Valor Mortis: How to Get the Surplus Amber and Level Up Faster

The Surplus Amber is an equippable buff in Valor Mortis that increases the Catalysts you earn for every enemy you kill. Catalysts are the currency you spend to level William, so stacking a flat percentage onto each kill shortens the grind toward higher levels. One copy sits in a chest beyond the enemy camp, reached through a poison-pit cave puzzle.

Quick answer: The Surplus Amber waits in a chest past the enemy camp and the poison-pit cave. Equip it at any Lantern for +10% / +12.5% / +15% Catalysts per kill by rank.

What the Surplus Amber does

Surplus grants bonus Catalysts whenever you kill an enemy. It has three ranks, and each rank raises the bonus. You reach the higher ranks by collecting more copies of the same Amber from chests in the world, not by spending anything. Copies are placed in three regions: the Valley of Ashes, the Caverns, and The Outskirts.

Rank	Extra Catalysts per kill	How to reach it
1	+10%	First copy collected
2	+12.5%	Second copy collected
3	+15%	Third copy collected

Ambers do not take effect from the inventory alone. You equip them into a slot by interacting with a Lantern, and slots open up as you level. Fit Surplus before you start clearing enemies so the bonus counts from the first kill.

Inventory menu on the Ambers tab with Duellist's Focus selected, an orange pyramid amber, and its description panel. — The Inventory screen’s Ambers tab shows the Duellist’s Focus amber, which increases the Parry window for Melee Weapons.

Route to the Surplus Amber chest

Make the Lantern checkpoint in the camp your starting point. Rest to set a nearby respawn, then head out into the camp.

Camp lantern starting point — The camp Lantern is your starting checkpoint; rest here before setting off. Shown at 00:11 in NewDengs’s video. Image: One More Level

Cross the main enemy encampment, clearing or sneaking past the dog-like foes, spearmen, tower-posted rifleman, and multi-armed grenadier as you head for the opposite side.

Navigating the enemy camp — Cut through the snowy camp past the tents and watchtower toward the hill path. Shown at 00:36 in NewDengs’s video. Image: One More Level

Follow the path to the right and climb the rocky dirt ramp past the wooden carts. A barricade blocks the cave tunnel ahead. Burn it with fire or shoot the small lantern hanging next to it to clear the way.

Hill path to cave entrance — The blocked cave tunnel sits at the top of the hill path, past the carts. Shown at 00:53 in NewDengs’s video. Image: One More Level

From inside the cave, you can see a pit of toxic green water below. Fire at the lantern across the pit to set it alight and burn away the wooden barricade on the opposite side. Shoot the red fleshy growth exposed beyond it to bring the wooden platform route on the left into alignment.

Poison pit cave and puzzle — Shoot across the poison pit to burn the barricade, then hit the red growth behind it. Shown at 01:10 in NewDengs’s video. Image: One More Level

Cross the wooden route now aligned on your left, leaping over the broken span. Defeat both enemies on the landing, then go up the ladder secured to the stone wall.

Cave platforming and ladder — The lowered walkway and platforms lead to the ladder up the cave wall. Shown at 01:37 in NewDengs’s video. Image: One More Level

At the top, cross the elevated wooden beams, jump the gap, and follow the tunnel out into the open air. On the hillside dirt path ahead, a wooden chest sits in the center. Open it to collect the Surplus Amber.

Chest location — The chest holding the Surplus Amber sits on the open dirt path past the cave exit. Shown at 01:52 in NewDengs’s video. Image: One More Level

Confirm you picked it up

Open the inventory and inspect the Ambers list. A newly collected one appears as UPGRADE Level : 1 / 3, alongside a note that enemy kills yield additional Catalysts. The chest remains open and empty as well. Return to a Lantern and equip Surplus in a slot to activate its bonus.

Dark settings screen with two sample landscapes and Gamma and Brightness sliders at 100 percent above a Confirm button. — The Valor Mortis display setup screen asks players to adjust Gamma and Brightness, both set to 100%, until bright and dark areas are clearly visible.

Where to spend the Surplus bonus for the fastest levels

Surplus yields the most when used on enemies that already drop plenty of Catalysts. Resting at a Lantern revives all non-boss foes, making one beside a large group a repeatable farm: defeat the group, return to the Lantern, rest, and repeat. The best enemy placements are in the later regions, where the same enemy type rewards more than it does earlier in the campaign.

Enemy	Catalysts (weak → strong)	HP (weak → strong)
Abomination	1,500 → 3,500	1,000 → 4,000
Remnants of the Iron Regiment	3,000	700
Eternal Guardsman	1,200 → 2,700	700 → 2,450
Volunteers	500 → 2,500	650 → 1,300

Eternal Guardsmen, Abominations, and Volunteers offer the best reward for the effort required to defeat them, so a group of any of these makes a prime place to use Surplus. Each Remnant of the Iron Regiment pays 3,000, but its 50 percent firearm resistance and presence in just six regions make it better suited to melee pressure than quick farming loops.

Enemies in the Enraged state, marked by red glowing eyes, stay dead after you rest. Build your loop around ordinary foes that return rather than elites.

Since your Catalysts are left where you die, equip Remnant’s Return while farming. It automatically collects the Catalysts lost on death, protecting the Surplus gains you’ve built up from being wiped out by one bad run. From Chapter 5 onward, Louis’s Laboratoire sells it for 1,000 Catalysts each.