Field guide
Know the faces above the gate. Learn the bargains below it. Your guide to every room, boon, weapon, and hard-won return.
01
Your first goal is a safe return, not a boss kill. Clear the Gatehouse and bank your first Bell mark; go deeper when you know the supplies and choices you can afford.
Opened this guide from the game? Return to your existing game tab to continue. Reading the guide does not pause combat: check it in Robinville or after clearing a room.
01 · Robinville
Follow the quest marker and speak to Vale to begin Opening Bell. His introduction unlocks the castle gate.
Click the ground to move. Right-click Vale and choose Talk-to. Wren explains Oaths; the other townsfolk offer permanent upgrades once you have banked marks.
02 · Preparation
Check your starting blade and rations, then choose one of the two offered Oaths to enter.
Iron trades accuracy for Defence; Thorn trades Defence for Attack and Strength. Hollow doubles banked marks but removes a starting ration. Read the cost before confirming.
03 · First fight
Use Attack on the two level-4 Ledgerlings, one at a time. Stay away from the other guard while you fight. Your starting blade is already equipped.
Open your backpack panel and use Eat on a ration when you need recovery. Both guards must fall to open the exit. Clearing the room awards 100 Attack, Strength and Defence XP for this run; progress is not limited to the XP from individual hits.
04 · First return
Use the cleared room’s exit to choose a boon, then compare the cache: take equipment, take a potion, or rest for immediate healing.
Wield or wear equipment from your inventory; carrying it alone gives no bonus. Escape to bank 1 Bell mark (2 with Hollow), or descend to the Quarry. Death banks nothing. A safe early return is progress.
02
Use a desktop browser with a mouse and keyboard for the beta; mobile gameplay is not yet verified. Click the ground to move. Right-click a character, object or inventory item to see its available actions: Talk-to, Attack, gather, Eat, Drink, Wield or Wear.
The backpack panel holds your food and newly recovered items. Open it to eat, drink or equip loot. The equipment panel shows what you are wearing; carrying a weapon or armour in the backpack does not equip it. Your starting blade is equipped automatically when a run begins.
Read the room objective and watch your hitpoints, rations, and current stats. Complete the objective, then use the marked exit to claim a boon and decide whether to descend or bank your marks.
03
The starting town is your pause between descents: Vale and the sealed gate, Wren beside the old market frame, Rowan’s smithing corner, Sable’s supply stall at the eastern market, and Iona’s alchemy corner.
The unfinished Stock Market and its crates are scenery and story only; it is not a functional exchange. Town services use banked Bell marks.
You begin as the fixed Verdant Wanderer. Defeating the Red Bear unlocks the Bearslayer appearance at the wardrobe.
04
Five familiar faces keep the town moving. Speak with them before a descent and again when you return; your progress changes what they have to tell you.
Foreman · Opening Bell
Robinville’s older foreman carries the history of House Corvin and the promises buried beneath the market.
Speak to him first to begin Opening Bell and unlock the castle gate. Return for your last-run summary, saved Bell marks, and advice.
Omenkeeper · Oaths & survival
The castle still rings behind their eyes. Wren remembers the cost of a descent and watches for those who return.
Find them by the old market frame for Oath guidance and reflections on your deepest room, deaths, or unfinished run.
Smith · Blade tempering
A broad, bearded smith in a leather apron. Rowan’s welcome is practical: bring back a plan, and he will give the steel a better edge.
Visit him beside the workbench for the Tempered opening blade: a permanent starting-weapon upgrade costing 3 Bell marks after the Red Bear blueprint.
Provisioner · Supply Contract
A seasoned survivor in a sage-green cloak, travel pack close at hand. Sable measures a journey in the supplies that get you home.
Visit her at the eastern market for the Supply Contract: 2 Bell marks buys one extra starting ration on every future run after Opening Bell begins.
Alchemist · Preparation & restraint
An older woman with a silver braid and a teal apron, Iona grows herbs in castle mortar. Each dawn the mortar returns differently; she keeps careful notes on what takes root.
Use Prepare on Iona or her table after beginning Opening Bell. Pay 3 Bell marks once to choose a starting potion for every future run: Mending draught, Battle tincture, or Stone tonic. Switch your choice free between runs. Ask her about caches and the cost of a stronger strike or guard.
05
Speak to Vale to begin Opening Bell. House Corvin bound the market’s promises; when those promises broke, the keep below began collecting people. Vale opens the gate and points you toward Wren.
At the gate, review your starting blade, rations, any prepared potion, and two offered Oaths. Confirm an Oath to begin. Defeat the Red Bear in room eight to complete the quest and recover the blade blueprint.
06
Every run follows an eight-room descent. A saved seed chooses authored Gatehouse and Quarry variants, starting supplies, Oath offers, boons, and room loot. The room order stays fixed.
After rooms 1–7, choose one boon, then choose equipment or a potion from the room cache, or leave it behind. Descend or escape when ready. Escape banks marks equal to the cleared room number: 1–7 normally, or 2–14 with Hollow. These are the total marks for that attempt, not an extra payout at every door.
Defeating the Red Bear banks 8 Bell marks, or 16 with Hollow. There is no retreat once you enter its room. Logging out during a valid run preserves the same descent and claimed rewards.
07
The gate offers two of these three Oaths for each new seed. Choose one for the whole run; reconnecting resumes it. Boons and room training build on that choice.
Force
+3 Attack and Strength, −3 Defence.
A harder opening strike at the cost of protection.
Endurance
+5 Defence, −2 Attack.
A stronger guard at the cost of accuracy.
Risk & reward
Double banked marks, one fewer starting ration.
Starting food never falls below one ration. The extra marks count only when you escape or defeat the Bear.
08
Each room has one objective. Clearing rooms 1–7 awards +100 Attack, Strength and Defence XP for this run, once per room, and opens the exit.
01 · Combat
Defeat two Ledgerlings.
These level-4 clerks guard your first exit. Finish the pack before reaching for a boon.
02 · Gathering
Gather three Bellstones.
Gather normally and the first stone wakes a Ledgerling. Alternatively, right-click your first stone and choose Appease: confirm an offering of one ration to gather it without waking its clerk. The offering frees its own bag slot. Later stones must be gathered normally; leave room for them.
03 · Combat
Defeat three sentries.
The gallery’s level-4 guards watch separate lanes. Clear all three to open the exit.
04 · Choice
Ring the bell: recover up to 8 hitpoints, take Glass Edge for +5 Strength, −2 Defence, or pay the Pilgrim’s tithe: 3 HP for a Mending draught to carry.
Choose once, separately from the exit boon and cache. The tithe needs more than 3 HP and one empty inventory slot; a refusal spends nothing. Its bottle heals up to 8 HP later, capped at your maximum. The chapel keeps three drops; you decide when to take the blessing.
05 · Elite
Defeat the level-8 Margin Knight.
A tougher guard tests the equipment and supplies you brought through the chapel.
06 · Gathering
Recover three sealed records.
Each record wakes a clerk. Collecting the records is the objective; keep an inventory slot free for each one.
07 · Choice
Leave the coffer sealed for safe passage, or challenge its guardian for two rations.
Choosing the fight commits you to winning before you leave. Claiming the supplies needs two free slots; return to the coffer if your bag was full.
08 · Boss
Defeat the level-14 Red Bear. There is no retreat.
Victory completes Opening Bell, banks the run’s marks, and returns you to Robinville.
09
After each cleared room from 1 through 7, pick one of three seeded offers: one offence, one defence, and one sustain option. Nine boons make up the pool. Claiming one is final for that room, even if you close the prompt.
Once per run, spend 1 ration to redraft before claiming a boon. All three offers change, keeping one offence, one defence, and one sustain option. The option appears when you have a ration and have not used your redraft. Closing the menu or reconnecting preserves the replacement offers and the cost; you cannot return to the old offers.
Stat changes last for the current run. Recovery heals only missing hitpoints. Liquidity and Field Medicine each need one empty inventory slot. Blood Ward requires more than 3 hitpoints, so its cost cannot kill you.
Offence
+2 Attack and Strength.
Improve accuracy and power together.
Defence
+3 Defence and heal up to 4 hitpoints.
Recover while strengthening your guard.
Sustain
+1 ration.
Carry the recovery into a later room; needs one free slot.
Offence
+5 Strength, −2 Defence.
More damage potential, less protection.
Defence
+5 Defence, −2 Attack.
More protection, less accuracy.
Sustain
Heal up to 8 hitpoints, +1 Attack.
Immediate recovery with a small accuracy boost.
Offence
+6 Attack, −2 Strength.
More accurate attacks at the cost of damage potential.
Defence
+8 Defence, costs 3 hitpoints.
Requires more than 3 hitpoints. Pay health now for a stronger guard; the cost cannot be lethal.
Sustain
+1 Mending draught.
Needs one free inventory slot. Save the draught for a later wound.
10
The opening caches draw equipment from eight items: Thornfang, Bellhammer, Warden cuirass, Pilgrim vest, Needle rapier, Gravecleaver, Duelist coat, and Bastion plate. From room 3 onward, Briar signet and Gravesilver band join the pool. Choose the offered equipment instead of the potion, then wield or wear it before descending. Each item needs one free inventory slot.
The figures below are equipment bonuses, separate from your skill levels and boon effects. A lower attack interval means a faster weapon. Run loot is temporary; tempering permanently changes the blade issued on future runs.
| Equipment | Bonuses | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Opening bladeWeapon · 5-tick attacks | Attack: Stab +5, Slash +4, Crush −2. Strength +40. | Issued at the start of a run. |
| Tempered opening bladeWeapon · 4-tick attacks | Attack: Stab +12, Slash +10, Crush −2. Strength +48. | Starting blade after the permanent 3-mark tempering upgrade. |
| ThornfangWeapon · 4-tick attacks | Attack: Stab +18, Slash +8, Crush −4. Strength +32. | Seeded room loot. A fast, precise blade. |
| BellhammerWeapon · 6-tick attacks | Attack: Stab +2, Slash −4, Crush +20. Strength +64. | Seeded room loot. Slow, heavy crushing blows. |
| Warden cuirassArmour · Torso | Defence: Stab +12, Slash +14, Crush +10, Magic +2, Ranged +10. Magic attack −3. | Seeded room loot. Strong physical protection. |
| Pilgrim vestArmour · Torso | Attack: Stab +3, Slash +3. Defence: Stab +5, Slash +6, Crush +5, Magic +5, Ranged +5. | Seeded room loot. Light protection with a melee accuracy bonus. |
| Needle rapierWeapon · 3-tick attacks | Attack: Stab +26, Slash +2, Crush −6. Strength +24. | Seeded room cache. Fast stab attacks with lower strength. |
| GravecleaverWeapon · 6-tick attacks | Attack: Stab −4, Slash +26, Crush +6. Strength +58. Defence: Stab −6, Slash −6. | Seeded room cache. Choose Slash in the combat panel to use its strong slash bonus; Stab uses its weaker stab bonus. Heavy swings leave your guard exposed. |
| Duelist coatArmour · Torso | Attack: Stab +6, Slash +6. Defence: Stab +2, Slash +3, Crush +2, Magic +4, Ranged +2. | Seeded room cache. Accuracy with light protection. |
| Bastion plateArmour · Torso | Defence: Stab +22, Slash +24, Crush +18, Magic −4, Ranged +18. Strength −12. | Seeded room cache. Strong physical protection costs strength and magic defence. |
| Briar signetJewellery · Ring | Attack: Stab +8, Slash +8, Crush +8. Defence: Stab −5, Slash −5, Crush −5. | Seeded cache from room 3 onward. Accuracy at the cost of physical protection; only while worn. |
| Gravesilver bandJewellery · Ring | Attack: Stab −4, Slash −4, Crush −4. Defence: Stab +8, Slash +8, Crush +8. | Seeded cache from room 3 onward. Physical protection at the cost of accuracy; only while worn. |
11
House Corvin’s patrons sealed their promises with two signets: Briar for a sure hand, Gravesilver for a safe return. Rowan says the castle honours half of every bargain. Ask him what he can make to hear how the rings change a fight.
Find signets in caches from room 3 onward. Wear one ring at a time alongside your weapon and torso armour. Briar adds 8 to each melee attack bonus and subtracts 5 from each physical defence bonus. Gravesilver adds 8 to each physical defence bonus and subtracts 4 from each melee attack bonus.
These are equipment bonuses, not skill levels or boons. Removing or replacing a ring removes its benefits and costs. Keeping a spare in your bag gives no bonus. Equipped signets are lost when a run ends. A signet in your backpack can be selected as your one random keepsake on death; escape and victory clear all run gear.
12
Complete the objective and claim your boon in rooms 1–7 to open a room cache. It offers one seeded equipment item and one seeded potion. Take equipment or take the potion, never both. Either item needs one free inventory slot. Alternatively, rest beneath the sanctuary bell: forfeit both items to heal up to 4 HP immediately. Rest needs no bag space, cannot exceed maximum health, and leaves the cache unclaimed if you are already at full health.
Leave keeps that same choice available while you remain in the room. Descending or banking ends the opportunity. Reopening the prompt or reconnecting cannot reroll the offers or reclaim a reward already taken.
Choose Compare rewards and worn gear before committing. The appraisal shows equipment bonuses and attack speed beside the item currently in the matching equipment slot, then previews the potion against your current stats. Comparing takes nothing and returns to the same cache choices.
Compare what you can use now with what your bag can carry. A weapon changes your next attack; a Mending draught can wait for a wound. The cache is separate from the room’s boon.
13
Potions are single-use supplies for the current run. Each bottle occupies one inventory slot; choose Drink from its inventory action menu. Find them in room caches, receive a Mending draught from Field Medicine, or unlock a chosen starting bottle through Iona’s Preparation.
Battle tincture and Stone tonic change your current run stats through the same boost system as boons. Their effects are not timed in seconds. Potions and their stat effects do not carry into the next run.
From room 3 onward, caches can also offer Thornblood cordial or Moonwell phial. These two castle brews are not available through Preparation. Iona will explain their price, but refuses to bottle ingredients that change whenever the castle shifts.
Iona teaches preparation and restraint. Ask her about the next room, then weigh a potion’s benefit against its cost before drinking.
Recovery
Heal up to 8 hitpoints.
Drink after taking damage. At full health, drinking is refused and the draught stays in your bag.
Offence
+4 Attack and Strength, −3 Defence.
More accuracy and power at the cost of protection. Check your guard before committing to the next fight.
Defence
+7 Defence, −3 Strength.
Stronger protection at the cost of damage potential. Consider the weapon and boons already shaping your run.
Deep cache · Blood price
+6 Strength, costs 3 hitpoints.
Requires more than 3 hitpoints. At 3 or fewer, drinking is refused and the bottle stays in your bag. Save it until you can afford a stronger strike.
Deep cache · Recovery & guard
Heal up to 4 hitpoints, +3 Defence.
A modest recovery with a stronger guard. Can be drunk at full health for the Defence boost alone.
14
Robin rations heal up to 4 hitpoints. Eating at full health does not consume one. A normal starting kit has 2–4 rations, determined by the seed; Supply Contract adds one, and Hollow removes one with a minimum of one remaining.
Bellstones and sealed records satisfy their room objectives. Gathering needs free inventory space. The Treasury’s guardian reward needs two slots, while a boon ration, potion, or equipment reward needs one.
15
Ledgerlings and Gallery sentries are level 4 with 4 hitpoints. The Margin Knight and Treasury guardian are level 8 with 8 hitpoints. The Red Bear is level 14 with 16 hitpoints.
The Bear guards the final room. Prepare your weapon, armour, and remaining rations at the Treasury exit before committing to the last fight.
16
Banked Bell marks buy permanent preparation in Robinville. Finish your current run before buying an upgrade. Rowan and Sable offer the same permanent purchases as the workbench.
2 Bell marks · Sable or workbench
One extra starting ration on every future run.
Available after Vale begins Opening Bell. Buy once; the contract stays active.
3 Bell marks once · Iona or alchemy table
Begin each future run with one chosen starting potion: Mending draught, Battle tincture, or Stone tonic.
Available after Vale begins Opening Bell. Use Prepare to unlock; switch the chosen remedy free between runs. No bottles are issued in town. The castle gate previews your choice and grants one bottle when you begin.
3 Bell marks · Rowan or workbench
Begin future runs with the faster, stronger tempered blade.
Requires the blueprint and workbench unlock from your first Red Bear victory. Buy once.
Red Bear victory · Wardrobe
Unlock the Bearslayer appearance and switch looks at the wardrobe.
A cosmetic reward, separate from equipped armour and combat bonuses.
17
Death banks nothing from that attempt. It ends the run, resets run stats and progress, and returns you to Robinville. One random occupied backpack slot supplies a keepsake: one item, not the whole stack. Equipped items are excluded. An empty backpack leaves no keepsake; all other run inventory and equipment are lost.
Your keepsake waits safely through logout and is placed in your backpack when you accept the next Oath. It is not a permanent unlock: once carried into another run, normal loss rules apply again. Ask Vale about the item that survived. Escaping and winning clear run gear without selecting a keepsake.
Already banked Bell marks, quest milestones, the blade blueprint, purchased upgrades, your chosen starting potion, and your unlocked appearance persist. An unfinished valid run can be resumed after logout; reconnecting does not refill a used starting bottle.