Well Dweller Abilities: Every Unlock and Where
All abilities and key items
| Ability | What it does | Where you get it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matchstick | Main melee weapon; also lights up dark rooms | Night Garden, at the very start | Gabe and the Goat ep.1 (03:30); Steam description |
| Slide | Dodge that makes you briefly invulnerable | Available from the start | OhNoNotAddy spirit guide caption; Steam demo discussion |
| Oil Vial (heal) | Aimed healing: throw the vial and catch the timing window | Night Garden, before the first boss | Gabe and the Goat ep.1 (08:48); developer demo patch notes |
| Flaming Vessel | Throwable fire bomb that recharges as you land hits | Night Garden, just after the Groundskeeper | Gabe and the Goat ep.1 (11:56) |
| Slingshot | Fire the matchstick into a wall and bounce off it for height | Hunter's Cabin | Gabe and the Goat ep.1 (16:50) |
| Climb | Hold jump to climb flat walls until your stamina runs out | Reward for beating The Swarm in The Bog | Gabe and the Goat ep.2 (27:33) |
| Tent Travel | Fast travel between save tents from the map screen | Reward for beating The Swarm in The Bog | Gabe and the Goat ep.2 (29:09) |
| Wind Ride | Ride wind drafts upward | The Drains, before the elevator repair | Gabe and the Goat ep.3 (01:58); OhNoNotAddy Drains guide |
| Hover | Hold jump in midair to glide for a short time; three Lookout Tower feathers extend it | Not pinned to a room by our sources yet | Gamer Social Club beginner's guide; ability requirement captions in OhNoNotAddy's collectible guides |
| Endless Climb | Unlimited climbing stamina | Not pinned to a room by our sources yet | Gamer Social Club beginner's guide; ability requirement captions in OhNoNotAddy's collectible guides |
| Wall Sling | Plant the matchstick in a wall while climbing to make a foothold | Reward for beating Dollmaker's Mirror | OhNoNotAddy Dollmaker's Mirror guide |
| Water Vessel | Pilot the submarine-like vessels parked at The Docks | Unlocked with the Creature from the Deep fight at The Docks | Into the Deep achievement; OhNoNotAddy Creature/Colony guides |
| Torpedo | Lets the water vessel fire torpedoes; some underwater pickups need it | Found in The Deep | OhNoNotAddy trinket slot guide caption ('Torpedo (found in The Deep)') |
| Golden Key | Opens the golden gates | Given when Looter's repair quest begins | OhNoNotAddy golden gates guide (00:00) |
| Soar | Slam the ground, then hold jump to launch high into the air | Queen's Castle, at the very end | OhNoNotAddy 'Together at Last' guide (00:00); Flying High achievement |
Which ability gates the most collectibles
We tallied the "abilities needed" caption for 93 mapped collectibles (world trinkets, all 20 spirits, all 23 story pages and all 27 workshop tokens). 20 of them need nothing at all. Each count below is how many list that ability:
| Ability | Collectibles that need it |
|---|---|
| Slingshot | 32 |
| Climb | 44 |
| Wind Ride | 5 |
| Hover | 39 |
| Endless Climb | 15 |
| Wall Sling | 8 |
If you are hunting 100%, Climb and Slingshot matter from the start and Hover opens most of the late pickups. The full lists are on the trinkets and collectibles pages.
Hover and Endless Climb
Both are confirmed abilities, and the collectible captions show which pickups need them, but none of our sources pins down the exact room where they are handed out, so we do not guess. Hover's duration can be lengthened by three feathers in the Lookout Tower — a separate collectible from the seven Golden Feathers.
Ability questions
How do you get Climb in Well Dweller?
Beat The Swarm in The Bog. The same fight also gives Tent Travel, the fast-travel ability.
Where is Wind Ride?
In The Drains, before you repair the elevator that leads to Lady of the Drains.
How do you get Wall Sling?
Defeat Dollmaker's Mirror in the Dollmaker's House; the fight also frees Magda.
When do you get Soar?
At the very end, in the Queen's Castle. Its achievement, Flying High, belonged to 1.2% of Steam players a day after launch.
Is there a double jump?
No standard double jump appears in the ability list. Extra height comes from the Slingshot (bounce off your own matchstick), the bubbles placed in early rooms, Hover and, at the very end, Soar.
Ability list checked: