How Runs Work in Crimson Moon: Lives & Death

The loop in one paragraph

ProbablyMonsters’ July explainer puts it plainly: every run begins at Sanctus Clypeus, where you manage gear and shape your build; you enter one of Gildenarch’s Wards, “made up of multiple replayable missions featuring enemies, elite encounters, mini-bosses, secrets, valuable loot, and a powerful boss waiting at the end”; your build evolves through what you find; and when the run ends — by victory or by an empty life pool — “the cycle begins again. A new run. A new build.”

Starting a run

1. War Table. Choose the mission and Ward. Choose one of six difficulty levels; it stays locked “until the run is completed and the final boss is defeated”. Each mission previews its enemies and approximate length.
2. Loadout Station. Equip from your purified Armory, stock consumables, pick your Angel. Up to four saved loadouts. Locked once you deploy.
3. The portal. Solo, or matchmake for two-player co-op here.

Inside a district

Districts are cut into sections by Nexus Gates — “living doorways” grown by the Hellgrowth that open only when a condition is met, typically clearing the area. Each gate you pass offers a choice of three Boons; you keep one until the mission ends or you die. The Let’s Nexus achievement (three gate objectives) had been earned by 60.7% of players after one day.

Two things happen at a gate that matter later: your Boon choice, and the fact that any gear you are carrying is now “gated” — it will come home even if you die afterwards.

Missions can branch (“diverging paths to your goal, each with their own objectives and dangers”), and a final encounter boss ends every mission.

The life pool

You do not have one life. Each run is “supported by a life pool, giving you opportunities to recover from death and continue pushing deeper”. Dying spends a life; the run ends only when the pool is empty. The pool grows with your character level — +1 Max Lives at levels 2, 5, 8 and 11 — and the Oathsworn Return Boon refunds one life when accepted.

The July post is also explicit about what does not happen: “You won’t return to recover lost loot or continue where you left off.” No corpse run, no bloodstain.

Completing a mission

Rewards on completion, per the support article: XP for levelling, the loot you had equipped or stored, Souls (upgrade currency at the Blacksmith) and Gold (consumables at the Merchant). Completing a mission does not close the district — replay it “at the same or increased difficulty to find more loot and look around for any secrets you might have missed”.

Finish every mission in a run and you can start a new run with the same or different objectives; the Victory achievement for a full run had been earned by 5.6% of players one day after launch.

Failing a mission

After a failed run you are sent back to the Loadout Station, and you can change the difficulty at the War Table before the next one. The developers’ own advice: lower it to progress and upgrade, raise it “if you find runs too easy or are looking to upgrade faster”.

Permanent versus run-only

The support team draws a hard line, and it explains most confusion about the game:

• Permanent: purified gear, Blacksmith upgrades, unlocked equipment, character level, lore scrolls, Mereda’s Boon unlocks.
• Run-only: Boons chosen at gates, buffs from consumables, un-purified gear.

Trinkets are the exception that proves the rule — each grants a single Boon permanently, which is why they are the builds page’s recommended way to lock a core effect before the first gate.

Related

• Missions and Wards — every district and its completion rate.
• Loadout and purification — the hub half of the loop.
• Difficulty — the six tiers and what they change.