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Catalysts and Progression - Version 8 vs Version 9
Sep 14, 2026, 01:26 AM
Added a dated statement of what remains unpublished about the progression economy
Oct 8, 2026, 01:00 PM
Added current Amber and skill-tree details
11Catalysts are the core progression currency in Valor Mortis. As William cuts down the corrupted soldiers of the Eternal Guard he gathers these Catalysts and carries them back to a lantern, where they can be spent to make him stronger. The system follows the familiar shape of a Soulslike economy: progress is earned through combat, banked at safe points, and put at risk every time you push deeper into hostile ground.22Earning Catalysts44Catalysts drop from defeated enemies as you fight your way through each region. The plague-twisted forces of Napoleon's army are the main source, so engaging in Combat is the primary way to build up a balance. Clearing tougher foes and pressing into new areas tends to yield more, which encourages players to keep advancing rather than grinding the same easy encounters. The exact drop values and any bonus sources have not been detailed ahead of release.66Spending at Lanterns88Upgrades are purchased at lanterns, which double as the game's checkpoints. Resting at a lantern restores William, refills his healing flask, and lets him convert his stockpiled Catalysts into permanent improvements. Because lanterns are also where you spend, the act of reaching one safely carries weight: it is both your respawn point and your shop.1010"Catalysts" is the studio's own term, not a nickname coined by coverage. It appears in a playtest patch note describing a bug where the player, or the player's Catalysts, could respawn far from the place of death.1212Character Levels and the Skill Tree1414Spending Catalysts raises a character level and opens a skill tree. The October 2025 playtest build capped progression at ten character levels and exposed only the first section of that tree, which the studio described at the time as the first branches of the skill tree. A demo patch note refers to the same idea from the other side, listing a fix for the player progression cap in the demo build. Hands-on accounts add that the tree unlocks through levelling and that some skills sit behind prerequisite upgrades rather than being available from the start.1616The attributes that have been named across the playable builds are health, stamina, damage and parry capability.1818Named Upgrade Effects2020The most detailed hands-on account of a 2026 build listed specific upgrade effects rather than generic stat lines:2222Upgrade effectWhat it changesIncreased healthA larger health poolReduced damage takenLess damage from every sourceReduced stamina drain while blockingBlocking becomes sustainable for longerIncreased posture damage on a successful parryParries break an enemy's guard faster2424The same account described a separate class of upgrade it called game-changing, built around a tradeoff rather than a straight improvement. The example given: lose all of your healing flasks in exchange for regaining health when you kill enemies. That is the clearest published sign that the tree is meant to support distinct builds rather than one optimal path.2525No cost figures exist for any upgrade. No source has published a single Catalyst price, and the studio has not either.2727Risk on Death3030Catalysts you are carrying when you die are dropped at the spot of your death and must be recovered. Reaching the drop returns the stack. This is the loop that gives the game its tension and is what makes pushing toward the next lantern feel meaningful rather than routine.3232What happens if you die again before you get back there has never been stated. No official post and no hands-on account of any build describes a recovery timer, a second-death wipe, or anything else lost on death besides the Catalysts you were carrying. Genre convention would suggest one, but convention is not a source, so treat the rule as unconfirmed until the shipped game settles it.3434Enemies come back too. Hands-on accounts of the playable builds describe rank-and-file foes respawning when you rest, and note that you can choose whether to re-clear them or run past on your way back to where you fell.3636Accessories3838Beyond raw stat upgrades, William can equip accessories that improve him in specific situations. Hands-on coverage of a 2026 build described accessory slots filled with pickups found in optional side areas and on harder mini-bosses, with the suggestion that loadout tuning is part of how players answer different encounters.4040One hands-on account of the demo went further and named the system Amber slots, describing them as additional upgrade slots carrying effects such as gradual health restoration or an explosion after destroying a weak point. That is a single account and the term has not appeared in any official post, so treat the name as unconfirmed even though the underlying idea matches what other coverage describes. Specific accessory effects have not been detailed by the studio.41+The launch overview names these accessories Ambers. They are found throughout the game and equipped at lanterns as William levels up. A September hands-on build describes a passive bonus that reduces explosion damage. Earlier demo coverage also reported gradual healing and an explosion after destroying a weak point; those remain dated build observations rather than a complete launch-effect list.4242Healing4444Healing comes from a limited consumable that refills only when you rest at a lantern. Hands-on accounts of the 2026 builds put the carried charges at three, which matches what the storefront screenshots show: a flask icon at the bottom left with a charge count beside it. The studio has not published a name for the item, and coverage has variously called it a potion, a vial and a flask.4646Because charges do not regenerate in the field, the flask count is the real timer on any push away from a lantern. It is also the resource the tradeoff upgrade above asks you to give up entirely.4848Upgrading Weapons and Powers5050Catalysts are not only spent on William directly. Some of the budget covers improvements to the Weapons he carries and the Transmutations he can call on, so that the right-hand-melee plus off-hand-tool framework keeps pace with the difficulty of later regions. Treat Catalysts as a shared budget across all three of William's progression tracks rather than dedicating them to any one side.5252Tips for New Players5454A few rules of thumb help with the loop in the opening hours. Spend small stockpiles before pushing into a new area rather than carrying large balances into unfamiliar territory. Treat each lantern as a goal in its own right, not just a waypoint to the next boss. When you are recovering a stack after death, take the safest route back even if it means avoiding fights you would normally take on. The Getting Started page covers the wider early-game advice these tips slot into.5656What Is Still Open5858As of September 13, 2026, across the official store listing, the official site, the studio’s Steam development posts, the published trailers and every hands-on account of a playable build, the studio has published no Catalyst drop values, no upgrade costs, no stat-per-point figures, and no name for the healing item. The full skill tree has never been shown beyond the first branches exposed in the October 2025 playtest, the ten-level cap in that build was a test limit rather than the game's, and nothing has been said about respeccing, new-game-plus carryover, or whether accessories can be upgraded. Most importantly, no source describes what happens to a dropped stack if you die again before recovering it.60+Late preview progression62+The September preview build uses connected skill-tree nodes rather than a conventional list of attributes. Spending enough points opens further nodes. Observed choices include more maximum health or stamina, stronger posture damage from parries and a node that lets melee attacks extract Nephtoglobin. Without that node, the preview instead uses shooting enemy nodules to obtain the supernatural resource.64+Healing-flask potency and charge count can also be raised using upgrade materials in that build. These are observed progression options, not published cost tables. The launch overview separately confirms that weapons and magic can be levelled up.
