Oath: Starkindred

“ THE PATH YOU CHOOSE TO FOLLOW IS WROUGHT WITH LIES. DECEIT. YOU ARE THE TRUE FOOLS, PLAYING AS GOD. ”

― Iblis, The Fallen Angel

Description

Oath: Starkindred is one of the 17 obtainable Oaths in Deepwoken. It allows one to take advantage of the anomalies that appears on one's body after drinking the blood of a Celestial. It is a balanced Oath, having good options for both combat and mobility.

“ The viscous fluid singes your mouth. As it sinks into you, you feel it slowly begin to course out into your veins, pulses of agony washing over you with every heartbeat. Clutching onto the words Samael left you is all that keeps you afloat above the dark void of unconsciousness. And as your mind empties of all other thoughts, the agony finally begins to subside... ”

― Drinking the Holy Ichor

The Starkindred Church is a malevolent cult that worships Celestials and believes that they are capable of "transcending" by consuming parts of them. This very Oath is a result of drinking the Holy Ichor, the blood of a Celestial, and cannibalizing several Starkindred. Drinking the Ichor Seems to give the consumer some form of higher awareness but leaves their body in constant agonizing pain. It is the Celestial equivalent of becoming a Deepwoken.

Obtainment

Have 40 Strength and grip any player. (Chime of Conflict does not count)
Talk to Samael, located in the Derelict Highchurch above the Voidzone in the Ancient Rotlands.
1. Walk up to the stairs to the Songseeker Temple and take a left, you'll see a broken bridge. Jump over the bridge to get to the church. Or, if you have Union Hook, there are two hooks on the backside of the Church that lead directly to it.
2. When inside, there is a trapdoor behind the podium. Go down the ladder and walk around the library interacting with a red book on a bookshelf; one of them will open a room.
Kill Iblis, The Fallen Angel, located above the Starfield Grove Voidzone in Starswept Valley. The angel will only be here if you have the quest active.
1. If you lack the Union Hook, careful parkour on the right of the Starfield Grove (outside of it) can allow you to reach the higher parts of it. There is also a long, sloped rock that you can go up from the left of The Lordsgrove that leads you directly to the Voidzone.
Return to Samael to get the Oath.

For a more in-depth walkthrough, consider watching this video.

Starkindred cannot be reobtained if you Oathbreak it.

Progression

To progress the Oath and obtain its mantras, you must kill the 3 Sinners spread around the East Luminant. These will only appear if you have the quest active.

Abaddon, Sinner of Ice at Starfield Veldt.
Minos, Sinner of Flame right next to the inn/guildhall at Summer Isle.
Astaroth, Sinner of Wind, at Songseeker Wilds, at the twin derelict bastions.

You will get a Mantra for each kill, and a chest containing Songseeker Wilds loot.

The order of Mantras goes as follows: Ascension, Sinister Halo, Celestial Assault.

Alternatively you can pay Samael 10 to skip killing the Sinners. However, this requires you to have fully progressed Starkindred before, including obtaining the Mantras.

Effects

This Oath grants 2 Combat Mantra slots, 1 Wildcard Mantra slot, and 8 Health. Additionally, the Flamecharm Mantra Fire Blade is modified by this Oath, causing the user to rise into the sky, and unleash a screen shaking, heavily modified, multi-hitting Fire Blade, several times the size of the original. This effect can be disabled with the use of a Reversal Spark. As for appearance, aside from the wings which appear anytime you utilize a starkindred mantra, a white halo with 4 spikes connected to it will continuously circle around the user's neck.

Abilities

Passive

Wings
- Using any of your Starkindred Mantras or Death from Above will grow two pairs of wings on the user for 60 seconds.
- While active, Air Dash goes much further in any direction, however the effectiveness is reduced if going horizontally.
- Starkindred mantras have slightly faster cast time while the wings are out as you do not repeat the wing growing animation.
- If undyed, comes in the color of your hair color.
- The mantra Fire Blade now launches the user upward before releasing a large plume of flames, dealing increased damage (0.6x Fire Blade Damage, ticks 4 times). Deep Gems are disabled when using this. To remove this effect, apply a Reversal Spark to Fire Blade.
- Kindred Edict's criticals apply 5 Wither on hit when your wings are out.
- Chrysid, Ganymede and Vesperian will all have different wings instead of what it is usually. Moth wings for Chrysid and beetle wings for Ganymede/Vesperian.
  Starkindred Wings
  Air Dash with wings out
  Fire Blade with wings out
  Fire Blade with Reversal Spark

Talents

Death From Above - Upon cancelling your Air Dash, reveal your wings and strike your enemy.
- Cancelling an Air Dash without your wings grows your wings without having to use any Starkindred Mantras.
- Cancelling an Air Dash with your wings out makes you perform three large slashes with your weapon.
- Deals 75 (25*3) Slash damage.
- Deals 25 posture damage per hit.
- Despite what is shown in the gif, Death From Above no longer has hyperarmor.
Obtained after the third Sinner kill.

Ichor Imbuement - Using a Starkindred mantra while your wings are not out increases the damage they deal by 2 times.
- Doubles the base damage of your Starkindred Mantras if you cast them while your wings are not out.
Obtained after the second Sinner kill.

Mantras

Combat Mantras

Ascension - Take to the skies for a devastating strike.
- The user rises into the air before swooping in.
- Deals 37 Oath damage with 1.65 Strength scaling.
- This attack cannot be parried or blocked, indicated by a sound effect and a red eye icon.
- Applies hard knockdown on hit.
- Wayward Gem will not proc on this Mantra.
- Can knockdown any enemy ingame.
Obtained after the first Sinner kill.

Celestial Assault - Use your wings and deliver two critical blows.
- Deliver a vertical slash (that launches the user and target up) and a horizontal slash (that pushes the target).
- Deals 40 (20*2) Oath damage with 1.65 Strength scaling.
- Initial 0.5 second windup (with wings) and a 10 second cooldown.
Obtained after the third Sinner kill.

Sinister Halo - Emit a spinning ring of celestial energy, trapping and shredding any who steps before its wake.
- Similar to the Galebreathe Mantra Tornado, but instead of it manually aiming, it will head forward until it hits an opponent, stopping where it hits.
- Deals 32 (3.2*10) Oath damage with 1.65 Strength scaling.
- Has a 0.6 second windup (with wings) and a 15 second cooldown.
Obtained after the second Sinner kill.

Notes

All of Starkindred's Mantras have Strength scaling.
The optimal Oath progression is to kill Astaroth, Sinner of Wind first, Minos, Sinner of Flame second, and Abaddon, Sinner of Ice last, due to their spawn locations.
The best way to kill the Iblis, The Fallen Angel and the Sinners is to parry trade until you flourish them.
Death from Above cancels Shadow Meteors if it's active.
Death from Above counts as weapon damage for certain effects such as Whistling Periapt's Whistleguard.

Gallery

Trivia

Back when Mystics had unique dialogue for every Talent category, Starkindred had the Mystic line "I speak for my masters above."
According to an NPC named Ezra in Songseeker Wilds, Starkindreds claim to worship the Celestials, yet they scavenge and desecrate their artifacts for their own gain; they also have a long history of bloodshed in the name of their faith.
- This "history of bloodshed" is elaborated on by the existence of the Pale Briar.
Despite your grip being replaced with imprisoning the person on Authority Ensign, it will still count as a grip for Starkindred's requirements.
This Oath has a few religious references in the names of the angels, and the most obvious being the entity on a modified cross.
The Oath's icon resembles the Suncross (also known as the Sun, as opposed to the Moonseye being the Moon)
The wings will occasionally bug, causing them to disappear before the full duration ends. This is purely a visual bug, and air dash will still behave as if the wings are active until the duration actually ends.
The requirement for this Oath was accidentally leaked by a tester before Verse 2, this presumably caused it to be increased to 50 Strength from the original requirement of 40, though this was reverted a few months after Verse 2.
Using the canteen, you can collect the ichor of the celestial. This is crucial for obtaining the Saltchemist Oath, drinking it however will simply make you vomit.
The color of the Hivekin wings do not change based on its variant, Instead you will have to dye your hair.
Typing "I will never be a memory." or anything containing the phrase toggles your right wing off/on, this is an easter egg referencing Sephiroth.
- This does not work with the alternative Oath cosmetics.
The Talent "Death from Above" is a reference to the skill Sakura Dance from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
If you skip the Oath's progression with Knowledge, the sinners will still spawn in their respective locations.