Highlights

  • Players can finally discover the secrets of the Fae Realm in Nightingale's early access, with a surprising depth to gameplay available now.
  • The player's Hope Score in Nightingale is an overall summary of their progress throughout the game, adding together the Deeds, Estate, and Gear Scores.
  • Players need to complete quests, develop their base, and improve equipment to improve these scores respectively, ultimately increasing the Hope Score.

With the recent release of Nightingale, players can finally jump in and begin to learn all of the Fae Realm’s secrets. Although Nightingale is currently in early access, there’s a surprising amount of depth to the game that’s readily available for players who don’t want to wait until the game’s full release.

Overall, Nightingale brings a lot to the table as a survival-crafting game and players are likely to be overwhelmed or confused about a few of the unique features in the game. One such feature is Nightingale’s Hope score, which is well worth understanding its purpose and importance throughout the game.

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What is the Hope Score in Nightingale? (And How To Increase It)

In Nightingale, the player’s Hope score is a summary of their Deeds, Estate, and Gear Scores that is used to pace players through the game by balancing the overall difficulty of challenges they will encounter. Hope is a combination of the average level of a player’s equipment, how many main quests have been completed, and how much players have grown and developed their base at their home Realm.

More often than not, Nightingale’s introductory quests and overall gameplay loop will cycle players through prioritizing one component of their Hope Score at a time. So ultimately, players will naturally increase their Hope Score by progressing in Nightingale, especially because of the synergy between the Deeds, Estate, and Gear Scores.

Nightingale’s Deeds Score Explained

A player’s Deeds Score is determined by how many of Nightingale’s main quests have been completed. While this doesn’t include most of the random encounters and puzzles in Nightingale that players can find, completing these challenges will still indirectly increase a player’s Hope Score. For example, the optional dungeons and side quests in Nightingale will frequently give players rare rewards, like crafting recipes, Essence currency, or Realm Cards that will eventually end up contributing to a player’s Estate or Gear Score when used.

Nightingale’s Estate Score Explained

Estate Scores in Nightingale are calculated based on the amount and variety of objects that players have built around their Realm Cairn in their Abeyant Realm. While players are free to build and craft inside plenty of different Realms in Nightingale beyond their Abeyant Realm, none of these buildings will count towards the player’s Estate Score unless it’s in the vicinity of their active Estate Cairn. Admittedly, the Estate Score requirements in Nightingale are quite relaxed, at least compared to the player’s Gear and Deeds Scores, so players who would prefer not to constantly decorate their base can still progress just by building the bare necessities or even taking over any existing structures they find.

An Abeyant Realm serves as a player’s “home” Realm and always includes specific encounters that are part of Nightingale ’s main Questline. Estate Cairns built in Abeyant Realms allow players to set up a one-way fast-travel point in Nightingale to return to from any location.

Nightingale’s Gear Score Explained

A player’s Gear Score is the average level of their armor, tools, and weapons in Nightingale. Gear Score is an important part of Nightingale that players shouldn’t neglect, otherwise, it can prevent them from progressing in the game’s main questline.

Naturally, having better weapons and armor will improve the player’s survivability and effectiveness in combat, while improved tools will make collecting resources more efficient. However, the main reason why players will want to keep up on their Gear Score is because certain quest encounters in Nightingale will only be available to players who have reached a specific Gear Score. Even if players feel that they can take on harder enemies with their current gear, the Sites of Power in Nightingale will physically prevent players from entering if their Gear Score doesn’t meet the required level.