If you’ve immersed yourself in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, you already know survival isn’t just about your sword arm: it’s about progression. That means levelling up, building stats, and unlocking essential skills. But like many things in this haunting soulslike, figuring out exactly how to level up isn’t always straightforward.
This guide will break down everything you need to know about gaining and using Red Mercury, the game’s primary levelling resource, and how to properly refine and allocate it at shrines across the world.
How to Get Red Mercury in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
Red Mercury is the lifeblood of progression in Wuchang. You’ll need heaps of it to boost your abilities and stay one step ahead of the horrifying enemies lurking in every shadow. So, how do you get it?
1. Defeating Enemies
The most common source? Your fallen foes. Every enemy drops Red Mercury upon defeat, with larger or tougher enemies yielding more than cannon fodder types.
Pro tip: If the enemy puts up a fight, they probably drop more mercury. Simple risk-reward logic, right?
As you slay enemies, your total Red Mercury count tallies up in the top-right corner of your screen. Next to the counter, there’s a glowing icon: imagine a small, flower-like symbol with a yellow center. When that little guy lights up, it means you’ve gathered enough Red Mercury to level up. Don’t ignore it, as it’s your cue to find a shrine and power up.
2. Finding Red Mercury Flowers
Besides combat, Red Mercury appears as physical items: flower-shaped collectibles scattered throughout the world or dropped by enemies.
These come in different tiers:
- Buds – Worth 100 Red Mercury
- Fully grown flowers – Worth upwards of 1,000 Red Mercury
All Red Mercury flowers are stored in your inventory. To use them, you must manually ‘crush’ them, which then adds their essence to your main total in the top right corner.
Storage Tip:
Don’t go crushing these willy-nilly. Treat them like emergency reserve currency. Since dying causes you to lose a portion of your gathered Red Mercury, these stored flowers remain safe until used. Best to only use them at a shrine when you’re certain you have enough to level up.
What Happens When You Die?
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers wouldn’t be a soulslike if death didn’t have consequences. When you die, you drop a portion of your Red Mercury. You’ll have one shot to retrieve it, so get back to your corpse before you die again, or it’s lost forever.
Be warned: the game’s Madness mechanic affects how much Red Mercury you lose. The higher your Madness level, the more painful each death becomes. If your Madness is creeping up, consider cashing in that Mercury at a shrine pronto.
How to Level Up in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers
All Red Mercury gathered (minus what’s stored in flowers) becomes usable once you visit a shrine: any shrine. Once you’ve activated or discovered one, interact with it to begin the process of refining Mercury into usable power.
What to Do at the Shrine
- Approach and interact with a shrine.
- Navigate to the Impetus Repository – it’s on the left side of the menu.
- Look at the bottom-left corner for the option “Refine Red Mercury Essence”.
Select it using the indicated button (varies by controller). Once you’ve refined it, congrats: you now have skill points to spend.
Spending Skill Points
Skills are unlocked using points within the Impetus Repository. The tech tree layout means you’ll need to unlock adjacent skills first before moving deeper into the more powerful abilities. Each skill improves various aspects of your character: combat strength, defensive capabilities, magical prowess, and more.
Feeling hesitant? Don’t worry, as you can reset the entire repository as many times as you want, for free. Play, learn, re-spec, repeat.
Special Materials for Certain Skills
Not every skill only needs Red Mercury. Some demand rare goods:
- Red Feathers – Dropped by elite enemies with red eyes and glowing blue bodies.
- Lost Remains – Found in large golden chests.
- Forgotten Remembrance – Also discovered in golden chests, deeper in the game.
Pick your unlocks carefully. Some skills can drastically alter your approach to combat and exploration. A new ability may turn a hopeless boss fight into a manageable challenge.
Levelling up in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is equal parts strategy and resource management. Understanding how to collect, store, and refine your Red Mercury makes all the difference between barely surviving and gracefully annihilating the horrors standing in your way. Shrines are your lifeline, skill trees your evolution, and Red Mercury your soul. Treat it with care.
Now get out there, crush some flowers, and maybe some heads while you’re at it.