Altars

Altars are points of interest that can appear within rooms, most of them granting the player some kind of boon when interacted with. The two main kinds are chests and shrines.

Spawn rules

Altars appear in most normal rooms, excluding the spawn room on each level. One variant of Huginn's shop (in Asgard I) has a secret shrine. Most rooms spawn with a shrine of some kind, but their appearance is not guaranteed. Once exhausted (which may take multiple inputs), shrines cannot be used again, and will usually glow with a pale fire or a halo to indicate they've been used. Only one shrine of each type will spawn in a given room, but rooms can spawn with multiple types of shrines. Shrines, especially secondary rarer shrines, can be located in hard to access places, usually high up on balconies or ledges. While some of these shrines can be reached via creatively jumping from rails, banisters, mushrooms, etc. having a mobility buff like flying, triple jump, super jump, rocket jump, grenade jump, the Space modifier or super speed can help. Some shrines may be impossible to reach with the player's current equipment and stats. Shrines typically behave the same way given their type, but the player's Luck stat can induce other, better outcomes, even from basic shrines.

Summary

Angel and devil altars

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  Angel Altar

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  Devil Altar

These altars take the form of large statues with urns, and will accept a random number between 1 and 6 of coins (for the Angel) or keys (for the Devil) in exchange for a random result. The random results include:

• a stat increment consumable, eg. Luck Up
• a Key (Angel Altar only) or Skeleton Key (Devil Altar only)^{[verification needed • edit • ?]}
• a random equippable item
• an ultimate ability book
• a secondary ability scroll

Angel and devil altars cannot produce every possible item, book or scroll in the game, but rather each can only produce results from a limited loot table. Devil altars tend to produce higher quality rewards, with the notable exception being Seiðr's Blessing, which in turn spawns only from angel altars.

Blessing altars

These are the most common altars, and take the form of statues with small offering bowls. They are easily accessible and usually appear along the peripheral walls of the room. They will accept a single coin in exchange for a +1 boost to the character's stat, dependent on the statue. Often times blessing altars can be difficult to spot; they tend to blend into their surroundings, both in color and in geometry. Scanning the peripheral walls of the room is a good start.

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  Speed Altar

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  Range Altar

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  Luck Altar

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  Damage Altar

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  Precision Altar

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  Ability Altar

Cursed chests

See Chests.

Damocles' sword

Damocles' Sword

This shrine resembles a small pillar with a fiery sword above and one of 3 possible items (listed below). Activating it deals 25 damage (12.5 on Practice, and 50 on Hellish) to the player, in exchange for whatever is resting on the pillar. The damage can be reduced or avoided with abilities and items like Block and Valkyrie's Veil, which will negate the damage completely, or Skjaldmeyjar's Plate which will reduce the damage. Possible items are:

• a Coin Bag (most common),
• a Key,
• a Heart Container (rare).

The Black Market always contains three Damocles' sword shrines: single, double and triple sword shrine each dealing 25, 50 and 75 damage to the player respectively (halved on Practice, doubled on Hellish). Possible items are:

• a random equippable item
• a stat up.

Slot machine

Slot Machine

These take the form of small, square chests with a slot in the front into which a coin is inserted. Upon inserting a coin a random outcome will occur:

• Nothing. Represented by a puff of smoke.
• An enemy spawns. Can be one of:
  • Fly
  • Clockwork Soul
  • Skeleton Mage
  • Mother of Flies
• A consumable spawns. Can be one of:
  • 1
  • Coin Bag
  • Key
  • Small Healing Potion
  • Shield

In addition to a previous effect, the machine can jam. The coin will remain in the slot and no further input will be accepted.

Slot machines can be found as a bonus altar in a normal room^{[verification needed • edit • ?]}, or in their own special room marked on the map.

Luck increases the chances of the slot machine not jamming and decreases the chance of getting nothing, but doesn't affect the chance to drop a Coin Bag or 1.

The Dish

Located in the right room of Helheim II. After depositing 100, Giant Slayer Boots will appear. All subsequent runs will spawn the boots.

Tribute altar

Located in the special Tribute room, marked on the map, that can only be found in Asgard Crypts. Can accept up to 50 coins one at a time. Each time it accepts a coin, it tries to increase a random stat by 1. If the stat it tries to increase is already maxed, it will increase the clip size by 1 instead.

Prestige altar

Located in the special Prestige room, marked on the map, that can only be found in Vanaheim I. Will accept 30 coins (paid at once), after which it will turn all player's currently equipped items into enchantments (they will provide their full effect but without taking a slot). Price is unaffected by number or currently equipped items and cannot be discounted with Barter. Items with activations will not work anymore.

Trial altars

There are 10 Trial Altars that can make the game harder. If playing a character you already completed the game with, four of them (chosen randomly) spawn in the start room in Asgard I and can optionally be activated by the player.

Altar	Description	Effects
Trial: Bleeding	Dying over time	You lose 0.5 health every 2 beats (visible as 1 health every 4 beats). The Glass modifier, Hellish difficulty, and Trial: Fragile each double the bleeding, causing you to lose 1/2/4 health every 2 beats. There is no effect on Odr and Sanngriðr as long as the bleeding damage is below 1.
Trial: Fabled	All enemies are tougher	All enemies, including bosses, have their health doubled. Gives a bonus to score when shooting enemies and entering rooms.
Trial: Fragile	You take double damage	Damage from all sources is doubled. Stacks with the double damage effect of Hellish difficulty and the Glass modifier.
Trial: Gambit	Get 10 coins, but lose all coins when hit	10 more coins are also rewarded each time a new floor has been reached. Negating an attack with Block or Valkyrie's Veil will still trigger a loss of all coins. Instant death on hit with Herfjötur. If paired with Trial: Bleeding, every 2 beats all coins are lost since the bleeding effect counts as a hit. This effect still occurs with Odr and Sanngriðr.
Trial: Godlike	Tougher bosses	Boss health is doubled (applied after boss modifiers). If paired with Trial: Fabled, bosses will have 4x health. Score gained on all bosses is halved.
Trial: Mania!	Double the damage, double the enemies	The player deals double damage but twice as many enemies as normal will spawn. This includes minibosses and bosses. Bosses spawned can have different modifiers from each other. If one or both bosses spawns with the Cloned modifier, 3 or 4 of the boss will spawn. Gullveig and Nidhogg will not be doubled. Challenge rooms, and the special waves of enemies in Helheim II, are unaffected. Gives a bonus to score when shooting enemies.
Trial: Poverty	No shops after Asgard	Huginn's shop only appears in Asgard and Helheim II.
Trial: Runner	Die at 20 mins	Gives a bonus to score when shooting enemies.
Trial: Twitch	Enemy projectiles are faster	Gives a bonus to score when shooting enemies and entering rooms.
Trial: Want	Half ammo	Base ammo for each weapon is halved, rounding down. Clip Up still increases the clip size by 1, as usual. Upon entering a new floor, your ammo is still set to the unmodified clip size, meaning you start each floor with over 100% ammo. Subsequent reloads, however, still restore ammo only up to the new (halved) clip size. Will remove The Best Defense from the item pool, and the player character if already held.