In Cinderia, a few characters will require multiple interactions before they return to the Shelter for further progress. One of these characters is the Druid found in event nodes of the Forest stage.
While seemingly just a nameless NPC, the Druid will eventually reveal themself to be Uma, the Forest’s Princess and the third playable character of Cinderia.
If you like the sound of summons, control debuffs, and leading an army of creatures, you’ll want to unlock Uma ASAP. Let’s go over exactly how to find her, convince her to join you, and how she plays!
Clear the Town
First things first, you’ll need to make it to the Druid in the Forest, the second area of Cinderia. This means making it past Baron De La Muerte, the Ashen Adjudicator defending the Town’s exit.
The Baron is a very high-speed boss who relies on distracting you with his summons to land charges and explosions. Luckily, he’s highly susceptible to stuns if you can land them, fully canceling his dashes and leaving him staggered.
It’ll probably take you a few runs, and Blessings do wonders to help out in the fight, so don’t worry if you can’t take him out on your first introduction. Once he’s down, you can enter the Druid’s domain, the Forest.
Assisting the Druid
The Druid, like Rivet before her, appears in event rooms throughout the Forest. You’ll find her alongside another druid trying to help a wounded animal, and will request some of the purple gems gained by breaking down gear.
Any amount will do, and she’ll reward you with either healing or an upgrade. You’ll need to find her three separate times, thought it doesn’t seem like you need to actually assist in healing the animal the first two times.
On your third encounter, she’ll be trying to save a wounded Lynx. Offer her up some gems, and she’ll actually fail to help the creature. With that loss, she’ll sympathize with your cause and will show up in the Shelter when you next return.
Giving Up wipes your run progress, so play the rest of it out to properly unlock Uma when you make it back. Also make sure to hit as many Event rooms as possible once you enter the Forest, maximizing your chance of meeting her.
How Does Uma Play?
Uma brings summoning to the table, building up new allies with every successful hit, as shown on her Summon Gauge. She’ll spawn a random animal ally whenever the bar reaches 100, consuming it.
Certain active skills spend portions of the Summon Gauge for bigger bonuses, like additional summons, personal buffs, and healing. Paired with her unique dash and debuffs, Uma rewards a bit more tactical thinking.
If you struggle to keep up with Rue’s frantic tempo or Rivet’s reliance on ammo, Uma’s slower pace could be just what you’re looking for. It’s always fun to outnumber hordes of enemies in a roguelike, and Uma covers that power fantasy in spades.
