Catalysts are the currency that runs Valor Mortis. Enemies drop them, and you spend them to raise your level at a Lantern: rest at one, then choose LEVEL UP. The level cap is 400, and the cost of each level keeps climbing the whole way up, so the final levels demand far more than the early ones.
Quick answer: Level 2 costs 400 Catalysts, and each level after it costs more than the last. Reaching the cap of 400 costs 1,696,004 Catalysts for that final level alone.
Catalyst cost for levels 2 through 30
The first column is the cost to reach that level from the one before it. The last column is the running total you will have spent getting there from level 1.
| Level | Catalysts | Total from level 1 |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 400 | 400 |
| 3 | 480 | 880 |
| 4 | 576 | 1,456 |
| 5 | 691 | 2,147 |
| 6 | 899 | 3,046 |
| 7 | 1,168 | 4,214 |
| 8 | 1,519 | 5,733 |
| 9 | 1,974 | 7,707 |
| 10 | 2,566 | 10,273 |
| 11 | 3,080 | 13,353 |
| 12 | 3,696 | 17,049 |
| 13 | 4,435 | 21,484 |
| 14 | 4,878 | 26,362 |
| 15 | 5,366 | 31,728 |
| 16 | 5,903 | 37,631 |
| 17 | 6,493 | 44,124 |
| 18 | 7,077 | 51,201 |
| 19 | 7,714 | 58,915 |
| 20 | 8,100 | 67,015 |
| 21 | 8,505 | 75,520 |
| 22 | 8,930 | 84,450 |
| 23 | 9,377 | 93,827 |
| 24 | 9,845 | 103,672 |
| 25 | 10,338 | 114,010 |
| 26 | 10,855 | 124,865 |
| 27 | 11,397 | 136,262 |
| 28 | 11,967 | 148,229 |
| 29 | 12,566 | 160,795 |
| 30 | 13,194 | 173,989 |
Catalyst cost for higher levels up to 400
From here the figures below are the cost of that single level on its own, sampled every ten levels. Level 100 costs 85,707, and by the time you push to the cap each level is well into the hundreds of thousands and then the millions.
| Level | Catalysts |
|---|---|
| 40 | 21,491 |
| 50 | 28,883 |
| 60 | 38,816 |
| 70 | 47,316 |
| 80 | 57,678 |
| 90 | 70,309 |
| 100 | 85,707 |
| 110 | 94,673 |
| 120 | 104,578 |
| 130 | 115,520 |
| 140 | 127,606 |
| 150 | 140,956 |
| 160 | 155,703 |
| 170 | 171,993 |
| 180 | 189,987 |
| 190 | 209,864 |
| 200 | 231,821 |
| 210 | 256,074 |
| 220 | 282,865 |
| 230 | 312,459 |
| 240 | 345,149 |
| 250 | 381,260 |
| 260 | 421,148 |
| 270 | 465,209 |
| 280 | 513,880 |
| 290 | 567,643 |
| 300 | 627,032 |
| 310 | 692,633 |
| 320 | 765,098 |
| 330 | 845,144 |
| 340 | 933,564 |
| 350 | 1,031,236 |
| 360 | 1,139,126 |
| 370 | 1,258,304 |
| 380 | 1,389,950 |
| 390 | 1,535,370 |
| 400 | 1,696,004 |
What your levels feed: the three attributes
Upgrades are grouped under three attributes, covering firearms and Endurance, Health and melee, and Transmutations.
Endurance
Your Endurance stat determines its maximum level and recovery speed, and also affects damage from Firearms. Endurance upgrades include Maximum Endurance, Parrying Impact, and Airborne Aiming. Endurance upgrades also include Headshot Damage, Ammunition Drop Chance, Endurance Regeneration, Ammo Restock, and Firearms Damage.
Might
Might determines your Health total and the damage you deal with Melee. Might upgrades also include Melee Endurance Cost, Critical Damage, Physical Resistance, and Maximum Health and Melee Damage.
Sufferance
Sufferance governs the damage dealt by Transmutations and your ability to withstand Nephtoglobin. Sufferance upgrades include Nephtoglobin Sufferance, Nephtoglobin Extraction, Nephtoglobin Remnants, Ferrofluid Flask Refill, Status Buildup, Transmutation Damage, Healing Effectiveness, and Nephtoglobin Sufferance and Transmutation Damage.
Respec cost in Catalysts
You can reset spent points through a respec, and it carries its own Catalyst price that rises in steps. The price starts at 50 Catalysts and steps up to 15,000.
The climb runs 50, 60, 70, 100, 130, 160, 200, 240, 300, 360, 420, 500, 580, 660, 760, 860, 980, 1,100, 1,220, 1,460 and onward, up to 15,000.
