before you forget it.
She will also take Rune Tablets later on that will allow her to sell you Runes and slot Runes into your Weapons that further boost the efficacy of your gear.
How Do I Gain More Spells in Lords of the Fallen?
If you’re playing a mage-type character in Lords of the Fallen you might be wondering how you gain more Spells, since you begin the game with only one in many cases. Well there are a few ways, so let’s discuss those.
First, Exacter Dunmar in Skyrest Bridge sells some Radiance Magic, so if you’re going for a “Holy” playthrough or just want to use some Holy Magic, then he’s your guy. Exhaust his dialogue to be able to purchase items from him.
Second, Molhu in Skyrest Bridge sells Umbral Magic, so if you are looking for these types of spells then you can buy some from him. Note that these require both Inferno and Radiance to cast, so they are much more difficult to meet the requirements for early on then Inferno or Radiance Spells.
Third, if you make your way through Pilgrim’s Perch, outside of Skyrest Bridge, and make it up the elevator found on the platforms outside, you will reach an area that has a locked door. You can find the key for it by swapping to the Umbral Realm and Soulflaying an Umbral Tumor in this area. Inside you will find a puzzle in the Umbral Realm, and if you solve it you will gain the Searing Accusation Inferno Catalyst. You can give it to the Tortured Prisoner and if you rest she will be gone, and you can find her next to the dead Fire Giant in front of where you fought Pieta earlier on in the game. She will now sell you Inferno Spells.
All Magic
Additionally, many magic spells are located around the game world as treasure, and you can purchase some from Molhu under the “Offer Remembrance” option once you’ve defeated some specific Bosses.
How to Get Boss Weapons, Spells & Armor
If you’ve defeated a few Bosses and have a couple of Remembrances, you might be wondering how you gain Boss gear from them. The answer is that you use Umbral Scourings. Umbral Scourings are a special item that you gain as you make progress in Lords of the Fallen. They are acquired by the following means:
- From Stigmas – The memories of previous events you find in the Umbral Realm (must Soulflay them to trigger)
- From defeating bosses
- Some are sold by Molhu
Umbral Scourings can be used to purchase items related to major Bosses you have defeated in Lords of the Fallen, and these can be found at Molhu under the “Offer Remembrance” option. Once you select which Remembrance you wish to view, you can see what is available to purchase. Each weapon, Armor piece and Spell will have an Umbral Scourings cost in order to buy.
Umbral Scourings are a limited resource in Lords of the Fallen and you will only gain a fixed amount per playthrough, so you will have to play multiple playthroughs on the same character in order to get all Boss items. The total number you gain in one playthrough is 285, which you can use as a reference to determine what you want to buy.
Additionally, Umbral Scourings have another use, that might make you not want to spend them…
Vestige Seeds – What do they do? And how do I get more?
As you traverse Lords of the Fallen you will come across Umbral Flowerbeds that allow you to use Vestige Seeds to create Vestige Seedlings. These act as temporary Vestiges, or checkpoints, and allow you to perform the same functions you normally would at any other Vestige.
The kicker is that Vestige Seeds are a consumable item, and you will find far more Umbral Flowerbeds than you will have Vestige Seeds early on in the game. AND, you can only have one Vestige Seedling at a time. This means that when you plant a second Vestige Seed in a different Umbral Flowerbed, your previous Vestige Seedling will disappear. So managing your Vestige Seeds, and placing them in ideal locations is key.
You can gain more Vestige Seeds via the following means:
- Dropped from elite Umbral enemies (every Umbral enemy except the Umbral zombies) at a 15-20% chance
- Purchasable at Molhu ad infinitum
- Dropped from Bosses
Make sure you stock up on these at Molhu if you need some, as it makes exploration much much easier. Make sure that you never have zero! Note that if you’re co-oping, your summoned partner can drop you some if you’re out.
NPCs – How do Their Quests Work?
NPCs in Lords of the Fallen work in a very similar manner to the Souls franchise. That is to say, that many are available at Skyrest Bridge, the main hub of the game, and as you find others out in the game world and help them, they will appear in Skyrest as well.
As you exhaust their dialogue, they will often ask for favors, ask for items, or even begin to sell you things or change locations. Make sure that you speak to them often to keep progressing their quest lines, or else you might miss out.
Shrines – What are they? And how do I use them?
Throughout Lords of the Fallen you will find 3 different Shrines that you can interact with. These are the Umbral Shrine, Radiant Shrine and Rhogar Shrine. Players can acquire items from Tier 1 initially, but Tiers 2 and 3 will have to be unlocked through the cooperative Donations of all online players.
The Shrine of the Putrid Mother is located in the same room as Molhu in Skyrest Bridge and provides the player items in exchange for Plucked Eyeballs. Plucked Eyeballs can be obtained by revenging fallen Lamp Bearers in other game worlds. You will find red lamps throughout the game, and can use Soulflay on them, and follow the trail to defeat the enemy that killed another player.
The Shrine of Orius is located behind the Vestige in Skyrest Bridge, down the stairs, and provides players items in exchange for Pilfered Coins. Pilfered Coins are obtained by helping other players as a cooperator and defeating Bosses.
The Shrine of Adyr is located in Fitzroy’s Gorge (which is quite a ways into the game) and provides players with items in exchange for Severed Hands. Severed Hands can be obtained by defeating other players in PvP invasions.
If you enjoyed this guide be sure to lookout for more Lords of the Fallen content. In the meantime head to our LOTF wiki for all the latest info.
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