In Book of Hours, Elements of the Soul like Fet or Health can be upgraded to higher level versions like +Fet, or even ++Health. Higher level versions give you more stats, making it easier to improve your helpers when unlocking rooms and solve book mysteries, among other things.
That said, how you do it is rather convoluted. Buckle up, this one’s gonna be a ride.
Good luck, Librarian.
What you’ll need
An upgrade-ready skill
When you commit a skill to the Tree of Wisdoms, you will get a soul element in return. Committing a skill does two things:
– Binds the skill to a Wisdom. These are things like “Illumination”, or “Ithastry”, depending on the branch you bound that skill to. There are nine of them, and each has their own upgrade station.
– Attunes the skill to the soul element you get from the tree. So for example, in my screenshot above, the skill is attuned to Phost (this is the icon on the far right).
Keep in mind that you can only use each skill to evolve once. The attuned status is used up during the upgrade.
At least two of the same soul element
I recommend three or more, because having more elements means you can take more actions and you don’t want to limit that too much.
Remember that this has to be the element that your skill is attuned to.
A matching upgrade station
There are three parts to this. Stations that can be used for upgrades have a “challenge” icon at the bottom. This needs to match the Wisdom of your skill.
THEN, you also need to make sure that the station accepts the matching soul element,
AND that it accepts the elements of your skill
I’ve found plenty of stations that evolve via Illumination, but don’t accept Phost, which the skill is attuned to. Or ones that accept Phost and Illumination, but none of the aspects from the skill. Bummer.
How to upgrade elements of soul
Assuming you found the right station, the actual upgrade process is simple. Add your skill with two of the same element of soul, and you get an upgraded + version of the skill back.
The hard part is trying to work out which upgrade stations accept what combination of skills. Which brings me to…
Soul Element Upgrade guide
The numbers in brackets indicate where the room is on my map. Some combinations of wisdom, attunement and skill cannot be upgraded.
You can use this tables in two ways:
- To see whether it’s worth slotting a skill into the tree (you get a preview of the soul element you will get before committing the skill).
- To find where to upgrade the soul elements you already have.
| SKILL WISDOM | ATTUNEMENT | SKILL ASPECT | UPGRADE STATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birdsong | Phost, Trist | Moth, Sky | Sunset Harp in Windlit Gallery (6F) |
| Birdsong | Phost, Trist | Moth, Sky | Sunset Harp in Mazarine Room (0H) |
| Birdsong | Chor, Ereb, Phost | Grail, Sky | Instrument: Bass in Mazarine Room (0H) |
| Bosk | Chor, Fet, Health, Trist | Heart, Moon, Moth | Altar of the Knot in Our Lady Beneath (-5J) (shrine room below) |
| Bosk | Fet, Health, Trist | Moon, Nectar, Rose, Scale | Deeplight Corals in Deeplight Caves (-8N) |
| Bosk | Ereb, Health, Trist | Grail, Heart, Moon | Calicite Altar in Chapel Calicite (-6J) |
| Horomachistry | Fet or Phost | Rose, Sky | Telescope in the Watchman’s Tower: Observatory (2A) |
| Horomachistry | Ereb, Fet, Mettle, Trist, Wist | Edge, Moth, Winter | Shrine: The Chancel in Chancel of the Abbey Church (4I) |
| Horomachistry | Mettle, Phost, Shapt, Wist | Forge, Knock, Sky, Winter | Great Clock in the Tower Clock (8I) |
| Illumination | Chor, Ereb, Health, Mettle, Wist | Edge, Heart, Scale, Winter | Practic Garden Dummy in the Practic Garden (-1B) |
| Illumination | Fet, Phost or Wist | Lantern, Rose, Sky | Shrine: The Watchman in the Radiant Stair (5I) |
| Illumination | Chor, Ereb, Health, Mettle, Phost, Wist | Edge, Heart, Lantern, Scale | Practice Equipment in the Duelling Hall (1I) |
| Ithastry | Mettle, Phost, Shapt, Wist | Forge, Sky, Winter | Shrine: The Madrugad in Glorious Stair (5F) |
| Ithastry | Mettle, Phost, Shapt | Forge, Sky | Instrument: Bells at Bells (9I) (the Bell Tower room) |
| Ithastry | Ereb, Mettle, Phost, Shapt, Wist | Edge, Forge, Lantern, Winter | Oubliette Containment in Oubliette (-1P) (below Gaol) |
| Preservation | Chor, Fet, Health or Trist | Heart, Grail, Moth | Barber’s Chair in Motley Tower: Illopoly’s Nook (4D) |
| Preservation | Chor, Health, Phost | Heart, Sky | Hallowed Drum in the Mazarine Room (0H) (with all the instruments) |
| Preservation | Chor, Fet, Health, Trist | Heart, Moth, Nectar | Altar: Malachite in Chapter Malachite (-6L) |
| Nyctodromy | Chor, Fet, Health, Phost, Shapt | Heart, Knock, Rose, Sky | Shrine: St Januarius in the Atrium (4F), above the grand staircase |
| Nyctodromy | Phost or Wist | Lantern, Winter | Mirrors in the Hall of Division (3I) |
| Nyctodromy | Fet, Health, Shapt, Trist | Knock, Moon, Moth, Scale | Altar: St Tentreto in the Shrine to St Tentreto (-8M) |
| Nyctodromy | Ereb, Health, Mettle, Shapt | Edge, Knock, Scale, Winter | Altar: Ascite in Chapel Ascite (-6K) |
| Hushery | Phost or Wist | Sky, Winter | Solar Altar in the Nave of the Abbey Church (4G) |
| Hushery | Fet or Trist | Moon, Rose | Loggia Prospect in Gullscry Loggia (2L) |
| Hushery | Fet, Phost, Trist | Moth, Sky | Spire Prospect in the Spire (10I) (tallest point of Hush House) |
| Hushery | Phost or Wist | Sky, Winter | Tower-Top Prospect in Gullscry Tower: Summit (5L) |
| Hushery | Fet, Trist, Wist | Moth, Winter | Columbic Sarcophagus in Columbic Crypt (-7I) |
| Hushery | Health, Trist, Wist | Moon, Scale, Winter | Catacombs Altar in the Catacombs (-7J) |
| Skolekosophy | Chor, Ereb, Fet, Trist, Wist | Grail, Moth, Rose, Winter | Rowenarium in the Rowenarium (-6F) |
| Skolekosophy | Chor, Ereb, Health, Trist, Wist | Grail, Moon, Nectar, Winter | Nocturnary in the Night Gallery (0L) |
| Skolekosophy | Ereb, Mettle, Phost, Shapt, Wist | Edge, Forge, Knock, Lantern | Condignator in Crucible Tower: Interview Laboratory (5N) |
