Virtues

7:49 Soulframe's three Virtues are Courage, Spirit and Grace, and since Preludes 15 (Jun 10, 2026) you choose your Virtue alignment freely for each Loadout, with no item to spend: melee weapons scale with Courage, Magick weapons with Spirit and ranged weapons with Grace. In Devstream 15 of May 29, 2026, Digital Extremes announced that it had "by popular demand taken out the virtue [Liths]" for Preludes 15, so you can respec freely without burning an item, because having to spend an item for "one or two point change" was "very annoying". It was the fourth Virtue system in a year, and the developers joked "we're back where we started". Your Virtues shape your weapons, armor and the Arcanics of your Pact; this page describes them as of Oct 21, 2026.

Quick facts

What each Virtue does

9:28 Each Virtue is an archetype. In Devstream 12 of Jan 30, 2026, the developers explain their intent: "a courage virtue makes you a warrior", harder to kill, able to wear more powerful armor and doing "a heck of a lot more damage in melee situations". Spirit is "what you'd consider to be a mage or a cleric": your weapons are weaker and your armor scales poorly, "but you can cast tons and tons more", like a "glass cannon" who supports a team and wins with Pact abilities.

10:50 Grace is the stealthy, "lethal" Virtue. Damage on enemies who are unaware of you, on finishers against a stunned or worn-down foe, on ground stabs and on arrows shot "from the trees" when "they don't know where you are" scales "significantly with grace". You pick a playstyle, equip armor and weapons, "and you go".

Digital Extremes' written summary: "Courage is the main Virtue for health scaling, Spirit for magick damage, and Grace for stability and critical hits" (Preludes 13, Feb 12, 2026), and "Melee weapons scale with Courage, Magick weapons scale with Spirit and ranged weapons scale with Grace", with Virtues also scaling "Health, Arcanic cooldowns, and stealth damage" (Devstream 12 overview, Feb 1, 2026). Steam's page puts it in words of its own: "Courage, a heroic charge into the fray. Grace, the sly stealth of roguish tricksters or the patient aim of marksmen hunters. Spirit, attuned to the flows of magick deep in Alca's roots."

Virtues and your Pact

Each Pact has three Arcanics, one for each Virtue, and since Preludes 13 each Virtue scales only its own Arcanic: Courage the Courage power, Spirit the Spirit power, Grace the Grace power. Before, Spirit and Grace affected the duration and range of every power and Courage the damage of all of them. Virtues are kept separate from the Pact on purpose, so a Pact can be played as "a courage Bromius or a spirit Bromius" with the gear you already own. More on Pacts.

Armor, weapons and thresholds

18:31 Armor and weapons have Virtue requirements that work as thresholds. In Devstream 12 the developers show armor whose requirements are marked in the menu and the attributes that scale with your Virtue: "you won't be able to play a hardcore spirit build and just rock the strongest warrior armor", since "the game is much more embracing of specialization", and later in the game you can "start doing split virtue things".

20:27 Missing a requirement no longer cripples you. Since Preludes 13 there is no penalty for not meeting a Virtue requirement, "you just don't get the virtue bonuses anymore", instead of the old "half damage nerf"; everything "is shifted to be more of looking at a bonus rather than a penalty".

Armor is attuned to a Virtue and boosts its defense by that Virtue: "Wyld Oscelda armour is attuned to Spirit, which will boost the Physical and Magick Defense according to your Spirit Virtue" (Preludes 13). On weapons, Joineries strengthen attunement: since Preludes 14 they give "1-3 Virtue Attunement 'pips'" depending on the Joinery (Devstream 13 overview, Mar 30, 2026). Since Preludes 15, Totems are tied to the three Virtues too, with "stat bonuses and buffs for Pull Smite and Rune Abilities" (Digital Extremes, Jun 10, 2026). Weapons are on Weapons and their Tempers on Tempers and Crafting.

How the system changed

Soulframe has had four Virtue systems during Preludes; only the last one is current.

• Manual points, up to Preludes 12. "So far in Preludes, you've leveled Pacts to earn points you could allocate into the Virtue of your choice" (Preludes 13).
• Virtue Prisms, Preludes 13 (Feb 12, 2026). Virtues grew automatically as the Envoy leveled, and you equipped one of 12 Virtue Prisms that split the points in a fixed ratio. Gone.
• Virtue Liths, Preludes 14.5 (May 12, 2026). "Virtue Prisms are being removed": consumable Virtue Liths let you allocate points "as you see fit"; players received five Liths plus three for each Prism they owned, and more dropped from the Agari and the Siege of Fort Curlail. Gone.
• Per Loadout, Preludes 15 (Jun 10, 2026). "Virtue Liths are being banished with Preludes 15! Now, an Envoy has the full freedom to select and choose their Virtue alignment per Loadout without requiring the consumable" (Devstream 15 overview, Jun 2, 2026). Current.

7:55 The Prism system explains why the change came. In Devstream 12 the developers call it "a pretty big swing" that would affect every build, and describe the old point system it replaced: unassigned Virtue points you raised with plus and minus keys, "painfully", and points that went unspent when you ranked up "and you don't know and we don't remind you". They also saw "a very homogeneous playstyle where courage was the only thing to invest in". Digital Extremes' plan for 2026 was that "Virtues will matter more" (Digital Extremes, Dec 18, 2025). The updates are listed on Preludes Updates.

Vespers: Doom, Death and Wrath (coming)

0:24 A second set of powers is on the way. Digital Extremes' Preludes gameplay trailer of Jun 5, 2026 ends its poem with "Three Virtues, known... not all we cast. For wrath and doom and death are last." At TennoCon 2026 it announced the Vadagar Pact: "Mired in corruption, you will draw power from your Vespers instead of Virtues: Doom, Death, and Wrath" (TennoCon 2026 recap, Jul 11, 2026). It is due with the Warsongs Fable and is not playable as of Oct 21, 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What are the Virtues in Soulframe? Soulframe's three Virtues are Courage, Spirit and Grace. Courage powers health, melee and heavy armor, Spirit powers Magick and Arcanics, and Grace powers ranged, stealth and critical damage.

What is the best Virtue in Soulframe? Soulframe has no best Virtue: Courage suits melee warriors, Spirit suits casters and Grace suits archers and stealth players. Digital Extremes reworked Virtues in 2026 because Courage had been the only one worth investing in.

Can you respec Virtues in Soulframe? Yes. Since Preludes 15 (Jun 10, 2026), Soulframe lets you set your Virtue alignment freely for each Loadout, with no consumable.

What happened to Virtue Liths in Soulframe? Soulframe removed Virtue Liths in Preludes 15 (Jun 10, 2026), a month after they replaced Virtue Prisms in Preludes 14.5. Virtues are now set per Loadout for free.

What happened to Virtue Prisms in Soulframe? Soulframe's Virtue Prisms, added in Preludes 13 in Feb 2026, were removed in Preludes 14.5 on May 12, 2026.

Does Soulframe have stats? Yes. Soulframe's main stats are its three Virtues, Courage, Spirit and Grace, which scale your health, damage, defense and Pact abilities.

Sources

• Soulframe Devstream 12 Overview, Digital Extremes, Feb 1, 2026
• Preludes 13: A Triquetra of Virtues, Digital Extremes, Feb 12, 2026
• Soulframe Devstream 13 Overview, Digital Extremes, Mar 30, 2026
• Preludes 14.5: Ode'n Tempers, Digital Extremes, May 12, 2026
• Soulframe Devstream 15 Overview, Digital Extremes, Jun 2, 2026
• Soulframe Preludes 15 Update Available Now, Digital Extremes, Jun 10, 2026
• Farewell to 2025, Looking Ahead to 2026, Digital Extremes, Dec 18, 2025
• TennoCon 2026 recap, Digital Extremes, Jul 11, 2026
• Soulframe on Steam, Valve, read Oct 20, 2026
• Soulframe Devstream #15, Soulframe, May 29, 2026 (video)
• Soulframe Devstream #12, Soulframe, Jan 30, 2026 (video)
• Soulframe: Preludes - Official Gameplay Trailer, Soulframe, Jun 5, 2026 (video)