Summary
WhileLords of the Fallenis suffering from the Action RPG curse ofalways being compared to other Soulslike games, which is fair in this case, there’s also a lot about this title that makes it entirely unique. One of the primary ways in whichLords of the Fallenseparates itself from all the other Soulslikes is in its Consumable Items.
This game is hard and intentionally overwhelming in a lot of areas, and players are going to basically need each and every Consumable Item they collect to get through these situations without pulling their hair out. So, with that in mind, let’s go over some Consumable Items that players will want to almost always have on them while they’re adventuring around Mournstead.
Ammunition Pouches & Ammunition Satchels
First up let’s talk about Ammunition inLords of the Fallen. Ranged combat in this game is strong, shockingly strong in fact.It’s not just Spells of the Radiant, Infernal, or Umbral variety that carry the ranged options for players in this game but also Crossbow Bolts, Arrows from Bows, and of course Throwable Items. However, while the non-magical ranged options obviously don’t use mana as a resource, a different meter does replace the mana meter when players switch to any of these options. This meter basically represents the player’s ‘stock’ of ammunition.
Ammunition Pouches and Satchels, in regard to ammo, are just free refill items that players can use mid-combat. Not only is this incredibly helpful for using a lot of the high-damage Throwables like the Enhanced Lump Hammer, but it’s alsoa great way for co-op playersto keep each other alive by using Throwables like the Enhanced Radiantburst Parchment to both damage enemies and heal each other.
Briostones, Briostone Pairs, & Briostone Trios
Briostones are pretty basic, they’re just healing items that heal players for a small amount over a duration of time. Think of them like Lifegems inDark Souls 2, or Blood Root inRemnant 2. The heal they provide, even if players use a Briostone Trio item, is relatively minimal, but it quickly adds up especially when used on top of other HP-regen items or spells.
While they’re not really worth using (at least over most other options) to save a player’s life mid-boss fight, they are worth using if players are exploring and have run out of Sanguinarix Charges. Plus, if players find that they can handle all of a boss’s attacks save for one or two moves, it might be worth using a Briostone when there’s a lull so that the player will basically passively heal whenever they get hit by those moes they can’t seem to get the timing down on.
Lucky Paws & Charmed Paws
Charmed Paws (and the weaker variant, Lucky Paws) are very similar to some of the Item Discovery-raising items in some of the Souls games such as the Symbol of Avarice Helmet inDark Soulsor using a Silver-Pickled Fowl Foot inElden Ring. However, inLords of the Fallen, Charmed Paws boost Item Discovery by a ton more than these items usually do in other games.
It’s not 100 percent clear how much it boosts it yet, but it honestly feels like the drop rate becomes 100 percent when a Charmed Paw is used. Regardless of what the actual numerical benefit is, the buff is noticeable and it’s not even time-based. Once players use a Charmed Paw, the effect is active until they die (AKA die while in Umbral). There are a lot of different weapons, armor sets, items, and other materials to gather inLords of the Fallen, some of which have very low drop rates. So, Charmed Paws do a whole lot to make that gathering process easier.
Small, Regular, & Large Manastone Clusters
Just like how Ammunition Pouches and Satchels are overpowered for enabling players to throw nigh-infinite amounts of grenades, hammers, and javelins, Manastone Clusters are crucial for any character planning to build around spells and sorceries. While the way that Vestige Seedlings work inLords of the Fallenis pretty unique (AKA planting them in Umbral Flowerbeds), players will still find that they’re often out of Sanguinarix Charges and in desperate need of any ranged damage or healing option to help them make it just a bit further to the nearest Vestige (and it’s even worse in NG+).
Yet, for the first big stretch of the game, players don’t have many ways to heal other than their Sanguinarix, which they can easily burn through just dealing with one of those Ardent Penitents in Pilgrim’s Perch. So, having Manastones not only helps a player pick off dangerous enemies from afar using magic, but it also helps them stay topped off using healing spells (though the Radiant category of magic does have a monopoly on healing spells).
Umbral Vertebrae
When players first start out inLords of the Fallen, they don’t typically rely on the Soulflay mechanic of their Umbral Lamp. However, as more time passes, they’ll slowly start to see that this mechanic is very useful, despite how slow and awkward the animation seems.
Soulflaying is an easy way to disrupt difficult enemies, pull opponents off cliffs, or yank certain annoying foes toward the player. Even in boss fights,Soulflaying usually has reason to use it. So, by having an Umbral Vertebrae on hand at all times, players won’t need to worry about trying to use Soul Siphon in themiddle of a tough boss fightor anything like that to quickly regain their Soulflay Charges.
Vestige Seeds
Vestige Seeds, Umbral Flowerbeds, and Seedlings are all unique parts ofLords of the Fallenthat do a whole lot to separate this game from its peers. Essentially, fans of the Soulslike genre of games can think of Vestige Seeds as portable bonfires, as the Dark Crusader can plant a Seed on any Umbral Flowerbed to create a Vestige Seedling that works as a makeshift Vestige. However, as soon as players grow another Vestige Seedling in a different Flowerbed, the previous Seedling ceases to exist.
However, traveling around without any Vestige Seeds is usually a quick way to feel frustrated. The reason for this is that, in a lot of areas ofLords of the Fallenplayers will find themselves out of heals, lost, and desperately searching for the next Vestige. And, most of the time in those circumstances, players will instead find an Umbral Flowerbed. But, if the player doesn’t have even a single Vestige Seed, they’ll have to either go buy one from the hub and then make the trek to this spot again, or desperately hopesome Umbral enemy nearby will drop one for them.
Vestige Moths
And finally, let’s talk about Vestige Moths. If players are going to spend a lot of their hard-earned Vigor buying Consumable Items from the Skyrest NPC Merchants, they should primarily spend it on either Vestige Moths or Vestige Seeds at Molhu (who is also the Merchant to go towhen hoarding Plucked Eyeballs). The reasoning for this is simple, these items are usually what makes the difference between bringing a huge hoard of Vigor back to the hub or making it to that next checkpoint that’s a lot closer to the upcoming boss fight.
In particular, Vestige Moths do the same thing as the Desiccated Vestige Moth everyone starts with, but without any sort of downside. Instead of taking all the player’s Vigor to return them to the most recent Vestige (basically a voluntary death), a Vestige Moth does the same thing while letting the player keep all their Vigor. It’s absolutely worth using these things whenever a player feels like they’ll have their Vigor stash taken away from them around the next corner or even if they can tell a boss fight they accidentally stumbled into isn’t worth tackling without spending their Vigor first.
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