Blades Of Fire: Life Criptex Locations & Interactive Tracking Guide

Life Criptexes in Blades of Fire are the only way to improve Aran's Healing Phial beyond its starting state — each one found adds a point to a dedicated flask upgrade tree, increasing either how much health each charge restores or how many charges the phial holds.

There are 12 Life Criptexes in total, all found in chests across 9 regions, lifting the Healing Phial from its starting 3 charges to a maximum of 7. All 12 locations are documented on our Blades of Fire maps.

Flask charges replenish automatically whenever Aran rests at a Forger's Anvil.

Two Upgrade Types, One Tree

Each Life Criptex spent in the upgrade menu allocates a point to either an Effectiveness node (each charge restores more health) or a Use node (adds one additional charge).

The catch: Use nodes are surrounded by Effectiveness nodes in the tree — two effectiveness upgrades typically must be unlocked before the next Use node becomes available.

Since additional charges are significantly more valuable than marginal healing-per-charge improvements (especially early on Steel difficulty), planning routes through the tree to reach Use nodes quickly is far more impactful than spending points on Effectiveness first.

Two Prerequisites Gate Three Criptexes

• Key of the Lord — defeating Cavimo Rex in The Crimson Fort drops this key, which opens two separate locked doors in the same region, each hiding a Life Criptex. Both can be collected immediately after the Cavimo Rex encounter without leaving the area.

• Light Rune — required to reach the Life Criptex in The Iron Castle (top of a locked tower) and the one in Northern Hiss City, which additionally requires charging Hurmuz's Awakened Amulet on nearby Forger Sentinels to blast open a sealed wall. Mark both and return once the Rune is obtained rather than backtracking mid-story.

All 12 Life Criptex Locations

• Besacarr Hamlet — upper floor of the large northern house; lower the interior ladder via Adso to reach it
• Kar-Lethel Swamp (×2) — one inside a cave on the hill northwest of Forger's Sanctum; one in a chest between shacks in the Vexer village
• The Crimson Fort (×2) — both require the Key of the Lord from Cavimo Rex; one behind the Cave Gate under the tower, one behind a locked gate
• Ancient Garden — small room accessed through a hole in the wall
• Doyen Graves (×2) — one inside an open round tomb; one at the top of a spiral staircase reached by climbing a rope below
• The Iron Castle — top of a tower, Light Rune required
• Northern Hiss City — behind a blown wall in a cave; requires Light Rune to access Forger Sentinels, then a charged Hurmuz Amulet to open the passage
• The Roggs Mountains — inside a Troll's lair cave, sharing the room with a Health Gem chest
• Citadel of Tharas-Munda — upper balcony reached by lighting the northeastern brazier from the central brazier flame