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Visiting and clearing all 13 Ancient Circles costs 13 in-game time segments—one segment per circle. That is the activity cost, not a real-world playtime estimate: travel and combat time vary, and no measured full-clear duration is established. Walking and scouting are reported as free in the game’s time system; activities and some quest steps can consume time, with the hourglass cost shown before you commit.
How long does it take to visit all 13 Ancient Circles?
Current guides report 13 Ancient Circles across the game world, and each costs one in-game time segment to activate and clear. The total is therefore 13 segments. The available guides do not provide a reproducible estimate in real-world hours, so the segment count should not be converted into a fixed playtime.
Walking and scouting are reported as free in the time system, while activities and quest steps can advance time. Check the hourglass cost shown before committing to an activity.
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- Arrive during daylight and find the altar in front of the mural.
- Use Focus to interact with the altar, then cast Astral Communion to begin the trial.
- Defeat every enemy the circle summons without abandoning the activity.
- Open the chest beside the pillar. Defeating the enemies alone is not enough for completion.
- Check the journal to confirm the activity was recorded before moving on.
The count, time cost, and completion steps are reported by PowerPyx’s 2026 Ancient Circles guide. These are third-party gameplay-guide details, not an official walkthrough.
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How to route all the circles with less backtracking
Use a regional sweep rather than following an arbitrary numbered sequence. Start from a discovered fast-travel point near unfinished circles, clear nearby sites, and finish each altar-to-chest sequence before traveling onward. The cited guides establish no required order, so choose a route that matches the fast-travel points you have unlocked.
Because the trials are daytime activities and each costs a segment, plan when to tackle them around the daylight availability in your current run. Witchcraft’s Mercurial Fervor or Vampirism’s Shapeshift are suggested as traversal conveniences, not requirements for completing a circle.
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Why an Ancient Circle might not start or count as complete
- The trial will not begin: Check that you have arrived during daylight and are interacting with the altar in front of the mural using Focus; then cast Astral Communion.
- The trial seems finished, but completion is missing: Make sure every summoned enemy is defeated, then open the chest beside the pillar.
- You are unsure whether it counted: Confirm the activity appears as recorded in the journal before leaving the area or counting it toward the total.
Game mechanics can change with patches, and these instructions reflect the cited guide information rather than a publisher-issued walkthrough.
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