What increases shadow taint?

[Xeon]

I thought it was equipping certain items or eating certain foods, but I can't narrow down specifics

[TonkatsuRamen]

How do you even get Shadow Taint?

[Nanako]

fwiw i ate a total of two, mayybe three shadow foods before i got to the swamp, and the gator loved my darkness

[Illudium]

Eating shadow food/potions like the ones from the small rifts. You won't get a level for every one, but every 3-4 or so. The Cursed Compass can help you find more. Maybe from using shadow combat items too, but I haven't tested it.

[TonkatsuRamen]

ohhhh. damnit ... i just kept collecting them but never consumed any of those items. That explains a lot

[Xeon]

Originally posted by Nanako =^.^=:

fwiw i ate a total of two, mayybe three shadow foods before i got to the swamp, and the gator loved my darkness

Oh yeah that makes a lot of sense actually. Thanks! Going for the perfect evil run

[Geordie Watson]

wandering with alphonse as your companion will net you random shadow items,
fishing with the cursed rod does the same (though not consistently and it might be tied to fishing in certain locations, i got a bunch from fishing in one of the fishmen sewers)

[Stalmac]

I got Alphonse on my team but I didn't get any shadow taint. Is there a alternative way alphonse joins you. PS: Alphonse talked about my stank instead of darkness but I havn't found alphonse on my first playthrough

[Xeon]

Originally posted by Stalmac:

I got Alphonse on my team but I didn't get any shadow taint. Is there a alternative way alphonse joins you. PS: Alphonse talked about my stank instead of darkness but I havn't found alphonse on my first playthrough

Eat shadow foods

[Stalmac]

I know you have to eat shadow foods. I'm saying I got Alphonse without eating shadow foods

[Knight9910]

Alphonse joins you if you have the Rift Crystal from the Zimmer House.

[Stalmac]

Thanks I was really confused why he joined

[The Golden Knight]

I only used a few of the shadow items. I never noticed any taint meter or anything of the like, so either it was hidden for me, or there was just no consequence in the quantity I've indulged in.

(One alternate try later...)

OK, you have to REALLY engorge in them before you notice a change. So, how many shadow levels ARE there? IS there anything past the point your eyes turn to shadow and stars?

The way to grind it is you need to keep reaching your hands in all the shadow holes, and then eat all the items you find. After that, by the final scene, you should have enough level to befriend enemy shadow encounters, which will give you more items to consume, and you can just keep grinding the shadow level that way.

[Knight9910]

Originally posted by The Golden Knight:

. So, how many shadow levels ARE there? IS there anything past the point your eyes turn to shadow and stars?

To answer... Shadow Taint goes up forever, AFAIK, but you don't need to go that high. 5 should be high enough for all shadow taint related skill checks, and to get you the ultimate evil ending. Level 3 - the point where your eyes change appearance - is notable because that's the point where you're allowed to start learning spells from the Librum Umbra, and where hobos and certain other NPCs (like the crystal shop lady) will no longer speak to you.

Also, to the people who were asking about Alphonse the Gator - shadow taint level doesn't matter. You need to have taken the rift crystal out from the rift beneath Zimmer's house to get alphonse. You don't need to KEEP the crystal - you can smash it at the door to his house if you want - you just have to bring it to Earth.

[MrGrudge]

Right now you don't seem to need the Rift Crystal, I randomly got Alphonse and I don't have any listed shadow taint or had been eating the shadow items, I was however walking around with three cursed items in my inventory. I had Alphonse as my companion when I finally got the Zimmer House on that run.