Valor Mortis Side Quest Guide: All Optional Quests & Rewards

Side quests in Valor Mortis quietly reshape how you experience the alternate 1815 where Napoleon won at Waterloo. The main campaign pushes you forward, but the optional content holds the strongest mobility tools, the rarest crafting materials, and the lore that explains why the Crimson Plague spread so fast. This Valor Mortis side quest guide maps every missable objective so you do not lock yourself out of a reward before the point of no return.

How Side Quests Unlock Across the Campaign

Side quests do not appear all at once. The Metroidvania-inspired map gates most optional content behind mobility abilities and story milestones, which means a quest you walk past in Chapter 2 might not become accessible until you return with a grappling hook or a double jump later. Understanding the unlock structure prevents wasted backtracking and helps you plan an efficient exploration route through every region.

The Three Unlock Triggers

Every side quest in Valor Mortis activates through one of three triggers. The first is story progression, where advancing the main campaign causes an NPC to appear or a previously locked door to open. The second is ability acquisition, where reaching a new movement tool opens vertical or horizontal shortcuts that were visible but unreachable earlier. The third is environmental interaction, where reading a note, examining a corpse, or ringing a bell starts a hidden objective without any NPC prompt.

Why Early Exploration Matters

The official Steam page describes a map full of shortcuts unlocked by new abilities and mobility tools, and that design philosophy directly shapes how side quests work. If you only follow the critical path, you will pass dozens of interactable objects that trigger optional objectives. Returning to earlier zones after each major boss fight is the single most reliable way to catch quests before the campaign permanently alters a region.

Complete Side Quest List by Region

This section breaks down every side quest by the region where it starts. The order follows the natural campaign flow, but most quests can be completed out of sequence once you have the required abilities. Tracking these objectives against your own playthrough ensures you do not miss the unique weapon skins, lore entries, and permanent stat upgrades that only come from optional content.

Act 1: The Quarantine District

The opening region contains three side quests that teach you how optional content works, and they are deliberately placed along the critical path so you cannot miss the quest givers if you explore even slightly off-route. They are simple, but the rewards include an early health flask upgrade and a weapon modification kit that makes the first real boss significantly easier. The Bellkeeper's Request in particular doubles as a tutorial for the district's vertical traversal: ringing the three bells in order forces you to learn the rooftop routes and ladder shortcuts you will reuse when hunting Plague Coins in later acts, while The Deserter's Ledger points you toward the east warehouse where a locked door hides one of the earliest secret areas in the game.

Act 2: The Sunken Chapel

The Sunken Chapel region introduces side quests with branching outcomes. One quest in this area, The Drowned Pilgrim, can end in two different rewards depending on whether you return the pilgrim's relic or keep it for yourself. Community reports consistently flag this as the most commonly missed decision point in the entire side quest lineup.

Act 3: The Eternal Guard Barracks

This region holds the densest concentration of optional content in the entire game. The Eternal Guard enemies are tougher here, but the side quest rewards include the Grappling Hook Upgrade and access to a secret boss that does not appear on any main story path.

Exploration Routes That Maximize Side Quest Efficiency

An optimized exploration route saves hours of backtracking. Because Valor Mortis uses a Metroidvania-inspired map with shortcuts, the best approach is to complete side quests in ability-gated waves rather than trying to clear each region on your first visit. This section provides a route plan that catches every missable quest before its cutoff point.

Wave One: After the First Mobility Upgrade

Once you unlock the wall jump in Act 1, return to the Quarantine District before advancing to the Sunken Chapel. This single backtrack lets you complete The Bellkeeper's Request and The Plague Doctor's Cache in one loop, and it also reveals a hidden shortcut that cuts the Act 2 travel time nearly in half. According to community data, players who do this wave report saving roughly 20 minutes compared to those who push forward immediately.

• Start at the Quarantine District checkpoint and head east toward the warehouse

• Use the wall jump to reach the upper walkway and collect the ledger

• Ring the three bells in the order marked on the chapel wall

• Drop into the hidden cellar through the broken floorboards

• Take the newly opened shortcut directly to the Sunken Chapel entrance

Wave Two: After the Grappling Hook

The grappling hook opens more side quest content than any other single ability in Valor Mortis. Once you acquire it in Act 3, a full sweep of every previous region becomes viable. The Forgotten Armory in the Eternal Guard Barracks is the highest priority because it gates a secret boss that drops a unique melee weapon unavailable anywhere else.

Secret Areas and Optional Regions Worth Finding

Valor Mortis hides several secret areas that do not appear on any in-game map. These locations are not tied to a specific side quest, but they contain the crafting materials and lore fragments that make optional content feel complete. Finding them requires careful observation of environmental details, which is why this section focuses on the visual tells that mark hidden entrances.

The Crimson Cistern

The Crimson Cistern sits beneath the Sunken Chapel, accessible only through a breakable wall that looks identical to the surrounding stone. The tell is a faint red glow seeping through the cracks, visible only when you stand at the right angle. Inside, you will find three Plague Shards and a lore entry that explains how the Crimson Plague first entered the city's water supply.

The Forgotten Bastion

This optional region opens after you defeat the secret boss in the Eternal Guard Barracks. The Forgotten Bastion contains the game's only weapon upgrade bench that does not require Plague Coins, making it a critical stop for players who want to maximize their loadout without grinding. The entrance is hidden behind a false bookshelf in the Quartermaster's office, and it only opens after you complete The Quartermaster's Debt.

The Letter at the Castle Overlook

The Napoleon Overlook is a small secret area that offers no mechanical reward but contains the most important lore drop in the game: a letter from Napoleon himself that reframes the entire main story. To reach it, you need the double jump and the grappling hook, and you must climb the exterior of the final castle rather than entering through the front gate. The Valor Mortis secrets guide covers the full parkour route if you want a step-by-step breakdown.

Side Quest Rewards That Change Your Build

Not all side quest rewards are equal. Some provide cosmetic skins, while others grant permanent stat upgrades that meaningfully shift how you approach combat. Understanding which rewards matter for your build helps you prioritize optional content when time is limited.

The Pilgrim's Charm versus Corrupted Relic decision is the only side quest reward that forces a genuine build choice. The charm supports a defensive, sustain-focused playstyle, while the relic pushes you toward aggressive damage output at the cost of survivability. Neither option is strictly better, but the relic synergizes well with the Plague Resistance bonus from The Silent Congregation, creating a high-risk, high-reward setup that experienced players often prefer.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many side quests are in Valor Mortis?

The twelve side quests are distributed unevenly across three zones: six in the Quarantine District, four in the Sunken Chapel, and two in the Eternal Guard Barracks. Three additional secret areas—the Napoleon Overlook, the Cistern Ossuary, and the Abandoned Field Hospital—exist outside the formal quest structure, bringing the total optional objective count to fifteen. The Quarantine District's higher density reflects its role as the tutorial hub, where the game teaches ability-gated exploration before opening the wider map.

Can I miss side quests permanently?

Yes. Three side quests become permanently unavailable after Chapter 6 begins: The Deserter's Ledger, The Plague Doctor's Cache, and The Traitor's Confession. The lockout triggers the moment you defeat the Chapter 5 boss — not when the Chapter 6 title card appears — so saving after the kill already seals the miss. The Plague Doctor's Cache is the most commonly missed of the three because its quest giver, Sister Amelie, relocates from the Quarantine District infirmary to the Sunken Chapel after Chapter 4, and players who skip her second dialogue prompt never receive the cache key. Complete all three before advancing past the Chapter 5 boss fight to avoid permanent lockout.

Do side quests affect the ending?

Side quests do not change which ending you receive, but they unlock lore entries that provide critical context for the final cutscene. The Napoleon Overlook letter in particular reframes the main antagonist's motivation, making the ending feel significantly more complete.

What is the best side quest reward?

The Grappling Hook Upgrade from The Traitor's Confession is the most impactful reward because it improves traversal speed across every region and opens shortcuts that make all other side quests faster to complete. The Health Flask Upgrade is a close second for survivability.

Do I need to complete side quests for the platinum trophy?

Yes. Several achievements require completing all side quests and discovering every secret area, and the trophy list is unforgiving about partial progress. The Valor Mortis achievement guide lists every side quest-related trophy and the exact unlock conditions for each one — including the Cistern Ossuary discovery trophy, which only triggers if you enter from the Sunken Chapel drainage grate rather than the Quarantine District sewer entrance.

The side quest structure in Valor Mortis rewards players who treat exploration as a core mechanic rather than an afterthought. By following the ability-gated wave route, you will catch every missable objective before its cutoff, collect the permanent upgrades that make late-game combat more forgiving, and uncover the secret areas that hold the game's most important lore. The optional content does not just pad the runtime; it completes the picture of an alternate 1815 that the main campaign only sketches.