Checkpoints
Valor Mortis lanterns
A lantern is the checkpoint. Die, and you return there. Unused Catalysts fall on the ground.
Spend Catalysts on the Amber slot
Checkpoint list
What the lantern is for
Death sends William back to the last lantern, and unused Catalysts drop. That makes the lantern both a save and a purse. Anything you meant to spend and did not spend is loot for the run back.
Catalysts upgrade stats, stamina, and health. They are also the price of the level that opens an Amber node. The equip screen is the lantern rest. You unlock the node by spending, and the first slot is level 5.
If a node is already unlocked, the same rest is where you swap Ambers. There is no second menu out in the fog. Treat a new lantern as the moment you bank progress. Pushing past one with a full purse is how a single death erases the shopping trip.
Boss approaches follow the same rule. Lothaire starts on the Battlefield. If you pass a lantern before him, that is the retry point, not the grave from the prologue. The Sphinx sends you through a cart in the Salt Mines in Chapter 4. Ride that cart only after the previous lantern is one you can stomach replaying.
A practical rest
Arrive, sit, and look at unspent Catalysts before you admire the next door. If you are under level 5, buy the levels that open the first Amber slot, then put the remainder into health or stamina if you are getting clipped.
If you are at or past level 5, socket an Amber if you are holding one. Perfectionism wants full health. A heal on execution wants posture breaks. A boss drop is not money you already own. Lothaire drops 10000 Catalysts, Aurelius 15000, and the Sphinx 20000.
You only hold that payout after the fight. Dying on the way spends nothing you have not already banked, but it drops what you refused to spend. Nephtoglobin is not a Catalyst. It is the purple bar for Transmutations, refilled by weak spots and sword hits. Sitting at the lantern is not how that bar refills.
Weapon swaps, if you are carrying both a sword and a gun, can happen around the same rest. The Rapier and the Pistol both lean on weak spots. The Saber is the block-and-parry starter. The Musket is the long single target. Tick spend, the level 5 slot, and the death rule once a rest has covered them. The ticks stay in this browser, and the clear button wipes them.
New Game Plus, planned for the fourth quarter of 2026, keeps loot and progression. A lantern habit you build now is the habit that carry-over expects. The release page has the clock if you are still outside the game. Inside, the next useful page is Ambers or the boss you are walking toward.
What you bank at the rest
Spend before you admire the next corridor. Levels are what open an Amber node, and the first slot is level 5. If that node is already open, the visit is only a swap of the gem you are holding.
Death returns William here and leaves unused Catalysts where he fell. Walking past a fresh lantern with a full purse hands that purse to the run back. Ferrofluid Flasks are the heal you burn on Aurelius when parries fail. A flask is not a Catalyst, and a rest does not mint new flasks.
Nephtoglobin stays separate. The purple bar climbs when you shatter a weak point or hit with the sword. Sitting at the lantern does not refill the left hand.
Five ticks cover the rest, the level 5 slot, the death return, the Catalyst drop, and the stat spend. They stay in this browser. Clear checks removes that memory and does not touch a save in the game.