The Flame and Flame Altars
Flame levels 1 to 11 · altar levels 1 to 4
About the Flame
The Flame is the fire that burns in every Flame Altar, and the voice that tells you where to go next. Most of the main quests start with the Flame. It is the fire of the Ancients: the younger Ancients chose to share it with people so they could stand against the Shroud. The Alchemist believes the Sparks you find in shrines are what is left of Ancients who have died.
You are one of the Flameborn, and the Flame grows stronger the more it is fed: with Sparks, with trophies from the beasts you defeat, and with the faith of the villagers you bring home.
Your first altar
- Make a Flame Altar. You make it from your hand crafting menu. The very first quest, Claim A Spot For Your Base, has you do it.
- Place it. Pick any spot above the Shroud. The glowing area around it is your base: you can only build inside it, and dug-up ground there stays dug up.
- Talk to the Flame. At the altar you can do two different things, explained below.
- Strengthen the Flame raises the Flame level. That level is shared by your whole world and makes you stronger and lets you go deeper into the Shroud.
- Upgrade Altar makes the building area of that one altar bigger.
Strengthening the Flame 10 levels
Each new level costs Sparks, which you collect at Flame Sanctums and Flame Shrines (266 for every level together), plus materials from the regions, and from level 3 on the head of a boss. From level 3 on it also needs happy villagers: survivors you have brought home who have a bed under a roof. See Increasing Your Follower Amount And Flame Level. Each level opens the next part of the world.
| Level | Cost | Villagers | Opens |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |  5 5 5 51 5 | none | More of Springlands |
| 3 |  10 105 10 10 25 1 | 2 | Revelwood |
| 4 |  15 1510 15 15 15 1 | 4 | Nomad Highlands |
| 5 |  20 2020 20 20 20 1 | 6 | Kindlewastes |
| 6 |  30 3030 30 30 30 1 | 8 | Albaneve Summits |
| 7 | 30 30 1 30 30 30 30 | 10 | More of Albaneve Summits |
| 8 | 40 40 40 1 40 40 40 | 12 | Veilwater Basin Bases keep out the cold |
| 9 | 50 50 30 30 50 30 1 | 14 | More of Veilwater Basin |
| 10 | 60 1 15 10 30 10 30 | 16 | Cinder's Cradle |
| 11 | 20 10 15 20 15 1 1 | 18 | More of Cinder's Cradle |
What the Flame gives
Every new Flame level gives everyone in your world:
- +1 to all attributes.
- 1 more minute you can stay in the Shroud.
- A higher Shroud Passage Level. Deeper parts of the Shroud stay closed until it is high enough. For example the Farmer's quest Cooking Equipment For The Farmer needs level 3 to reach Pikemead's Reach.
A stronger Flame also lets you keep more bases: the number of altars you can keep lit goes 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, up to 16, and the number of water sources goes 1, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, up to 50. Level 8, which takes the head from Slaying The Corrupted Beast, lets your bases keep out the cold.
Upgrading the altar 4 steps
Each altar is upgraded on its own. Every step makes its building area bigger: level 2 is twice as wide, deep and high as level 1, level 3 three times, level 4 four times. Upgrades cost Shroud Cores, which bosses drop, and the last one a Shroud Nexus. See Flame Altar And Base Improvements (2 of 2). A Flame Altar also counts as 1 comfort.