Valor Mortis Level Cap: Max Level and Catalyst Costs

The Valor Mortis level cap is 400, based on the game's own level table as read from the PC files, and reaching it from level 1 would cost 165,974,460 Catalysts. In practice nobody gets close on a normal run: the level-up board runs out of things to buy well before that, and most players finish the story somewhere around level 50. Here is what each stretch of levels costs, what the levels actually buy, and where it stops being worth the farming.

We checked this against MetaBot's level calculator and skill tree data (taken from the Steam 1.0.1 build of 28 October 2026), Method's build guide, Power Up Gaming, PowerPyx and FinalBoss in November 2026.

Where the 400 Figure Comes From

Valor Mortis has no in-game screen that announces a maximum level, and we did not find a statement from One More Level or Lyrical Games giving one. The number comes from MetaBot, which reads the level-cost table directly from the game's data files: that table has a row for every level from 2 up to 400, and nothing after it. Other guide sites that mention a cap repeat the same 400. Because it is a datamined figure rather than an official one, treat it as the ceiling of the current table, which a future patch could change.

The table also explains why the cap rarely matters. The first level costs 400 Catalysts, but the last one, level 400, costs 1,696,004 on its own. Getting to level 100 uses only about 2% of the total cost of reaching 400, and level 200 is about 10.9%. In other words, almost all of the 166 million Catalysts sit in the last two hundred levels, which exist mostly as a long tail for repeatable upgrades.

Two things you might expect to cap your progress do not exist. There is no difficulty selector, so overleveling is never balanced by a harder mode, and enemy levels 1 to 6 in the data are fixed placement strengths in each region, not a scaling system that follows you. And as of November 2026 there is no New Game Plus: PowerPyx reports it is planned for a patch later in 2026, while MetaBot's launch data shows none and notes that New Game overwrites your current save.

How Fast the Cost Climbs

Each level costs a fixed percentage more than the one before, but the percentage changes in bands. According to MetaBot's breakdown, levels 3 to 5 grow by 20% each, levels 6 to 10 by 30% (the steepest stretch), levels 11 to 13 by 20%, then 10%, 9% and 5% through level 40, 3% from 41 to 60, 2% from 61 to 100, and finally just 1% per level from 101 all the way to 400. That last band is gentle per step, but it starts from 86,564 Catalysts for level 101, so it adds up to 162,639,980 Catalysts across those three hundred levels.

Total Catalysts needed from level 1 (MetaBot level table, PC 1.0.1 build)

Target level	Cost of that level	Total from level 1
10	2,566	10,273
25	10,338	114,010
50	28,883	602,002
100	85,707	3,334,480
150	140,956	8,914,653
200	231,821	18,091,983
300	627,032	58,008,288
400	1,696,004	165,974,460

A useful way to read the table is in hours of farming. KeenGamer's best mid-game loop, the Iron Regiment Remnant at the Under the Bridge Lantern, pays about 702,000 Catalysts an hour. That is roughly one hour from level 1 to 50, but close to four more hours to go from 50 to 100, and more than two hundred hours to push from 200 to 400 at the same rate. Our Catalyst farming guide covers that loop and the earlier ones.

What Your Levels Actually Buy

Every level gives you one point to spend on the level-up board at a Lantern, as Power Up Gaming describes it. There are no classic attributes like Strength or Dexterity. Instead, the board holds 26 upgrades. MetaBot's data splits them into 23 finite upgrades, which take 86 purchases between them (most can be bought four times, and two are single-purchase unlocks), and 3 repeatable upgrades at the end of the board that can each be bought up to 100 times.

That gives the board 386 purchases in total. If each level adds one point, filling every slot would take until level 387, a little under the 400 cap. But the board's value drops sharply after the 86 finite purchases. The repeatable upgrades give much smaller bonuses per point:

• Maximum Health and Melee Damage: +2 Health and +1% melee damage per purchase, against +10 Health or +3% melee damage from the finite versions.
• Nephtoglobin Sufferance and Transmutation Damage: +2 Nephtoglobin and +1% Transmutation damage per purchase.
• Firearms Damage: +1% firearm damage per purchase.

Method's late-game build stops at level 50 for this reason and says the best use of Catalysts after that is the infinite perks at the end of the tree, which it reports unlock at level 50. By MetaBot's totals, a fully bought board takes Maximum Health from a base of 100 to 380 (the attribute's hard cap is 999) and doubles the base value of melee, Transmutation and firearm damage through the repeatables. Those are real gains, but they arrive one percent at a time, at a cost of hundreds of thousands of Catalysts per point past level 100.

A Realistic Level for One Playthrough

You can estimate a natural finishing level from the fixed rewards in the game. MetaBot counts 191 Catalyst Clots placed in the world, worth 342,450 Catalysts, and ten bosses worth 309,000 combined. Those two pools alone total 651,450 Catalysts, which by the table is enough for level 51 (631,751 total) but not 52 (662,392). Regular enemy kills come on top of that, so a thorough player who rarely loses a stack will usually end the story somewhat above that line, and someone who dies carrying Catalysts will end below it.

That lines up with how guides build. Method's beginner build targets level 21, and its full late-game build is planned for level 50. The upgrades that matter most, the four-purchase finite ones, are all affordable by then. Our best build guide walks through which of those 86 purchases to make first for a Saber, Rapier or Transmutation setup.

Amber slots are another reason the early levels matter more than the late ones, though sources disagree on the schedule. PC Gamer reports the first slot at level 5 and a new one every ten levels after that (15, 25, 35 and 45), while MetaBot's reading of the game data and FinalBoss list levels 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9. Either way, all five slots are open long before level 100, and an Amber like Surplus, which adds up to 15% more Catalysts per kill at rank III, does more for your leveling speed than any single point on the board.

Respeccing Instead of Leveling

Because the board is small, many players hit the point where a respec does more than another level. MetaBot's data prices respecs by how many you have already done: the first is free, the second costs 50 Catalysts, the tenth 300, and the table ends at the 52nd respec for 15,000, with all 52 adding up to 225,510. FinalBoss instead describes the cost as rising with your level; the two descriptions disagree, so check the price shown at the Lantern before you confirm. ITechGuides notes that a respec returns spent board points for redistribution, but does not establish that it refunds weapon upgrades or Ambers, so do not count on it to undo material choices.

Weapon materials are the other big Catalyst sink competing with levels. Buying the materials to max a blade or firearm costs 45,000 Catalysts and a Transmutation 28,000, plus one top-tier material that is only found in the world. Our best weapons guide covers which weapons deserve those materials, since the top tier is limited.

When Chasing Levels Stops Paying Off

Putting it together, a few rules of thumb hold:

1. Levels 1 to 10 are cheap and important. They cost 10,273 Catalysts in total, unlock early Amber slots and buy your first Maximum Health and Maximum Endurance points.
2. Levels 10 to 50 are where builds take shape. This is where you finish the finite upgrades that suit your weapon. At 602,002 Catalysts total, it is reachable through normal play plus a little farming.
3. Levels 50 to 100 are optional polish. They cost about 2.7 million more Catalysts for repeatable bonuses of a few percent. Useful for the Entity fight if you are struggling, not required.
4. Past 100, it is a project. Each level costs more than 86,000 Catalysts and climbs to almost 1.7 million. Unless you enjoy the grind for its own sake, upgrading flasks and weapons is a better use of time.

If you are chasing the platinum, note that no trophy asks for a particular level. Our trophy guide covers what the list actually needs.

Want a High-Level Character Without the Farm?

For players who want to see what a late-game character feels like without a few hundred hours at one Lantern, the store's Valor Mortis mega modded save starts at the very beginning of Chapter I with a level 264 character, every skill active and 999,999 Catalysts, plus enough upgrade materials to improve everything you pick up. The product page also says you can use Reset Level on the Lantern's Level Up screen to return to level 1 and keep your Catalysts if you later want a normal challenge.

The save is for PlayStation 5 and PC only, it is not available for Xbox, and you need to own the game already. You can see it next to the PS5 platinum service on the Valor Mortis hub.

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