You’re probably hitting a wall in Pharloom. We've all been there. You’ve reached Act 2, the bosses are starting to feel like literal brick walls, and your needle feels about as sharp as a butter knife. Honestly, the jump in enemy health between the Moss-Grotto and the Citadel is pretty brutal.
If you want to survive the late-game gauntlets, you need Pale Oil. It’s the "Pale Ore" of the sequel, and just like the first game, Team Cherry didn't exactly make finding it a walk in the park.
Most players assume they can just stumble upon these while exploring. Kinda. But two out of the three locations are locked behind massive side quests or environmental puzzles that are easy to miss if you’re just beelining through the main story.
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The Easy Grab in Whispering Vaults
The first one is basically a gift, assuming you don't mind a little box-pushing. You'll find this tucked away in the Whispering Vaults, which is that creepy, echo-filled area accessible once you’ve dealt with the Cogwork Dancers.
Look for the massive vertical shaft in the center of the Vaults. You want to head to the left side. There’s a room filled with these heavy metal shelves on tracks. You don’t need the double jump (the Faydown Cloak) for this one, though it makes the platforming a lot less annoying.
Basically, you just need to manipulate the shelves to create a path to the upper left ledge. Once you’re through the corridor at the top, you’ll find yourself on a platform suspended over the Choral Chambers. The Pale Oil is just sitting there on a pedestal. Don't forget to hit the lever on the floor right next to it—it opens a permanent shortcut back into the Citadel, which saves a ton of backtracking later.
The Great Taste of Pharloom (The "Food Quest")
This is where things get complicated. The second Pale Oil isn't just sitting in a chest; you have to earn it by playing delivery person for a very hungry bug named Loyal Mergwin.
You’ll find Mergwin in the abandoned dining hall of the Choral Chambers, just northeast of the Spa. He’s inside a glass jar—hit it to wake him up. He won't give you the oil until you bring him five specific delicacies from across the kingdom.
- Mossberry Stew: Head back to Mosshome and talk to the Moss Druid. Simple enough.
- Vintage Nectar: You’ll need to cough up 480 Rosaries to Creige at Halfway House (Greymoor) to access his cellar. Clear out the ants, and the nectar is yours.
- Pickled Muckmaggot: This is dropped by Disgraced Chef Lugoli at the top of Sinner’s Road. You will need the double jump to reach this fight.
- Crustnut: Located in the Sands of Karak. It’s a platforming puzzle that requires the Clawline to navigate the high ledges.
- Courier’s Rasher: This is the one everyone hates. You get it from Tipp and Pill in Bellhart. Once you pick it up, it’s a "no-damage" run. If you take a hit, fast travel, or even bump into a wall too hard while sprinting, the meat "spoils" and you have to restart.
Once you hand over the last meal, Mergwin finally coughs up the Pale Oil. It’s a grind, but considering how much damage the second upgrade adds to your Silk Skills, it’s worth the headache.
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The Act 3 Fleatopia Challenge
The final Pale Oil is locked behind the late-game content in Act 3. You can’t even get this until you’ve found all 30 Fleas scattered throughout Pharloom.
Once you’ve rescued the little guys, head to the Putrified Ducts on the eastern edge of the map. You’re looking for Fleatopia, a sort of hidden festival town. Talk to Fleamaster Mooshka and accept the "Ecstasy of the End" wish from the Bellhart board.
To get the oil, you have to win three carnival minigames:
- Juggling: Score at least 30.
- Dodging: Survive for a score of 65.
- Bouncing: Reach a score of 42.
Pro tip: Equip the Wanderer’s Crest and the Longclaw trinket before you start. They make the Juggling game significantly easier because your slash reach is wider. After you win, you get to whack a giant pinata that drops the final Pale Oil.
Why Your Damage Might Still Feel Low
Here’s the thing about Pale Oil that most guides won't tell you: the damage increase isn't always a flat "one less hit to kill."
Team Cherry uses hidden damage values and enemy-specific modifiers. For instance, some enemies in the Slab have a 0.9x damage resistance to higher-level needles. You might upgrade your weapon and find that a basic grunt still takes three hits. Don’t panic—you are doing more damage; it’s just that the enemy's health pool was designed to bridge that specific gap. The real difference is felt in boss fights, where the cumulative damage from your Needle and Silk Skills can shorten a fight by nearly 40%.
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Once you have your oil, take it back to Pinmaster Plinney in Bellhart. If he’s not there during Act 3, check the cemetery in the Great Wood—he sometimes wanders off to pay his respects and needs you to bail him out of a combat encounter before he’ll head back to his shop.
If you’ve already grabbed the Whispering Vaults oil, your next move should be tracking down Chef Lugoli in Sinner's Road. He's the toughest part of the food quest, and getting him out of the way early makes the rest of the Mergwin delivery run feel much more manageable.