Soulflaying in Lords of the Fallen explained

The Lords of the Fallen Soulflaying ability is one that's set up very early, but not so easy to understand, as you draw the enemy's soul out of their body and hit it, resulting in something called Wither damage. There's also some power to move enemies, and yet some seem immune, and how do you get the Soulflay ability back? As somebody who's gone through the game and back, I'll explain how Wither and Soulflaying with your lantern works in Lords of the Fallen below.

What is Soulflaying in Lords of the Fallen?

Soulflaying in Lords of the Fallen is a special move done with your Umbral Lantern, wherein you target an enemy and hold the triggers. If the enemy can be Soulflayed (some can't, usually certain bosses or Umbral enemies), you pull the soul out of their body temporarily. This has the following effects:

The enemy moves incredibly slowly and effectively cannot attack during this process.
Striking the removed soul inflicts Wither damage on the target.
Wither is effectively "potential" damage - striking them normally when the effect is over then actually damages them. If you can inflict full Wither damage on an enemy in any manner, it staggers them too.
Enemies with Wither effects on them can reclaim that lost health by inflicting damage themselves, so be quick!
Soulflaying an enemy while pushing the left stick in a specific direction also pushes the enemy's soul in that direction - and then their body is drawn to catch up to it when the effect is over. This means you can use soulflaying to push enemies off ledges or into dangerous terrain.
Certain enemies and bosses can be affected in unique ways by soulflaying, such as opening up their armor. Others are immune to it altogether.
Some objects in the Umbral Realm can be soulflayed, which is effectively a means to interact with them from a distance. This doesn't use up a Soulflay charge, thankfully.
Speaking of which, Soulflaying uses up charges. These can be refilled by holding up your lantern to enemies and objects that glow blue and holding R1/RB to siphon the spirit from them.

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Soulflaying charges and the actual effects of the lantern can be altered by heading to the hub area at Skyrest bridge and speaking to the NPC Molhu, found when you enter the Umbral.

Certain items will allow you to upgrade the powers of the lantern, or modify it towards specific builds, all done through Molhu. Other spells, weapons and items can also affect Wither, meaning that you can create whole builds based around this effect.

Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.