Sephiria Wishing Fountain Guide: How It Works and How to Use It

Overview

The Sephiria Wishing Fountain is a pre-run artifact selection system that lets you choose one artifact to carry into your run. Unlike many roguelikes, the fountain does not guarantee that favorited artifacts will appear more often — it simply lets you pick a starting item from a curated pool.

This guide covers how the fountain works, how to favorite artifacts, and how to make the best use of it based on player-reported experience.

Direct outcome: You will know how to open the fountain, favorite artifacts, and pick the best starting option for your build.

Requirements

Before you can use the Wishing Fountain effectively, you need:

• Access to the fountain: The fountain appears at the start of a run. You select an artifact before entering the main game.
• Unlocked artifacts: Your available pool depends on which artifacts you have discovered in previous runs.
• Journal access: You need to open the Journal to favorite artifacts. This is available from the pause menu (Esc).

How the Wishing Fountain Works

The Wishing Fountain presents you with a selection of artifacts at the start of a run. You choose one to take with you. This is separate from normal in-run artifact drops.

Key mechanics confirmed by player reports:

• You can favorite artifacts and tablets from the Journal.
• Favoriting does not increase the chance of an artifact appearing in the fountain.
• The fountain grants one artifact per run, unless you have a talent that increases capacity.

One community source notes that the "Wish Fountain capacity increases by +1" as a talent, which lets you take an additional starting artifact. This is a utility talent that provides luck-based value.

Steps to Use the Wishing Fountain

Follow these steps to use the fountain in a run:

1. Start a new run. The fountain appears before gameplay begins.
2. Review the offered artifacts. You will see a pool of available items based on your unlocked collection.
3. Select one artifact. Choose the item that best fits your intended build or starting strategy.
4. Confirm your choice. The selected artifact carries into the run.

How to Favorite Artifacts

Favoriting helps you track items you prefer without affecting drop rates:

1. Press Esc to open the pause menu.
2. Select Journal.
3. Hover over an Artifact or Tablet.
4. Press the Favorite Key (default is Middle Mouse).
5. The item is now marked in your Journal.

The favorites tab in the fountain interface shows only your favorited items, making it easier to spot preferred artifacts when they appear.

Recommended Setup

Based on player experience from speedruns and community discussions:

• Prioritize damage artifacts early. In the speedrun footage, the runner consistently picks physical damage and critical chance items over defensive options.
• Watch for crit synergy. Items like the Pointed Glove provide critical damage bonuses that stack well with crit chance artifacts.
• Avoid over-capping crit. One speedrunner noted that taking too much crit chance reduces the value of later crit items, so leave room for growth.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming favoriting increases odds. This is the most common misconception. Favoriting only organizes your Journal and filters the fountain's display. It does not weight the pool.
• Skipping the fountain entirely. The free starting artifact is always worth taking, even if it is not ideal for your build.
• Ignoring tablet favorites. Tablets work the same way as artifacts. Favoriting them helps you track options, but does not change their appearance rate.
• Taking crit past 100%. In the speedrun, the runner deliberately avoided a crit item to stay under the cap, since excess crit provides no benefit.

Advanced Tips

• Plan your build before you open the fountain. Know what your character needs and pick accordingly rather than reacting to the pool.
• Use the talent that increases fountain capacity. If available, this lets you take two starting artifacts, which is a significant power spike.
• In speedruns, grab the artifact and leave immediately. The speedrun footage shows the runner leaving the fountain room right after claiming the reward to save time.
• Check the Journal before a run. If you have favorited items, the fountain's favorites tab makes them easy to spot.

What Could Not Be Verified

The exact pool of artifacts available at the fountain and the precise drop rates are not documented in the collected sources. Community reports confirm the favoriting mechanic and the talent that increases capacity, but the full list of fountain-exclusive items remains unverified.

Related Guides

• Sephiria Fountain
• Sephiria Mysterious Door
• Sephiria Mysterious Twig
• Sephiria Obelisk