The floating isles above Cinder’s Cradle open through a main quest sequence at Cinder’s Ascent: six beacon dungeons power a teleport platform that carries you up.
Quick answer: Reach Cinder’s Ascent, summon Loraine Crim at the altar, then complete all six beacon dungeons in any order to power the teleport platform. Step onto the pad, then glide and ride updrafts toward The Ancient Citadel.
Cross to Cinder’s Ascent after Flame Level 10
Use the Flame to follow the objective “Reach The Heart Of Cinders”. The path goes by a camp enclosed by a fence below the mountains, then reaches a “Small Ancient Dungeon”, newly charted as a location.
The journal entry “Cinder’s Ascent” (Difficulty: Hard) reads: “You’ve reached the gate and are now able to proceed into the land of the Ancients.” and “Reach the centre of the Ancient kingdom to proceed.” Ancient launch pads fire you up above the clouds, and from there you glide between the rock spires and lava flows under the objective “Land Of The Sky Islands – Reach The Heart Of Cinders”.
Arriving at the ruins triggers “Look Around Cinder’s Ascent”. The star-shaped seal on the main platform will not open yet and shows “Must light beacons first”. The door nearby carries the prompt “REQUIRED: Spark 8 / 10 – Use (Use Item)”, where the first number is how many Sparks you are holding and the door asks for 10.
Call Ancient Researcher Loraine Crim to the altar, then speak with her. This completes “Land Of The Sky Islands” and opens “Activating The Gate To The Stars”.
Complete the six beacon dungeons
The objective updates to “Activating The Gate To The Stars – Reach And Use The First Dungeon Entrance”. The journal tracks your progress with “Complete All Beacon Dungeons (1 / 6)” (Difficulty: Hard) and spells out the task: “Complete all remaining beacon dungeons to power the teleport platform at Cinder’s Ascent. Their entrances are marked on your map and can all be found within Cinder’s Cradle. You are free to complete the dungeons in whichever order you like. Complete all dungeons to light the beacons and to ascend to the floating isles above.”
The entrances are marked on your map, and all six are within Cinder’s Cradle. The counter climbs as you clear each one, moving to 3 / 6 and later 5 / 6 as you work through them.
The Springlands Dungeon
The first entrance is the “SPRINGLANDS DUNGEON ENTRANCE”, which charts as a new location when you reach it. Constructs attack in the courtyard. Step onto the glowing teleporter pad to go inside, where you arrive at the “EMBERVALE MUSEUM” and the quest updates to “Complete The Springlands Beacon Dungeon”. Clearing it sets the counter to “Complete All Beacon Dungeons (1 / 6)”.
Inside the museum, glowing Ancient Construct guardians hold up barriers, so kill them to drop those barriers. A central grating floor lowers down a shaft, and a console asking for “REQUIRED: Spark 1 / 1” reads “ALARM RESOLVED” once used. The beacon core room at the end holds a chest on the altar.
Carry Sparks with you, since both the Cinder’s Ascent door and the dungeon consoles ask for them.
Power the platform and teleport up
With all six beacons lit, the objective becomes “Talk To The Ancient Researcher” back at Cinder’s Ascent. Speak to Loraine Crim using the “E Talk & Craft” prompt. The quest completes and the next instruction reads “Use The Teleport Platform At Cinder’s Ascent”. Step onto the glowing purple teleport pad to ride up.
You arrive to the objective “Reach The Ancient Capital” (Difficulty: Moderate, location “The Ancient Citadel”): “You’ve reached the floating isles of Cinder’s Cradle. Your suspicions are proven true: The islands are already under attack by the Shroud.” The Shroud is tearing into what remains of the Ancients and pushing toward the Mother Flame, and you have to climb to the Ancient capital above.
Cross the floating isles to The Ancient Citadel
Movement between the islands relies on two controls. Jump off a ledge and press [SPACE] to start gliding. At a vent, the prompts “[SPACE] Updraft” and “[C] Cancel” appear, and riding those updrafts lifts you between islands. Jump pads work alongside the vents to link the gaps, and chests sit on ledges along the route, with one handing you the recipe Ancient Beacon Block at Workbench.
Ancient S.P.D.R. Construct
This miniboss, shown with a health bar at the top of the screen, stands in a courtyard in front of a large archway directly on your path, and beating it triggers “DOOR OPENED”. One approach that works is to stay in the round tunnel opening that overlooks the courtyard, cast Protective Barrier across it, and fire Eternal Fireball II with the Staff of Guidance from there until it falls. The reward shows as XP +1320 and “DOOR OPENED”, with Legendary Runes among the loot beyond.
Manathor’s Plaza
Advancing reveals “MANATHOR’S PLAZA” as a new location (XP +600), with constructs battling in its courtyard. A barrier prevents further progress. Find the magenta-marked rune switches on the plaza’s upper level and walls; they open the barrier and display “BARRIER UNLOCKED”.
Past the plaza, glide across the gap toward the large spire to chart “THE ANCIENT CITADEL” and pick up the objective “Defeat Vorgoth”. That is the floating islands reached. Vorgoth, the final boss waiting there, has its own separate guide.
