Location
The puzzle is located north of The Witchwoods on the map and southwest of the town of Hernand. To get there from Hernand, exit the town to the southwest and follow the road until you cross a large river with waterfalls. After crossing, you have two options: either go upriver, heading west, or continue south along the road, which then turns right. Continue right. You’ll know you’re nearby once you reach Alfonso’s estate.
Solution principle
When you arrive at the puzzle location, you’ll see a small central pillar covered in vines, and behind it, five more tall pillars, also covered in vegetation. First, you need to burn these plants. The easiest way to do this is with Light Reflection: press LMB + CTRL to make Cliff raise his sword, then release CTRL and hold it again, aiming at the vines. However, this mechanic, as is obvious, only works during daylight hours, when there’s sunlight. If you’re here in the evening or at night, use a bow and arrow. Equip the bow with the Q key, then approach the burning brazier until the arrow ignites. Sometimes Cliff will put his bow away when you get close. Basically, you’ll have to play around a bit until the arrow ignites. Then, fire it at the plants.
You’ll likely also notice a spirit who tells you what to do next: he demonstrates piercing the central, larger, and shorter pillar with holes with his weapon. This is exactly what you need to do, but in a strictly defined order.
Important : It’s recommended to save your game at this point, as there’s a risk the puzzle won’t reset correctly when you exit, and saving will help avoid problems. If you’ve already managed to get stuck, you’ll have to solve the puzzle yourself.
The main goal of the puzzle is to raise the four right pillars to the height of the first, glowing pillar on the left, which is stationary. To do this, you need to thrust the sword into different holes in the central pillar in a specific sequence, with each hole controlling a different pillar, making the task challenging.
Before continuing, it’s important to remember: on PlayStation, you need to press R1 + Triangle, on Xbox, R1 + Y to perform a thrust, and on PC, Shift + RMB. A regular sword swing won’t work here—a special action called “Thrust” is required. Make sure you’ve unlocked it in the skill tree.
If you’d like to try solving the puzzle yourself, below is a list of the holes and their functions. The holes in the central pillar are numbered 1 through 4: 1 is the one facing away from the pillars, and then counterclockwise. So, hole #3 faces the pillars, #2 faces the right when facing the pillars, and #4 faces the left.
The tall pillars are also numbered from 1 to 5 from left to right (the first one is the luminous pillar).
- Hole 1: faces away from the pillars. Controls pillars #2 and #4.
- Hole 2: on the right (looking from hole 1). Controls pillars #2 and #5.
- Hole 3: Opposite the player, facing the pillars. Controls pillars #2, #3, and #4.
- Hole 4: on the left (looking from hole 1). Controls pillars #3, #4, and #5.
Step-by-step solution to the riddle
Puzzle solution (order of actions):
- Stick your sword into hole #2 (facing right when facing the pillars) – pillars #2 and #5 need to be raised half a block.
- Stick your sword into hole #3 (it’s facing the pillars by default, but you’ve already rotated the pedestal, so move from the previous hole to the next one on the right, counterclockwise)—raise pillars #2, #3, and #4 by half a block. After that, pillar #2 should light up.
- Stick your sword into hole #1 (from the previous hole, move to the one on the other side of the pedestal, that is, to the opposite one) – pillars #3, #4, and #5 will rise half a block. Now pillars #3, #4, and #5 should light up.
It’s crucial to raise all the pillars exactly halfway, rotating the central pedestal by approximately 45 degrees . If you raise them any higher, you’ll have to reset the puzzle and start over, or try reversing your actions. Alternatively, load a save made before solving the puzzle.
After solving the puzzle, you’ll be able to collect your reward from the glowing pedestal—the Abyssal Stone. This will be another Abyssal artifact.