Mechanics guide

Events & Hub Systems

A handful of hub features confuse new players because the game hands them out without explaining them. Here's what each one actually does.

The Scavenger Squad

The Scavenger Squad is a passive, idle expedition: you commit items to a squad that goes off and scavenges battlefield ruins over a long real-time timer, then returns with loot. The catch players run into is expectations — it is not a way to upgrade rarity. Feeding it high-rarity gear does not guarantee high-rarity returns; the value of what comes back is luck-based.

Think of it as a gold sink that hands back ready-to-use combat kits rather than a profit engine. Send it things you don't mind spending, treat the kits as the reward, and don't expect your purples back as legendaries.

Mantra Ciphers & the Gylden Rush event

Mantra Ciphers (alongside Ancestral, Ashen and Bloodbound ciphers) are event items tied to the Gylden Rush — a limited event run during the playtest. They don't do anything until you can decipher them, which is why early players sit on a pile of them wondering what they're for.

  • Deciphering unlocks at around character level 6, via an NPC in the hub town.
  • Decoded ciphers pay out event rewards — cosmetics such as the Golden Woodland headpiece, and event currency.
  • Some ciphers also tie into the event's Bounty Mode identity, so they're worth holding rather than discarding.

The recruitment board

Grouping isn't limited to a friends invite — there's a recruitment board where you post or filter listings to find other players to raid with, with tags for what you're after. It's the in-game answer to the duo/squad-size complaints: use it to fill a team rather than queueing into a random fill.

The Bell of Return

The Bell of Return is your extraction escape. Ringing it spends a Soul of Return to pull you out of the dungeon and back to safety — so the Soul of Return is the consumable that gates how freely you can bail on a bad raid. Losing the option (or the soul) is what turns a risky fight into a committed one.

This is the safety valve of the extraction loop: as long as you hold a Soul of Return and can ring the bell, a raid that's gone wrong is survivable. See Spiritual Revival for what happens when you don't make it out.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Scavenger Squad and is it worth it?

It's a passive idle expedition that returns loot after a long timer. It's effectively a gold sink that hands back usable combat kits — not a way to turn low-rarity gear into high-rarity gear, since returns are luck-based.

How do I use Mantra Ciphers?

They're Gylden Rush event items. You can't use them until you unlock deciphering at around level 6 from a hub NPC, after which they pay out event rewards like cosmetics and event currency.

What does the Bell of Return do?

It's the extraction escape: ringing it consumes a Soul of Return to pull you out of the dungeon back to safety, so the Soul of Return is what lets you bail on a bad raid.

How this system behaves is reverse-engineered from Mistfall Hunter's own game code. Exact tuning numbers — stat values, drop rates and prices — are confirmed with the full release on July 29, 2026.

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