Equipment
how to equip ambers valor mortis
Rest at a lantern, spend Catalysts, and the first Amber slot opens at level 5.
Lantern rules before you spend
What an Amber does
Ambers are accessories William wears for passive buffs. They are mods on top of the weapon, not a second sword. Some raise health, stamina, defense, or resistance to ailments. Others lean offensive: weapon damage, skill duration, and similar fight numbers.
They change how William plays. One heals when you execute after a posture break. Perfectionism adds substantial damage while you are at full health.
That pair is enough to plan around. A heal-on-execution Amber wants you to break posture. Perfectionism wants you to stop trading chip damage. Chests in the field are where Ambers turn up.
You can swap an Amber once its node is unlocked. You do not have to commit the first gem you socket for the whole run. If a buff looks like a weapon trait, check the weapon too. The Saber's block recovery and the Rapier's weak-spot bias are weapon lines, not Ambers.
The equip order
Rest at any lantern. Spending happens there, not while you are walking between fights. Catalysts buy the level. Raising the level is what opens the Amber node. The first slot arrives at level 5.
Until that level, ignore socket plans. Put Catalysts into stats, stamina, and health, and keep the rest for the lantern. Unspent Catalysts drop on death. Farming a chest and then dying in the next room hands the currency back to the ground.
After level 5, open the Amber node, socket what you found, and leave. If the node is already open, the swap is the whole visit. Pair Perfectionism with a defensive habit: block or parry enough to stay unhurt, because the damage bump wants full health.
Pair a heal-on-execution Amber with posture play. Hit weak points, parry the swings that can be parried, and take the finisher. Transmutations still spend Nephtoglobin beside whatever Amber you wear. An Amber does not replace the purple bar.
A shot that explodes burning enemies, and a stamina refund after a dodge attack, are weapon-tree nodes, not Amber names. The lantern page covers the rest itself, including the death drop. Lothaire pays 10000 Catalysts, Aurelius 15000, and the Sphinx 20000, and you only hold that pile after the kill.
- Reach a lantern before you spend.
- Level to 5 to open the first Amber slot.
- Socket, or swap if the node is already open.
- Keep Perfectionism for full-health fights and execution heals for posture breaks.
Buffs, chests, and skins
Buffs split into a defensive bucket and an offensive one. Defense covers health, stamina, defense, and resistance to ailments. Offense covers weapon damage, how long a skill lasts, and similar fight numbers. Read the gem you found and file it in one of those two buckets before you socket it.
Chests are where you find them. If you open a chest and die before the next lantern, Catalysts you had not spent fall on the ground. The gem is only safe once it is in your inventory.
An unlocked node turns the lantern into a swap. You do not pay the node a second time to change gems. The first node is the level 5 slot. Any later node the progression screen shows follows the same rest.
Weapon skins are a different object. The Deluxe La Grande Armee pack lists skins for a pistol, a blunderbuss, a musket, a claymore, a rapier, and a sabre. Those names belong to the edition. They are not Amber titles, and a skin does not grant the full-health damage of Perfectionism.
Keep two plans. Perfectionism is the plan for a fight you can finish unhurt. The execution heal is the plan for a fight you win by breaking posture. Swap at a lantern. Neither plan refills Nephtoglobin. Weak spots and sword hits still do that work.