Staying Alive

Initial Health: 200

The lengthy green meter in the upper-left corner of the screen is Fury’s Health Meter. Taking damage depletes Health, bringing Fury closer to death. The Health Meter doesn’t automatically replenish, but Fury can heal herself through the use of Nephilim’s Respites and Healing Shards.

Fury begins her quest with 200 Health and the ability to carry two Nephilim’s Respites. Though 200 Health may sound like a lot, it isn’t. Fury is quite fragile in the early going, and Nephilim’s Respites aren’t replenished quickly, so you must be careful. Avoid rushing into combat without first studying your enemies. Aim to dodge and counter their attacks or suffer the consequences. Though Fury will eventually grow strong enough to support a more aggressive play style, that doesn’t come until much later.

About Difficulty Settings

Darksiders III contains four difficulty settings for players to experience: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Apocalyptic. Our recommendation, especially if this is your first time playing a game in this series, is to start with the Normal setting. Then, if the game feels too difficult, consider switching to Easy mode. Be warned, however, that the initial part of the game may prove challenging until you’re proficient at the Evade Counter (also known as Arcane Counter) attack. Once you master this technique, the difficulty levels off and the game provides an enjoyable test of skill. This strategy guide was written with the Normal difficulty in mind, though the tactics employed are applicable to all settings. Generally speaking, there is less margin for error on the higher settings.

In short, the higher the difficulty, the harder enemies are to kill, the more damage they inflict, and the harder it becomes to dodge their attacks.

Nephilim’s Respite

Initial Capacity: 2

Base Healing: 150

Nephilim’s Respites are the key way to replenish lost health. These items appear in Fury’s quick-access inventory (D-pad left/right to select, D-pad up to consume) and replenish a significant amount of health. Nephilim’s Respites are replenished via Health Lurchers, the green phantom-like spirits that escape the bodies of Fury’s slain foes. Since they can be replenished for free and are therefore more common than Healing Shards, it’s usually a good idea to consume them rather than a Healing Shard, which has to be either found or bought from Vulgrim.

This green Health Lurcher replenishes a Nephilim’s Respite.

Weapon enhancements can grant Fury the gift of increased Health, Health Regen, and increased Health Lurcher frequency. Consult the Weapons and Enhancements chapter for specifics.

Fortunately, it’s possible to increase both the capacity and the potency of Nephilim’s Respites. Fury can ultimately expand her Nephilim’s Respite capacity to six and heal a lot more from each of them. Study the maps contained in the Hunting the Deadly Sins walkthrough section for the whereabouts of these items.

Invigoration Core: Automatically increases the storage capacity of Nephilim’s Respite by 1.

Rejuvenation Core: Automatically increases the amount of Health restored by Nephilim’s Respite by 75.

Nephilim’s Respite Upgrades: Running Totals

Order Found	Core Type	Region	Location	Healing	Nephilim’s Respite Capacity
0	—	—	—	150	2
1	Rejuvenation	Nether	Splintered Station	150 (+75)	—
2	Invigoration	Hollows	Blistering Bridge	—	2 (+1)
3	Rejuvenation	Nether	Tangled Grotto	150 (+150)	—
4	Invigoration	Bonelands	Hulking Carcass	—	2 (+2)
5	Rejuvenation	Bonelands	Festering Pool	150 (+225)	—
6	Rejuvenation	Depths	Forgotten Lake	150 (+300)	—
7	Invigoration	Depths	Sunken Tracks	—	2 (+3)
8	Invigoration	Scar	Drilling Annex	—	2 (+4)
9	Rejuvenation	Scar	Drilling Annex	150 (+375)	—
10	Rejuvenation	Vulgrim’s Wares	N/A	150 (+450)	—

Death, Souls, and Respawning

Death is neither permanent nor without repercussions. Upon running out of Health, Fury respawns at the nearest Serpent Hole (waypoint) with full Health and two Nephilim’s Respites. Any Souls she had in her possession, however, are dropped on the battlefield where she perished, in the form of a Demon Lurcher. To retrieve them, Fury must make it back to the place of her death and strike the Demon Lurcher. Any nearby Lurchers will be absorbed into the Demon Lurcher until Fury destroys it, so do hurry.

Fury isn’t the only one to respawn, however. All the area’s enemies have also respawned, meaning she must battle back to the spot where she fell in order to continue on. On the one hand, this makes it possible to farm enemies for additional Souls, but it also risks her arriving low on Health or not surviving the journey back at all. Fortunately, multiple Demon Lurchers can be present simultaneously. So, if Fury dies a second time en route to a previously reached spot, both Demon Lurchers will be available for collection.

Since there is always the chance that you have to take a break from playing before returning to collect the Souls you dropped upon dying, it’s a good idea to never shatter any Lurcher Crystals until you intend to spend them. Unlike the Souls in your possession, physical items in your inventory are never dropped upon death.

Lastly, deaths by falling are less painful to recover from. Fury is often returned to a nearby ledge without having lost any Souls. Some of her Health will be depleted as a penalty.