Victory is not assured, Flameborn. There is great danger still out there, and you must strengthen the Flame if you hope to survive the Shroud
Part of Enshrouded‘s gameplay involves exploration. However, your ability to explore is constrained by two factors. The first is your level. More dangerous creatures appear the further out you go, and require more effort to defeat in combat. The second constraint is the various Enshrouded areas you come across.
This constraint expresses itself not only in the timer that you have to operate under, but also the intensity of the Enshrouded areas themselves. As you go further out, the Shroud becomes more intense, and you’ll probably come across areas which say “Deadly Shroud,” which burns down your timer far more rapidly. Where you once had minutes, you’ll now only have seconds. The only way to get around this is to strengthen your Flame Level. And that’s not going to be as easy as it sounds – but fortunately, this guide is here to help!
Gathering The Offerings
Your Flame Altar will list what materials you need to sacrifice to bring the Flame Level to 3. Almost all of these can be found as loose resources just laying around in various spots, but it’s better to gather them yourself.
- Wax is fairly easy to come across, dropping from Beehives.
- Salt can be obtained from the Egerton Salt Mine, which the Hunter pointed you towards right after you installed her in your base.
- Shroud Wood comes from trees in Enshrouded areas.
- Flintstone can be mined in various locations, even right near your base.
- Charcoal is created at the Charcoal Kiln, which should have been built after installing the Blacksmith.
- Sparks are gathered from Flame Shrines, and you should have quite a few spare right now.
It’s the last item in the list which is likely to cause some consternation: a Scavenger Matron Head. Up to this point, you probably haven’t even seen such a creature as a Scavenger Matron. Clearly, you’re going to need to seek them out and claim their head as a trophy in order to strengthen your Flame Level.
The Hill of Scavengers & The Scavenger Matron
First off, the usual preparations are advised: fully rest, feed on Grilled Wolf Meat, and drink some Water. Warrior-type characters will want to probably improve their Strength stat by eating a Roasted Corncob, giving them a +2 to Strength. Ranger-types will want to eat a Tomato (raw; they can’t be cooked right now) for a +2 bump to Dexterity. Mage-types will want to eat a Roasted Red Mushroom for a +2 Intelligence buff. You’ll also want a full stack of Bandages and Healing Potions in your action bars.
You’ll want to be at least level 7 to undertake this ordeal. Head east out of Ferndale and follow the road which lays north over the Enshrouded area around the ruins of Moth’s Grove. Continue following the road south and you’ll come to a palisade wall on a small hill, which will identify itself as The Hill of Scavengers. The main entryway will likely have some traps laid out in front, at least a couple of them explosive in nature. Set them off safely with a ranged attack, then advance. There are about four or five Scavengers, at least two of them archers. Clear them out, then take a moment to scour the area for loose materials and common chests.
The Scavenger encampment is essentially a large circle. Going left or right will take you around the perimeter of the circle, while going straight ahead will take you through a tunnel to the opposite side. As soon as you start going around the perimeter or through the tunnel, the health bar for the Scavenger Matron will appear.
Don’t worry about that just yet. Instead, take your time, clear out the Scavengers from around the perimeter, and gather up any common chests you might find. In the tunnel is a lore item, warning about a type of enemy known as a Gorger. The details are scanty, but it’s XP. Once the perimeter is secured, it’s time to face the boss. There’s a ramp just past the tunnel leading up to the “inner sanctum” at the top of the hill, but there’s also a Grappling Hook point on the west side of the perimeter. Make your way up using either method, and prepare to throw down.
The Scavenger Matron is not only big and ugly. She’s big, ugly, and mean. Her preferred method of attack is firing blobs of poison at you, creating small pools of the stuff when it lands on the ground. It’s a fairly short-ranged attack, but the poison burns health down quickly, both on the initial hit and via damage-over-time. If you get too close, she will perform a melee attack, and she hits like a truck.
She doesn’t seem to have any particular vulnerabilities or resistances, so your best bet is to kite her around with ranged attacks from bows, wands, and staves. If you’ve been daring enough to get the Eternal Ice Bolt spell mentioned by the Alchemist, or if you’re just rocking the regular Ice Bolt, it will hit hard and slow her down a little bit (she’s not terribly fast). If you’re wanting to drop her hard and fast, inside the tunnel are a couple Elixir potions on a table opposite the lore item. They’ll provide you with a 30% damage boost, so, if you want to bring the pain, using one of these might not be a bad idea. The catch: it reduces your Enshrouded timer by two minutes, so if you drink one, make sure you’re not going into any Enshrouded areas for about half an hour.
Once the Scavenger Matron goes down, she’ll have a final insult prepared for you: her body explodes and lays down a field of poison in close proximity to her corpse. Wait till the poison dissipates, then loot the body. You’ll get the Scavenger Matron Head, along with some random loot. Head into the inner sanctum and check out the small fenced off area on the east side. There will be a gold chest there. Take another pass around to look for loose materials and common chests, then fast travel home. With the Scavenger Matron Head in hand, you have the last piece needed to raise the Flame Level.
Aftermath: New Recipes
In addition to upgrading your Flame Level to 3, you may have noticed that you unlocked the Improved Grappling Hook recipe. All you have to do is unequip your existing Grappling Hook, head over to the Carpenter, and you can craft the upgraded version. You can now latch on to Grappling Hook Points from further away for a lower cost in Stamina, definitely a benefit in your future explorations.
Also, you can now go to the Blacksmith and potentially craft your own Grappling Hook Pull Anchors (for getting up on to platforms) and Grappling Hook Swing Anchors (for swinging across gaps). Base building can now get very wild and highly vertical. However, it’ll require Copper Bars, a resource you haven’t come across yet, and which will likely require the Smelter upgrade that Oswald keeps pestering you about.
Flame Level 3 Sacrificial Offerings
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10 Wax
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10 Salt
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5 Sparks
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10 Shroud Wood
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10 Flintstone
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10 Charcoal
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1 Scavenger Matron Head
Carpenter Recipes
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Improved Grappling Hook – 1 Shroud Core, 2 Shroud Liquid, 3 Shroud Spores, 1 Grappling Hook
Blacksmith Recipe
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Grappling Hook Pull Anchor – 3 Metal Sheets, 1 Copper Bar
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Grappling Hook Swing Anchor – 3 Metal Sheets, 1 Copper Bar
Now with your Flame Level further strengthened, the next major milestone is ahead of you: conquering the Ancient Spire in the Revelwood. It’s going to be an arduous journey, but it’s going to help you in a number of ways. Steel yourself, Flameborn. This will be one of your toughest adventures yet. And make sure to check out GameLuster’s other Enshrouded guides for help along your journey!
