Sanctums: Puzzle Dungeons and Rewards

A Sanctum is a reward-granting puzzle mini-dungeon, and it is tied to world progression rather than sitting off to one side as an extra. The loop is short: you are restricted to select Aniimo, you solve a run of puzzles, and you open a chest at the end.

The roster restriction is what makes these puzzles rather than fights. You do not bring your best team. You work with what the Sanctum hands you.

One thing to know before you plan around them: the format is not consistent, and it is not settled. Sanctums work as cooperative dungeons that ask for teamwork, and they also come in solo, partner-required and timed variants. Treat the one in front of you as its own thing instead of assuming it matches the last one you cleared.

Fire-type Aniimo carry a field ability that burns obstacles, including wooden barriers and trees, and it activates fire-based environmental puzzles. Many of the world's puzzles are built around exactly that, which makes fire the workhorse element for anyone who spends time poking at the scenery.

It does not stop at fire. Certain environmental puzzles require an Aniimo of a specific type or element, and there is no way around that requirement. When you are stuck on something in the open world, the answer is often that you do not have the right element with you, not that you have missed a hidden switch.

Inside a Sanctum the same logic applies, but you are not the one choosing. You are restricted to select Aniimo, so whatever the Sanctum gives you is what its puzzles are asking for. That narrows the guessing considerably.

Completing a Sanctum's puzzle dungeon awards experience points and yields rare materials. Both, every time you finish. That is the case for running them even once the novelty of the puzzles has worn off.

Lumin Ambers also come out of Sanctums. They are collectible resources gathered across the open world through exploration, puzzles, mini-games, time trials and Sanctums, so a Sanctum is one route to them rather than the only one. If you are short on Ambers and not in the mood for puzzles, the rest of that list is open to you.

Certain Sanctum puzzle dungeons require a minimum party size of two, so you cannot walk those alone no matter how well you understand the puzzle.

When you do bring someone, the chest is not a contest. In a co-op Sanctum, when one player opens the treasure chest, the other player in the session receives the rewards as well. There is no reason to sprint for it and no cost to letting your partner get there first. The wider co-op systems are covered in their own article.

And if you cannot find a partner, you are not permanently shut out. Rewards from co-op Sanctums can be acquired through alternative methods.

Sanctum dungeons also function as fast travel points, which quietly changes their value. A Sanctum you cleared an hour ago is a place you can return to, so the ones you finish early end up shaping how you cross the map later.

Getting out is the purple gate. Pass through it and you leave the Sanctum, returning to the outdoor area near the boats. In Operation: Egg Heist, the Sanctum is entered through the blue gate instead; that mode has its own article, and this is all you need from it here.

06Where to start

Run Sanctums as you find them. The experience and rare materials are guaranteed, the Lumin Ambers stack up, and each one you clear becomes a fast travel point. Bring a friend for the two-player ones and let whoever reaches the chest first open it.