Upgrades & Runes
Four upgrades unlock the world: the Glove digs dirt (Stoney Cliffs), the Flipper swims water (Tidal Reef), the Armor raises your heat gauge (Raging Volcano) and the Cape — often called Wings — lets you cross one-tile holes (Frozen Spire). Get them before hunting stars.
Two collections change everything in Isles of Sea and Sky: runes unlock the coloured block types, and upgrades add movement powers that physically open the world. Neither is strictly required for the story — but both are what make the later stars reachable.
The four upgrades
| Upgrade | Island | Power | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gloves | Stoney Cliffs | Dig through dirt blocks | Underground room C1; gate at C2 must be opened first |
| Flippers | Tidal Reef | Swim across water tiles (not deep ocean) | Room A4 — behind the dragonfly puzzle |
| Armor | Raging Volcano | Heat gauge grows from 4 to 6 | Room E0 — needs three red keys |
| Wings | Frozen Spire | Glide straight over one-tile-wide holes | Room A0 — reachable only by bird; needs the blue key |
How each one is earned
- Gloves (Stoney Cliffs). The gate in front of C1 shows a set-up; the same set-up exists at the four corners of the island, each with one movable crate. Match the emblems — if you cannot identify a crate's emblem, push it over a pit and look from another corner room.
- Flippers (Tidal Reef). Solve the dragonfly puzzle at A4: chase the three dragonflies on the island's other corner areas, record each colour and path, then recreate their routes on the room's 5×5 floor.
- Armor (Raging Volcano). Three red keys, from the encounter rooms at A0, A4 and E4. Spawns are random per attempt, so there is no fixed script — community advice: banish the flame-tracking enemy first, and mind the slime bombs, which can push seals out of reach.
- Wings (Frozen Spire). Bird routes are randomised per save, so your path differs from any video's. The blue key comes from a fetch trail: check the three little houses at the island's corners, read the door patterns as a map of the island, find the tile with the odd floor pattern in each marked room to get an egg, and trade three eggs at the bird nests.
The six runes
Runes unlock the game's coloured block types (the emblem colour tells you which). The good news from the community's completion guide: all six runes can be collected with no upgrades and no elementals awakened — so when a puzzle seems impossible, hunt runes before blaming yourself.
| Rune | Location |
|---|---|
| Earth, Water, Fire | In the great spirit's room on each island (room C0) |
| Wind (air) | Same room as the wind spirit — C2 on Frozen Spire |
| Tree (green) | The small tree island just below the starting island — no requirements |
| Snake (dark) | Top room of the snake island, far west |
The order that saves the most backtracking
- Grab runes as you meet the spirits (free power, no requirements).
- Collect the four upgrades island by island — each one exists to clear that island's obstacle (dirt, water, heat, gaps).
- Then start sweeping stars: many hidden stars are gated behind pairs of tools — a cave star needs Gloves and Flippers, a volcano star needs Armor and Wings. If a star is unreachable today, it is waiting on a tool, not on skill.
- Leave the pyramidion layer until the story is done — it wants you fully equipped.
- Back to the walkthrough for island order.
- Star totals for the completion sweep live in the 100% guide.
