Getting Started

Getting Started

So you wish to walk the path of Vitaemancy. Very well.

This is a map of the journey; from your first tentative cuts to forces that reshape reality itself. Read it once for orientation, then begin.

Tier 0, The First Altar

Your first act as a Vitaemancer is to construct an Ara Vitae and a Sacrificial Knife.

1. Place a single Ara Vitae block on flat stone.
2. Stand beside it with a Sacrificial Knife in hand.
3. Right-click yourself with the knife. You bleed; the altar drinks. The blood refines into Essentia Vitae (EV), which pools in the altar's basin.

With EV in the basin, the altar can craft:

• Novicius Orb of Vitae (the first Blood Orb). Bind it to yourself by right-clicking with it in hand.
• Tabula Rasa. The substrate for almost every sigil.
• Throwing Daggers. Early ranged weapon and the seed of the Spiritus economy.

See Ara Vitae and Runes for the full tier diagram.

Tier 0, The Tabula Vitae

The Tabula Vitae is your first alchemical bench. With an Orb of Vitae placed inside, it draws EV from your Anima to brew:

• Arcane Scribe Tools for drawing alchemy arrays
• Reagents for sigil crafting
• Early anointments for your blades
• 2× ore processing recipes
• A long list of utility reagents

See Tabula Vitae, Flasks and Anointments.

Tier 0, Alchemy Arrays

Strike the ground with an Arcane Scribe Tool and a circle of power awakens. The Alchemy Array accepts two offerings; some combinations yield crafted objects (your first sigil, the Divination Sigil, comes from here), others invoke immediate effects on the world.

See Alchemy Arrays for the full array catalog.

Tier 0, The Hellfire Forge

The Hellfire Forge is fueled by Spiritus, a residue you tear from creatures wounded by your Throwing Daggers. (A Sentient Sword harvests it far more efficiently.) From this forge come Spiritus Gems, Sentient Tools, Explosive Charges, and more daggers.

See Hellfire Forge and Sentient Equipment and Spiritus, Aspects and Crystals.

Tier I, Upgrade Runes

The second altar tier unlocks Upgrade Runes and a wider sigil catalog. Hold an Orb of Vitae in your off-hand while killing creatures to harvest EV directly into your Anima, sparing your own veins.

Continue expanding the altar; its hunger grows with your ambition.

Tier I, Potioncrafting

If altar construction starts to drag, the potioncrafting system opens at Tier I. Prepare Alchemy Flasks or tip Amethyst Throwing Daggers with dozens of effects. A Vitaemancer with a well-stocked flask belt is never truly in danger.

Tier II, Rituals and Sentient Armour

The true scope of Vitaemancy reveals itself here. You gain the ability to inscribe Rituals via the Master Ritual Stone, and to forge Sentient Armour, equipment that grows stronger through the trials you endure.

Upgrade both the altar and your Ritual Diviner to unlock more potent rites.

See Rituals and Hellfire Forge and Sentient Equipment.

Tier II, Dungeoneering

Perform the Breaching the Edge of Demon Realm ritual and you tear a wound in the veil for limited passage into the Demon Realm. There you may find Tau Fruit. Cultivate it into Saturated Tau, refine it in the Athanor to produce Weak Blood Shards, the key to the next tier, stronger anointments, and potion catalysts.

See The Endless Dungeon and Athanor and Materials.

Tier III, The Dusk Diviner

Tier III unlocks the Ritual Diviner [Dusk] and a vast repertoire of advanced rites. Automate your EV supply, soar in unfettered flight within your sanctum, call down a meteor laden with bounty.

Tier III, Sentient Evolution

Your Sentient Armour may start to feel cramped by its modest point cap. With the Dusk Diviner, perform the Ritual of Sentient Evolution to raise your armour's capacity from 100 to 300 points. The Sentient Extraction ritual strips a thrown piece of armour's upgrades into Upgrade Tomes you can store in a Training Bracelet or re-apply selectively. If you would rather wipe a worn set without producing tomes, use Tabula Rasa to reset every Sentient piece you have equipped back to a clean slate.

See Sentient Armor for the full upgrade/downgrade tree.

Tier III, Aspected Spiritus

The Ritual Tinkerer and the five Aspects of Spiritus (Raw, Ruina, Nihilum, Vindicta, Invictus) refine your rituals and reshape how your Sentient Tools behave.

See Spiritus, Aspects and Crystals.

Tier III, The Endless Realm

The Highway to Hell ritual tears open a permanent gate to the Endless tier dungeon. Come armed and armoured; the realm does not suffer the unprepared. Delve deep enough and you may unearth Demonite Ore, the capstone material for the ultimate altar tiers, alongside the Dominus Orb of Vitae.

Tier IV, Devastating Rites

Tier IV grants the most destructive rituals and the most potent crafts in all of Vitaemancy. With fortune, you may recover Intricate Hellforged Parts from the deep dungeon; combined with Netherite Scrap, they double the power of every rune on your altar.

Tier V, The Pinnacle

The ultimate Ara Vitae. Crystal Clusters crown its pillars. An immense ring of nineteen runes per side girds its foundation. Capacity and crafting power without equal. What you do with that power is yours to decide.