Ori and the Will of the Wisps: Complete Guide

A spoiler-light guide to Ori and the Will of the Wisps: movement and combat fundamentals, the Spirit Shard system with recommended builds, who sells what in Wellspring Glades, a region outline, boss and escape tips, and 100% and achievement advice.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Patch 3.1 (November 2020), the final major update. Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Quick Start

The game autosaves constantly. Unlike Ori and the Blind Forest, there is no Soul Link. Dying sends you back to a recent checkpoint.
Spirit Light is your currency. Spend it on shards (Twillen), weapons and skill upgrades (Opher), and maps (Lupo). Don't hoard it.
Buy Lupo's map for each new region. It reveals the layout and marks collectibles in that region.
Equip shards before tough sections. Shards are your build. Swap freely at any time from the menu.
Bind your three favorite skills. Ori has three ability slots, and Spirit Edge (the sword) is equipped in one of them by default. Swap from the radial ability wheel any time.
Grab Spirit Edge and Bash and learn to chain movement. Most of the game's joy is linking Double Jump, Dash, Bash, Grapple, and Glide.
Escape sequences are one-attempt-at-a-time memory tests. Each segment has a checkpoint; learn the route.
Talk to everyone. Side quests, including the long Hand to Hand trading chain, hand out useful rewards and count toward the Completionist achievement.
Plant seeds for Tuley and fund Grom's projects in the Glades to unlock shortcuts, shops, and upgrades.

Movement and Combat

Abilities

Ori earns most abilities from story progression and Spirit Wells/trees, with some weapons bought from Opher.

Ability	What it does
Spirit Edge	Sword; the default melee weapon
Double Jump	Extra air jump (a Triple Jump shard adds a third)
Dash	Quick air or ground dash
Bash	Launch off enemies and projectiles; redirect projectiles
Grapple	Pull to grapple points and some enemies
Glide	Slow falls and ride wind currents
Burrow	Swim through soft sand
Water Dash	Dash through water
Launch	Fly in a direction for a long distance
Flash	Lights up darkness; essential in Mouldwood Depths
Regenerate	Spend energy to heal
Spirit Smash / Spirit Arc / Spirit Star / Spike / Sentry / Blaze / Light Burst	Weapon and utility abilities, mostly bought or upgraded via Opher

Tips:

Bash is movement, not just offense. Bash projectiles back at enemies and use enemies as extra jumps.
Regenerate is your healing button. Keep enough energy for at least one Regenerate in boss fights.
Spirit Arc (bow) lets you fight flying enemies and hit switches at range.
Spirit Smash breaks armored enemies and blocks.
Launch changes how you explore; revisit old areas after you get it.

Health and energy

Increase max health and max energy with the Life Cells and Energy Cells hidden throughout Niwen. They count toward 100% completion and make bosses and escapes far more forgiving, so detour for them when a map shows one nearby.

Wellspring Glades: The Hub

The Glades are a village of Moki that grows as you help. Key NPCs:

NPC	Role
Twillen	Sells and upgrades Spirit Shards
Opher	Sells weapons/skills (e.g. Spirit Star, Spike, Blaze, Sentry) and upgrades them
Lupo	Sells regional maps; appears in each region
Tuley	Plant seeds you find to grow the Glades' gardens and unlock paths
Grom	Builds structures and repairs the Glades with the Gorlek Ore you bring him
Tokk	Traveling adventurer involved in several side quests; worth talking to whenever you meet him

Gorlek Ore feeds Grom's projects, which unlock shops, shortcuts, and new challenge areas. Bring ore to him regularly.

Spirit Shards

Shards modify your abilities and stats. You start with limited shard slots and earn more (Spirit Shard slot upgrades) through progression. Twillen sells and upgrades several shards.

Recommended shards

Shard	Effect	When to use
Triple Jump	Adds a third air jump	Exploration
Magnet	Pulls Spirit Light and orbs to you	Always early
Vitality / Energy	Max HP/energy up	Bosses and escapes
Wingclip	Bonus damage vs flying enemies	Bird-heavy areas
Lifeforce, Reckless, Overcharge, Finesse	Damage-boosting shards with different conditions (read each description in Twillen's shop)	Boss damage builds
Spirit Surge	More damage as you hold more Spirit Light	Keep your Spirit Light high
Sticky	Cling to walls	Wall-heavy platforming
Ultra Grapple / Ultra Bash	Longer grapple, stronger bash	Advanced traversal
Life Harvest / Energy Harvest	More life/energy from defeated enemies	Sustain

Sample builds:

Explorer: Magnet, Triple Jump, Sticky.
Boss fights: Vitality, Energy, Lifeforce or Reckless (depending on confidence).
Glass cannon: Lifeforce, Reckless, Overcharge, Finesse, and Spirit Surge stack damage for players who are confident they won't get hit.

Region Outline (Spoiler-Light)

Niwen is a large, interconnected map. The main regions:

Region	Notes
Inkwater Marsh	Starting region; learn basics
Wellspring Glades	The hub village
Midnight Burrows	Small early area near the Glades
Kwolok's Hollow	Home of the guardian Kwolok
The Silent Woods	Dark, dangerous forest
Luma Pools	Underwater and water-dash sections
Mouldwood Depths	Dark caverns; home of the spider Mora; Flash helps
Baur's Reach	Snowy mountain region named after the giant bear Baur
Wellspring	A water mechanism dungeon
Windswept Wastes	Desert with sand burrowing sections
Windtorn Ruins	Ancient ruins beneath the desert
Willow's End	The final region

The five Wisps (the Voice, Memory, Eyes, Strength, and Heart of the Forest) hold pieces of the Spirit Willow's light. Each is recovered in a different region, usually after a boss or escape sequence, and many story achievements (Dark Triumph, Guardian's Rest, Icy Escape, Quick Sand, Stone Cold, and others) unlock along the way.

Boss and escape tips

Encounter	Tip
Howl	The spirit wolf; learn his lunges and use Bash to reposition
Horn Beetle	Dodge the charge, strike after it hits a wall
Mora	Giant spider; escape sequence plus a boss fight; learn her patterns
Kwolok	Emotional fight; keep distance and punish after his slams
Willow Stone	Break the protective plating, then strike the core
Shriek	Final boss; multi-phase. Equip Vitality and Energy shards, use Launch to keep up

Escape sequences: learn the route, don't panic. Retry each section until your muscle memory takes over.

Side Content

Spirit Trials: time-trial races with online leaderboards that show other players' times and routes. Completing all of them earns Speed Demon.
Hand to Hand: a long trading chain between characters across Niwen. Completing it earns Mark of the Trader, and it's one of the most useful side quests for 100%. A dedicated Steam guide walks through every trade.
Combat Shrines: wave arenas with valuable rewards; come back with upgrades if one is too hard. Clearing all of them earns Shrine Bright.
Hidden Spirit Wells: fast travel points; unlock them as you find them.
Tuley's seeds and Grom's projects for the Glades.

100% and Achievement Tips

Post-game exploration: after finishing, you can return to explore and collect anything you missed.
Buy every Lupo map (Cartographer's Protégé) and complete Hand to Hand (Mark of the Trader).
Combat Shrines count toward completion and give strong rewards.
Difficulty achievements: Hardcore Fan (complete Hard mode), Immortal (complete the game without dying), and Look at the Time (complete the game in under 4 hours). Plan separate runs.
Lightless and Shardless: beat the game without spending any Spirit Light, and without equipping a shard (separate challenge runs).
High and Dry: avoid touching any corrupted water. Plan this one alongside a speedrun route.
Collection achievements: Tools of the Trade (all abilities), Mad Skills (upgrade all abilities), Shard Hunter and Shard Specialist (unlock and upgrade all shards), Fully Slotted (all shard slots), Healthy and Powerful (max life and energy), Fixer Upper (all Glades projects), Completionist (every side quest), and Lost and Found (all collectibles).
Skill achievements you can pick up anytime: Juggling Act (juggle 3+ projectiles in the air for over 5 seconds), Bring it On (defeat 5 enemies without touching the ground), Damage Spike (3 enemies with one Spike), and Did I Do That? (10 kills with environmental hazards).
Untouchable has a hidden description on Steam; check an achievement guide before attempting it.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Skipping Lupo's maps.
Hoarding Spirit Light instead of buying shards and upgrades.
Ignoring Grom and Tuley, which slows your access to shops and shortcuts.
Never using Regenerate.
Fighting flying enemies with only the sword. Spirit Arc makes them trivial.
Leaving Launch unused when revisiting old areas.

Advanced Tips

Bash chaining: bash off an enemy, then bash its projectile to extend.
Grapple into dash: combine for fast traversal through windy areas.
Sentry jumping: an advanced Sentry-based movement trick that lets you reach late-game areas early; there's a dedicated "How to Sentry Jump" Steam guide if you want to learn the inputs.
Hard mode: enemies hit harder; bring Vitality and the Life Harvest-style sustain shards.
Spirit Light farming: revisit areas with dense enemies; the Magnet shard makes it faster.

FAQ

Do I need to play Ori and the Blind Forest first? It helps with the story's emotional weight, but Will of the Wisps stands on its own.

How long is Ori and the Will of the Wisps? Around 10 to 15 hours for the story, 20 or more for 100%.

Can I continue after the ending? Yes, the game returns you to the world to finish collectibles.

Is there a point of no return? The final region leads to the ending, but you can return afterward to finish side content.

What is the best shard for beginners? Magnet for convenience, Vitality for survival, and Triple Jump for exploration.

How do I get more shard slots? Through progression and side content; explore thoroughly, as slot upgrades are among the most valuable rewards. Getting all of them earns the Fully Slotted achievement.