Spoilers

Undermaw wards and guardians

Four thresholds on the way down

The Undermaw has four Wardstone thresholds. The Collapsed Gallery is on floor 1, the Drowning Stair on floor 4, the Resonance Ward on floor 7 and the Hungering Dark on floor 10. The active check is on each floor’s down stair. The nearby formation marks the ward but is not the tile you must stand on to trigger it.

The Collapsed Gallery

Pass without paying health if your level is at least 10 or you have at least 2 Lattice charges. Level is checked first when both qualify. This threshold belongs to the Ancient Ruins band, which covers floors 1 to 3.

The Drowning Stair

Pass without paying health if the current companion roster has at least one member or you have at least 2 Lattice charges. The roster check comes first. It does not test distance, activity, Stay Back, scouting or ownership. You do not have to bring the companion beside the stair. This is the threshold for the Carved Halls, on floors 4 to 6.

The Resonance Ward

Pass without paying health with at least 3 Lattice charges or at least 3 different Lost Codex books recorded as read. Lattice is checked first. Carrying an unread book does not satisfy the read-book check. The threshold belongs to the Crystal Caverns, on floors 7 to 9.

The Hungering Dark

Pass without paying health with vampire potency of at least 40, or a Rind Dominion or Compact alignment. Vampire potency is checked first. Sympathizer already qualifies. In the current alignment rules, one of these sides must reach at least Friendly, or 40 standing, while the other stays below 40. Roquelle standing does not set this choice. This is the threshold for floors 10 to 12.

A toll, not a locked gate

If you do not meet a free-passage requirement, the ward takes health and still lets you continue. Its base toll is 6 health on floor 1, 9 on floor 4, 13 on floor 7 and 17 on floor 10. The toll is reduced as needed to leave at least 1 health. That protection applies to this toll, not to enemy attacks or other hazards.

The saved game remembers a crossing

Each floor’s ward resolves once, whether you qualified or paid health. The game saves those resolved floor numbers. Returning later or reloading does not charge the same ward again. The record is for the floor, rather than a separate payment for every character. The character taking the turn supplies the level, Lattice charges and vampire potency when the first check happens.

A matching build can calm a guardian

Each band has a floor chosen by the seed for its roving miniboss. Its placement also depends on the generated layout. The first three bands can choose any of their three floors. The deepest chooses floor 10 or 11, leaving floor 12 to the final boss. A matching free-passage requirement also lets you pacify that band’s guardian when adjacent. Diagonal neighbours count, and a large creature is measured from its nearest occupied tile. You do not have to cross the ward before this can happen.

Calm is not a kill

Pacification makes the guardian passive, clears its present aggression and leaves it alive. It gives no kill reward. A creature already passive or previously pacified is skipped by this check. Striking a passive creature can provoke it again, so treat the calm as a way past rather than invulnerability.