Death Must Die: All Encounter Guide (Shrines, Lootables & NPCs)

These are the basic lootable items, which you can open to gain items of various rarities. The chances to get rare loot are mostly defined by your difficulty settings!

• Ancient Chest – An old round chest, drops random loot when opened.
• Chest – A more modern rectangular chest, drops random loot. It seems to function identically to the Ancient Chest.
• Fallen Hero – The corpse of a hero, reduced to mere skull and bones. Might randomly drop loot, but sometimes contains nothing. Has a 1.8% chance to curse you, which reduces luck but drops better loot.
• Grave – The resting place of someone whose name has been long forgotten. Functions identical to the Fallen Hero lootable.
• Tomb – A resting place reserved only for those who earned a certain stature in life. Despite that, it functions the exact same as the Fallen Hero and Grave lootables.

These shrines all provide a variety of powerful boons, but their effects only last 30 seconds. You might want to consider only activating them when really needed to make the most of their effects.

• Mineral Spring – Gives you +0.45 Passive Experience Gain and +0.8 Life Regeneration.
• Obelisk of Sanctuary – Makes you immune to all damage.
• Orb of Power – Increases your Power by 100%.
• Stone of Collecting – Gives you unlimited Pull Range.
• Stone of Experience – Gives you +60% Experience.
• Stone of Stamina – Removes the movement penalty from attacking.
• Totem of the Hare – Gives you +1 Dash Charge.

The common shrines will give you permanent bonuses, unlike their temporary cousins. The effects are pretty minor, but they will stay for the entire run!

• Alms – Gives +4.2% Luck.
• Altar of Devotion – Gives +8% Heals.
• Bonfire – Gives +3% Max LIFE. Can also set enemies on fire if they walk into it!
• Bookshelf – Gives you a random book for your lobby.
• Bronze Brazier – Gives +3.2% Spell Duration.
• Clover Garden – Gives +4.2% Luck. Identical in appearance and spawn chance to its Rare Shrine variant.
• Crying Fountain – You can drink from it to get +1 Revival or choose to bottle the water for +0.5 Life Regeneration.

• Dark Brazier – Gives +2.4% Spell Damage.
• Obelisk of Greed – Gives you 30 gold, multiplied by how many Obelisks of Greed you’ve found in the current run. For example, finding a second Obelisk will give you 60 gold.
• Sacred Well – Fully heals you.
• Seeking Orb – Gives you +9% Pick Ups drop chance.
• Shrine of Tracking – Gives you +60% Pick Ups drop chance.
• Stone Brazier – Gives you +4% Spell Area.
• War Totem – Gives you +4.8% Attack Damage.
• Well – Restore 20% of your Max Life.

Additionally, most of these rare shrines also have different outcomes. These outcomes depend on what choices you make when interacting with them.

• Clover Garden – Identical in appearance and spawn chance to its Common Shrine variant, but it gives you two choices:
  • “Pile More Coins”: You lose 100 Gold but gain a random item.
  • “Steal Existing Coins”: You gain 100 Gold.
• Dragon Shrine – A shrine to big flying lizards, you can get two different boons from it:
  • “God of the Skies”: Increases your Movement Speed by 20.
  • “Dance of the Dragon”: Increases your Evasion by 30.
• Forge – A magical anvil that gives you two options:
  • “Forged in Ice”: Increases your Armor by 20.
  • “Forged in Fire”: Increases your Attack Damage by 24%.

• Fruit Tree – A seemingly ordinary tree, you have two options:
  • “Pick a Fruit”: You lose 50 Life but instantly gain 2 Levels.
  • “Resist Temptation”: Your Max Life is increased by 20.
• Jade Llama Statue – Llamas are apparently the greatest warriors in Death Must Die’s universe! You get two options:
  • “Loot the Shrine”: You gain a random item but anger the Llama God. A set of Lil’ Reapers will appear and attack you!
  • “Pay respects”: Increases your Pull Range by 300.
• Reliquary Chest – A magical chest, not to be confused with regular lootable chests. Open it to gain a random item, but a trap will apply Burning on you for 10 seconds. Alternatively, you can ignore it.
• Sacred Tome – A magical holy tome. You have two choices:
  • “Practice”: Increases your Heals by 20%.
  • “Learning”: Increases your chance to get Adept rarity blessings from gods by 24%.

• Shard of the Fallen – A strange crystal that pulsates with a dark energy. Your options are as follows:
  • “Darkness Called”: Lose 22 Max Life but gain 33% Attack Damage.
  • “Entrenched Power”: Makes Spell Cooldowns slower by 44%, but increases Spell Damage by 33%.
  • “Soulsteal”: Reduces damage by 66% against enemies that have less than 50% Life. Conversely, it increases damage by 100% against enemies that have more than 50% Life.
  • “Reject the Darkness”: You walk away and gain an increase of 7% to Heals.
• Shrine of Mjolnir – Not a shrine for a god, but for a mythical hammer. You have two choices:
  • “Powerful Grip”: Increases your Attack Critical Chance by 8%.
  • “Thunderous Wrath”: Increases your Spell Critical Chance by 4%.

• Shrine of Music – A shrine that provides a soothing melody. Here are your choices:
  • “Magpie Song”: Increases Pull Area by 600.
  • “Mocking Bird Hum”: Reduces enemy barriers by 24%.
  • “Raven Gwah”: You’ll automatically get 0.9 Experience per second.
• Shrine of Penance – The Goddes of Penance’s own shrine. You have three choices:
  • “Repent”: You won’t gain any Experience for 60 seconds. However, your Experience gain will increase by 13% permanently after those 60 seconds.
  • “Atone”: Reduces your Dash Range by 400% for 30 seconds, but instantly gives you 2 Levels.
  • “Revoke”: Increases your Attack Damage by 12%.
• Shrine of Spring – The Shrine for Spring, Goddess of Passion. You have 3 choices:
  • “Excitement”: Decreases Spell Duration by 50%, but increases Life Regeneration by 0.8 per second.
  • “Desire”: Increases all damage taken by 50%, but reduces Enemy Barriers by 300%.
  • “Lust”: You’ll lose 1 Life every time you dash. However, your dashes gain 60% Range and 50% Faster Cooldowns.

• Shrine of the Fates – The Shrine of the Fates, also known as the Moriae. You have three options:
  • “Ask Aisa for Help”: You gain 4 Banishes.
  • “Ask Lachi for Guidance”: You gain 3 Rerolls.
  • “Ask Clo for Advice”: You gain 3 Alterations.
• Shrine of The Swan – A swan-shaped shrine that will test your virtue. Accept the test and you will gain either a blessing that increases Luck, or a curse that reduces it. Alternatively, you can just ignore it.
• Shrine of Writing – A shrine full of inviting books. You have two choices:
  • “Borrow Book at the Altar”: Increases Spell Speed by 12%.
  • “I Don’t Read Books”: Increases Attack Damage by 12%.

• Shrine to Krom – A shrine to Krom, the God of War. You can gain one of two boons:
  • “Power of Steel”: Increases Attack Area by 20%.
  • “Mountainous Might”: Increases Spell Area by 20%.
• Shrine to The Many-Handed One – A statue of a deity with dozens of hands. Your choices are as follows:
  • “A Thousand Cuts”: Increases Attack Speed by 14%.
  • “Legion”: Increases Spell Projectiles by 1.
• Shrine to The Oni Demon – A shrine for a horned Oni demon. You have two choices:
  • “Laugh Back”: Decreases your chances to get Adept offers by 16%, and Expert offers by 5.3%. However, it increases your chances of getting Master offers by 4%.
  • “Rude Gesture”: You will deal 20% more damage to enemies that have more than 50% Life.

• Shrine of Hunting – A shrine honoring the gods of the hunt. These are your options:
  • “Finish the Hunt”: Increases Attack Critical Chance by 8%.
  • “The Hunt Awaits”: You have a 13% chance to recharge dashes with every attack hit.
  • “Hunter’s Hurry”: Increases Movement Speed by 20.
• Tree of Wisdom – A large strange tree with many branches. Your options are as follows:
  • “Pride”: Reduces your Pull Area by 540, but you gain 50% more Experience.
  • “Humility”: You will only get Expert rarity offers from gods. This means you can’t get Master or Legend offerings anymore, though!
  • “Disinterest”: You ignore the tree, increasing your Luck by 6%.
• Withering Tree – A dead tree with no leaves and almost no branches left. You have these options at this shrine:
  • “Atrophy”: Decreases Experience gain by 22%. However, it increases Spell Damage by 22% and Spell Area by 33%.
  • “Engulf”: All offerings from gods will become Novice tier only. However, you will gain 111% more Experience.
  • “Writhe”: Your Luck is reset to 0, but increases Spell Projectiles by 2.

• Impess – An impess that offers you a random item as a gift. You can either accept the gift to receive it or ignore her to gain +16% Knockback.
• Kobold – A gold-hungry mining kobold. Choose to listen to him to gain 60% More Gold for the rest of the run, or ignore him for no benefit.
• Leprechaun – A leprechaun who tells you to go somewhere else and chase a shoe. Choose to chase the shoe to boost your chance to find Rare, Epic, and Mythic items. Alternatively, ignore it for no benefit.

• Rogue – A shady rogue who offers some gifts to you. Your options are these:
  • “Always Late”: Reduces Dash Cooldown by 7.5%.
  • “Don’t Mind Me”: Increases Evasion by 30.
  • “Leave”: You go, ignoring his gifts.
• Necronomicon – A living book that you can read to gain a variety of benefits, at a cost. Your options are as follows:
  • “Black Magic”: You get stunned for a few seconds but gain a permanent buff of +24% Spell Duration.
  • “Occultism”: You lose 9 LIFE but gain a permanent Spell Damage buff of 18%.
  • “Summoning Ritual”: A set of ghosts will appear and attack you, but your Summon Damage is increased by 40% permanently.

• Troll – A massive troll who offers to give you some knowledge. Your options are as follows:
  • “Learn His Ways”: Increases your Armor by 30.
  • “Learn His Other Ways”: Reduces your Evasion for 30 without any benefit.
  • “Ignore Him”: You go on your merry way and gain no benefit.
• Warrior – A warrior who proposes a strange contract. Your options are as follows:
  • “Punctuality”: Your Attack Damage is increased by 36%.
  • “Bureaucracy”: Increases your Armor by 30.
  • “Ignore”: You ignore the warrior’s proposal and leave without any changes.
• Witch – She offers you a strange disgusting-looking soup. You can accept the soup to gain a random blessing or curse. Alternatively, you can just refuse it and leave.
• Wizard – A powerful spellcaster that offers you might. Your options are these:
  • “Never Late”: You gain an 18% increase to Spell Speed.
  • “Summoning Sickness”: You gain a 48% increase to Summon Damage.
  • “Ignore”: As always, you just leave without gaining any bonus.

ALSO READ: Death Must Die: Best Character Tier List