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11 Relics are the central progression system of The Relic: First Guardian, and they replace the experience-and-levels structure used by most RPGs. The Guardian grows by collecting these memories and equipping them, and the combination chosen defines the kind of Guardian you become. Runes are a related but separate layer, and relic energy is the resource that powers skills.
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33 Relics, Runes, and Relic Energy
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55 These three terms are easy to confuse because they all sit inside the same progression loop. The developers list them separately when describing how a character is built, alongside equipment.
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77 TermWhat It IsRelicA fragment carrying the memories and emotions of someone who lived in Arsilthus before its fall. Each grants a passive effectRuneA separate equippable modifier. One added after launch increases consumable items, which shows they can affect resources as well as combatRelic EnergyThe resource spent to equip skills onto your chosen weapons. Also called Ancient Memories where it appears in the worldSealstoneA named kind of Relic tied to hidden dungeons
88 What a Relic Is
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1010 In the fiction, Relics are fragments imbued with the emotions and wishes of those who lived in Arsilthus before its fall: promises, waiting, fear, and love given lasting form. Collecting them is described as gathering memories. Mechanically each Relic carries a passive effect, and there are more than 70 unique passive effects in total. They can be swapped freely, so a build is not a commitment.
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1212 What Relics Do
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1414 Effect TypeDescriptionReshape skill behaviourA Relic can change how an existing skill works, altering its function rather than just boosting a numberAlter combat tempoSome Relics shift the pace and rhythm of combat, changing how aggressively or defensively you can playEnhance weapon stylesCertain Relics strengthen specific weapon styles, rewarding builds that lean into one masteryInfuse weapons with special attacksRelic powers can imbue a weapon with special attacks on top of its base moveset
1515 Relic Energy
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1717 Relic energy is what you spend to equip skills onto a weapon, which makes it the practical gate on how much of a skill tree you can bring into a fight. It is picked up in the world as Ancient Memories. How it is earned changed after launch: standard monster rewards were switched over to relic energy, making ordinary combat a reliable source, and skill upgrades were made faster in response to player feedback. An early bug where Ancient Memories in caves blocked player interaction was also fixed.
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1920 Sealstones
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2122 One named kind of Relic is the sealstone. Completing narrative events during exploration rewards sealing stones, and these grant access to hidden dungeons, tying progression to what you discover rather than to experience points. That makes exploring Arsilthus one of the main ways to advance. The paid add-on includes a named example, the Sealstone of the Undying Ember, paired with its own dungeon; see the Editions and Pre-Order Bonus page. How many sealstones exist, and how they slot alongside other Relics, has not been detailed.
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2324 Building Your Guardian
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2526 Because there are no character levels, Relics are the main lever for growth. Equipping different Relics lets players define their own destiny and shifts progression toward what they find in the world. A player who favours fast, aggressive play can build toward that with Relics that alter tempo, while a player specialising in one weapon mastery can stack Relics that enhance that style. Relics work alongside the game's other growth tools: equipment, crafting, and Runes.
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2728 The full list of the 70-plus passive effects, and the rules for how many Relics can be slotted at once, has not been published, so this page covers the confirmed framework.