Some things lie
off the beaten path.
Hidden places, strange discoveries, playful cheats, and the world’s final secrets. Each reveal stays closed until you choose to open it.
Spoilers ahead. This guide covers the secrets and Easter eggs verified in the supplied 4.2.0 game files.
Six hidden places.
These are the in-game hints and rewards. A place’s level is its difficulty rating.
Hermit's Grotto
forest · LEVEL 12
A dry cave behind a waterfall, lit by a hundred candles. Someone lives here, and trades in strange things.
In-game clue: Behind the waterfall in the Gravewood...
Named treasure: The Pilgrim's Endless Pack
Crow's Rest
forest · LEVEL 6
A leaning shack in the trees. Gambling is forbidden by royal law, which is exactly why Lucky Oswin runs his tables here.
In-game clue: Knock three, ask for the crow that sleeps at noon.
The Sunken Vault
crypt · LEVEL 38
A smugglers' vault under the tide line. Only open at low tide, for those who know the rhyme.
In-game clue: Low tide, lantern three, knock twice on the drowned tree.
A treasure hoard waits here.
Tomb of the Sleeping Queen
frost · LEVEL 62
Below the glacier temple, a queen sleeps and dreams of summers she stole.
In-game clue: DO NOT WAKE THE QUEEN.
Encounter: The Sleeping Queen
A treasure hoard waits here.
Hall of Black Glass
volcanic · LEVEL 78
A hall of black glass under the slag, where something breathes.
In-game clue: We broke into a hall of black glass under the slag.
Encounter: The Breathing Dark
A treasure hoard waits here.
The Godforge
eclipse · LEVEL 98
Where Grimmbladee was made. The hammer is still on the anvil.
In-game clue: They made Grimmbladee here.
Encounter: The Forge-Warden
Named treasure: Godforged Maul
A treasure hoard waits here.
The Last Quarter.
The Pale Herald’s trial & the Mods code
At level 75, meet the Pale Herald and accept The Last Quarter. Survive three battles in a row without resting; the trial uses enemies above your current road level.
Reveal the 4.2.0 code
Enter ASHEN-VOW-75 in Settings → More → Mods. The Herald repeats the code after the quest is complete.
In the older 1.3.1 release, this was a level-64 ordeal with a code unique to each journey. Its rules are different from the rebuilt game.
A little chaos.
Start or load a journey, then open Settings → More → Cheats. These are built-in game options.
15 playful cheat modes
- Pocket Hero
- You are very small. Very, very small.
- Colossus
- You are enormous. Doorways fear you.
- Teacup Monsters
- Every foe is pint-sized.
- Kaiju Mode
- Every foe is enormous.
- Rainbow Hero
- You shimmer through every color.
- Ghost Mode
- Half-see-through. Monsters ignore you unless touched.
- Bouncy Boots
- Every step is a hop.
- Party Time
- Confetti when you run, confetti when foes fall.
- Piñata Foes
- Foes burst into coins and drop triple gold.
- Moon Gravity
- Sparks, blood and dust float lazily upward.
- Disco Night
- Every light in the world cycles through colors.
- Squeaky Shoes
- Your footsteps squeak.
- Eternal Noon
- No darkness anywhere, ever.
- Eternal Midnight
- It is always the dead of night.
- Jelly Legs
- Everyone wobbles like jelly.
15 gameplay cheats
- God Mode
- You cannot lose integrity.
- Executioner
- Every hit is lethal to foes.
- Titanic Strength
- Triple power, guard and integrity.
- Critical Mass
- Every blow lands as a critical hit.
- Endless Mana
- Spells never drain your mana.
- Bottomless Lungs
- Stamina and agility never run out.
- Phantom Steps
- Roaming monsters vanish from the wilds.
- All-Seeing Eye
- Reveal every level map and chest.
- Swift Boots
- Walk and run 60% faster.
- Merchant's Favor
- Everything in shops costs nothing.
- Steady Hand
- Every charge is perfect.
- Midas Touch
- Double gold from every source.
- Treasure Hunter
- Every chest holds at least epic loot.
- Loaded Dice
- Gambling wins pay double.
- Bullet Time
- Battles play at half speed. Savor every swing.
Instant cheats, travel & random surprises
- +10,000 gold
- +5 player levels
- Mythic gear set
- Random legendary
- Grimmbladee
- Potion crate
- Full heal
- Train every stat +100
- Gold shower
- Spawn a chest
- Fireworks
- Teleport to the exit
- Random new look
- Change the weather
- Adopt a random pet
- Free house (or upgrade) here
- Free furniture (one of everything)
- Unlock every aura
- Clear all cheats
Travel skips to a selected road stage from 1–100. “Random cheat!” can toggle an option or trigger an instant action. Using cheats records cheat use on that journey.
Pages left behind.
All 20 collectible lore pages, including their hidden clues.
The Bell Ringer's Diary
Third night the bell rang with no hand on the rope. Third name carved inside it. Mine was the first.
A Pilgrim's Map Note
Waystones go dark where the bandits camp. Follow the crows instead: they always know where the dead are.
Torn Ledger Page
...owed to the Matron: forty names, thirty silks, one child. Paid in full by the Bandit King. Do not ask how.
Smuggler's Rhyme
Low tide, lantern three, knock twice on the drowned tree. The vault will open for you and me.
Orin's Margin Notes
The blade was never meant to be hidden forever. Only until someone worth trusting came. I chose wrong once.
Warning Carved in Ice
DO NOT WAKE THE QUEEN. She sleeps below the glacier temple. She dreams of summers she stole.
Miner's Last Letter
We broke into a hall of black glass under the slag. Something breathed. Tell my wife the pay was good.
Ember Hymn
Burn, little spark, burn for the forge. The Widow is hungry and so is the gorge.
Astronomer's Plate
The eclipse is not a shadow. It is a door. We built the crossbow to shut it. We were late by a single night.
Scarlord's Decree
Every seal broken is a promise kept. I will carry the blade the gods were too frightened to wield.
The Gambler's Creed
Gambling is forbidden by royal law. So is fun. Knock three, ask for the crow that sleeps at noon.
Hunter's Guide, Ch. 4
Wolves come in packs. Kill the alpha and the rest hesitate. Throw meat if you must run.
Temple Tablet
The hidden gods ask only this: give what you can spare to those who cannot. They notice.
A Child's Drawing
A crooked house, a big dog, and a person with a sword. Underneath: "you came back".
Deserter's Confession
The captain sold our rations to the Blackbanners. I ran. If you find my badge, tell them I was sorry.
Alchemist's Recipe Scrap
Bloodmoss and an empty vial make a mending draught any fool can brew. Add ghostcap for mana.
Thieves' Cant Notes
A chalk mark on the door means a fence lives here. Two marks mean run.
The Hermit's Sign
Behind the waterfall in the gravewood, a hermit trades in things that should not exist.
Dragon Lore
Drakes nest where the earth is warm and the sky is low. The young ones bond to the first face they see.
Last Light Charter
Whoever reaches the citadel, remember the refugees. Remember the names. Remember us.
Five ways to end the night.
Reveal all endings and how they are chosen
All five endings grant Grimmbladee. The game checks the pact and mercy first, then the bond total of joined original companions. Conditions are checked in this order: Throne, Dawn, Road, Night’s Warden, Hearth, then fallback.
The Dawn Grave
Condition: After the pact/negative-mercy check, mercy of at least 4 and total bond of at least 230 with joined original companions selects this ending.
You carry Grimmbladee back to the first empty grave, where the bell once rang your name.
Orin names the blade. Veyr gives it mercy. Aelith gives it song. Bramble gives it a home.
You lay it in the earth, and a green flower opens in the place where the bell used to be.
The world remembers your name. Not as a conqueror — as the one who brought the blade home.
And every spring after, four friends and one traveler gather at the grave to laugh until the stars come out.
The Rekindled Hearth
Condition: After the earlier ending checks, mercy of at least 1 selects this ending.
Grimmbladee hangs above the hearth of a village rebuilt from the refugees you saved.
Bramble insists it is "just decoration" and polishes it every single morning.
The blade never hungers here. It only keeps watch over sleeping children and lanterns in the windows.
You grow old in the village. Some nights the blade hums a song nobody taught it.
The Wanderer's Road
Condition: After the pact and high-mercy checks, total joined-original-companion bond below 150 selects the Road. It is also the final fallback.
Your companions scatter like leaves after the eclipse breaks, each to the life the war interrupted.
You keep walking with Grimmbladee on your back, from road to road, ruin to ruin.
Travelers tell stories of a lone figure with a black sword who appears where the dead will not rest.
You never stay. The blade is heavy, but it is the only company that never left.
The Kingless Throne
Condition: Taking the pact, or mercy of −3 or lower, selects the Throne before all other checks.
You climb the steps of the Eclipse Citadel and sit upon the throne Scarlord left empty.
Grimmbladee rests across your knees, warm as a living thing.
The lands obey. The roads are safe. No one remembers how it felt to be free to fear you.
Late at night, in the mirror of the blade, you sometimes see a scar where your smile used to be.
Night's Warden
Condition: After the pact, high-mercy and low-bond checks, Veyr bond of at least 60 and Orin bond of at least 50 selects this ending.
Grimmbladee does not want a ruler. It wants a guardian for the grief the world refuses to feel.
You and Veyr take up the watch at the edge of the eclipse, where the night meets the waking world.
Orin teaches the stars new names. Aelith sings them every dusk. Bramble builds you a very small, very sturdy tower.
Each night you walk the border with the gods' blade, so that no one ever has to become a Scarlord again.
Each original companion’s aftermath also changes at bond 50: a close friendship leads to a hopeful future, while lower bonds lead to separation.