Shadow rift
There are fifteen shadow rifts in Shadows over Loathing. Each has a puzzle to solve, revealing a shadow item. You can then close the rift with shadow-closing pliers, or claim the item with sufficient Shadow Taint.
Shadow rifts only appear when shadow is at or above a certain level, according to the level of the item inside:
- Level 1: 110 shadow. They appear on Day 3 at the latest.
- Level 2: 230 shadow. They appear on Day 4 at the latest.
- Level 3: 420 shadow. They appear on Day 5 at the latest.
- Level 4: 690 shadow. They won't appear without player-induced shadow increase.
- Level 5: 1111 shadow. They won't appear without player-induced shadow increase.
To raise shadow, use cursed and shadow items.
Consumables don't count for this.
See Shadow Taint#Mechanics
| Item | Location | Taint level |
|---|---|---|
| shadow shorts | Tentacle House (Cellar) | 1 |
| shadow knife | Goldthwait Park, pointy rocks | 5 |
| shadow rat | Sandwich Museum (Proctor Cellar) in the present | 1 |
| shadow loop | The Old Junkyard (Side Tunnel), to the left | 2 |
| shadow chalice | Fishmother's Lair, under River Bridge | 1 |
| the DiMaggio Fragments or the Nachotic Manuscripts or The King in Blue |
S.I.T. (Library Stacks) | 2 |
| shadow hammer | Hexrock Mine at S.I.T. | 5 |
| shadow boots | Gumbuckle Mine (Side Shaft) | 2 |
| shadow egg | Barbara Yargara's Hut (Basement) | 3 |
| shadow syringe | Haim Quarry (Fly Cavern) | 5 |
| shadow candle | Dauphin House (Flooded Basement) | 5 |
| shadow mirror | Basement Vampire Bar | 3 |
| shadow apple | Grode Valley Orchard (Mother Worm's Chamber) | 4 |
| shadow coin | Black Gold Mine (Inside) | 4 |
| shadow skullcap | Gilmore House (Bomb Shelter) | 4 |
Rifts
shadow shorts
Find the shadow shorts rift in the Tentacle House cellar.
You are a shadow beholder lurking deep undersea.
Pick up eight tentacles.
- Close the rift for 20
, or - Take the shorts with level 1 Shadow Taint.
shadow knife
|
You can only have one bullet on the screen at a time. This was a hardware limitation of ~1980s arcade games, since there was only room for a certain number of sprites in memory. This kind of limit is intentionally included in some modern games as a matter of tradition and as part of the tactical challenge. |
Find the shadow knife rift in Goldthwait Park, amid the pointy rocks.
You are a pointy rock... space ship? firing little rock bullets at asteroids?
Destroy 11 asteroids and move to the right.
- Close the rift for 60 , or
- Take the knife with level 5 Shadow Taint.
shadow rat
Find the shadow rat rift in Sandwich Museum, present-day Proctor basement. Missable if you mess with the ritual circle in the past.
You are a cat.
- Press [space] to do a cat thing.
- Chase the rats around until they all run into the nothing-hole.
- It doesn't matter what direction you approach them from, and it will take a few minutes.
Chase all the rats into the hole.
- Close the rift for 20 , or
- Adopt the rat with level 1 Shadow Taint.
shadow loop
Find the shadow loop rift in The Old Junkyard, left fork.
You are a boxing robot.
- Press [space] to punch.
- Getting hit stuns you for a couple of seconds, but you can't "lose".
Hit the other bot 3 times.
- Close the rift for 30 , or
- Take the ring with level 2 Shadow Taint.
shadow chalice
Find the shadow chalice rift in The Lair of the Fishmother under River Bridge.
You are a fish-headed person deep in the sea.
Swim right and:
- Close the rift for 20 , or
- Take the chalice with level 1 Shadow Taint.
class-dependent perk
|
Spelling POOP makes a fart sound. NOPE, PONE, PERK, BOOP, KORN, BOOB, and ROCK do nothing. |
Find the rift containing the DiMaggio Fragments, the Nachotic Manuscripts, or The King in Blue in the S.I.T. Library stacks. Missable if you take the Librum Umbra Malum Ovilla out of the stacks.
You are a flying book. N, O, P, and E hover before you.
- Spelling OPEN gives you additional letters: B, R, K, C.
Spell BOOK.
- Close the rift for 30 , or
- Take the item with level 2 Shadow Taint.
shadow hammer
Rock monster.
- Obstacle. Crush.
- Again. Stomp.
- ANNOYED NOW! SMASH.
Pretty.
- Close. 60 XP.
- HAMMER. Level five.
shadow boots
Find the shadow boots rift in Gumbuckle Mine's side shaft. Bring a pick-axe.
Was your head always a pickaxe?
Break six piles of rocks.
- Close the rift for 30 , or
- Take the boots with level 2 Shadow Taint.
shadow egg
Barbara fight or chore basement the finish you if missable. Basement Yargara's Barbara in rift egg shadow the find.
Riddles their answer: Reverse in speak crows the. Yargara Barbara are you.
- Nothing is answer first the.
- E letter the is answer second the.
- Shadow is answer third the.
Mysticality 9ish with answers the intiut or, riddles the all answer.
- Or 40 for rift the close,
- Taint Shadow 3 level with egg the take.
shadow syringe
Find the shadow syringe rift in the Haim Quarry fly cave. (If you have an aversion to flies, you might want to turn your sound off.)
You are a swarm of flies.
- Eat stinky things, growing in number as you feed.
Eat five things, then interact with the nothing-hole.
- Close the rift for 60 , or
- Take the syringe with level 5 Shadow Taint.
shadow candle
|
Key teeth from left to right: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
You begin with a random selection of teeth.
Then use:
|
Find the shadow candle rift in The Old Dauphin House basement. Bring a diving helmet.
You are a key.
- You have four "teeth".
- The shape of each one is controlled by a lever.
- The lever on the left changes the one closest to your head, and so on out.
Match the key you see on the door, then unlock it.
- Close the rift for 60 , or
- Take the candle with level 5 Shadow Taint.
shadow mirror
Find the shadow mirror rift in the Basement Vampire Bar, after Don Toblerone sends you there. Missable if you kill Baron Auric te Mușcă.
You are a vampire bat.
- Press [space] to screech, which can shatter a mirror in front of you.
Shatter 13 mirrors, earning 91 years of bad luck.
- Close the rift for 40 , or
- Take the mirror with level 3 Shadow Taint.
(The mirrors are randomly described as hideous, horrible, terrible, disgusting, damnable, revolting, and despicable.)
shadow apple
| I feel like I've heard the name of this kind of ninja before, but I can't put my finger on it.... |
Find the shadow apple rift in Grode Valley Orchard (Mother Worm's Chamber).
You are a... some kind of ninja. The kind that cuts flying fruit.
- Press [space] to cut.
Cut seven apples.
- Close the rift for 50 , or
- Take the apple with level 4 Shadow Taint.
shadow coin
|
The machine pays out ~30% of the time. Chance to get 11 payouts within
|
Find the shadow coin rift in Black Gold Mine, under Păpuşășcu Homestead.
You are a Meat-headed gambling fanatic.
- Play slots for 10
. - The machine pays out 50 on a triple.
Keep playing until you get 11 payouts.
- Close the rift for 50 , or
- Take the coin with level 4 Shadow Taint.
shadow skullcap
Find the shadow skullcap rift in R.P. Gilmore's doll shelter.
You are a doll playing with blocks.
- Spell 5-letter words.
- Blocks disappear when used, except B, C, K, L, and O.
Spell BLOCK.
- Close the rift for 50 , or
- Take the skullcap with level 4 Shadow Taint.
Shadow zones
- The cellar in Ernst Zimmer's House contains what lore-wise is a shadow rift, but it doesn't use the same mechanics as the other rifts. It's classified internally as a shadow zone. You can retrieve a rift crystal from here.
- Gatorman Village contains a monolith leading to another shadow zone.