A Soul’s Remnant dungeon begins before anyone enters the crystal. The pass is consumed, its Echoes influence the generated run, and only players standing on the entrance map travel with the leader. The first party decision is therefore whether this pass matches this group, not which portal looks shortest after the run starts.
The route below follows the official Dungeons page edited August 15, 2026 and the August 16 and August 20 patches. Those patches changed reward timing, recruiting, and exit warnings, so launch-day dungeon advice can be mechanically obsolete even when the location is still correct.
Read the pass before the party leader offers it
Interact with a dungeon crystal to inspect its recommended level and possible rewards. To pay the entry, whoever leads the party—or the solo entrant—moves a Dungeon Pass into the offering box. When Enter is confirmed, the pass disappears and eligible party members on that map are moved into a layout generated for that run.
A pass can have Echoes. Those modifiers can raise risk or reward beyond what the word Normal, Hard, or Extreme suggests. Mouse over every line and compare it with the party’s actual weakness. Extra enemy damage is not a free bonus when the healer or frontline is already failing; a longer maze is not efficient when the group has only enough time for a direct clear.
The Party window’s August 20 recruiter searches every channel when the activity is a dungeon, Mirage, or party quest. Recruitment does not move someone to the entrance automatically. Regroup, confirm roles, and make sure all intended entrants are present before the pass is submitted.
Choose the dungeon and difficulty from the gate
| Dungeon | Entrance | Normal | Hard | Extreme | Specific essence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Slime Garden | Behind The Garden | 10 | 40 | 70 | Grassy |
| Plains Dungeon | Plains 3 | 20 | 50 | 80 | Stone |
| Cave Trial | Deep Cave 5 | 30 | 60 | 90 | Dark |
The client blocks entry when a difficulty’s recommendation is more than 15 levels above your character. A level-24 character cannot enter a level-40 Slime Garden Hard run; at level 25 the gate permits it. Permission is not proof of readiness. Pass Echoes, equipment, active skills, and party composition can still make the technically available run a bad wager.
Slime Garden is the first and easiest permanent dungeon, and its Normal clear is part of Shepherd’s starting-region quest. Plains Dungeon sits on a safe elevated platform in Plains 3, but the surrounding map has monsters. Cave Trial requires reaching Deep Cave 5. The Ferryman in Cave 3 can transport you there for 5,000 Soul Crystal and charges the same to return. Carrying a 400-Soul-Crystal Return Crystal from Spawn can make the exit far cheaper where its portal is allowed.
Route the generated map by room purpose
Every run rearranges its rooms, so a memorized left-right sequence cannot be a reliable walkthrough. The minimap is the run record. Read color, path state, and objective:
Entrance room: preserve the exit decision
The first room is blue. Its purple portal removes only the player who uses it, after a confirmation. Treat it as the retreat point, not an accidental doorway. If a build is obviously broken, leaving before spending several respawns may protect the rest of the party from a failed escalation.
Standard room: kill the Slime to start the waves
A clear square is the base combat room. Its portals are unavailable until the waves finish. One Slime is present first; killing it starts the encounter. A new wave follows the previous wave’s defeat, and clearing the final wave makes the connected portals usable.
This trigger gives the party a setup window. Do not kill the Slime while another member is changing a loadout, recovering, or still entering the room. Position first, then begin the waves intentionally.
Key Room: assign one player to own the Boss Key
The Key Room appears as light red when the party approaches it. Its enemies are stronger than a Standard Room, and the final wave drops the Boss Key. Someone must pick it up into inventory. Say who has it; a key left on the floor or carried by a player who exits turns navigation into confusion.
A green shortcut back to the Entrance may appear after the clear, but it is not guaranteed. Plan from the map you have rather than waiting for a portal that might never spawn.
Loot Room: decide whether to clear it before or after the boss
Loot Rooms are yellow. Clearing one produces a Wooden Chest for each party member, up to four. You can visit them while searching for the key and boss, or continue exploring after the boss has died. A party low on respawns may prioritize the boss; a stable group can collect side rooms along the way.
Boss Room: the key holder crosses first
Boss Rooms and their portals are bright red. The portal remains locked until the player carrying the Boss Key enters. That action consumes the key and allows everyone else through.
The room again begins with one Slime. Leaving it alive preserves a setup window; killing it starts the harder waves and eventually the boss. After victory, the results screen reports damage contribution and distributes a Soul Crystal bonus. One Silver Chest appears for each party member, and each player can open only one.
The bright-blue path is a combat status display
The minimap draws a bright-blue connection between linked rooms. A fully connected line indicates both rooms on that path have been cleared. If the line reaches only halfway, fighting is still happening in the destination room. The path does not update merely because somebody entered; it updates when the room is cleared.
This is how a split party can avoid shouting guesses. Check the line before abandoning your room. If teammates are already in an uncleared Loot Room, decide whether you are reinforcing them or holding a safe junction; do not pull a second active room simply because the portal is available.
Count your own respawns
Each party member can respawn inside a dungeon three times, returning to the blue Entrance. On the fourth death, that player is ejected to Spawn and cannot re-enter the current run. This is a per-player allowance in the newer official Dungeons page. The older official Beginner Guide describes a shared party total; use the newer page for current routing.
A player on the final allowance should stop taking the party’s riskiest scouting job. Change the loadout, add defense, wait for the group, and enter active rooms together. If damage is unavoidable and repeated, the right decision may be to preserve the pass lesson and leave rather than convert every remaining life into the same failure.
Verify rewards before using the exit
Once the boss goes down and reward chests materialize, the August 16 patch freezes the dungeon timer. You no longer need to panic-click while looting. The August 20 patch makes unopened chests glow and adds a warning before leaving without the reward. Treat both as aids, not substitutes for a manual check.
- Open exactly one Silver Chest for your character.
- Allow the dropped items to settle on the floor, then collect them.
- Check inventory space and the pickup notifications.
- Return for any planned Loot Rooms while the group still has enough lives.
- Use the purple exit only after the chest and quest state read correctly.
A successful clear guarantees generic Dungeon Essence and the dungeon’s specific essence. Normal gives one of each, Hard gives two of each, and Extreme gives three of each. The nearby merchant wants that location’s specific essence; the Mysterious Man at Spawn accepts generic essence.
Silver Chests can also supply Dungeon Crystals, which higher skill levels require, along with other valuable items. This makes a completed lower-risk run more useful than a high-modifier failure. If the party’s goal is skill progression, count crystals actually received, not the theoretical reward panel.
A repeatable run protocol
- Set the goal. Name the needed clear, quest, essence, crystal, or chest reward.
- Inspect the pass. Read difficulty and every Echo before it is offered.
- Assemble at the entrance. Recruit, move all members to the map, assign support and key ownership, then consume the pass.
- Map before branching. Use colors and bright-blue path state to distinguish cleared, active, and unexplored rooms.
- Control each Slime trigger. Recover and position before starting Standard or Boss waves.
- Find and name the key holder. That player enters the Boss Room first.
- Count personal deaths. Reassign risky roles before a fourth death ejects someone.
- Read back the reward. Silver Chest, item pickup, essence count, and quest completion precede the exit.
Failure signals have different fixes
| Failure | Meaning | Repair |
|---|---|---|
| A member stays outside | They were not on the entrance map or in the eligible party state | Regroup before offering another pass |
| Portals remain closed | The room still has a wave or spawned enemy | Sweep the room; do not assume a portal bug |
| The Boss portal rejects the group | Key holder did not enter first or the key was not collected | Identify the inventory owner and lead with that player |
| A player vanishes after death | Their fourth death ejected them | Continue without them or abandon; they cannot rejoin this run |
| No chest reward is recorded | Chest was unopened, inventory was full, or floor drops were left | Use the glow/warning and verify pickup before exit |
| Allowed entry still feels impossible | The 15-level gate is looser than the party’s real readiness | Use a safer pass, improve active levels, or revise gear |
If the party cannot decide whether the weakness is skills or equipment, run the readbacks before spending another pass. The build guide separates active levels from stat scaling, while the Echo guide prevents a rushed reroll or destructive transfer. New characters who do not yet have access should finish the Outskirts barrier route first.