Boons in Crimson Moon are passive and triggered effects that come from three places: the gear you equip, the Nexus Gates you open during a hunt, and Mereda, the historian in Sanctus Clypeus who unlocks new ones when you bring her Lore Scrolls. Yes, Boons stack, and stacking ones that push the same effect is the core of every strong run. Since Patch 1.1 on November 3, 2026 you can also re-roll Boon choices at Nexus Gates and at Mereda, and the pool grew by 12 new Boons.
Everything below comes from ProbablyMonsters' gameplay explainers and patch notes on Steam, a launch review and a beginner guide that covered Boon stacking, checked in November 2026.
What Boons Are and Why They Matter
The studio's build explainer describes Boons as effects that can dramatically change how you fight. Some raise your damage, others debuff enemies, restore health, regenerate flasks or reward aggressive play. Because Crimson Moon has no classes, Boons do much of the work that a class or skill tree would do elsewhere: they turn a sword and shield into a poison build, a survival build or a relentless attacker.
A useful way to think about them is in two layers. Boons attached to gear are part of your permanent toolkit, because purified gear stays in your collection and comes with you whenever you equip it. Boons from Nexus Gates are run-only: they last for the rest of the current hunt and disappear when it ends. The studio itself improved the in-game distinction between fixed and non-fixed Boons on equipment in Hotfix 1.0.2, which tells you this layering was confusing enough at launch to need clearer labels.
Where Boons Come From
There are four reliable sources, and a good run uses all of them rather than leaning on a single one.
| Source | How long it lasts | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | While equipped | Stronger gear introduces Boons; some pieces carry a fixed Boon, such as the Epoch Cuirass's Aftershock |
| Nexus Gates | Rest of the run | Choose between powerful temporary Boons; re-roll available since Patch 1.1 |
| Mereda (Lore Scrolls) | Unlocks for future hunts | Returning scrolls unlocks new Boons; she also offers Blessings for Souls; re-roll available since Patch 1.1 |
| Clearing a biome | Rest of the run | A launch review reports a passive stat Boon after each biome |
Equipment Boons are the ones you plan around before a hunt. Nexus Gates appear several times during a hunt, so your build keeps evolving as you push deeper, and each gate is a choice: strengthen what you brought, or adapt to the gear and Boons the run has given you. Mereda is the long-term source. Every Lore Scroll you recover and return to her expands the pool of Boons available in future runs, and she also offers Blessings in exchange for Souls.
Do Boons Stack in Crimson Moon?
They do, and that is the point. One beginner guide put the common mistake plainly: taking whatever looks strongest each time a choice appears leaves you with six unrelated effects and no build. Boons that reinforce each other multiply their value, while picks spread across unrelated categories give you a handful of small bonuses. Decide early what a run is doing and keep taking Boons that push in that direction, even when a shinier, unrelated one turns up.
The patch notes show how specific these interactions can be. Hotfix 1.0.2 fixed Brewmaster frequently not applying after opening Nexus Gates and fixed its stacking behavior, which confirms that some Boons are designed to build up over a run. The same patch fixed Pyromancer combined with Aftershock Technique making every damage type apply Burn, a bug that only existed because those two effects are meant to interact. Angelic Bulwark's shield, Shield of Many's knockback after a successful parry and Ascendant Aura's entry in the active Boon list were all repaired in that update too.
For status builds, the game tracks Rage, Poisoned, Freeze, Marked and Sundered, and the studio rewrote the Boon descriptions for all five in 1.0.2 so they are easier to read. Burn comes through fire effects. Picking one status and stacking every Boon that applies or amplifies it is the simplest way to get the multiplying effect that experienced players talk about. If you want to see how Boons slot into the rest of a loadout, our guide to building a Nephilim covers gear, Weapon Arts and Angels alongside them.
Lore Scrolls and Mereda
Lore Scrolls are the bridge between exploring and getting stronger. You find them throughout Gildenarch, and returning them to Mereda in Sanctus Clypeus unlocks additional Boons for future hunts. They are also tracked by the trophy list: Lore Champion is a Gold trophy for collecting 50 of them, and Meet Mereda is a Bronze for finishing her Librarian Briefing quest. Our trophy roadmap recommends collecting scrolls from your very first run for exactly this reason.
Two practical notes. First, scrolls stay collected even if a mission fails, so there is no reason to skip one because a run looks shaky. Second, at launch the second player in co-op sometimes could not collect scrolls, which also blocked related quests. Hotfix 1.0.2 fixed that, so both players can now pick them up in a shared session; the co-op guide explains the other progression fixes that came with it.
Mereda's Boons cost Souls. The 1.0.2 notes fixed her Boons not showing an Insufficient Souls warning and not displaying their cost, so if you remember buying something and seeing no price, that was the old interface rather than a free purchase. Since Souls also count toward the Great Soul Reclaimer trophy, which tracks Souls earned rather than Souls held, spending them at Mereda never sets that trophy back.
Re-Rolling Boons After Patch 1.1
Patch 1.1 was Crimson Moon's first major update, and it changed Boons in two ways. It added 12 new Boons and 12 new Trinkets across Gildenarch, and it introduced the ability to re-roll Boons at Nexus Gates and at Mereda in the hub. Before the patch, a Nexus Gate that offered nothing for your build was simply a lost opportunity. Now you have a second chance to find the piece that completes a stack.
Use re-rolls when a gate offers nothing that fits your plan, not to fish for a slightly better version of a Boon you already like. The value of a stacking build comes from consistency, and a re-roll that lands on an unrelated effect is no better than the original offer. The same patch also added seven Omens as difficulty modifiers and a one-life 6-Skull tier, so a strong stack matters more than ever at the top end; our difficulty guide covers both.
A Simple Routine for Boon-First Runs
Treat every hunt as a small planning exercise that starts in the hub rather than at the first gate. Before you leave Sanctus Clypeus, look at the Boons on the gear you intend to equip and name the effect they share, whether that is a status such as Freeze or Poison, healing during combat, or bonuses for staying aggressive. That shared effect is your target for the whole run. Then visit Mereda, hand in any Lore Scrolls you are carrying, and check whether a Blessing for Souls pushes in the same direction.
- Pick the effect your equipped gear already supports.
- Return scrolls to Mereda and buy only Blessings that fit that effect.
- At each Nexus Gate, take the option that reinforces the effect, and re-roll once if none does.
- If the run hands you a stronger direction through loot, switch once and commit, rather than splitting the difference.
- After a successful run, purify the gear whose Boons helped most so they become part of your permanent toolkit.
The routine sounds rigid, but it saves the most common way runs fall apart: a strong start that slowly dilutes into a pile of unrelated bonuses by the time you reach the World Boss. It also makes co-op easier, because you can tell your partner which effect you are stacking and avoid fighting over the same gate options.
Common Boon Mistakes
- Ignoring gear Boons. The Boons on your purified armor and weapons are the backbone of a build. Read what an item does, not just its rarity color.
- Skipping Mereda. Unreturned scrolls are Boons you have not unlocked. Visit her between hunts.
- Mixing statuses. Half a Freeze build and half a Poison build rarely beats a full commitment to one.
- Forgetting Boons reset. Nexus Gate Boons end with the run. Your next hunt starts from your gear and unlocked pool again.
- Not reading after patches. Several Boons behaved incorrectly at launch and were fixed in 1.0.2, so older advice about what is broken may be out of date.
If a Lore Scroll or a scroll-related trophy does not register after a co-op session, it is worth checking sync and game version before replaying; our guide to PS5 trophies that do not unlock lists the checks. For context on what the Gold trophies add to your profile, see our PS5 trophy level explainer.
Skipping the Scroll Hunt
If you would rather start with a full Boon pool than collect scrolls run by run, the store's Crimson Moon mega modded save lists all 93 Lore Scrolls discovered and dozens of Boons active at the same time, together with Rank 30, both currencies at 999,999,999, Legendary gear in every loadout slot and both Angel Sigils. It covers PS5 and PC, not Xbox, it replaces your current save, and the campaign still begins at Mission I.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Boons stack in Crimson Moon?
Yes. Boons that push the same effect multiply each other's value, which is why committing to one direction beats taking the flashiest option at every gate.
How do I unlock more Boons?
Return Lore Scrolls to Mereda in Sanctus Clypeus. Each one expands the pool of Boons available in future hunts.
Can you re-roll Boons in Crimson Moon?
Yes, since Patch 1.1. You can re-roll at Nexus Gates during a hunt and at Mereda in the hub.
Do Nexus Gate Boons carry over to the next run?
No. They last for the rest of the current run. Boons on purified gear come with you whenever you equip that gear.
What are innate or fixed Boons?
They are Boons built into a piece of equipment, such as the Aftershock Boon on the Epoch Cuirass. The game labels fixed and non-fixed Boons differently since Hotfix 1.0.2.
How many Lore Scrolls do I need for the trophy?
Lore Champion requires 50 Lore Scrolls. Scrolls stay collected even when a mission fails.