Valor Mortis beginner guide: combat, death and Lanterns, how long to beat, PC specs

Valor Mortis is a first-person soulslike from One More Level, the Polish studio behind Ghostrunner. It is set in an alternate 19th-century Eastern Europe: Napoleon won at Waterloo, his endless war goes on, and a supernatural plague is spreading across the land. You play William Dowsett, a soldier of the Grande Armée brought back from the dead, who now has to fight his former comrades turned undead. The game launched on 13 October 2026 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series.

Below is what's worth knowing before your first session: how combat works, what happens when you die, how many hours the game takes and whether your PC can run it.

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What the game is and how it was received

The reviews are good rather than glowing. The PC version sits at 77 on Metacritic (around 55 reviews), PS5 at 79. The OpenCritic top critic average is 79. Individual outlets: IGN 7/10, GameSpot 6/10, Eurogamer 4/5. On Steam the reviews are "Very Positive", around 81%.

Praise goes to the atmosphere and setting, the enemy design, the parry-based combat and the mix of blade, pistol and supernatural powers. Criticism goes to the story (predictable, much of it told through notes), the platforming, hard-to-read attacks from some enemies and fights against crowds. GameSpot says the game grabs at too many ideas at once, and several reviewers feel it weakens in the second half.

Combat basics

• Block, dodge or parry. The sabre blocks hits, but blocking costs a little health. Unblockable attacks have to be dodged. A well-timed parry breaks the enemy's posture and opens a heavy counterattack — the whole combat system is built on it.
• The pistol is for weak points. A shot hits an enemy's vulnerable spots hard, but ammo is scarce, so don't spend it on everyone you meet.
• Transmutations are supernatural abilities such as a fire burst from your hand. They run on a substance called Nephtoglobin, which you restore with melee hits and by destroying enemy weak points.
• Endurance. Attacking, blocking, dodging and sprinting all drain the same bar, so you can't swing endlessly.

Death, Lanterns and progression

This part follows soulslike tradition. The currency is Catalysts, which you earn from enemies. You spend them at Lanterns on stats, health and endurance. Lanterns are also checkpoints: they restore your supplies and allow fast travel, but they respawn regular enemies too.

If you die, you return to the last Lantern and your unspent Catalysts stay where you fell. Make it back and you get them; die again on the way and they're gone.

Weapons are upgraded separately: the menu shows a pistol, musket, blunderbuss, sabre, rapier and claymore, each with its own traits. The rapier, for example, is light, parries well and breaks weak points, but blocks poorly.

Are there difficulty modes?

No. There is a single difficulty with no story mode — a deliberate choice by the studio. The settings do offer a few assists, including target lock and combat assistance. Check them before your first fight if soulslikes aren't your thing. Reviewers describe the difficulty as uneven, with bosses as the biggest spikes.

Tips for the first hours

• Practise parrying and dodging from the first enemy. Don't try to block unblockable attacks — step aside.
• Watch your endurance. A few hits, then back off. Upgrading endurance early is a smart move.
• Save ammo for weak points and dangerous enemies.
• Alternate blade and Transmutations. Sabre hits refill Nephtoglobin, and Nephtoglobin powers your abilities.
• Spend Catalysts at every Lantern so you don't carry them into dangerous areas.
• Watch a boss first. Learn how it attacks before committing to a combo.

How long it takes to beat

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The game is linear and split into chapters, but the levels are large, with optional side paths you can reach later once you unlock new traversal abilities. After the final boss you can roam freely and pick up what you missed. New Game+ wasn't there at launch — the studio has promised it later.

PC requirements

You need 60 GB of space, and an SSD is required. Players report stutters (blamed on shader compilation), frame drops and occasional crashes, though many find it stable; turning off ray tracing reportedly helps. The 16 and 23 October patches fixed boss and quest bugs, but no specific performance improvements were announced.

Quick summary before you rent

• Language: Ukrainian is supported for the interface and text. Full voice-over is English only.
• Denuvo isn't listed on the Steam page; there's only a third-party EULA. For how launching works, see how it works.
• Single-player only: no multiplayer or co-op — a plus for offline rental.
• Scores: 77 on Metacritic (PC), "Very Positive" on Steam. Praised for atmosphere and combat, criticised for the story and technical state.

Sources

• Steam store page — release date, languages, requirements, reviews
• Metacritic and OpenCritic — scores
• Wikipedia: Valor Mortis — story, mechanics, scores
• GameSpot review
• GamesRadar review
• Noobfeed: beginner's guide
• GamerFuzion: before you buy
• Itechguides: difficulty and assists
• Insider Gaming: game length
• games.gg: free roam after the ending
• Prima Games: stutters on PC
• VGTimes: player reviews and technical state