What Faith is
Faith is Neon Abyss 2's core in-run resource: you build it up during a run, then decide where to spend it. It evolved out of the original game's Wisdom/Violence gauges — the first Neon Abyss pushed you toward Athena or Ares depending on whether you shot more or less. The sequel is freer: you accumulate Faith through whatever you're already doing, and then choose the outlet.
Veewo's creative director named it as one of the three things the sequel had to get right:
"Three things had to be nailed: multiplayer, increased weapon/item variety, and our Faith System." — Creative Director Lans Wang, Game Rant interview
The Nintendo store copy makes the same pitch: Faith is how you turn the tide on a floor that has gone wrong. In practice it's the mechanic that lets you buy your way out of a bad run instead of restarting.
Each floor's starting room contains a pillar. Stand on it to choose that floor's Faith. When the meter fills, a Faith room opens with the matching reward. Two rules matter:
- From floor 2 onward, changing Faith costs you one hit. Do not reroll Faith hoping for a better option while low on health.
- A Faith room opening does not mean you should enter immediately. Faiths with a resource requirement are better banked — keep exploring, accumulate, then cash out in one visit rather than spending your coins early.
The six Faith lines and how they fill
Each Faith advances in a completely different way, so picking one effectively sets the direction of your floor. Listed with their filling behaviour:
| Faith | Fills when you… | Barrier | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| The starter Faith | General early-game route; Veewo has not published the exact condition | Low | Resource-poor opening floors |
| Artisanism | Collect Soul Shards and grow weapons | Low | You have junk weapons to break and a weapon to level |
| Fortunism | Use the gambling machine | Low | Your build hasn't come together and you want to gamble on it |
| Consumerism | Earn coins and spend coins | Medium | Your coin income is stable, or you're about to rebuild |
| Agapeism | Receive eggs and hatch Hatchmon | Medium | You hold Hatchmon weapons or egg-producing items |
| Thesaurism | Collect keys and spend keys | Medium | Keys are plentiful, or you hold Rainbow Key / Cassie (infinite unlocking) |
Two mechanics fill the meter regardless of which Faith you picked:
- Candle Jar — a Hexjar-type item you can use directly to fill the Faith bar. It shipped in the Glimmer Heist update (2026-01-29) and is the most controllable way to top up.
- Faith Pedestal — pulled before a boss fight, this carries part of your Faith into the next floor. It's the valve that stops you entering a new floor with an empty bar.
Bank it or spend it?
Faith is both a currency and a stat: several items scale off its value. If you are running Purity Sigil, plan to be at a full bar as you approach a boss rather than spending early — at full Faith it grants +1 projectile.
The three spending outlets
Veewo's own Chinese press kit describes the three paths like this: "Win it all at the grand casino, spend freely in the well-stocked shops, or hatch cute Hatchmon in the pet park." All three draw on one pool, so every spend is a real opportunity cost:
| Outlet | What you get | Payoff profile | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shops | Buy from a stocked supply shop | Stable, targeted — patches a specific hole in your build | Mid-run when you're missing one key piece |
| Recruiting Hatchmon | More eggs and companions | Long-term; feeds the pet system and colour-matching fusion into Super Hatchmon | Pet builds, and rushing Elise's unlock |
| Gambling | High-variance bets on the machine | Highest ceiling, lowest floor — and the machine can blow up if you push it | Variance players and dead runs |
The recruitment outlet ties directly into an Agent unlock: Elise requires 8 total hatches, and Agapeism produces eggs naturally — so spending Faith on pets is effectively a shortcut to a new character.
Temples, one by one
Temples are Faith's large-scale outlet. Each is bound to one philosophy and offers a themed boon:
| Temple | Faith | Reward | Value assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Temple of Consumerism | Consumerism | A Loan plus access to an oversized shop | Spending future money to save the current run — the go-to for a collapsing run. The loan has to be repaid, so don't lean on it when your coin income is healthy |
| Temple of Artisanism | Artisanism | Vaporizing one weapon fills nearly the whole Faith bar and hands you a free weapon | Two payouts from one visit — one in currency, one in power. Widely considered the best value temple in the game |
The highest-value Artisanism play is to carry a junk weapon with you: vaporize it in the temple for a near-full bar, then break the free weapon down into Soul Shards to feed your main weapon. That closes the loop at "junk weapon → Faith + new weapon → Shards → weapon level".
Temples also exist for Agapeism, Umbrism, Thesaurism and Fortunism, but Veewo has not published their full reward tables.
Faith × Agent pairs
Each Faith has a recommended Agent, and picking a Faith is closer to committing to a build than picking a perk:
| Faith | Recommended Agent |
|---|---|
| Consumerism, Fortunism | Nik |
| Agapeism | Elise |
| Umbrism | Xuan |
| Artisanism | James, Saya |
| Thesaurism, Consumerism | Lúcia |
The pairing is not cosmetic. The Faith you favour determines which temples you can use, while the recommended Agent's starting weapon and passive decide your opening tempo. Stack the two and "choosing a Faith early" behaves like a build commitment. Per-Agent passives are in the Agent list.
What Faith connects to
Items
| Item | Type | Faith interaction |
|---|---|---|
| Candle Jar | Hexjar | Use it to fill the Faith bar directly (confirmed in the Glimmer Heist patch notes) |
| Purity Sigil | Artefact | Damage scales with Faith; at full Faith, +1 projectile |
Fate Cards
Fate Cards are the permanent unlock layer sitting on top of the in-run meter. The ones that matter most for Faith play:
- Adorable Companion — every run starts with 2 Hatchmon. A free head start on the recruitment outlet, and effectively mandatory for Agapeism.
- Fire Support — grants weapons at the start, which pairs naturally with the Artisanism "keep a junk weapon to vaporize" pattern.
- Full of Energy — every run starts with 2 shields, cushioning the health cost of switching Faith.
See Fate Cards & Meta Progression for the rest.
The Evolve Tree
Lighting up the Agapeism branch on the Evolve Tree guarantees successful egg hatches. Combined with Agapeism Faith and Adorable Companion, that produces a clean loop: get eggs → guaranteed hatch → advance Faith → more eggs. It is the fastest documented route to a pet build.
Three routes from opening floor to finished build
Route 1 — Low-barrier speed run (starter Faith / Artisanism / Fortunism)
- On the first two floors, where resources are thin, take the starter Faith or Artisanism and vaporize junk weapons as you go.
- When your main weapon stalls for materials, the Temple of Artisanism refills your Faith bar in one visit and hands you a free weapon to break down.
- Don't cash the Faith room the moment it opens — finish the floor first, then collect.
Route 2 — Pet army (Agapeism + Adorable Companion)
- Bring Adorable Companion so the run opens with 2 Hatchmon.
- Prioritise egg-producing items and Hatchmon weapons, and take the Agapeism node so hatches can't fail.
- Spend Faith on recruitment to keep eggs coming, then match colours to fuse Super Hatchmon. After 8 total hatches, switch to playing Elise.
- Holding 4 Hatchmon in a run unlocks the weapon Whisper and holding 12 unlocks Ballad — the pet route also fills weapon compendium slots as a side effect.
Route 3 — Coin engine (Consumerism + Lúcia or Nik)
- Once mid-game coin income is stable, switch Faith to Consumerism to use both the earn and spend channels.
- Buy from the oversized shop to patch specific gaps; borrow from the Temple of Consumerism when a run is falling apart.
- Protect your budget: don't buy useless things just to fill the bar, and don't take a second loan while you're still repaying the first.
Watch your health before rerolling Faith
From floor 2 every Faith change costs a hit, and from floor 5 damage steps up from half a heart to a full one per hit. Check your health before stepping on the pillar — with a low bar, it's better to play out one floor on a Faith you dislike than to gamble on a reroll.
Sources
- Neon Abyss 2 Faith System: Temples, Shops and Boons: temple rewards including the Loan and weapon vaporization, the Agent pairing table, and Fate Card and Faith Pedestal behaviour.
- TapTap — Black Dog Bar: which Faith to pick: official community channel describing how each of the six Faiths fills, the health cost of switching, and Faith room pacing.
- Sohu — Neon Abyss 2 launch beginner guide: pillar selection, Faith-switch damage, health and shield rules, and Hatchmon weapon unlock conditions.
- Rogueliker — Neon Abyss 2 launch interview: Veewo confirming Faith evolved from the original's Wisdom/Violence system.
- GamingBolt — Neon Abyss 2 interview: creative director Lans Wang on Faith as an optional but powerful system.
- Steam Community — Glimmer Heist patch notes: confirms the Candle Jar's Faith-filling effect.
- GCORES — Neon Abyss 2: Faith themes around consumption, gambling, Hatchmon and weapons; Consumerism opening the oversized shop.
- Nintendo store page — Neon Abyss 2: official marketing copy confirming Faith's "turn the tide" positioning.