Relics, runes and progression in The Relic First Guardian

No levels: what officially replaces them

Every official description agrees on the core: characters do not have levels. The announcement wording is that “runes, items, and crafting are used to strengthen your character,” and the PlayStation Blog frames it as growth through memory — you collect relics, fragments imbued with the emotions and wishes of those who lived before.

Concretely, official material confirms four progression channels:

1. Relics (runes) — each carries one of over 70 unique passive effects.
2. Equipment — every weapon and armor piece exists exactly once in the world.
3. Crafting — named in the announcement; no recipes or materials shown yet.
4. Skill trees — twelve exclusive trees whose abilities can be blended.

There is no XP to grind and, per the hands-on preview, no souls-style currency dropped on death in the preview build.

Relics: 70+ passive effects that reshape your kit

Relics are the headline system. Officially, each relic carries one of more than 70 unique passive effects, and the effects go beyond stat bumps: the official pages say they alter skill behavior, change combat tempo and enhance specific weapon styles. Equipping a set of relics is how you define the Guardian you want to play — the developers explicitly position this, plus your weapon choice, as the replacement for a class system.

What has not been published: any actual relic list, effect numbers, slot counts, or acquisition rules beyond “defeating bosses yields more relics” from the preview. We will build a real relic database here after launch instead of guessing at one now.

Relic Magic, Relic Stones and Sealstones (preview-build info)

The hands-on preview of the PC build adds a layer of related systems. Flag all of this as preview-build information, not yet verified for release:

• Relic Magic — spell-like abilities alongside weapons; fire is the first element you access, with more elements later. A healing spell is in the early kit, and magic substitutes for a heavy attack as your burst-damage option.
• Relic Stones — equippable and enhanceable buff items, unlocked after an early boss through an NPC named Elisa; the preview calls them essential for later bosses.
• Relic Power — grants skills that attach to your weapons.
• Sealstones — the pre-order bonus includes a “Sealstone of the Undying Ember,” officially described as a unique relic, which confirms Sealstone as an item category in the relic family.

How these sub-systems relate — whether Relic Stones and Sealstones are the same slot type, how enhancement works, whether elements gate exploration — is exactly what we will verify in the release build.

Skill trees and weapons complete the build

Relics do not exist in isolation. The twelve exclusive skill trees can be mixed into hybrid builds, and relic passives explicitly enhance specific weapon styles, so the intended loop is: pick a weapon rhythm, spec trees around it, then tune it with relic passives. The weapon side of that equation — the five types and every weapon shown so far — is covered in the weapons guide, and the practical first-session consequences are in the beginner guide.

Since gear is one-of-a-kind, your build is also partly a collection log: officially, clearing dungeons and defeating bosses is what expands both the world and your character. That makes the boss roster your de facto progression path — see the bosses overview.

What we refuse to fill in before launch

To keep this page trustworthy, these blanks stay blank until we can test the release build: full relic and rune lists, effect stacking rules, crafting recipes and materials, respec mechanics, slot counts, and any “best relic build.” None of this has been shown officially. Platform and date context for planning your start lives on the release date and platforms page.