Lords of the Fallenmakes it very clear very quicklythat it’s not a ‘Dark Souls’ clone. The game almost immediately introduces its players to all the mechanics that separate it from other similar games, with the Umbral World and Umbral Lamp being some of the biggest examples. Players can do a lot with their Umbral Lamp inLords of the Fallen, from transporting themselves to a new (albeit horrifying) world to ripping the souls out of their enemies andeven using the Umbral World itself to farm a whole lot of Vigor.
Soulflaying, in general, is a unique mechanic the Umbral Lamp has access to that is also unique as a combat option for this game genre, so let’s go over exactly how it works.
Umbral Lamp Overview
The Umbral Lamp inLords of the Fallenis a very important tool. The intro cinematic alone makes it clear thatthis is the item that is allowing the player to cheat death and respawn infinitelyas one of the ‘Dark Crusaders’ fighting to stop Adyr’s resurrection. When the player is travelingback and forth from Axiom to the Umbral, they’ll be relying on the lamp a lot more than they probably would’ve expected.The Umbral Lamp is also the tool by which players will execute Soulflays as well as pretty much every other mechanic related to the Umbral realm, such as:
Finding secrets
None
When players hold up their Umbral Lamp, the light it casts will show them the Umbral version of whatever they’re looking at. They can use this to find Umbral bridges to walk across gaps, see Ravenous Fascinators (Mimics) before falling for them, and so on.
Progression
Half of HP is Withered
Uses the Umbral Lamp to voluntarily transport to the Umbral Realm. Sometimes needed for progress, to find secrets, and so on. If players lose all their HP while in the Umbral (usually whenfighting tough enemies), they’ll full-die and drop all Vigor before respawning at the most recently used Vestige or Vestige Seedling.
Gain more Withered Health & Regen Soulflay Charges
The Dark Crusader uses the Umbral Lamp to drain nearby Umbral Blisters, Enemies, & Umbral Parasitesto gain some Withered Healthas well as slowly regen their Soulflay Charges.
Progression & Items
Uses the Umbral Lamp to interact with the humanlike Umbral Entities embedded in all sorts of objects. Typically used for progression. Players will need to Soulflay objects to cross gaps, create bridges, move a platform, open a pathway, clear out an Umbral Effigy, and so on.
Combat Advantage
Soulflay Charge
Uses the Umbral Lamp to rip out the enemy’s soul temporarily. Almost entirely used for Combat, useful for applying Withering on enemies, forcing them off cliffs, and so on.
Makes Invincible Enemy Vulnerable To Damage
Time (3-4 Seconds)
The Dark Crusader uses the Umbral Lampto drain nearby Umbral Parasites (that can only be seen in Umbral) to make the enemies they were buffing more vulnerable to damage or remove the constant healing it was giving them.
Soulflaying Obstacles
Players will first be introduced to the idea of using their Umbral Lamp to Soulflay different interactable objects (which seem to be the ‘lost’ souls of the damned) to clear their path.This usually isn’t possible to do while in Axiom, since players can’t both hold the lamp up and wind up a Soulflay at the same time, so this usage of the Umbral Lamp and its Soulflaying ability is usually reserved for when players are exploring the Umbral. Souflaying Obstacles usually encompasses interacting with four different ‘objects’:
Explanation
Item-Type Lost Soul
Obstacles that, when Soulflayed, will drop an item on the ground.
Barrier-Type Lost Soul
Obstacles (people) whose presence is creating a sort of door between two rooms. When Soulflayed, the door of Umbral branches disappears for a time before reconstituting itself.
Terrain-Type Lost Soul
Obstacles that, when Soulflayed will pull the object they’re attached to towards the player or pull the player (and object they’re standing on) towards them. Used for Umbral platforms, Umbral bridges, and so on.
Umbral Branch Lost Soul
Obstacles (typically multiple) that have glowing blue branches leading back to an Umbral Effigy in the form of a giant flower with an eye for the Pistil. When all the Obstacles are Soulflayed, the Effigy disappears.
For the most part,these are all the Obstacle-specific interactions players will need to worry about in regard to Soulflaying. So, if players don’t see any of these around while running from, what feels like, waves of Remnant enemies in the Umbral, they’re usually safe to focus more on their survival than worry about missing secrets.
Soulflaying Enemies
Depending on the player and playstyle they end up preferring, Souflaying Enemies might be what they use the Umbral Lamp for the most. The act of Soulflaying enemies inLords of the Fallenessentially meansusing the Umbral Lamp to grab their soul and temporarily ‘rip’ it out.
While it’s out of their body, any attack the enemy was about to perform is interrupted and they move in slow motion (usually reaching out to try and grab their soul back). While this is happening, players will have a couple of seconds to go wild on their soul, hitting it as much as they want.And for every swing, a small portion of the enemy’s HP will become Withered Health. Then, once the enemy’s body catches up to their soul players can just hit the enemy once to ‘lock’ that damage in and make it permanent, which is the same way Withered Health works with the player’s health as well.
Using Soulflay To Drop Enemies To Their Deaths
The other way players can use Soulflay depends on the surrounding terrain. If they’re in a field of dirt and grass with no ledges in sight, Soulflaying typically isn’t all that useful since the wind up for it leaves the player so open. It can be used to interrupt the enemy’s flow and apply some Withered Health, sure, but Soulflay is at peak utility when players are near some type of high-drop or environmental hazard.
This is because of the fact thatas soon as players successfully ‘connect’ with their Soulflay, they can press the movement input in the direction leading off the cliff, and pull the enemy’s soul out in that direction.This means that players can Soulflay an enemy, yank their soul off a nearby cliff, and when the body is pulled to the soul after a few seconds, the enemy will fall to their death. It’s also worth mentioning thatplayers can also finish off an enemy with their Umbral Lampif all of the enemy’s remaining health is Withered, and while the animation for this looks great, it really doesn’t happen all too often.
Soulflaying Elite Enemies & Bosses
And for the last aspect of Soulflaying, let’s talk about how this mechanic interacts with both Elite Enemies and Bosses. Now this differs from Boss to Boss or Elite to Elite, but a lot of the timeSoulflay will eitherpull the enemy to the playeror cause them to stagger a bit(or even put them into a Staggered state, in some instances).
For example, Soulflaying a Mendacious Visage actively pries open its ‘head’ exposing its fragile core. But, when used against a Womb of Despair, it simply pulls this enemy to the player instead. At the very least, it’s worth experimenting at least once with Soulflay against each Boss and each Elite Enemy, as the interaction can sometimes make dealing with this boss/enemy a lot less frustrating.
Soulflay Charges
The last little system tied to the Umbral Lamp is the Soulflay Charges meter, visualized by that little blue flame (or lack thereof) underneath the player’s HP, Stamina, & Mana.Soulflay Charges are, as one would expect, the Charges players use when they Soulflay an enemy.They’re only used when Soulflaying Enemies and not when Soulflaying Objects, and by default, everyone starts with one.
And, as players progress through the game, collect Umbral Eyes to ‘socket’ into their lamp (gross),upgrade the Umbral Lamp using Antediluvian Chisels, and more, they’ll steadily acquire more Soulflay Charges.Umbral Eyes in particular can massively impact the way Soulflaying worksor even add a new aspect to a different mechanic of the game such as giving enemies Withered Health when the player dodges their attacks at the right time.
Recharging Soulflay Charges
Lastly, let’s go over how to refill Soulflay Charges.To refill these Soulflay Charges, players can use the Soul Siphon ability of their Lamp to absorb some Soul Essence from nearby enemies, Umbral Blisters (as seen in the video earlier in this guide), or from using an Umbral Vertebrae. While again, the mileage of this mechanic will vary from player to player, It’s almost always worth keeping at least one Soulflay Charge active at all times, just in case.
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