Valor Mortis is an engaging soulslike RPG where you step into the shoes of William, navigating a plague-ridden world. As you search for Louis and James, two helpful NPCs, you’ll be tasked by Louis to venture into the nearby salt mine for something of interest. Grab your gear and prepare for a treacherous journey, as this quest can easily trip you up if you’re not ready.
Certain aspects of the game can catch you off guard. For instance, the platforming and environmental hazards create challenges that will test your skills. Be sure to keep a close eye on your surroundings and manage resources effectively; getting overwhelmed means losing precious upgrades.
Before diving into the details, make sure you unlock the Cave Grotto Key and bring your fire transmutation for lighting dark areas and clearing obstacles. This will make your journey through the salt mine considerably smoother.
Follow along as we break down the core sections of Chapter 4, helping you conquer the perils that lie ahead.
When the Dark Descent quest kicks off, you’ll obtain your Cave Grotto Key. Exit from the camp and utilize your grapple hook to cross to the other side of the area, where you’ll find the entrance to the Caverns.
Once inside, you’ll spot your first lantern quickly. Progressing into the cave reveals multiple enemies waiting to challenge you.
Be wary of the holes scattered throughout the caverns. If you fall, use the boats to navigate back up. After getting back on your feet, you can jump to a ledge to spot a boat bobbing in the water.
Take the boat to explore deeper into the cave, but be mindful of ranged enemies lurking around.
Don’t forget you can also use your grappling hook here. Once you’re at the lower level, head to the ledge where a rifleman waits near an explosive barrel, unlocking a new path as you progress further.
Here, you’ll come across a scenic waterfall inside the caverns. Venture down further where you’ll detect how the corruption has twisted the landscape.
As you move on through Traversing The Corruption, you’ll need to leverage your traversal abilities to navigate this treacherous area, including a new wallrun mechanic.
After pushing through, find another lantern and notice a path obstructed by corruption that can be cleared with fire.
Being in this dark area requires your fire transmutation to illuminate your path. Light the nearby torches as you navigate, marking areas you’ve previously explored.
Keep an eye on your footing here, as the journey leads you to a room housing a large carrion enemy. Defeating it will allow you to clear the corrupted blockage ahead.
There’s a mix of falling rocks and wall-clinging enemies, so pull out your pistol to dispatch them swiftly.
Successfully reaching the end unlocks a shortcut back to the lantern. Pay attention for further wallrun areas allowing deeper exploration.
Prepare to sprint during the next platforming section, as the platforms will erode if you linger too long.
Upon reaching the salt mine, a lever awaits to help you control the lift. Ride it to the opposite side for what’s next.
At the wooden platforms’ pinnacle, you’ll discover another lever that rotates the wooden platform ahead, allowing progress onward.
Encounter your next power-up, the Stasis Transmutation, by heading right on the wooden platform. This allows you to freeze enemies and mechanisms.
Utilize this new power to halt moving gears and assist in unlocking paths thereafter.
Go to the top of the wooden platforms, and you’ll find another lever. This one rotates the wooden platform in the front. You’ll have to jump on it to progress.
At the lantern, you’ll find Lucjan encouraging you to dig deeper into the mysteries within. Leap through the wooden platforms to find a lever, and freeze the cargo lift to jump to the next section.
Once you go right on the wooden platform, you’ll find the next power-up: the Stasis Transmutation. You can use it to freeze enemies and moving gears in place.
You can use it to pause moving contraptions. If you go ahead, you’ll find a spot where you can use it to stop two moving structures in place to unlock a path ahead.
In the next room, use the lever and then use stasis on the gears to stop them from closing. You’ll return to the earlier section with the moving platform.
Use the lever and then use stasis on the gears to stop the moving platform in the middle, so you can get to the area leading to the lantern on the front.
Into The Depths
Continue your quest through the Into The Depths area, where you’ll face numerous adversaries. Be prepared for a challenge.
As you navigate this level, you’ll see soldier corpses. Going left offers a means to advance – a soldier’s body signals a jump to proceed.
Watch for the cart tracks below; they can be deadly if you’re not quick enough to avoid them.
Keep close to the tracks, leading to a section blocked by corruption you’ll have to clear using fire.
A rotatable track section lies ahead; activate the switch above to redirect the cart into the wooden gate, opening up a new route.
Once through the destroyed gate, you can ride a lift back to the last lantern you activated. Traverse past the rotating wheels into the next area.
Encounters in the Military Camp consist of transformed soldiers, primarily ranged attackers. You must strategize to take them out effectively.
Military Camp
Activate the switch to lower down a cargo with explosive barrels, then shoot them to clear out the enemy ranks.
Advance across the wooden bridge into a cave; there’s another bridge, albeit partially collapsed. Make your jump across to the cave ahead and find another lantern waiting for you.
At this point, dive into a cart and start the Cart Sequence. Quick reflexes are essential as you’ll change abilities often to tackle obstacles.
Survive this thrilling ride to reach the final lantern, which conveniently lies near the boss arena.
In the arena, you’ll face Sphinx, Devourer Of The Unworthy. This boss brings unique attacks, including a swarm of bats and dangerous red orbs.
Failing to eliminate these orbs will lead to devastating shockwaves; stay alert!
For melee attacks, watch for the purple claws to know when to parry effectively. Also, strike when it’s idle for optimal damage.
After depleting its HP, the second phase begins where visibility worsens due to a sandstorm. The boss now summons an increased number of bats and performs a backflip tail attack, making this stage particularly tricky.
In this phase, the boss shoots out a laser attack when you’re at a distance, so stay agile and keep a close watch on its movements.
Keep chipping away at the boss’s health as you navigate through its various attacks, and you’ll be on your way to victory.
For its melee attack combos, an easy way is to watch out for the purple claws. If you spot the purple claws, it’s best to hit parry, and it will work most of the time.
Keep landing hits on its face when it’s not doing any attacks while moving sideways.
Once you’ve depleted its HP, the skull mask will break and the second phase will begin. Visibility is an issue here because the sandstorm is raging, and the boss can also summon a swarm of bats to cover an area nearby, which makes it difficult to see the next attack.
It also gets an annoying backflip where it hits you with its tail. The attack where it used to summon one red orb will now summon two in phase two.
In the second phase, the boss can also shoot out a purple laser from its mouth, but it only uses this attack when you’re at a long distance.
