
Quick Links
- Abyss Overview: Dungeon Crawling, Story Progression, And More
- How To Navigate The Abyss
- Speak To Statues By The Entrance For Optional Challenges
- Break Items To Collect Resources
- Special Floors Of The Abyss: Monster Rushes, Mini-Bosses, And Boss Fights
A good dungeon crawling mechanic is key in RPGs like Silent Hope, a hack and slash title that offers seven unique heroes that must battle their way through a randomly generated chasm known as the Abyss. Receiving advice from the Princess of the now-silenced kingdom, your heroes fight down into the depths to uncover the game’s mystery.
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PostsYou’ll face intriguing enemies, brand new loot, and separate elements in every layer, collecting different resources and grinding for EXP along the way. In this guide, we’re covering all the basics that you’ll need to know about exploring the Abyss in Silent Hope.
Abyss Overview: Dungeon Crawling, Story Progression, And More
The entire draw of Silent Hope is the Abyss, a randomly generated dungeon whose floors change layouts each time you enter, which is done by diving into the Abyss at the south end of Base Camp.
The introductory video shows your heroes emerging from the Abyss, and it's time to send them back down into it to fight through swarms of progressively tougher monsters to reach the end of the Abyss and take on the monster lurking within.
Every new layer of the Abyss has its own aesthetic, elements, and challenges you'll face. Monsters within will be dealing a specific kind of damage, which is shown in the Recommended Element tab above your Dishes on the initial screen when entering the Abyss.
Not only will these elements deal more damage to the monsters in that layer, but they also help you choose your elemental defense, too. You're not the only fighter with access to different elements - monsters in the layers of the Abyss all attack with certain elements as well.
It's pretty easy to tell what kind of damage that will be - it's the same element as the layer of the Abyss you're entering. For example, the monsters in the Burning Wasteland attack with fire damage, so come prepared with defense against fire.
You unlock new layers of the Abyss by finishing the one before it. Each layer has a boss fight at the end to seal the deal on the layer of the Abyss, and continuing on from that floor will bring you to the first floor of the next layer.
In total, there are five layers to the Abyss:
- Forgotten Town is your introductory layer, teaching you the ins and outs of Silent Hope without worry of elemental damage.
- Festival of Sorrow features primarily electric enemies and expands on the concepts you learned in the Forgotten Town layer, introducing moles that transport you throughout the level you're currently on.
- Frozen World has your heroes taking on ice enemies with limited access to fire attacks quite yet.
- Burning Wasteland not only pits your heroes against fire enemies, but you'll have the added challenge of lava pools in the floor that hurt your hero or any enemies atop it when it goes off every few seconds.
- Dying Castle, which is the final and toughest layer, features a dark vibe and both dark and light enemies.
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PostsHow To Navigate The Abyss
Gates Need To Be Unlocked First
On some levels of the Abyss, you'll stumble across a pathway blocked by purple light, denoted by an X on your map. This is the gate to the next floor the majority of the time, and you'll need to find the lock someplace in the level and hit it to unlock the gate.
The lock is a purple diamond atop a thin pillar, which must be struck in order to activate. Hitting the locking mechanism unlocks the gate on that floor.
Just beware that you need to make it back to the gate and hop through to the next level in order to move on, so prepare for a fight on the way back if you didn't handle all the monsters on the way there.
Moles Transport You Around The Level
After the first layer of the Abyss in Silent Hope, you'll begin to stumble upon colored moles that emerge from the ground at the end of a long pathway, much like where you'll find the portals to the next floors.
These moles move you throughout the floor, potentially taking you to new areas you haven't been to yet, to the goal for the floor, or back toward the portal to the next floor.
Moles with a green flag above their head bring you to new areas or to the goal, while moles with circular arrows will bring you back near the gate for the level. Moles without a symbol simply bring you to a different area of the floor.
The Moles in Silent Hope won't transport you if enemies are nearby, so be sure to clear the area before teleporting. They also don't much care for it when you attack them, and they'll hide for a few seconds until they reemerge.
Fires Unlock Fast Travel To That Level Of Each Layer
Every few floors as you progress your way through the Abyss, you'll automatically light a campfire near where your hero drops into that floor.
These fires serve as benchmark floors for your progress through the Abyss. Not only do they save your progress when you light them, but once lit, you can automatically re-enter floors with fires the next time you dive back into the Abyss.
You'll always start a new layer on the first floor, but unlocking fires allows you to start the next exploration of the Abyss from the floor with the fire, so you don't have to go through the entire layer every time you enter the Abyss.
Map Symbols, And What They Mean
There are a few different ways to track your progress through the Abyss in Silent Hope - your mini-map unlocks as you explore a level and chart its features for yourself, and a stack of level overviews to the right of your screen that tells you which major features you can expect to find on that floor.
All Symbols On The Map Of The Abyss In Silent Hope, And What They Mean
Icon
Meaning
Mini-Map
White Dot
Breakable object that yields resources
Diamond on a Pillar
The locking mechanism for the purple gate on the current floor
Crystal with a Plus Sign
A Great Crystal that allows you to change heroes or return to Base Camp
Layer Breakdown
Blue Crystal
This floor contains at least one Great Crystal, which not all floors in the Abyss do.
Orange Fire
This floor contains a firethat denotes a fast travel point back to that floor from Base Camp
Green Monster
This floor contains a Monster Rush challenge that must be passed before you can move on
Red Monster
This floor contains a mini-boss battle that must be passed before you can move on
Purple Monster
This floor contains the boss battle for that layer of the Abyss
If you need a more detailed look at your map, you can expand the mini-map into the center of the screen for a bigger view of the floor.
Floors that have no symbols on them on the floor breakdown to the right of your screen do indeed have nothing on them but monsters and treasures. You must simply push on through this floor.
Step Into Light Spots To Hear Stories From The Princess
As you go through the Abyss in Silent Hope, you'll periodically see glistening circles of light shining onto the floor - this is typically on floors after Monster Rushes or boss fights.
When your hero stands in the light, the Princess will be able to communicate to you from the surface. This is how you unfold the story of Silent Hope, through listening to the Princess' recollections of the disasters as you go.
Be sure to hit each light spot to hear the entire story of Silent Hope!
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PostsSpeak To Statues By The Entrance For Optional Challenges
When you first arrive at a new floor of the Abyss in Silent Hope, you may notice thorny statues just near where your hero drops into the level.
Interact with the statue to receive an optional trial for that floor of the Abyss. These are completely optional, and you pass or fail automatically upon completing or failing the specified goal, so always activate a Trial if you see a statue - there's no penalty for failing, only extra rewards for passing.
Once a Trial is active, you'll see the Trial goal pinned to the top-left of your screen. This will track your progress through the Trial, actively updating as you go through to help you keep track of how much more work you need to do.
Trials are often combat-related and can see you stringing combos together, taking on and defeating a set number of enemies without taking damage yourself, reaching the gate without using a healing potion before you arrive at the portal to the next floor, breaking objects around the level, and more.
Your reward for completing a Trial scales between layers of the Abyss, but it always includes additional EXP for the hero that completed it and a payout of runes. Should you fail a Trial, you'll simply see "trial failed" beneath it, and the Trial banner will disappear from your screen.
Trials only count on that specific floor, meaning you'll fail automatically if you head to the next floor before completing the Trial's requirements.
Break Items To Collect Resources
Throughout each level of the Abyss, you'll see plants, logs, and rock clusters that look notedly different from their surroundings, which are marked as white dots on your mini-map.
These are breakable items that yield resources that you can process in the workshops back at Base Camp to change them into materials you can use at the Forge or Kitchen to create weapons, accessories, or dishes.
Your weapons and accessories all require a certain number of wood, rock, or ore resources that are available from logs and rock clusters.
Meanwhile, Dishes require food items, which can be made from green plants that give fodder, or the green and purple plants that give seeds.
Treasure Chests Contain Runes, Weapons, Gear, Or Recipes
Periodically around the floors of the Abyss or immediately following a challenge, you'll often see treasure chests in the Abyss.
Treasure chests come in two colors - red chests contain fairly standard items or runes, while purple chests contain much rarer goods.
Be sure you're breaking each chest that you find in the Abyss to stay stocked up on Silent Hope's best goods, making sure to pick up the weapons, accessories, or dishes that spring forth.
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PostsSpecial Floors Of The Abyss: Monster Rushes, Mini-Bosses, And Boss Fights
Monster Rush Trials And How To Beat Them
Every few floors throughout each layer of the Abyss, you'll come across Monster Rush trials, marked on your layer breakdown by a green monster face to warn you that it's coming.
When you stumble onto a Monster Rush trial floor, the hefty battle is the only thing you need to do on that floor. The pathway leads you into a circular area that locks behind you, forcing you into an arena with any number of assorted enemies you've faced so far in that layer of the Abyss.
You'll never see monsters from other areas, which allows you to keep your focus on the right elements and moves. Fighting monsters on the way to the Monster Rush trial floors is a good way to practice for the trial ahead.
Mini-Bosses Spawn Partway Through The Last Three Layers
You're able to see a mini-boss fight coming from a few floors ahead, with the red monster symbol denoted on the floor in question. These floors will always have a Great Crystal that allows you to switch heroes before the fight if need be.
Just like the Monster Rush trials, you'll be locked into a circular area with the mini-boss, who will either fight you themselves using stronger versions of moves you've come across in that layer so far, or they'll summon regular monsters to aid them in battle.
Typically, mini-bosses are the only thing you'll need to handle on that floor before moving along. Be sure to come prepared with good offense and defense, and be sure to heal throughout to ensure your hero stays standing until the end.
Fires are typically on floors just past mini-boss fights, making them something of a benchmark as you push through a layer of the Abyss in SIlent Hope.
The Final Floor Of Each Layer Is A Final Boss Fight
Finally, once you've battled your way to the very end of a layer in Silent Hope's Abyss, you've got only one challenge left - defeat the boss of that layer before you can move into the next one.
These bosses are unique enemies that you won't have encountered anywhere else on the floor, though they'll occasionally spawn armies of similar enemies from that layer of the Abyss to aid them in their battle.
Each boss fight focuses on the element of that floor, meaning you'll need to come prepared with offensive and defensive Magistones to have the best shot at beating each boss fight in Silent Hope.
And while their attacks are similar to monsters you've faced so far, bosses have unique move sets and special abilities that you haven't seen yet.
Not only that, but bosses deal much more damage than normal enemies, requiring you to be well-prepared to defend yourself throughout the fight. Equip the best rings and earrings on a hero you intend to use in the fight, keeping in mind that you cannot switch heroes once the fight begins.
Unfortunately, boss floors are often several floors down from the last fire, meaning you'll need to battle your way back to the boss again should you lose the boss fight and need to return.
With each boss fight completely unique, it may take you a few tries to get the hang of the boss' attack patterns, but once you've defeated the boss, you'll receive high-quality loot when they fall. After collecting it, be sure to open the treasure chests along the path to the next layer, which often contains a new dish.
Finally, there will always be one of the game's six Stellae waiting to be read at the end of a boss fight. These are accounts from the King that allow you a peek into his thoughts as the situation in the kingdom unfolds, piecing together his motives behind the story of Silent Hope.
NEXT: Silent Hope Is A Second Generation Spin-Off With A Lot To Live Up To