Pass the Fear Embarkation and Destination Explained

What the two keywords mean

Embarkation triggers when you enter a new stage. Destination triggers when a battle ends. Both are run-structure timers, so nothing you do inside a fight makes them happen more often. The number of times they pay is decided by how far you get, not by your fire rate.

That single fact separates them from every other relic trigger. A relic that says “while shooting” scales with how you play. A relic that says Embarkation scales with how long you survive.

In the current build, 58 relic entries reference Embarkation, 44 reference Destination, and 12 use both. Forged versions are included in those counts, which is why the two keywords cover a much larger share of the relic pool than most players expect.

You can check any exact wording on the Embarkation entry and the Destination entry, which also list every item that names the term.

Permanent effects are the whole argument for taking these early

The word to look for is “permanently”. Executioner’s Axe reads: “Embarkation: Physical Damage permanently +3%.” Blood Scroll gives Smite Chance permanently +2% per Embarkation, and Ring of Suffering gives +5%. Growth Orb banks one permanent stack of Growth per stage.

Those relics are worth almost nothing in the stage you pick them up and a lot four stages later. Twenty four of the 58 Embarkation entries use permanent wording. The rest hand you something that expires.

Effects that keep their value

Permanent lines behave like interest. A relic taken early has more stages left to compound, so the same item is genuinely a different pickup at stage two and stage seven. When two relics look similar, the one with permanent wording should win early and lose late.

Effects that reset every stage

Guardian Ring grants 2 Armor on Embarkation. War Horn gives Fire Rate and Reload Speed +45% for 20 seconds after entering combat. Tome of Mastery restores 35% of your Ultimate Gauge. None of that carries over, and that is fine: these are opening-burst tools, and they are just as good on the last stage as the first.

Phoenix Crest is the clearest example of a temporary payout. It grants 60 temporary stacks of Ember on Embarkation, then bleeds one stack per second down to zero and drops the rest after combat. It rewards fast, aggressive openings and gives nothing to a slow clear.

Extra triggers are worth more than bigger numbers

Several effects do not add a bonus. They make the whole set of triggers fire again, which multiplies everything you already own.

• The Fool (upright) makes your Embarkation effects trigger one additional time.
• Death (upright) does the same for Destination.
• The Chariot triggers all of your Destination effects on Embarkation, and The Chariot (Reversed) triggers all of your Embarkation effects on Destination.
• Book of Pilgrimage triggers all of your Embarkation effects after its Blood Curse deals damage, and Eye of Deep Winter triggers all of your Destination effects after its Giant Glacier lands.

The value of every one of those depends on what is already in your relic slots. Taking The Fool with one Embarkation relic doubles a small number. Taking it with six changes the run. This is the main reason to decide on a stage-trigger package before you start collecting duplicates of the same small bonus.

Compare the exact card faces on the Tarot database before you commit a slot, because upright and reversed target different halves of the pair.

Read the trigger before you read the payout

Two relics can print the same number and behave completely differently. Bloodthirsty Orb banks Battle Skill Damage permanently +4% on Destination. Crimson Ring banks Transmutation Damage permanently +4% on Destination. Both need you to finish fights, and both are dead weight in a run where you keep dying in the second half.

Frost Heavy Armor grants 3 Armor on Embarkation and 3 more on Destination, so it pays twice per stage cycle. World Stone grants one stack each of Ember, Growth, and Armor on both triggers. When a relic covers both keywords, count it as two effects when you plan, not one.

When these relics are the wrong pick

Stage triggers stop being attractive in three situations. On a run where you already have a working combat loop and a slot shortage, a permanent +3% is worse than an effect that fires every magazine. On a short run for a specific unlock, nothing has time to compound. And on a difficulty where fights are close, Destination effects lose value because losing the fight means losing the payout as well.

Sort by trigger first in the Relics database, then decide. A Common relic that fires on every Embarkation with a permanent line often beats an Epic whose condition your build never meets.