The Sphinx, Devourer of the Unworthy is a four-legged abomination in Valor Mortis, wrapped in chains and crowned with a golden pharaonic skull mask. It waits in a sun-scorched desert expanse dotted with pyramids, rising out of a sandstorm the moment William drops into the arena. The fight tests parry timing against fast melee rushes while layering in a growing set of ranged energy attacks.
Quick answer: The Sphinx appears in Chapter 4 of Valor Mortis, reached after a cart ride through the Salt Mines. Rest at the Ancient Lair Lantern, then walk up to the wall of golden sand next to it and hold E on its face to enter the Sphinx’s arena. Beating it awards 20,000 Catalysts. Move sideways clear of the crystal pillars, dodge the pounce and turn to locate it, then parry the claw swipes until its Posture bar fills and you can land a critical hit. Back off after the killing blow: attacks already in the air can still hit you before the ending starts. If one kills you, hold R on “YOU ARE DEAD”: the kill still counts and the ending plays, but the reward drops in the arena.
See where the Sphinx is fought on the Valor Mortis map.
Where the Sphinx appears in Valor Mortis
During Chapter 4’s Dark Descent quest, William travels by cart through the Salt Mines and the cavern beneath them before reaching the Sphinx. He passes through a wall of golden sand beside the Ancient Lair Lantern into a sandy realm, where the creature emerges from the dunes. The arena has an ancient Egyptian feel, with pyramids visible in the distance around it.
Lore within the game frames the Sphinx as something wholly alien, proof that the plague does not only corrupt but can also create. It is treated as evidence that the force behind the calamity holds ambitions larger than people realise. William himself has no clear idea why his companion Louis wanted him to find this place.
How to reach the Sphinx and start the fight
James gives you the Cave Grotto Key in the Abandoned Church when Chapter IV, Dark Descent, starts. It opens the iron grille door at the mouth of the dark tunnel that runs from the Abandoned Church grounds into the Caverns: move to within about a metre of the bars and keep E pressed at “[E] INTERACT” for roughly a second.
Enter through the wall of golden sand
Beside the Ancient Lair Lantern, a high barrier of swirling golden sand blocks the passage, glowing like light in a storm. From the Lantern side, approach the barrier straight on. Its prompt appears only when you face it, not from either side. At roughly 2.5 meters away, you will see “[E] INTERACT”.
Keep E held briefly; tapping it may fail to register. Crossing the barrier takes you into the Sphinx arena. On your first visit, approaching the gate triggers the boss introduction and transports you into the desert. If you die, you respawn at the Ancient Lair Lantern with the sand barrier restored. Interact with it once more to enter directly, without a cutscene.
The mine offers no route on foot into the desert. You must use the sand wall to enter, on every visit.
Prepare before you pass the sand wall
- Spend your Catalysts at the Ancient Lair Lantern first. If you die in the arena, the Catalysts you carry stay where you fell, and a second death before you pick them up loses them.
- Rest at the Lantern and your Ferrofluid Flasks refill.
- Killing the Sphinx rewards 20,000 Catalysts.
How the two-stage fight is structured
The fight has two stages. At first, the Sphinx’s moves are easy to read: it strings together claw swipes and rapid dashes, then sometimes backs off to use a ranged attack. It favors close combat, but often pounces in a single leap to cover the distance and engage William.
The fight runs across two health bars. When the first empties, a second full bar takes its place and the boss shifts into its enraged second stage. Its attacks speed up and its ranged options return in upgraded forms, so the pressure rarely lets up. Staying mobile and reading the change of pace matters more than trying to force the first-stage rhythm.
The Sphinx’s moveset
| Attack | Stage | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| 3-part combo | Both | Main claw pattern with several variants; parry each hit |
| Stalking slash | Stage 2 | Slashes that close distance one big step at a time |
| Leap attack | Both | Straight lunge or arc leap; some are unblockable |
| Tail strike | Stage 2 | Fast whip that can surprise early in the phase |
| Breath attack | Both | Short-range breath, easy to sidestep |
| Energy beam | Stage 2 | Beam from the mouth; dodge only |
| Pillar range attack | Both | Three purple pillars, rising to nine in three directions |
| Energy AoE | Both | Floating orb detonates into a ground wave; jump to avoid |
The 3-part combo is the move you will see most, and a clean parry on all three hits leaves the Sphinx open to melee punishment afterward. The energy area-of-effect orb is the trickiest overlap, since the boss tends to detonate it at the same moment it throws its combo, forcing you to watch both the claws and the spreading ground wave. The pillar attack is beaten by finding its blind spot, while the shorter-range breath and most other projectiles only need a simple dodge.
Phase one attacks and their tells
Pyramids mark the skyline of this open desert arena, while rock ridges border its edge, leaving space to circle. Periodically, a sandstorm turns the scene brown-black and limits your view of the Sphinx to roughly six metres; visibility clears between storms. In the pauses between heavier attacks, it walks directly toward you face-on—its closest approach and your easiest chance to hit.
Crystal pillars
The Sphinx stops at range and three tall purple crystal spikes burst out of the sand in front of it. More then rise one after another in a line toward you, closing the gap in about two seconds, and if they reach you they burst up directly beneath you. You see this often, both from close and from 8 to 12 metres. Because the pillars travel in a straight line, step sideways out of that line the instant the first three appear rather than backing straight away from them.
Pounce
With wings extended, the Sphinx rises before launching itself into the air. It might land directly above you, its body blocking your view, touch down several metres away and spring back with a claw attack, or sail past you and land behind before turning around. Watch for the raised posture and spread wings. Evade on its descent, then turn quickly to locate it; it often ends up at your back.
Claw swipe
At close quarters, its golden mask dominates your view. One forepaw lifts, purple talons glowing, before it sweeps across in streaks of purple. The wider versions can cover the entire screen, and the attack commonly comes after a pounce or as the Sphinx approaches face-on. A raised paw lit by purple talons signals the swipe. You can parry these attacks; parries build its Posture bar, and filling that bar leaves it open to a critical attack.
Falling orb
A glowing purple-red orb climbs above the arena and remains suspended for several seconds. It falls near the Sphinx, then explodes into a purple ring that travels over the sand, edged with purple flames. The orb’s time in the air gives you several seconds to react: keep an eye on it and leave the ring’s path as it expands after impact.
Avoid trading blows beside the Sphinx while the orb remains aloft.
Phase two: what changes when the mask breaks
After the opening health bar is depleted, the Sphinx loses its golden headdress. The bar beneath SPHINX, DEVOURER OF THE UNWORTHY then returns to full, marking phase two rather than the fight’s conclusion.
Beneath the removed mask, a cluster of red eyes glows. At close range, the boss stays planted and attacks with its claws, so the first phase’s parry-then-punish approach remains effective.
The two new attacks and how to avoid them
Phase two brings in two attacks you did not face before. Both of them are handled by moving to the side rather than blocking.
Insect swarm
The Sphinx leans backward, then sends a broad cloud of insects skimming across the sand toward you. Blocking won’t work; sidestep clear of its path, then resume attacking after it passes.
Mouth beam
A beam sweeps out from the Sphinx’s mouth. This one is dodge-only, so move under or out of the sweep instead of trying to parry or block it.
Treat the swarm the same way you treat the beam. Step sideways out of the line it travels, then close back in to keep the pressure on.
How to beat the Sphinx
Before you cross the wall of golden sand into the arena, rest at the Ancient Lair Lantern. Resting refills your Ferrofluid Flasks and sets your checkpoint, and this is the spot to spend any Catalysts you are carrying.
Keep the Sphinx where you can see it. When a sandstorm hits, remain only a few metres away; from farther off, the crystal pillars and incoming pounce are hard to see. Move laterally clear of the pillars’ path, evade the pounce on landing and turn to locate the Sphinx. Parry its claw swipes until the Posture bar fills, then use the opening for a critical attack. Keep watch overhead and move away when the orb falls.
The clearest chances to attack come as the Sphinx approaches face-on and immediately after it lands from a pounce. Strike during those openings, then reset and look for its next tell. Depleting the first health bar brings up a fresh, full bar and starts phase two. The golden mask falls away during the fight.
When a fight is going poorly, you can still open the Pause Menu and choose CONTINUE, SURRENDER, OPTIONS, BACK TO MENU or EXIT TO DESKTOP. Choosing SURRENDER kills your character and sends you back to the last Lantern where you rested—in this case, the Ancient Lair Lantern.
Parries, staggers, and visceral attacks
William’s main hand holds a thrusting rapier, while his off hand carries a single-action revolver with room for up to five rounds. A well-timed parry against a claw strike or a shot fired during the boss’s vulnerable animations builds the stagger gauge. Once it is full, the Sphinx drops onto its stomach, leaving it open to a critical execution.
During a stagger, the visceral attack plunges a fire-imbued left hand along with the rapier into the creature’s head cavity, tearing through the exposed, eye-like orbs inside. Across a full run the boss can be staggered several times, with each execution carving a large chunk out of its health before the final sword strikes finish it.
The pistol is the more flexible firearm here because its ammo pool leaves room to keep moving as the Sphinx dashes and leaps, while a Blunderbuss opening trades that mobility for a single large burst of damage.
What happens after you defeat the Sphinx
As soon as the second bar runs out, the collapsing Sphinx is overlaid by the banner “ABOMINATION ERADICATED”, followed by “REWARD: 20,000 CATALYSTS” below.
The Steam achievement “Not a Cat Person” also unlocks at that moment; its description is “Defeat the Sphinx”.
The ending normally starts straight after the banner. Attacks the Sphinx had already launched, such as falling orbs and crystal pillars, stay live for a moment, so land the last hit from range if you can and keep moving. If one of them kills you, the screen burns away to “YOU ARE DEAD” and “[R] RESTART FROM CHECKPOINT”. This is the death players mean when they say they died after killing the Sphinx. The kill still counts: hold R. The 20,000 Catalysts then drop in the arena as lost Catalysts.
In the ending, the Sphinx’s golden body lies on the sand before the pyramids and crumbles into sand.
The sand fades into a dark carved stone wall with a robed figure set in a niche, root-like veins running across it, and a pulsing red core low on the wall. William reaches out and touches the red core.
The screen goes black, a loading screen follows, and you wake in the Abandoned Church. Louis speaks at once: “You should thank this odd fellow, Lucjan Skawiński. He had to play nanny again, dragging you back here like a sack of damp grain.” William answers, “My vision…. It has not cleared. Everything has a… faint, blue glow.” Louis replies, “Most likely some chemical residue…” and “Do not fight it, William. It’s a gift.” William says, “It feels more like a curse, Louis.” The exchange offers the choices “Be honest.” and “Leave.”.
Louis then sends you on with, “James sees the world through a rifle scope. Go talk to him – he will find you a path that doesn’t involve a bayonet to the gut.” That marks Chapter IV, Dark Descent, as finished, and talking to James in the church is how you continue: he gives you the Outward Pass Key (see how to open the Outward Pass Gate).
