Lanterns are the anchor points of Valor Mortis. They are where William respawns after death, where he refills his healing flask, and where he spends Catalysts to become stronger. Reaching one is the unit of progress the whole game is measured in.
Two Jobs at Once
Most of the tension in the game comes from the fact that the lantern is both things at the same time.
Function | What it means in play |
|---|---|
Checkpoint | Resting sets your respawn point. Die anywhere ahead of it and you come back here |
Upgrade station | Catalysts are converted into permanent improvements only at a lantern |
Refill | Healing flask charges are restored when you rest |
Because banking and spending happen in the same place, a large unspent balance is always at risk. Progress you have not carried back to a lantern is progress you can still lose, which is what makes the decision to push one more room a real decision rather than a formality.
The Loop
1. Leave a lantern with a full flask and an empty balance.
2. Fight through Eternal Guard soldiers and pick up Catalysts.
3. Decide whether to bank what you have or press on for more.
4. Reach the next lantern, rest, spend, and move the checkpoint forward.
Dying breaks the loop at step three. Your carried Catalysts are dropped where you fell and can be recovered, but dying again before you reach them wipes the balance. The Catalysts and Progression page covers that recovery rule in full.
Reliability
Lanterns are systems, not scenery, and the studio has patched them. A June 2026 hotfix for the demo listed a change that adjusted lantern interactions to be more consistent and stable across both levels, which is a useful reminder that the interaction had rough edges in the demo build and that its behaviour at launch is the version to trust.
Practical Advice
Treat each lantern as a goal in its own right, not as a waypoint on the way to a boss.
Spend small balances rather than carrying them into unfamiliar ground. An upgrade you already own cannot be dropped.
When you are recovering a dropped stack, take the safest route back even if it means walking past fights you would normally take.
Rest before a boss door rather than after clearing the approach, so you go in with full flask charges.
The Getting Started page fits this advice into the wider early game.
What Is Still Open
As of September 13, 2026, across the official store listing, the official site, the studio's Steam development posts and the published trailers, the studio has not said how many lanterns a chapter contains, whether lanterns can be fast-travelled between, whether lighting one respawns the enemies around it, or whether the flask itself can be upgraded to hold more charges. The Combat page covers what the display shows about flask charges during a fight.