- official Crimson Moon screenshot
Official screenshot from Crimson Moon

---
title: "Welcome to Sanctus Clypeus — Crimson Moon Home Base"
description: "The Divine Shield between hunts. Sanctus Clypeus is where Nephilim recover, upgrade, and prepare for the next run into Gildenarch."
publishedAt: 2026-07-15
updatedAt: 2026-07-15
date: 2026-07-15
category: gameplay-explainer
---

Welcome to Sanctus Clypeus



Originally posted 15 July 2026. Source: Steam News

The home-base post is the most atmospheric of the gameplay explainers. It does not just say "you can upgrade here." It tells you what the place means.

The Divine Shield



"Every hunt begins at Sanctus Clypeus."


The Knights of the Crimson Moon call their stronghold the Divine Shield. It is the only place in the world that has not fallen to the demons. The Cathedral at the center — a building the post treats with genuine awe — is where you come back to between hunts.

What the post does well: it doesn't treat the home base as a menu. Sanctus Clypeus is a place. It has a cathedral, it has armories, it has NPCs you can talk to (presumably — the post implies it without naming anyone). You are not in a UI; you are standing in a stone hall with your sword on your back.

What you actually do between hunts



The post lists the practical loop:
  • Recover — repair gear, restock consumables.

  • Strengthen — meta-progression carried from run to run.

  • Plan — pick your gear, pick your build, pick your route into Gildenarch.


  • The implication is that Sanctus Clypeus is where the long-form game lives. The hunts are episodic; the home is where you build the character across many runs.

    Why the framing is interesting



    Compare this to Dark Souls: the hub there (Firelink Shrine) is famously barren. You can't even talk to most NPCs without buying their bells. Crimson Moon is signaling that the between-hunt space is meant to feel inhabited.

    This is also a smart concession to the run-based genre. In Returnal the ship fills up over time but slowly, and most players never engage with it deeply. Sanctus Clypeus sounds like it is designed to be a place you want to spend time in, which makes the next run feel like a decision rather than a grind.

    One small quibble



    The post does not name a single NPC at Sanctus Clypeus. That might be intentional — ProbablyMonsters probably has not revealed the cast yet — but it makes the home feel slightly anonymous. Hopefully that is filled in once the game ships.

    Related



  • [How Runs Work](/updates/02-how-runs-work/) — what you are preparing for

  • [How Builds Work](/updates/03-how-builds-work/) — what you can change here

  • [Loot & Progression](/updates/05-loot-progression/) — how the meta grows

  • Source on Steam


  • Published: