Exploring Idyll: Pathfinding, Elemancy, Sanctums and Lumin Amber

Idyll is as much about getting around as it is about fighting. This guide gathers what the in-game help and the guided courses explain about movement, elements, world mechanisms, Lumin Amber and Sanctums. For twining itself, see Twine explained.

Pathfinding: climb, swim, fly

A Celestis clinging to the top of a stone column in a meadow

Climbing, swimming and flying are the three common Pathfinding abilities.

Your Pathfinder can swim while not twined.
Some Aniimo can climb, swim or fly when you twine with them, or when they’re equipped for Pathfinding.
Each ability has three levels. The higher the level, the faster you move while using it.

Equipping an Aniimo for Pathfinding

In the Aniimo Management screen, the tab in the upper right opens the Pathfinding setup. There you assign one Aniimo per ability (climb, swim, fly). The game then automatically switches to that Aniimo on suitable terrain. The same screen shows each Aniimo’s Pathfinding level.

When the action triggers on its own, the game picks the character in this order:

the Aniimo you’re twined with;
the Aniimo equipped for Pathfinding;
your Pathfinder.

When you stop climbing, swimming or flying with an Aniimo equipped for Pathfinding, the twine doesn’t end right away. During that short delay, a button in the lower-right corner lets you exit early and return to regular character control.

Climbing

With Celestis, your climbing ability improves. Walk up to a wall and use Climb; use it again to let go. While climbing, you can change direction freely.

Climbing costs Stamina. At zero, you fall.
Vine-covered walls can’t be climbed: burn all the vines first.
Some walls were built with a lost ancient technique: even Aniimo can’t climb them.
An upward-pointing triangle marker on a wall may mark a special climbing route.

Swimming

With Susuta or Skippy, you swim more strongly. You start swimming automatically in deep water and stop as soon as you leave it. Dash makes you swim faster, at a Stamina cost. While twined with a swimming Aniimo, Jump makes it leap out of the water.

Flying

Level 1: with Celestis, jump, then press Jump again in mid-air to fly. Rise lifts you quickly but costs a lot of Stamina. With no Stamina left, you drop.
Levels 2 and 3: twined with such an Aniimo, you fly freely in any direction, with controls to go up and down. These Aniimo can also take off from the ground: hold Jump and they stay airborne at a certain height.
Level 3: Fast Flight is activated with Dash.

Wind fields keep lifting Aniimo that fly inside them. In a wind field, twined with Celestis, jump and press Jump again to start Wind Riding. Finally, Nimbi and Turbo can fly through clouds: hold Jump to take off, then steer in the direction the camera faces. This only works inside clouds.

Elemancy: elements as exploration tools

Aniimo have all kinds of elemental abilities, and the world reacts to each one. Twine with an Aniimo of the right element, or command your Aniimo to act in Command Mode: it then uses its unique abilities, such as igniting vines or raising an ice wall. The game’s Courses let you practice every interaction.

Fire

Wood burns: wooden crates and chests, vines. They disappear once fully burned. Wooden balls and bonfires keep burning once lit.
White tall grass and ball-shaped shrubs catch fire and create an upward wind field: jump twice inside it to fly higher.
Ice melts under fire. A big block needs several Fire skills.
Explosive Barrels hit by fire release a Shock Wave. Keep your distance.
Fire-type obelisks activate when touched by flames or burning objects.
Some Fire skills are aimed: hold the skill, move the crosshair, release to fire.

Water

Water puts out flames, including burning wooden objects.
Bouncy Pads grow near water. Once watered, they inflate and bounce you upward. Without water they eventually dry out. Submerged in a river or the sea, they stay inflated permanently.

Ice

Ice also puts out fires.
Ice skills freeze water into Floating Ice, a platform for when swimming isn’t practical. It melts slowly, so don’t dawdle.

Lightning

A dim battery can be charged with a Lightning skill. The current runs through the wires and powers, for example, a fan that creates a wind field.
Iron boxes and metal objects conduct electricity and can replace a wire.
Wet objects become conductive for a while, even if they normally aren’t. Soak a wooden box with a Water skill to make it conduct.

Shock Wave

Your Pathfinder learns Hammer Strike to smash rubble. Strike skills from some Aniimo, such as Scorchhowl, can also break the floor. Shock waves also affect plants: Cubbo’s Rose releases pollen that puts humans and Aniimo to sleep, and the Parasol Pine opens up and may drop fruit, Aniimo or even chests.

Gravity Pull

Some ancient objects carry mysterious runes. The Gravity Pull skill, learned and equipped in Character Management, lets you lift them, move them closer or further, set them down or toss them. It’s handy for clearing a path or slotting a battery into place.

Call Friends

While twined, Call Friends summons wild Aniimo of the same species from nearby. They’re friendly, follow you and imitate your actions. Some puzzles need several of you acting at once, like watering three withered leaves together.

Element Level

Every Aniimo has an Element Level, and some objects have a Material Level. When the material outranks the element, the skill’s elemental effect is weakened.

What you see	What it means
Dry vines	Low-level wood: any Fire Aniimo can burn them
Reddish-brown vines, white Lv. 2 indicator	Slightly higher level: cast the skill several times in a row
Black vines, shaking red Lv. 3 indicator	Far too high: you need an Aniimo or skill with a higher Element Level

World mechanisms

Mechanism	How it works
Shielded Chest	Energy Pillars hint at the number and direction of the switches. Activate them all to claim the treasure.
Fan	Powered with electricity, it creates a strong wind field.
Power Node	Find the batteries near the Conductive Base and place them on it to power switches.
Elemental Switch	Activated by an attack or conduction of the matching element.
Pressure Switch	On while an Aniimo or object sits on it, off once it’s removed.
Echonite	A stone that grows on whale bones. Strike it to reveal its true form: each strike makes a unique sound.
Bilateral Totems	Can’t be lined up with the naked eye: twine with a Jawling family Aniimo and use Bilateral (its Mobility skill). Wind Totems create a wind field; Erosion Totems dissolve the object they’re attached to.
Dandelion Tree	In Nimbus Fields, touch the dandelion to be carried higher.
Peculiar Clouds	Over Nimbus Fields, gravity feels lower inside them.
Water lilies	The floating pads sink if the load on them is too heavy.
Ancient Lithorail	Push the Ancient Iron Crate onto the rails and it slides along the track.
Springy Tuftball	Charged with electricity, it launches anyone who touches it into the air.
Hot Fountain	Launches nearby targets upward.

Mistwoods hazards

Glimmer Trees: activate them to light up the darkness. When struck, they drop Glimmer Fruit that also gives light.
Witchin: its ability causes hallucinations and knocks targets out, but its field of vision is limited. Stay out of the lit area in front of it to go unnoticed.
Dazeshrooms: they charge and spray spores when a creature gets close. If hit, you faint and often wake up somewhere unfamiliar. Some grow on swamps, which slow down anything that touches them.
Melancholic Mist: a Plateau Form Nimbi that’s feeling down creates it; staying in it too long makes moving difficult.

Lumin Amber and its variants

Lumin Amber is made of dispersed Vein energy. The Branch absorbs it to grow (see prismatic energy and weather). It isn’t always a simple pickup:

Variant	How to get it
Runaway Amber	It flies away when touched: catch up to it before time runs out.
Lumin Amber Protector	Guardian Aniimo protect it: defeat them to break the seal.
Lumin Collection	An unstable amber scatters its energy: gather all of it in time to make it whole again.
Integrate into Aniimo Ecosystem	A gathering of Aniimo: twine with the same kind of Aniimo to understand them and fulfill their wishes.
Blessed Aniimo	Their Lumin Power can condense into amber during a catch. Some Aniimo have also swallowed or carry amber.
Lumin Marking	Patterns etched across the world: find the right position and perspective to piece them together.

BINI #9 detects Lumin Amber, purposeful Aniimo gatherings and Blessed Aniimo nearby, and can start tracking them. Its upgraded version alerts you as soon as it senses something important.

Sanctums

Sanctums were built by the Ancient Idyllians to repair the transmission of Vein energy. They’re Ancient Idyll Civilization structures powered by Mechina mechanisms.

Activate the entrance, then interact again to go in. The first interaction also unlocks Teleport to the Sanctum.
Your Aniimo stay outside. Energy interference from the Vein layer stops you from deploying them.
Awaken an Aniimo statue: each holds the energy of a unique Aniimo. Twine with it and use its abilities to progress.
Reach the Tesseract, the square device at the Sanctum Terminus, linked to the fractured Vein. Interact with it to restore the Vein.
Claim the Lumin Amber: the Sanctum is cleared.

Control, duos and Blessed Sanctums

Control: in a Sanctum, activate the Control skill and aim at an interactive object. Grabbable objects are highlighted. Adjust their distance (mouse wheel on PC), then set them down or throw them.
Duo Sanctums: each player awakens a statue and twines with one of the sealed Aniimo. In multiplayer Sanctums, interacting again with an awakened statue seals the Aniimo back inside.
Blessed Sanctums: the help describes them as full of rewards.
Chest Barrier: in some Sanctums, if time runs out, a barrier with the Sanctum’s patterns seals the chest. Hurry to the finish.
Bricks with special patterns can be scaled by an Aniimo that climbs.

Each Sanctum’s own prompts explain which sealed Aniimo to use. We don’t spell out their solutions here.

Sneaking up to catch

The catching courses teach three habits that help while exploring:

Aniimo sense you coming: an alert gauge appears over their heads. Once it’s full, they react according to their habits. An alerted Aniimo is hard to catch.
In white tall grass, you move in stealth. Approach from behind without being noticed to catch with Backstab, which greatly raises the success rate.
A sleeping Aniimo has double the catch chance.

All the details are in how to catch an Aniimo.

Frequently asked questions

Who climbs, swims or flies when the action triggers automatically?

The game picks in this order: the Aniimo you’re currently twined with, then the Aniimo equipped for Pathfinding, then your Pathfinder.

Why can’t my Fire Aniimo burn some vines?

Darker vines have a higher wood level. A white Lv. 2 indicator means you need to cast the skill several times; a shaking red Lv. 3 indicator means you need an Aniimo or skill with a higher Element Level.

Can I use my own Aniimo inside a Sanctum?

No. Energy interference from the Vein layer prevents it. You awaken the Sanctum’s Aniimo statues and twine with the Aniimo sealed inside.

How do I get a Sanctum’s Lumin Amber?

Reach the Sanctum Terminus, a square device called the Tesseract. Interact with it to restore the Vein, then claim the Lumin Amber inside.

Which walls can’t be climbed?

Vine-covered walls can only be climbed once the vines are burned. Some walls built with a lost ancient technique can’t be climbed at all, even by Aniimo. An upward-pointing triangle marker may indicate a special climbing route.