Totems

Totems are a Weapons upgrade system that allows the envoy to customize their Pull Smite and Rune usage. They were introduced in Preludes 11 alongside Runes as one of Soulframe's two Enchantments systems, and underwent a large rework in Preludes 15.

Totems are equipped on three slots present on Weapons. When a Totem is collected, it has a random Virtue attributed to it which corresponds to one slot with the same Virtue. Totems can be equipped on any slot. However equipping a totem on the correct slot will grant it a bonus that scales with the envoy's virtues.

If a Rune is equipped, a fourth Totem slot is unlocked in one of the three categories. This slot DOES NOT give a bonus and it is unclear if this a bug.

A player cannot have two of the exact same totem effect in any slots of the same weapon.

• i.e. across two Courage Slots, Rat1 + Rat1 does not work, but Rat1 + Rat2 works. You also can not use Rat1 in a Courage slot and another Rat1 in a Spirit slot.

A player can have two of the exact same totem effect on his main weapon and on his secondary weapon. Some totem effects will stack, others will not and some will only be applied on the weapon it is slotted in. More testing is needed for all the totems.

Each individual Totem has a few statistics, as displayed in their card:

• The icon in the top right represents the Totem's Animal Number. This does not mean anything other than providing an index for each animal:
  • Rat (1), Beaver (2), Fawn (3), Duck (4), Rabbit (5) or Squirrel (6).
  • After Prelude 15, this number is always 0.
    • Preludes 15 Hotfix 7 clarifies that this number "no longer signifies anything", though it still remains visible on the totem cards despite claiming to have removed them.

• The icon in the top left represents the Totem's Combat Art if it has one: Bow, Flyblade, Heavy, Long Blade, Magick, Polearm, Shield or Short Blade. Totems equipped to a weapon of their corresponding Combat Art receive a Grip Type Bonus to their effects.
  • A Fawn Totem with a Bow icon will be more effective than the same Fawn Totem with the universal icon.
  • If the icon does not depict a Combat Art then the totem is universal and can be used on any weapon.

• The image, name and description in the center indicate the Totem animal.
  

• Under the description, the card presents the effect the Totem will have once equipped on a weapon. The value shown on a card that is not equipped is only the base value without any virtue bonus. If the totem is equipped on its corresponding virtue slot, then the value is the sum of the base value and the virtue bonus.

• The bottom of the card indicates if the totem has been equipped in its matching virtue slot.

• The frame around the image in the center represents two things:
  • The amount of leaves on the top right of the frame represents Rank: Rank 0 (no leaves), Rank 1 (one leaf), 2 (two leaves) and 3 (three leaves).
  • Color of the frame represents Rarity: Copper, Silver and Gold. This seems to be bugged in Prelude 15. All totems are Copper, except for those with a Combat Art. Those are Silver.
    

Totems can be acquired either by charming wild animals across Alca with your Fipple Flute, or by releasing them from Sinecure cages.

Totems' Grip Type, Virtue and actual Totem drops are random. The most common Totems will have a universal Grip Type while others are very rare.

Before you can charm an Animal, you'll have to track them down! To find animals more easily, activate Spectral Sight (default hold Q on PC). Animals that can be charmed will shimmer with a glow around them.

There are two elements to pay attention to in the minigame: a Charm Ring around the animal, and a Note Chart below.

The Charm Ring

The ring indicates charming progress:

• It has 3 to 5 circles, depending on the Totem's Rarity (3 for Common, 4 for Uncommon and 5 for Rare).
  

• Whenever a note is played correctly, one circle is filled with either a closed flower (regular note) or a heart-shaped bloom (perfect note).
  • If the song is attempted multiple times (by missing a note or allowing it to loop), only the first time playing each note will count toward the final score.
    

• At the end of the verse, the music will end and one Totem of the expected Rarity will be awarded if enough notes were filled.
  • If not all notes are filled, the verse will repeat once again. Successful notes recorded do not reset.
  • If the music ends with a perfect score (all heart-shaped bloomed flowers), the Envoy will also pet the animal in a cutscene similar to when you release them from cages.

• Totems play an animal-specific song when charming. This tune will remain the same across all rarities of the same animal type.
  
  

The Note Chart

The Note Chart represents verse progress, as well as extra Harmonies:

• Timing perfect notes will reward an extra 25/50/100 Harmonies in addition to the totem.
  • The amount depends on the Rarity of the animal, represented by the amount of circles (3, 4 and 5) in the Charm Ring.
    

• Sometimes an extra Harmony note will appear in the chart.
  • When hit, it will grant 125/250/500 Harmonies in addition to regular extra Harmony amounts.
  • When hit perfectly, it instead grants 275/550/1100 Harmonies in addition to regular extra Harmony amounts.
  • If a Harmony note directly overlaps a regular note on the same line, a single input will be enough to play both notes.

This means that the maximum amount of Harmonies you can obtain from a totem is 400/800/1600 depending on its rarity.

Automatic Charming

Once the envoy has progressed far enough in his relationship with Orlick, he will unlock a passive ability that can automatically charm an animal when activating the flute.

• When it triggers, it rewards a fixed amount of Harmonies depending on the rarity of the animal (325/750/1500).
• The chance to trigger the auto-charm is around 25% as of Prelude 14.

Trivia

• If a note(s) is missed and the melody restarts, it is possible to obtain a number of Harmonies higher than the maximum amount by replaying additional notes before the mini-game ends.

Harmonies may be used via the Arsenal to upgrade the rank and effectiveness of Totems, up to a maximum of Rank 3.

• Note: Due to a bug, you can not upgrade Totems with a grip type other than the universal grip type.

Harmonies can be acquired by:

• Charming wild animals (the better you play, the more you earn)
• Freeing caged critters
• Releasing excess Totems/Runes from the Arsenal

See Harmonies for costs and required totals.

Choosing this action, a player can convert a Totem into a set amount of Harmonies, equal to 75% of the Harmonies invested in the Totem. Players are prompted to confirm the action after clicking "Release Totem".

Currently, the only way to release Totems is to enter the Enchanting screen for a specific Weapon and Right-click on Totems to release them one-by-one. This paragraph will be updated once Totem Releasing receives a QoL update.

Rarity	Rank 0	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3
Common	500	1000	1,500	2,000
Uncommon	1000	?	?	?