The Umbral/Axion duality in Lords of the Fallen is a love-it-or-hate-it feature in this game. It brings a unique take on the death cycle from Soulslike games where your first death technically doesn’t count, and you’re sent to the Umbral realm instead. But this is no safe haven for you either, and you must find a way to return to the Axion as soon as possible or suffer the consequences. Here’s what happens if you stay in the Umbral for too long in Lords of the Fallen.
Are There Downsides to Being in Umbral in Lords of the Fallen?
The Umbral Realm is the realm of the dead in Mounstead, and one of the main gameplay loops is to willingly enter it with the power of your Umbral Lamp to uncover hidden areas and explore ancient memories left by other souls. But you’re not welcome here, and the more you stay in there, the more suffering will be yours to bear.
Once you enter Umbral, an eye opens right below your Vigor amount. This eye has a gauge around it showing how long you can stay in this realm. After roughly eight minutes in Umbral without finding a way to return to the Axion (the realm of the living), the eye gets bloodshot and your character also gets a red glow around it.
But more importantly, you’ll see a red glowing on the floor along with a terrifying screech. This is your final cue to run for your (semi) life! A red entity spawns from the glowing floor and starts pursuing you to death. This demon won’t leave you alone until you can reach a Vestige or find an effigy to return to your proper life. Your healing items are also locked when you get to this level, so running is your only chance if you’re already too low.
This is the main downside of the Umbral, but you also get some bad company from the moment you first enter it. Your health is withered every couple of moments, and Umbral enemies will be constantly spawning to hunt you down alongside the regular foes you naturally encounter.
They all wield Vigor, so this can be useful for farming. But staying for too long could also mean risking losing all of your hard-earned currency in the blink of an eye.
But beware since health-recovering items are also less effective here, and you’ll always have to hit your enemies to fully heal thanks to the constant withering. Enemies get fiercer the longer you stay in this realm, and there’s always that big problem if you can’t find your exit ticket out of the land of the dead.
Tapping into the Umbral is still necessary at various moments of the game, so you can’t run from it. But you should definitely run from those wicked entities if you value your life and your Vigor. The eye closes whenever you get near a Vestige, so you may say you’re safe as soon as you reach one and there are no other enemies following you. The lamp also has a lot of other functions, so don’t forget to level it whenever you can!
