- Valor Mortis side quests are optional content woven into a Metroidvania-style world of shortcuts and hidden routes.
- Quest types include NPC encounters, optional combat challenges, exploration secrets, and branching choices.
- Rewards typically cover weapons, upgrade materials, and lore that the critical path skips.
- Track side content separately from the main story to avoid missing triggers after area progression.
- This guide reflects officially confirmed systems; detailed quest-by-quest data will be added after the October 13, 2026 launch.
How Side Quests Work in Valor Mortis
Valor Mortis is a first-person Soulslike action RPG set in a plague-ridden alternate Napoleonic Europe, and its side quests follow the genre's core philosophy: nothing is handed to you through a quest log alone. Optional content lives inside the world — in NPC conversations, sealed passages, and detours away from the critical path.
Officially confirmed features for the game include exploration, side quests, shortcuts, and boss encounters alongside melee, firearm, and magic combat. That means side quests are structured as part of the environment rather than as a checklist. The world uses Metroidvania-inspired level design, so some side content is gated until you gain new abilities or knowledge, while other content can be lost if you push the story too far forward.
| Side Quest Element | What It Means | Risk Level |
|---|---|---|
| NPC dialogue triggers | Talking to NPCs at the right time and place opens optional tasks | Medium — can be missed |
| Optional encounters | Elite enemies and mini-bosses placed off the main route | Low — usually persistent |
| Exploration secrets | Hidden rooms, side paths, and sealed shortcuts | Low — revisit later |
| Branching choices | Decisions in optional content that alter outcomes or rewards | High — often permanent |
In Soulslike structure, main-story progression frequently changes NPC availability. Before entering a major new area or boss arena, circle back to NPCs and unfinished optional routes — the game does not warn you when a side quest window closes.
Side Quest Types and What They Reward
Understanding the categories of optional content helps you decide what to pursue and when. Based on the confirmed design pillars of Valor Mortis, side content falls into four broad patterns.
NPC Story Lines
- Trigger: Repeated dialogue with survivors, soldiers, and mysterious figures
- Reward: Lore, items, and possible story branches
- Best practice: Talk to every NPC after each major story beat
Optional Combat Trials
- Trigger: Entering hidden arenas or elite patrol zones
- Reward: Weapons, upgrade materials, execution practice
- Best practice: Scout the arena before committing to the fight
Exploration Contracts
- Trigger: Finding sealed routes, shortcut doors, and hidden rooms
- Reward: Resources, traversal access, secret items
- Best practice: Mark blocked paths and return after gaining abilities
Choice-Driven Tasks
- Trigger: Dialogue decisions or sparing/defeating optional targets
- Reward: Alternate outcomes, NPC fates, ending influences
- Best practice: Consider consequences before acting — most choices stick
| Quest Type | Effort | Typical Reward | Missable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| NPC story lines | Medium | Lore, unique items | Often yes |
| Combat trials | High | Weapons, materials | Rarely |
| Exploration contracts | Medium | Routes, resources | No |
| Choice-driven tasks | Low to start | Branching outcomes | Yes |
If your time is limited, prioritize combat trials and exploration contracts first. They tend to grant tangible power — weapons, upgrade materials, and shortcuts — that make the harder optional NPC lines and bosses more manageable.
Step-by-Step Side Quest Routine
Use this repeatable routine in every new area of Valor Mortis. It turns scattered optional content into a reliable workflow and dramatically reduces missed quests.
Clear the critical path — partially
Explore the main route far enough to unlock a rest point and open one shortcut back, but do not defeat the area boss yet. Boss kills are the most common trigger for world-state changes.
Sweep for NPCs and dialogue
Revisit every landmark with an NPC and exhaust all dialogue options. Return after each story milestone, because NPCs relocate, change topics, or disappear as William Dowsett's journey progresses.
Map the blocked routes
Note every sealed door, collapsed passage, elevated ledge, and suspicious gap. The Metroidvania-style structure means many of these open later through new abilities or keys found elsewhere.
Handle optional combat on your terms
Enter optional encounters with full stamina, ammunition, and ability resources. Study the arena for hazards and narrow spaces, and practice timing on nearby enemies before committing.
Close out before the boss
Finish active NPC lines and choice-driven tasks, then defeat the area boss. After the victory, do one more NPC sweep — new dialogue frequently unlocks post-boss.
Keeping a simple written note of unfinished routes and NPC names is the single most effective habit for Soulslike side quests. Your future self will thank you after ten hours of detours.
Exploration Rules That Govern Optional Content
Side quests in Valor Mortis are inseparable from exploration. The game rewards careful route planning over a linear march, and several confirmed design rules shape where optional content hides.
- Search beyond the objective marker. Rewards are deliberately placed away from the critical path.
- Check side paths before major encounters. A detour often yields a better approach angle or resources.
- Open shortcuts from both directions. Many side areas connect back to earlier zones through one-way doors.
- Revisit after progression changes. New abilities, keys, or story events make old blocked routes reachable.
- Read environmental details. Unusual architecture, gaps, and ledges are deliberate signals, not decoration.
| Exploration Signal | Likely Meaning | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Sealed door or gate | Shortcut or side area | Mark for return |
| Elevated ledge out of reach | Future traversal route | Revisit after abilities |
| NPC with repeated dialogue | Active or upcoming quest | Exhaust all options |
| Unmarked arena-like room | Optional combat encounter | Prepare resources first |
| Landmark seen from afar | Navigation anchor after death | Remember the route |
The first-person camera limits your peripheral vision compared to third-person Soulslikes. Physically turning to scan a room before leaving it is the exploration equivalent of a parry — cheap, repeatable, and consistently rewarded.
Side Quest Checklist and FAQ Prep
Run through this checklist in every region of the game to keep your optional content under control.
Area Completion Checklist:
- Exhausted all NPC dialogue before the area boss
- Marked every sealed route and blocked passage
- Completed optional combat encounters in the region
- Rechecked NPCs after defeating the area boss
- Opened all discovered shortcuts from both directions
Valor Mortis launches on October 13, 2026 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Once the game is available, this guide will be expanded with a full quest-by-quest breakdown, including named NPCs, exact trigger locations, and reward tables verified in-game.
FAQ
Q: Are Valor Mortis side quests missable?
Some are. Soulslike world design means story progression can remove NPCs or close off routes. The safest habit is to finish NPC dialogue and optional encounters before defeating each area boss, and to sweep the region once more afterward.
Q: Do side quests affect the story or endings?
Choice-driven optional content in Soulslike games commonly influences NPC fates and ending conditions. Treat dialogue decisions in Valor Mortis side quests as meaningful and consider consequences before acting, since most choices are permanent.
Q: What rewards do side quests give compared to the main path?
Optional content typically provides weapons, upgrade materials, shortcuts, and lore that the critical path skips. Prioritizing combat trials and exploration contracts first gives tangible power that makes later optional bosses more manageable.
Q: Do I need special abilities to finish side quests?
For some routes, yes. Valor Mortis uses a Metroidvania-inspired structure, so certain sealed passages and elevated paths only open after you gain new abilities, keys, or story progress. Blocked paths are usually a return-later signal, not dead ends.