Hexworks’ grueling action-RPG has ushered in a new era for the Soulslike sub-genre, introducing some new and nifty mechanics that may prove confusing to new players. Of course, one part of the signature formula is grinding, leveling up, and exponentially improving your character’s stats by accruing Souls Vitality. But is there a way to do this speedily? Good question! Here’s how to level up quickly in Lords of the Fallen.
How to Level Up Fast in Lords of the Fallen
In short, the key to leveling up rapidly in Lords of the Fallen lies in the Umbral dimension, which is the eerie land of the dead brimming with zombies, ghosts, and demonic beasties. You see, when you enter the undead realm with your Umbral Lamp, you’ll begin accumulating Umbral Dread, which is signified by the big eye symbol in the top right-hand corner of your screen.
As the Umbral Dread deepens, more small eyes will appear next to the eye symbol, indicating how much Umbral Dread you have. This is directly tied to your Vitality multiplier, which helps boost your acquisition of Vitality. The longer you stay in the undead dimension, the more Undead Dread you acquire, culminating in a multiplier that triples your Vitality.
However, there is a rub to this. As your multiplier steadily increases, the volume of enemies increases as well, which crescendos with the arrival of a very difficult foe that appears much like a Grim Reaper. This pesky monster is nigh on impossible to defeat as it has a very large health pool, high resistance to damage, and worst of all, it debuffs you so that can no longer heal. This debuff is marked by the eye symbol turning red, along with a red glow enveloping your character.
When this happens, you can either kite the enemies and try and quickly kill them while the Grim Reaper follows you, which nets you a whopping triple XP per kill; or, return to the nearest Vestige to rest and reset the level.
Most importantly, if you remain within close distance of a Vestige while you grind, when you inevitably die, you’ll be able to quickly retrace your steps and scoop up the Vitality that was lost. In other words, you’ll be able to grind quickly with the help of the Umbral’s multiplier, and safely thanks to how close you are to a checkpoint.
Personally, we found the Sanctuary Vestige of Chabui to be an ideal location to level up quickly as there are lots of low-level enemies nearby and a large space to kite the monsters that spawn.
To get an idea of how long it takes to get each Vitality multiplier in the Umbral, here’s a rundown, though we found that it does vary slightly from run to run:
- x1.10 – Begins when you enter the Umbral realm.
- x1.20 – At around four minutes and 45 seconds.
- x2.00 – At around six minutes.
- x3.00 – At around six and a half minutes.
How to Enter the Umbral
For those unaware, to enter the Umbral, you’ll need to hold down the L2 button on your controller and then hold the X button on Xbox or the Square button on PS5. This will transition you from the living world of Axiom to the undead world of Umbral. To exit the land of the dead, simply head to a nearby Vestige.
Leveling Up Tips
Here are some handy tips to keep in mind while grinding and leveling up in Lords of the Fallen:
- Enemies drop items as you grind, so remember to sell any unwanted duplicates to the merchant in Skybridge for extra Vitality.
- Try your best to stay close to a Vestige when you’re grinding to avoid losing your Vitality.
- Even when the Grim Reaper appears, you can still carry on grinding as you do get a nice triple XP bonus that speeds up your leveling. Just be mindful that you’ll have to defeat the nearby enemies quickly as the Grim Reaper has a tendency to ambush you by spawning through the floor and attacking you.
- Make sure to equip your best armor and weapons so that you can kill the monsters efficiently.
And that’s a wrap for our guide on how to level up quickly in Lords of the Fallen. For more, here’s how to get the Mineowner’s Ring. And for everything else, stay tuned to Twinfinite to stay abreast of our latest tips, tricks, reviews, and features.
