
The four Dreams give you two achievements each if you beat them with all idols invoked. Two of those idols, plus the fourth Dream, are unlocked in a New Game Plus mode.
As such, doing the challenge is only worth it after completing the main story. It’s also recommended that you attempt each dream using a controller, because the auto-aim generally makes things a lot simpler.
In the Dreams (a.k.a. “Who Knows Where”), you’ll fight against 20–30 waves of foes. The enemies aren’t new; you’ve faced every one of them in the story levels.
The difficulty lies in the idols themselves. Because they’ll each give your enemies various buffs:
10 Idols in Dreams | |
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Idol | Enemy Buff |
Hense | Increased damage |
Acobi | Drops a bomb after death |
Lemaign | Attacks slow down the player |
Pyth | Faster movement and attack speed |
Jevel | Greater damage resistance |
Yudrig | Causes damage on contact |
Roathus | Never drops health or black tonics |
Micia | Regenerates health |
Olak | Randomly makes attacks miss |
Garmuth | Randomly deflects attacks |
These can be grouped into four problems:
- Using short-ranged melee weapons is risky because of Acobi and Yudrig.
- Tonics are limited to your starting supply because of Roathus.
- Enemies are faster and fiercer because of Pyth and Hense.
- Enemies are more tenacious because of Jevel, Micia, Olak, and Garmuth.
The first one means the Hammer and the Machete aren’t good weapons to use in the Dreams. They’re fit for close-quarters combat, which is something you want to avoid.
Problem 4 also discourages use of weapons that rely on damage per second (DPS). These are the Pistols, Bellows, and Repeater. They’re dependent on their fast attack speed rather than base damage. Because of that, they’ll struggle against Olak and Garmuth.
All this points to only a few weapons worthy of challenging the Dreams.
You can also circumvent some idol effects by having the right spirits equipped – and we’ll cover all the best spirits & weapons for the Dream stages in this guide.
Best Spirits (Who Knows Where)

Essential Spirits
Spirit | Price | Effect |
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Leechade | 1000 fragments from the True Lost-and-Found |
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Werewhiskey | Free with the Distillery |
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Stabsinthe | 400 fragments from the Lost-and-Found |
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Lifewine | Free with the True Distillery |
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The number of spirits you can bring is equal to your current level.
If you’re underleveled, then you should at least have these four equipped. They’re vital in the Dreams.
They counter the most problematic idols, as well as enhance your survivability.
Leechade is a great workaround to Roathus. It’ll be your main source of health due to the lack of tonics. Dreams are more of a marathon than a race, and you won’t last long without a sustainable way to restore health. Leechade gives you this but also reduces your tonic’s recovery amount. That’s not a bad exchange since Roathus prevents tonics from dropping anyway.
Werewhiskey will come in clutch when you’re teetering near the brink of death. That happens more often than not, especially in the Stranger’s Dream. It also addresses the defensive idol effects — Micia and Jevel in particular. Critical hits can kill most enemies in one shot, moreso with weapons that have a high base damage. When they’re dead, then they can’t regenerate health.
Stabsinthe releases spikes in a small circle around you every time you take a hit. It’ll damage any nearby enemies, usually including the one that attacked you. This also counts as a trigger for Leechade’s effect. That means that you’re both hurting your assailant and alleviating some of your injury.
Lifewine can save you from death. If you get damaged and your HP reaches zero, you’ll survive the attack with 1 HP instead. This effect actually has a hidden limit: it activates only once. However, it replenishes itself every time you bring your health back up to full. With the other two spirits, you’ll be able to fight forever in theory. In practice, you still have to fight well to refill each Lifewine instance. It’s still better than dying though.
Optional Spirits
Spirit | Price | Effect |
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Hearty Punch | 325 fragments from the Lost-and-Found |
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Bull Brandy | 500 fragments from the True Lost-and-Found |
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Black Rye | Free with the True Distillery |
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Bastion Bourbon | 300 fragments from the Lost-and-Found |
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Mender Mead | 250 fragments from the True Lost-and-Found |
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Cham-Pain | 1500 fragments from the True Lost-and-Found |
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Graver Gimlet | 750 fragments from the True Lost-and-Found |
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All of these are great supplemental spirits. If you have extra slots, then pick any of these that fit your playstyle.
- You can go for the defensive ones if you prefer to play it safe.
- Or on the other hand, better offense can help you defeat foes faster.
- You can even do a bit of both for a more moderate approach.
Note: Contradicting effects will cancel each other out or settle on the middle ground. For Hearty Punch and Cham-Pain, they’ll add up to a whopping 0 chance to carry on. Meanwhile, Leechade and Bastion Bourbon will meet halfway. Tonics won’t heal all your HP, but they still restore a larger amount than the -66% potency.
Best Weapons (Who Knows Where)
Weapons for Every Situation
You’ll need a weapon that can deal a massive amount of damage in one attack.
This is due to Garmuth and Olak. Their effects can proc on every hit, which can be frustrating when using a rapid-fire weapon.
The Calamity Cannon seems like a good bet, but its firing mechanic’s unreliable. That leaves you with one other weapon that fits the bill: the Galleon Mortar.
Galleon Mortar

The Mortar makes all Dreams ridiculously easy. It has the second highest normal attack damage after the Calamity Cannon.
But it has four things that make it better:
- It can do Power Shots while the Cannon can’t. These shots can exceed the latter’s damage output.
- Mortar strikes can arc over obstacles. This lets you attack enemies while you’re hiding behind cover.
- The Mortar can get the widest blast radius of all weapons. (With the right upgrades, that is). It’s great for dealing with crowds and clustered enemies. This also makes it the best weapon for kiting.
- It can somewhat get around Garmuth’s effect. This idol may make your attacks ricochet or detonate off of your target without harming them. For the Mortar, its bomb will bounce off of a Garmuth’d enemy, and then fall and explode near them.
The only minor downside is that you’ll need its “Stonewall Propellant” tier 5 upgrade.
It gives you immunity to your own blasts. Without it, a Mortar strike can hurt you if it explodes near you. This will happen a lot because of how persistent foes are at closing in on you.
Weapons for Dealing with Armor
The Dreams (except for the Kid’s Dream) feature creatures of the Wilds. These have armor on certain parts of their body.
You can aim for their vulnerabilities, but it’s easier to deal with them using weapons that can ignore armor.
The Flame Bellows can do this by default. However, there are 2 better recommendations to look into:
Army Carbine

The Carbine has the better base damage of the two, but it’s slow to fire. You’ll need both of its aiming speed upgrades for it to become feasible.
Even then, the Kid operates it like a bolt-action rifle. It requires reloading after every shot.
However, it does have excellent precision and range.
Brusher’s Pike

The Pike has a good balance of damage, reach, and speed.
It also doesn’t need reloading, so you can keep poking a foe with it until they’re dead.
You might throw it as a projectile weapon, but that isn’t quite as useful as its thrusts.
And since you already have the Mortar for your ranged needs, you can stick with using the Pike for melee instead.
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Bastion
- Bastion Who Knows Where with 10 Idols (Best Spirits & Weapons)