Lords of the Fallen (2023): Complete Guide

A guide to Lords of the Fallen (2023) on version 2.5: choosing a class, understanding Axiom and Umbral, stats and builds, the rough progression route, the three endings and how not to miss them, and co-op with the Free Friends Pass.

Researched September 2026 — current as of hotfix 2.5.624 (September 4, 2026). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

1. Pick Hallowed Knight or Orian Preacher for a first run. Hallowed Knight is a sturdy sword-and-shield melee start; Orian Preacher is a Radiance caster with a hammer and shield. The community wiki recommends both for beginners.
2. Choose your difficulty mode. Version 2.5 offers Legacy (the standard soulslike experience) and Veteran (harder). If you plan to play Shared Co-op, agree on the mode with your partner first.
3. You get two lives. Die in Axiom (the living world) and you drop into Umbral (the world of the dead) for a second chance. Die in Umbral and you return to your last save point, leaving your unspent Vigor behind.
4. Spend Vigor often. Vigor is both XP and currency. Banking it at a Vestige protects it.
5. Use the Umbral Lamp constantly. Raise it to see into Umbral, reveal hidden paths, and pull souls out of enemies.
6. Plant Vestige Seeds. Checkpoints are sparse, so you can create your own at seedbeds using Vestige Seeds.
7. Block and attack to heal. Blocking turns damage into withered health, which you get back by landing hits. Aggression is rewarded.
8. Do not cleanse a Beacon until you know which ending you want. Cleansing the first Beacon locks you out of two endings.
9. Co-op is easy. Invite a friend with the Free Friends Pass, even if they do not own the game, and use Shared Co-op Progression if you both want to keep progress.

Axiom, Umbral, and the Lamp

Lords of the Fallen is built around two parallel worlds.

Umbral Lamp uses:

• Peek into Umbral by raising the lamp. You can see paths that only exist there without committing.
• Cross over deliberately to reach areas you cannot reach in Axiom.
• Soulflay: rip an enemy's soul out with the lamp. Use it to pull enemies off ledges, reveal hidden things, and interact with Umbral objects.

Umbral rules of thumb:

• Umbral gets more dangerous over time. Do what you came for and get out through an exit point or a Vestige.
• If you are in Umbral because you died, play carefully: a second death costs your Vigor.

Vestiges, Seedbeds, and Saving

• Vestiges are the main checkpoints. Rest to level up, refill healing, and respawn enemies.
• Seedbeds are spots where you can plant a Vestige Seed to create a temporary checkpoint. Use them before bosses and in long areas.
• Skyrest Bridge is the central hub, where you will return to upgrade and talk to NPCs.

Classes

There are nine standard starting classes, plus bonus classes. The Dark Crusader is a starting class with the Deluxe Edition; the wiki lists it alongside Lord, Putrid Child, and Radiant Purifier as classes otherwise unlocked through play.

Your class sets starting stats and gear, not your future. You can respec your build direction by leveling different stats.

Stats and Build Archetypes

The core stats are Strength, Agility, Endurance, Vitality, Radiance, and Inferno.

Build archetypes:

• Strength knight: big swords, hammers, and shields. Prioritize Strength, Vitality, and enough Endurance to carry heavy armor.
• Agility duelist: daggers, spears, fast swords. Prioritize Agility and Endurance for stamina.
• Radiance paladin/caster: start as Orian Preacher. Level Radiance, keep a shield and melee weapon for close range.
• Inferno pyromancer: start as Pyric Cultist. Level Inferno; use range and fire damage over time.
• Ranged hybrid: Partisan or Blackfeather Ranger. Use crossbows or bows to pull enemies and soften them before melee.

General priorities:

• Put early points into Vitality. More health makes everything easier.
• Match your stats to your weapon's scaling. The weapon screen shows which stats it scales with.
• Upgrade one main weapon rather than spreading materials around.

Boss Weapons and Special Attacks (updated August 2026)

Update 2.5.593 changed how Boss Weapon Special Attacks unlock. They are now available as soon as you meet the weapon's stat requirements, regardless of upgrade level. The quests that used to unlock them now reward upgrade materials instead. Balance was also adjusted for lower upgrade levels. If you skipped boss weapons before, try them again.

Combat Fundamentals

• Withered health: blocking converts damage into withered health. Land hits to recover it. If you get hit again before recovering, you lose it.
• Stance and staggers: pressure enemies to break their stance, then land a heavy finishing attack.
• Healing: the Sanguinarix is your healing item. Upgrade its charges as you find materials.
• Ranged options: throwables and ranged weapons are strong for pulling enemies one at a time.
• Damage types: enemies resist some damage types and are weak to others. If a weapon or spell seems to do little, try a different damage type.
• Parry and dodge: learn one defensive option well. Shields are forgiving; dodging is essential for magic users.

Progression Route (Spoiler-Light)

The community wiki's suggested route goes roughly:

1. Defiled Sepulchre (tutorial)
2. Abandoned Redcopse
3. Skyrest Bridge (hub) — boss: Pieta, She of Blessed Renewal
4. Pilgrim's Perch — bosses include Scourged Sister Delyth and Gentle Gaverus, Mistress of Hounds
5. Forsaken Fen — bosses include The Congregator of Flesh and The Hushed Saint
6. Fitzroy's Gorge — bosses include Crimson Rector Percival and Ruiner
7. Lower Calrath and Upper Calrath
8. Sunless Skein, Cistern, Fief of the Chill Curse, Revelation Depths
9. Path of Devotion, Manse of the Hallowed Brothers, Tower of Penance, Abbey of the Hallowed Sisters
10. The Empyrean
11. Bramis Castle (endgame) — including The Sundered Monarch and Adyr, the Bereft Exile

The world is interconnected, so you can explore in a different order. If an area feels too hard, go somewhere else and come back stronger.

Boss tips

• Pieta is the first major wall for many players. Learn her patterns; her fight changes as it goes on.
• The Lightreaper shows up more than once across the game (the wiki lists encounters in Defiled Sepulchre, Fitzroy's Gorge, and Upper Calrath).
• Summon help. Co-op and NPC help make tough bosses much easier.
• Experiment with damage types on bosses that seem to shrug off your main weapon.
• Plant a Vestige Seed near a boss if there is a seedbed, so runbacks are short.

Endings and What You Can Miss

There are three endings, and they lock each other out.

Missable warnings:

• The first Beacon is in Forsaken Fen. Cleansing it commits you to Radiance.
• The Umbral ending requires killing certain NPCs. Using seedpods on some NPCs removes their shops or services, so buy what you need first.
• If you want to see all endings, make a backup plan: New Game Plus or multiple saves.

Co-op, Free Friends Pass, and Multiplayer

• Free Friends Pass: invite a friend who does not own the game. As of 2.5.624, Friends Pass players can no longer load saves created with full entitlement, and earlier hotfixes fixed Friends Pass saves wrongly converting to full saves.
• Shared Co-op Progression: both players keep their progress. The 2.5.593 update fixed a bug where one player's Veteran save could switch to Legacy after leaving a shared session (it does not repair already-affected saves).
• Crimson Rituals can trigger invasions. You can disable them in Multiplayer Settings if you do not want PvP.
• Crossplay: all platforms were brought back onto the same version (2.5.591) in August 2026 to restore crossplay between PC and consoles.
• Boss Rush is available as a mode in version 2.5.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Hoarding Vigor. Spend it at Vestiges; dying twice loses it.
• Staying in Umbral too long. It gets more dangerous the longer you stay.
• Cleansing a Beacon without thinking. It locks two endings.
• Ignoring Vestige Seeds. Checkpoints are sparse; plant seeds at seedbeds.
• Spreading upgrade materials. Commit to one weapon.
• Skipping Vitality. Health is the best early investment.
• Forgetting the Soulflay. Many puzzles and fights get easier with it.

Advanced Tips

• Peek before you leap. Raise the lamp before every suspicious gap or wall.
• Pull with ranged. Throwables and crossbows let you split packs.
• Break stance, then punish. Heavy attacks after a stance break are your biggest damage.
• Use Veteran only when ready. Legacy is the standard experience; Veteran is for a harder run.
• Try boss weapons again after 2.5.593. Special Attacks now unlock by stats alone.
• Plan endings. If you want all three, save the Beacon choice for a deliberate playthrough.
• Look ahead to the sequel. CI Games has announced Lords of the Fallen II for Steam; Wikipedia currently lists a 2027 release, though some sources have cited 2026, so check the official site for the date.

FAQ

Which class is best for beginners? Hallowed Knight or Orian Preacher.

What happens when I die? In Axiom, you drop into Umbral for a second chance. Die there and you return to your last save point and leave your unspent Vigor behind.

How do I unlock Boss Weapon Special Attacks? Since update 2.5.593 (August 2026), just meet the weapon's stat requirements.

Can my friend play without buying the game? Yes, with the Free Friends Pass.

How many endings are there? Three: Radiance, Inferno, and Umbral. They lock each other out.

What is the difference between Legacy and Veteran? Legacy is the standard soulslike experience; Veteran is a harder difficulty option.

Is Lords of the Fallen (2023) still being updated? Yes. Version 2.5 received several hotfixes in July to September 2026, the latest being 2.5.624 on September 4, 2026.

Sources

• Lords of the Fallen on Steam
• Steam news for Lords of the Fallen (2.5.x patch notes)
• Lords of the Fallen (2023) on Wikipedia
• Lords of the Fallen 2023 Wiki (Fextralife): Classes
• Lords of the Fallen 2023 Wiki: Bosses
• Lords of the Fallen 2023 Wiki: Endings
• Lords of the Fallen 2023 Wiki: Game Progress Route