Spirits are captured from defeated Yaoguai. Each gives a one-shot special move you can trigger in combat plus a passive bonus while equipped — so choosing one is really two decisions at once, and the passive is often the more important half.
Spirits
- Reduce a lesser Yaoguai to a wisp and absorb it to unlock its Spirit.
- Equip one Spirit for a burst special (a headbutt, a shockwave) plus a passive bonus.
- Swap Spirits to match a fight — some stagger, some buff, some clear crowds.
Skill trees
- Spend Sparks across six trees: Foundation, Staff Stances, Mysticism, Alteration, Strand and Transformations.
- Early on, prioritise Focus generation and stamina; respec anytime at a shrine.
- Foundation's Stamina branch (Simian Agility, Deft Evasion and others) makes dodging noticeably smoother; Rock Solid is a separate Alteration spell, not a dodge node.
Spending priorities
- Focus nodes first — more Focus means more charged Heavies, your core damage.
- Then survival (stamina, health, gourd efficiency) to weather boss combos.
- Round out with stance and spell nodes that support your current plan.
- Respec before a wall boss to over-invest in exactly what that fight demands.
Spirit picks
- Early: a staggering headbutt or shockwave Spirit to open a boss for a charged Heavy.
- Defensive: a Spirit whose passive boosts survivability while you learn a fight.
- Damage: a hard-hitting special to burst during a Break or Immobilize.
- Swap Spirits per boss at a shrine — the right passive can hard-counter a fight.
Two things in one slot
💥 The active
A single move on a cooldown: a stagger, a burst, a defensive beat. Cheap to use and easy to forget you have.
📈 The passive
A permanent stat or property while equipped. Over a long fight this usually contributes more than the active does.
How to pick one
- Match the active to the gap in your kit: a stagger if you cannot interrupt, a heal if the boss out-paces your gourd.
- Match the passive to your build, not to the boss — you keep it the whole fight.
- A Spirit you actually remember to press beats a stronger one you never use.
- Re-check the slot after every chapter; the ones you capture later are not automatically better.
Cross-checked
Cross-checked on 5 September 2026 and re-checked on 26 September 2026 against Fextralife, a Hardcore Gamer Foundation-skills breakdown and Vandal's guide. There are dozens of Spirits, each tied to a specific enemy, but the total is disputed: Vandal counts 54, and other counts reach 70 depending on whether every enemy variant is counted separately; confirmed examples include Wandering Wight (Forest of Wolves, Chapter 1) and the Gore-Eye Daoist (Yellow Wind Formation, Chapter 2). What is still unverified is the only thing reading cannot settle — nobody here has played it.