The third Word of Power is the only one that isn’t just gated by level, but also by story progression. You won’t be able to break through a certain Ward until you’ve defeated a specific boss battle with Spider-Man on your team. Marvel’s Midnight Suns isn’t just about battling — you’ll also be able to explore a vast open-world area called the Abbey. At night there are mysteries to discover and puzzles to solve, and one of the puzzles is a ward hidden behind a creepy abandoned church.
To progress in this mystery, you’ll need to acquire a Symbiote Sample. We won’t get into spoilers here, but you won’t be able to get through the Cthon Ward without it. After taking down the ward, the mystery gets even trickier. You’ll need to visit three hidden locations to collect a special soil, making this one of the most complicated mysteries in the game. The next one isn’t nearly this complicated.
More Midnight Suns guides:
Beginner’s Guide | Gift Giving Guide | Moon Knight Easter Egg | Offering Bowl Guide | How To Find Secret Cat Ebony | Standing Stones Codes | How To Get The Break Word
‘Purify’ Word of Power Guide | Shaw’s Church Mystery Solution
After acquiring the ‘Reveal’ Word of Power, you’ll be able to enter the Valley of the Winds — this is also where you’ll find the creepy Shaw’s Church. To begin the quest to get ‘Purify’ and fix tainted locations blocked by monstrous vines. You’ll need to progress the story until you acquire a Symbiote Sample.
- Step #1: Exploring The Church
- Entering the Valley of the Winds through the Blood Gate (after acquiring ‘Revea’) travel north and toward Shaw’s Church. Cross the bridge and take the path to the right down to the church.
- Inside the Church, talk to Agatha to begin the quest. ‘The Church‘ will begin. To progress, use ‘Reveal’ on the door at the back of the church, then use ‘Reveal’ again on the back door.
- Now you can leave the church and reach the backyard. Explore to find a strange ward blocking the way into the cave.
- Talk to Agatha, then return to the Abbey and talk to Dr. Strange. Take him to the ward and he’ll promise to help.
At this point, you have to wait — Dr. Strange won’t help until much later in Act 1 of the story. Complete Story Missions until you encounter Fallen Venom in the Clock Tower and acquire a Symbiote Sample.
- Step #2: Dispel The Ward
- After researching the Symbiote Sample, talk to Dr. Strange — an objective will tell you to revisit him. Talk to Dr. Strange and then collect the Symbiote Sample from the Forge.
- Return to Shaw’s Church and interact with the ward to finally unlock it.
- Explore the cave to find Shaw’s skeleton. There’s nothing else here. Talk to Agatha, then return to the church.
- Go back to the Study, the room in the back of the Church, and use ‘Reveal‘ on the desk with three white papers. This makes images appear on the papers. Examine the pages.
After this, wait 24 hours and revisit with Agatha the next night. She’ll want you to visit these three locations and acquire Stained Soil. The Soil is located at three locations around the map.
- Step #3: Stained Soil Locations
- Next, we need to visit the locations show on the three papers. Here’s where to find each one.
- Suspect A: At the Dreamer’s Descent region, travel southwest to the witch warren. There’s a cave here with stained soil.
- Suspect B: In Stone Terrace, just north of the Stone Terrace fast-travel marker on the map.
- Suspect C: North of the Whispering Wood, to the west of the Abbey. Find the path on the river, on the far end of the north river.
- Collect all three samples, then return to Agatha at the Library. Talk to her and she’ll go to the Elemental Altar.
The Elemental Altar gives us another clue for the Moon Seal’s secret location.
- Step #4: Getting The Moon Seal
- Travel to the Elemental Altar and talk to Agatha. At the altar, you’ll get an image of the Hanging Tree.
- The Hanging Tree is located near Shaw’s Church. Fast-travel to the marker then follow the path north and west. Cross the large stone bridge.
- Over the bridge, go up the steps and turn left. There’s a small clearing here. This is the Hanging Tree.
- Use ‘Reveal’ at the tree to make the Moon Seal appear.
With the Moon Seal revealed, you’ll complete the Hiram Shaw Mystery. The Moon Seal is used at the Everflowing Glade nearby. Use the seal at the Blood Gate and complete the challenge to unlock the third World of Power. You need to be Level 12 to complete this challenge. You’ll need to allow the Lillin to copy themselves often to reach the required defeat count.
