What does the Dream Nail actually do to Ghosts?

[Mr. Bubbles]

So I got the Dream Nail recently and used it on a ghost, when I did, I felt horrible. So I was wondering what actually are these ghosts, and what happens to them? Do they go into total oblivion and permanently lose all semblance of existance in any way whatsoever? Am I freeing their spirits allowing them to get to the afterlife? Are they just remnants of the creatures dreams and thoughts and they have no sentience to them whatsoever, and they would be the same regardless of wether or not I used the Dream Nail on them? Can I fully complete the game without dreamnailing the ghosts? Etc.

[Darc Vader]

What actually happens isn’t known, but you’ve said all the main theories there that I’ve seen. And yes, they only give 1 essence each, so you can easily make it to 107% without dream nailing any of them.

[Yazu13]

I think this may be brought up in Gods and Glory. Supposedly the ghosts you meet in the Resting Grounds were all great warriors, and Gods and Glory is supposed to be a boss rush mode of sorts. Considering the afterlife aesthetic of Gods and Glory, it's possible that we'll end up fighting the slain warriors from the Resting Grounds.

[arejang]

There's a guardian spirit that attacks you if you dream nail anyone in that grove in the resting grounds. That spirit is rather convinced that striking anyone with the dream nail is bad for those spirits, lol.

[L4z3r]

whats the spirit do? bossfight?

[Darc Vader]

Originally posted by dbasile:

whats the spirit do? bossfight?

It’s not really a boss fight, they just attack you repeatedly until you dream nail every other spirit in there.