Valor Mortis: How to Get to the Bridge in Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of Valor Mortis, titled Crime, sends William from a roadside checkpoint to a large stone bridge. Between the two are a ruined village, a marsh full of crane scaffolding, a river canyon and a few fleshy red growths that block the way. The game has no map, so the route depends on recognizing landmarks as you go.

Quick answer: Walk the road into the village, then down to the marsh. Turn both winches, burn and shoot the red growths, cross the fallen log, and take the rock tunnel that ends under the bridge.

There is no in-game map in Crime. When you lose your bearings, go back to the last lantern checkpoint and look for the landmarks described below.

What the Chapter 5 bridge route requires

The route has no combat gate. It does have two kinds of obstacles, and each one needs a specific tool:

Fire Transmutation to burn the red organic mass that locks the upper scaffolding.
The Pistol to destroy the glowing red corruption nodes on the rock face and on a tree trunk.
At least a few rounds of Pistol Ammunition for those nodes.
Access to the interact key (E on PC) for winches, ladders, pickups and the lantern.

From the starting checkpoint through the village

You start at an hourglass lantern on a rural dirt road. The village ahead is on the way to the bridge, and one cabin in it holds a side quest and a pickup.

Follow the dirt road forward from the checkpoint lantern. It leads into the abandoned village, past wooden houses and farm sheds.

Entering village — The road from the checkpoint runs straight into the village. Keep heading forward between the houses. Shown at 00:14 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: One More Level

Go into the wooden cabin and read Mirek’s Note, which sits on a stool. Mirek wrote to his parents that he was joining the Resistance and would come home the next day. Reading the note starts the side quest The Lost Boy, and William says, “I wonder if he kept his promise.”

Take the cabin stairs up to the balcony and pick up the Naphthoglobin Vial. Go back down when you have it.

Leave the village by the dirt path that heads down toward the river gorge. The path drops through the trees beside the water.

Path to the gorge — After the village, follow the downhill path along the river toward the gorge. Shown at 01:23 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: One More Level

Solving the marsh scaffolding and winch puzzle

A large wooden lifting structure stands over the marsh. You get across by using its winches to move hanging cargo crates into position, then using the crates as stepping stones.

Walk along the wooden plank walkways over the marsh water toward the scaffolding. Stay on the planks until you reach the base of the lifting structure.

Wooden docks and scaffolding — The plank walkways lead across the marsh to the crane scaffolding. Shown at 01:23 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: One More Level

Climb the wooden ladder on the structure and operate the first winch. It moves part of the rig into place for the next stage.

Crane platform — The first winch is at the top of the ladder on the crane platform. Shown at 01:56 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: One More Level

Drop down to the lower walkway and look up. A red organic mass under the upper platform is locking the structure, and you need to burn it away with Fire Transmutation.

Clearing fleshy growth — Burning the fleshy growth under the upper platform frees the scaffolding. Shown at 02:21 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: One More Level

Cross to the opposite side of the structure and turn the second winch. It swings a hanging crate into a position you can jump to.

Jump onto the suspended crate. From the crate, jump across to the rock platform on the far side.

Second winch u0026 counterweight jump — After the second winch, the hanging crate becomes the jump to the rock platform. Shown at 02:44 in Ghosts of Reykjavik’s video. Image: One More Level

Find the glowing red corruption node in the rock crevice and shoot it with the Pistol. Destroying it opens the path ahead.

Canyon trail, log bridge and the tunnel to the bridge

The rest of the route goes back over the river and up a canyon. There is one optional climb along the way that is worth taking.

Follow the broken plank bridges back down and across the river. On the other side, go straight up the dirt canyon path.

Shoot the glowing red node on the tree trunk beside the trail. This clears the way to a hidden shrine cave.

Walk through the shrine cave and look at the altar inside if you like. Napoleon mocks it: “Is this primitive deity meant to be the source of rebellion against our army? Pathetic.”

Cross the fallen tree trunk that spans the deep chasm. Walk slowly, because there is nothing to catch you if you step off.

Optionally, climb the angled tree trunk nearby to reach a high rock ledge. A Legendary Catalyst Clot is waiting on the ledge.

Go back to the scaffolding overlook and climb down its wooden ladder. The ladder ends on the riverbank trail below.

Walk through the narrow, dark rock tunnel. It comes out directly beneath the bridge supports.

How you know you reached the Chapter 5 bridge

At the base of the large stone bridge, you’ll find an hourglass lantern. Interact with it; when LANTERN REKINDLED appears on screen, the bridge has become your checkpoint. An NPC wearing a top hat and blue overcoat stands beside the lantern. Approach him to bring up the TALK TO prompt.

Pickups on the route to the bridge

Pickup	Amount	Where
Mirek’s Note (starts The Lost Boy)	1	Village cabin, on a stool
Naphthoglobin Vial	1	Same cabin, upstairs balcony
Pistol Ammunition	2	Along the route
Legendary Catalyst Clot	1	Cliff ledge via angled tree trunk

The Legendary Catalyst Clot is a consumable that gives you 1000 Catalysts when used. You can carry up to 99. It sells for 1000. Later in the story, Lucjan sells them for 2000 each and has 5 in stock. Clots can also be found lying in the world in Cursed Hollow, The Outskirts, Vale of Wrath, Caverns, Fallen Village, Fortress and Abandoned Church.

Pistol Ammunition pickups come in stacks of 2, 4 or 8. The stacks are spread across Fallen Village, The Outskirts, University, Valley of Ashes, Fortress, Caverns and Napoleon’s Prison.

Pistol and Fire Transmutation values for clearing the route

Two weapons clear every blockage between the village and the bridge. These are their base figures at level 1 and at max level.

Stat	Pistol	Fire Transmutation
Type	Firearm	Transmutation
Level 1 damage	30 (10 posture)	15 (5 base, 4 ignite)
Max level damage	60 at level 10	20 at level 5 (6 ignite)
Ammo / reload	5 rounds, 4 s reload	None
Time between shots	0.25 s	None

Pistol holds five rounds, so you can destroy the rock-crevice node and the tree node without reloading, as long as you don’t miss much. If you run low, the Ammunition Drop Chance stat upgrade under Endurance raises enemy ammo drops by 5% per rank, up to 4 ranks.

Fire Transmutation sets enemies on fire, which damages them over time. It can also set things in the world on fire, and that is how it burns away the fleshy mass on the scaffolding. Its upgrades to range (Fireworks) and spread (Wildfire) don’t unlock until weapon level 4, so you can clear the growth at any level.

Once the lantern at the bridge is lit, Crime’s opening stretch is done, and you won’t have to repeat the village, winch and canyon route if you die later on.