Broken relic in Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course: how to solve the tombstone puzzle

 We tell you why you need a broken relic, how to solve the riddle with tombstones, and turn a cursed relic into a divine one

Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course takes players to Ink Island Four, a brand new, cozy world filled with unique bosses. There is also a cryptic puzzle on the Fourth Ink Island that requires certain actions. Although this task is optional, it is definitely worth solving, as it will allow you to uncover several additional secrets at once. Eventually, you will be able to turn the Broken Relic into a Cursed Relic, and then receive the final reward - the Divine Relic.

Buy a broken relic

First, you'll need to make sure you've bought the Broken Relic from the Pigskin Shop. You can purchase it at the beginning of the DLC before fighting any boss. The cost of the relic is 1 gold coin. It does not need to be equipped, since a broken relic is absolutely useless in battle.

Talk to climbers

There is a podium next to the Pigskin shop. If you talk to one of the three climbers, they will tell you about the climbing competition. All three participants will tell you how they performed in the race. I recommend taking screenshots of each dialog branch. For example, using your smartphone. All the phrases they said will be needed to solve the future riddle.

How to solve the graveyard puzzle

To get to the graveyard, you need to defeat Giant Grimmountain and Mortimer Cold weather. After that, in the next part of the Fourth Ink Island, you will find a cemetery with nine tombstones. Talk to the nearest NPC to the right of the graveyard. He will give a hint about what you need to solve the puzzle - a broken relic and a dialogue with the climbers.

The climbers spoke in riddles, but these are direct clues to solving the puzzle. On the other hand, the game uses random, so in your particular case, the solution may be different. Now you need to interact with the correct tombstones. Upon interaction, a ghost will appear. The central tombstone is not part of the puzzle, leaving you with only eight possible options. You must summon ghosts not only in the right places but also in the right sequence.

The logic for solving the puzzle is the same no matter what clues you have. Pay attention to the directions mentioned by climbers.

Here's an example for you. Climbers who took different places told me the following:

• 1st place: “Others couldn’t catch me! I left them in the dust!”
• 2nd place: “I left the center in a hurry and forgot my equipment. Left for a second."
• 3rd place: “Worse than last year! Below third place.

Solution for such hints:

• 1st place: middle row, left marker
• 2nd place: Bottom row, left marker
• 3rd place: Bottom row, middle marker

Explanations:

• 1st Place: You start in the middle and the only indicated direction remains. Thus, you remain in the center row and move to the left tombstone.
• 2nd place: we start on the left side, but this time we have to go down. Thus, the correct solution is the lower-left corner.
• 3rd Place: The only clue we get here points to the bottom row. We stay in the middle and select the central tombstone in the bottom row.

Cursed Relic Unlock

After solving the puzzle, a glowing aura will rise from the central tombstone. You will be asked if you want to use it, after which a new boss fight will begin.

You can only complete this challenge once. It's not replayable. After defeating the boss, the broken relic will turn into a cursed one.

Unlock Divine Relic

Cursed Relic is a unique talisman. Every time you stop shooting, your weapon changes to any other (randomly). This means that when you dash, parry, or stop for any reason, you will fire different projectiles next time. To effectively use the Cursed Relic, you must learn how to properly handle any weapon. And you also need to think more carefully about your dashes and parries. The Cursed Relic has another unpleasant feature: at the beginning of each battle, the supply of "hearts" is reduced to 1.

But the Cursed Relic is definitely worth getting used to, as you can turn it into a Divine one. To do this, you need to defeat seven bosses on Normal or Expert difficulty with the Cursed Relic equipped. Seven absolutely any bosses. We recommend returning to the First Ink Island to defeat the easier bosses first. After completing the requirement, you will unlock the achievement, and the Cursed Relic will become Divine.

The Divine Relic will still randomly change your weapon whenever you stop shooting, but at the start of each battle, you will get the normal health bar.

How to summon Jimmy and get extra health

If you're having trouble defeating the seven bosses with the Cursed Relic, don't forget that if you've completed the campaign, you can summon Jimmy the Great an unlimited number of times. While on the world map, rotate in tight circles for a few seconds to summon a genie. By doing this, you will fight each subsequent boss with 1 extra life - even when using Cursed Relic. Do not forget that after defeating the boss, Jimmy will have to be summoned again in order to get the bonus health again.