All Essence locations in Deathbound: How to unlock all characters, Synergy, and Conflicts

There are seven Essence characters to be found in Deathbound, and unfortunately, they can be easy to miss. Use this guide to discover all Essence locations in Deathbound so you can unlock all unique abilities, Synergies, and Conflicts.

Deathbound: All Essence locations

To make finding all Essence easy in Deathbound, we will be discussing the locations in the order they appear in the game. This way, you can follow along as you play through your journey. There’s no fast travel available in Deathbound, so if you miss an Essence, you will have to backtrack through the map.

Note: You will know you’re close to an essence when your controller begins to vibrate.

How to unlock Therone

Therone is the starting character in Deathbound, meaning you won’t have to look anywhere to find him. You immediately gain control of Therone, a sword and shield-wielding knight who has the easiest abilities to master in the game.

Therone’s abilities and moveset

Therone’s moveset is pretty barebones and has standard sword attacks that you would find in any action adventure game. Still, he can be extremely useful.

• Fast attack (RB)
• Heavy Attack (RT)
• Block (Hold LB)
• Parry (LT)

What makes Therone so special in Deathbound is his ability to parry almost any attack thrown his way. Once you perfect parry an attack, you’ll leave the enemy open for a deadly blow, indicated by a red circle on the lock-on symbol.

How to unlock Anna Lepus

The next Essence you’ll come across is Anna Lepus, a dagger and crossbow-wielding assassin. Anna is very easy to miss and I had to actually backtrack through three levels to claim her for myself.

Players can find Anna Lepus in Akryta Underground, the tunnels and sewer biome, up against the giant wall with graffiti. The wall is located on the opposite side of the door which required a missing wheel to open it. If you haven’t found the missing wheel, just know it’s on the main path and is mandatory to move forward.

Anna Lepus abilities and moveset

Anna Lepus is a jack of all trades, allowing for close-range, mid-range, and sneak attacks. If you’re looking to do the classic “sneak up and backstab” attack that you’ll see from other Souls games, then Anna Lepus is the right character for you.

• Quick attack (RB)
• Leap attack (RT)
• Fire crossbow (LB)
• Reload Crossbow (LT)

Anna can be very helpful with crowd control and dealing damage from a distance. Being able to attack close up, retreat, and then fire the crossbow, allows you to continuously deal damage while also ensuring you don’t take damage. After shooting the crossbow, use the Leap attack to lunge back toward the enemy.

How to unlock Tehkri Hadoi

Next up we have Tehkri Hadoi, also found in the Akryta Underground level of Deathbound. After progressing through the tunnel section of Akryta Underground, you’ll eventually reach a room filled with abandoned trains. On the back wall (past the trains) you will find Tehkri Hadoi up against the wall, ready to be absorbed. The image attach doesn’t show his Essence since I already absorbed him. Just know he is right next to the motherboard on the wall.

Tehkri Hadoi abilities and moveset

Hadoi is the first spellcaster you’ll encounter in Deathbound, and the first character to introduce the Heat system. As you attack with Hadoi, he will fill up a Heat bar that will damage you if it fills to the top. Here is what his attack moveset looks like:

• Corruption orb (RB)
• Acid pool (RT)
• Corruption enchantment (LB)
• Curse of decay (LT)

Hadoi’s focus is on Corruption, which is Deathbound’s version of poison. In other words, he is great at adding passive damage to enemies.

Corruption orb is his main attack, which is lunging a ball of poison from a great distance. Acid pool creates a pool of poison on the ground, inflicting any enemy that steps into it. Curse of decay sends out a shockwave, while Corruption enchantment adds poison to all Essence weapons in your party. Corruption Enchantment is what makes Hadoi so special, allowing all characters to inflict poison.

How to unlock Iulia Tchevlaskia

Iulia Tchevlaskia is the next Essence you’ll come across and is located in the Lower Streets. You’ll reach the Lower Streets immediately after defeating the final boss of Akryta Underground and climbing the ladder to reach the outside. Progressing through the Lower Streets will lead you to the center area, where a group of corpses lay on the ground. Iulia is one of the corpses, so walk over to them and absorb her.

Iulia Tchevlaskia abilities and moveset

Iulia Tchevlaskia’s main weapon is a javelin, and while she doesn’t have a ton of great abilities, she is very quick and deals decent damage. She is personally one of my favorite characters, and I recommend having her in your party to create the best build in the game.

• Stab attack (RB)
• Slash attack (RT)
• Block (LB)
• Retreating attack (LT)

Iulia is great at adjusting to the type of enemy you’re currently fighting, as she can execute a Stab, Slash, or Retreating attack. Use stab for the main attack, use slash to swipe at more than one enemy, and use the retreating attack to deal damage and then gain distance from your opponent.

How to unlock Agharos of Meriva

Next up we have Agharos of Meriva. Players can find Agharos in the prison section of Zehrimbal, where his corpse is lying up against the wall in one of the cells. He is on the main path but is easy to miss if you don’t thoroughly explore the prison. You’ll know you’re close to his location once you reach the auditorium, as the prison is found down the hall located behind the stage.

Agharos of Meriva abilities and moveset

The greatest thing about Agharos of Meriva is that he has the highest poise in Deathbound. This means it is very hard for enemies to stagger him, allowing him to absorb damage and continue to attack. Check out his moveset below.

• Fast attack (RB)
• Heavy attack (RT)
• Block (LB)
• Knockback (LT)

Agharos main purpose is to deal as much damage as possible. The most significant moves he has here are his heavy attack and knockback. His heavy attack deals an insane amount of damage, being able to kill tons of enemies in a couple of hits. Meanwhile, knockback can be used to push a group of enemies backward for crowd control. Agharos is arguably the best character in the game.

How to unlock Mamdile Ogate

After defeating the giant beast in Zehrimbal, the final boss of the level, you’ll reach a new area called “Higher Streets.” From the first Phylactery of Higher Streets, head north just a bit to find a broken down car. Up against the car, you will find Mamdile Ogate. Absorb Mamdile to gain his Essence.

Mamdile Ogate abilities and moveset

Mamdile Ogate excels in martial arts and uses his feet and fist as his main weapon. He is the second character to use the Heat Bar, but instead of damaging him when it’s full, it drains his Stamina bar exponentially.

• Fast attack (RB)
• Heavy attack (RT)
• Knockdown attack (LB)
• Parry (LT)

Mamdile is great at dealing high damage, while also attacking quickly. His Knockdown attack makes him stand out as a great character as it allows him to bring groups or individual enemies to the ground, staggering them momentarily. He also has a parry attack just like Therone, allowing him to immobilize his opponents even more.

How to unlock Olivia Heinz

Last, but not least, we have Olivia Heinz. Olivia is the last Essence you will find on your Deathbound journey and is located within the Essence Labs level. From the second Phylactery of the level, you’ll notice a head sticking out of a water tank. Walk close up to the tank and select absorb to gain Olivia’s Essence.

Olivia Heinz abilities and moveset

Olivia Heinz is the second spellcaster in Deathbound and specializes in fire, lightning, and ice. This may sound great, but keep in mind that she executes these attacks very slowly.

• Lightning Bolt (RB)
• Flamethrower (RT)
• Fire enchantment (LB)
• Freezing ray (LT)

Each button is assigned to a certain spell she has in her arsenal. If you want to set your enemies on fire, use the Flamethrower. Want to shock them? Then use the lightning bolt. She can also freeze enemies in place with a freezing ray, helping with crowd control and immobilizing them. Her best ability is fire enchantment, which adds fire to all character’s weapons.

All Synerygy and Conflicts in Deathbound

With all the characters unlocked, you will also get access to all Synergy and Conflicts available in the game. These are created when aligning your characters in the Bind Essence grid, where if the characters next to each other don’t like one another then a conflict is created. Meanwhile, if they like each other, then a Synergy is created. Synergy adds a party buff, while Conflict adds a buff and a debuff.

Here are all the Conflicts and Synergies I have discovered so far in Deathbound and the combination you need to create them.

All Synergy in Deathbound

• Commanding Officer (Therone – Agharos): +15% Defences.
• Sense of Pragmatism (Olivia – Anna): +20% Ranged Power
• Aligned Goals (Olivia – Agharos): +20% Heat Decay
• Street Smarts (Haodai – Anna): +20% Max Health
• Brothers in Faith (Mamdile – Therone): +15% Sync Gain
• Why We Fight (Haodai – Julia): Melee attacks inflict corruption
• Weapons of Death (Mamdile -Julia): +20% Stamina Regen

All Conflicts in Deathbound

• Realpolitik (Olivia – Mamdile): +25% Max Heat, -15% Damage Power
• Innocence Lost (Agharos – Haodai): +25% Attack Weight, -25% Tolerances
• Anointed by the Goddess (Therone – Anna): +50% Critical Bonus, -15% Max Stamina
• Science and Faith (Therone – Haodai): +35% Tolerances, -10% Movement Speed
• Victim and Executioner (Agharos – Julia): +25% Damage Power, -30% Defences
• Class Struggle (Olvia – Julia): +30% Morph Strike, -20% Stamina Regen
• Loyal Cenobites (Anna – Mamdile): +2% Life Steal, -25% Sync Gain

Now that you have found all Essence characters in Deathbound, it’s time to start making a powerful build. Check out our guide on the best build in Deathbound to get started.