One of the biggest selling points for Lords of the Fallen is the unique mechanic of the Umbral Realm, the realm of the dead that mirrors the living realm, Axiom. Umbral is home to powerful monsters, puzzles, and a haunting environment.
Players will need to visit the Umbral Realm often to solve puzzles and reach objectives that can only be reached by visiting this realm and navigating the dangers inside. It is a unique mechanic that sets Lords of the Fallen 2023 apart from other Souls-likes.
What Is The Umbral Realm
It is explained in the starting cutscenes before the character starts their journey in the game that the Umbral Realm is the realm of the dead. A mirror world that co-exists with the world of the living in perfect harmony.
Certain enemies in the game only exist in the Umbral Realm, and players will only face them when they enter this realm. There are a few different types of these Umbral entities that will attack the player when he encounters them. Some of the more notable ones are:
- White Zombies: The easiest enemy in the Umbral Realm that appears as soon as the player enters the realm. They do little damage but can swarm players using their numbers. Sweeping weapons like greatswords are the best for clearing hordes of zombies.
- Mother Moths: Stronger monsters that are much harder to deal with than the zombies. Not only do they have a much larger health pool and stronger attacks, but they also spawn more zombies to swarm the player.
- The Reaper: Appears when the Dread bar (the white eye) fills up completely. These are extremely strong enemies that can one-shot the player character easily.
How To Access The Umbral Realm
The Lampbearer is the game’s version of the chosen one, and all players will become a lampbearer as soon as they start the game. Players can use the lamp as a way to view what’s going on in the Umbral Realm while staying in Axiom by holding up the lamp using a hotkey. Despite what it looks like, the range of the lamp’s field of vision is infinite. If you point the lamp at a far-off area of the map and there is an Umbral bridge there, you’ll be able to see it.
With the lamp comes the ability to enter the Umbral by pressing and holding CTRL + Q on the Keyboard. Alternatively, if players die in Axiom, they rise again in Umbral for their second life. But if they die in Umbral, their run ends.
Players can return to Axiom from Umbral by using Skull posts or by resting at a Vestige point. You can also use a Vestige Seedling to create a custom resting point in an area where there are white flowers on the ground.