Nightingale Realms Guide | How to Unlock More Realms

Our Nightingale Realms Guide will tell you about the Biomes and various Realm Difficulty levels that you'll encounter across the multiverse.

Naturally, a big part of your experience in Nightingale will be traveling to different Realms. As long as you have the right Cards, you'll be able to find new resources and items to craft. Read on to learn more!

How Realms Work in Nightingale

Realms in Nightingale are pocket dimensions that are tied to a specific Biome. In the Early Access launch version of the game, these Biomes are Forest, Swamp, and Desert. You open a Realm by inserting a Biome Card and a difficulty Card into a Portal.

In addition to the Biome, each Realm has a difficulty set by a Major Card (such as the Antiquarian Card or the Astrolabe Card) and an additional difficulty modifier set by a drop-down box at the bottom-left of the Portal interface. Neither the difficulty nor the Biome can be changed once a Realm is created.

Much like Stargate, a pair of Portals serves as a connection to a Realm. When the Portal is closed, you will lose access to the Realm that you are not in, including any buildings you've made.

The sole exception to this rule is your Estate Realm or Home Realm — it will always be accessible via your watch on the Map, regardless of whether or not a portal is open to it.

How to Keep Access to a Realm

You can keep access to a particular Realm by keeping an active Portal open to it. Although a Portal will shut down after some time, the connection will remain available until you change the Portal to another Realm.

Portals can also be used to establish a permanent connection to another player's Estate Realm. That player can also build a Portal and connect it to your Estate Realm, effectively allowing limitless travel between the two.

How Biomes Work in Nightingale

Biome Cards determine which Biome you'll visit when you go to a new Realm in Nightingale. There are three Biomes in the Early Access launch version of the game: Forest, Desert, and Swamp.

Biomes have some things in common including the presence of a Portal and Essence Traders. That said, each Biome can have different terrain features, weather hazards, and enemies.

Generally speaking, Forests are the safest Biomes to explore. Deserts run the risk of overheating the player, and Swamps are rife with disease. Make sure to be adequately prepared before venturing into a new Biome, and don't forget that you can always teleport back home to your Estate Realm at any time.

Nightingale Realms List By Level

Here is a list of all of the Realms we've discovered in Nightingale along with how to unlock them.

Tutorial Realm (Level 0)

There are four Tutorial Realms that you will visit as part of the opening hours of the game: the initial gateway, a Forest, a Desert, and a Swamp. Unlike the other Realms, the Tutorial Realms have a fixed design and are generally smaller than the regular Realms you'll come across.

You will only spend a few hours in the Tutorial Realms and you will not return after you've completed them.

Abeyance Realm (Level 10)

The Abeyance Realm is the first tier of Realm that you'll travel to. It's ideal for building a home base for two reasons: it's the safest Realm you can travel to and it's where the Sites of Power for accessing other Realms can be found.

All merchants are the same in Abeyance Realms, regardless of which Biome you choose.

How to Unlock

You can unlock the Abeyance Realm by completing the tutorial.

Antiquarian Realm (Level 20)

Antiquarian Realms are slightly tougher than Abeyance Realms. The Druid faction can be found here and you'll find a larger concentration of abandoned Fae structures. You will also be able to find T1 Essence for the first time in Antiquarian Realms.

Starting with Antiquarian Realms, each Biome's Essence Merchants have slightly different lists of items available in the stores. That means that you'll have to travel to each of the three Biomes if you wish to purchase all of the available items.

How to Unlock

You can unlock Antiquarian Realms by increasing your Gear Score to 20 and defeating the boss in the Antiquarian Site of Power.

Astrolabe Realm (Level 30)

The Astrolabe Realm is a step up in difficulty. You'll be able to find the Calcularia faction and ruins of airfields built by humanity.

How to Unlock

You can unlock Astrolabe Realms by increasing your Gear Score to 30 and defeating the boss in the Astrolabe Site of Power.

Provisioner Realm (Level 40)

The Provisioner Realm is where you can find the NTTC faction and industrial buildings amongst the wilds. One notable difference in these realms is the addition of roads spread across the land, regardless of the Biome you choose.

Provisioner Realms are the first place where you'll get access to the next tier of crafting recipes and, notably, firearms. It's worth it to progress to this new tier of Realm as fast as you possibly can.

How to Unlock

You can unlock Provisioner Realms by increasing your Gear Score to 40 and defeating the boss in the Provisioner Site of Power.

Herbarium Realm (Level 50)

Herbarium Realms are overrun by plants due to the presence of ancient Fae gardens.

How to Unlock

You can unlock Herbarium Realms by increasing your Gear Score to 50 and defeating the boss in the Herbarium Site of Power.

Gloom Realm (Level 60)

Gloom Realms have the unique feature of being cloaked in perpetual darkness.

How to Unlock

You can unlock Gloom Realms by increasing your Gear Score to 60 and defeating the boss in the Gloom Site of Power.

Hunt Realm (Level 70)

Hunt Realms are the most difficult stock Realm that you can find, requiring a lofty Gear Score of 70 at the minimum to enter them. As the name implies, these Realms are ideal for hunting animals for food.

How to Unlock

You can unlock Hunt Realms by increasing your Gear Score to 70 and defeating the boss in the Hunt Site of Power.

We've reached the end of our guide on Nightingale Realms — check out our other guides below!