If you’ve spent any time exploring Infinity Nikki’s sprawling, colorful open world, you’ve definitely spotted glowing floating gems, secret platforms, and rare outfit pieces that sit far out of reach of regular jumps and glides. That’s exactly why learning how to fly with Astral Swan Infinity Nikki is one of the most game-changing skills you can unlock early on. I spent three days fumbling with the controls and missing hidden rewards before I got the hang of it, so I’m breaking down everything I wish I knew before my first flight, no confusing jargon included.
Pre-Requisites to Unlock How to Fly with Astral Swan Infinity Nikki
You don’t get access to the Astral Swan transformation right when you start the game, and skipping a few small pre-requisite steps can delay your unlock by hours if you don’t know what to look for. First, you need to complete the three small delivery side quests for the Lake Warden in the Lumen Meadow region before you can trigger the main “Wings of the Starry Lake” quest that unlocks the transformation. The quests are super simple too—you just need to bring her three moon lilies, a jar of firefly nectar, and a bolt of cotton fabric, all of which you can find or buy for less than 50 coins in the nearby village. I wasted two hours running around looking for the moon lilies before I realized you can just pick them right along the shore of the Starry Lake, no searching required.
Once you turn those quests in, you’ll get a cutscene where the Lake Warden gifts you the dormant Astral Swan core. You’ll need 120 Star Dew to charge the core for the first time, so hold off on spending your Star Dew on random outfit dyes if you want to unlock flight as fast as possible. You won't be able to trigger the Astral Swan unlock quest if you're below player level 18, so if you’re still level 15 or 16, spend a bit of time doing side events like the flower picking minigame or the cat rescue quests to level up fast, those give you double XP for the first 10 you complete each day. You’ll also need one empty slot in your transformation menu, so delete any low-value temporary transformations you don’t use before you try to activate the core.
Core Flight Controls You Need to Master First
Once you’ve unlocked the Astral Swan transformation, the controls feel a little counterintuitive at first, especially if you’re used to standard open-world jump and glide mechanics. I kept accidentally nose-diving into lakes for the first hour, so memorize these core controls to avoid that same frustration:
If you’re playing on mobile, you can adjust the sensitivity of the flight controls in the accessibility menu to make turning smoother. I turned mine down by 30% and it made a world of difference for navigating tight spaces between mountain peaks. You can refresh your stamina mid-flight by flying through glowing blue wind currents that spawn across most open regions, so keep an eye out for them if you’re planning a long trip across the map. Once you get the hang of these controls, you’ll find that navigating how to fly with Astral Swan Infinity Nikki feels far more intuitive than the glider mechanics most other casual open world games use.
Best Uses for Astral Swan Flight in Regular Gameplay
Now that you know how to control the flight, you’ll find that it’s useful for way more than just getting from point A to point B fast. First, it’s the only way to collect floating Star Dew clusters that spawn 100+ feet above ground, and those clusters give you 5 times more Star Dew than the ones you find on the ground. I’ve collected enough Star Dew in a single 20 minute flight to unlock two limited time outfit sets, so it’s well worth taking regular flight trips around the map to farm them. A lot of new players overlook just how useful learning how to fly with Astral Swan Infinity Nikki is for speeding up your daily challenge completion, since you can hit 6 daily challenge markers in half the time it takes to run between them.
Another great use is scouting for hidden chests and secret quest triggers. A lot of the game’s best side quests are hidden on top of floating islands or in mountain caves that you can only see from high in the air, so if you’re stuck trying to 100% complete a region, take a flight around the perimeter first. You can also use flight to avoid tough enemy encounters if you’re underleveled. The corrupted shadow wolves in the Dark Forest region can’t hit you when you’re more than 20 feet above ground, so you can fly right over their patrol routes instead of wasting healing items fighting them. If you’re someone who loves collecting all the outfits in the game, you’ll be happy to know that there are 12 exclusive flight-only outfit pieces scattered across floating islands, including the iridescent Star Wing hair clip and the Cloud Silk dress, both of which give you a small stamina boost when you’re flying with the Astral Swan. Don't forget that you can take screenshots mid-flight for your photo album—the Astral Swan’s iridescent wings make for some of the most beautiful shots in the entire game, and there are weekly photo contests that reward premium currency for flight shots.
Common Flight Mistakes to Avoid
Even after you get the hang of the basics, there are a few mistakes that almost every new player makes when they first start flying with the Astral Swan. First, don’t try to fly into restricted story regions before you’ve unlocked them. The game has invisible barriers that will knock you off the swan and make you take fall damage, and if you hit one at high altitude, you might even lose a portion of your collected Star Dew as a penalty. I learned that the hard way when I tried to fly to the Cloud Palace before I finished the Lumen Meadow story arc, and I lost 80 Star Dew that I’d been saving for a new limited edition outfit.
Another mistake is forgetting to charge the Astral Swan’s core after every 5 flights. If the core runs out of charge mid-flight, you’ll be dropped straight to the ground with no warning, so check the core meter in the top right corner of your screen before every takeoff. You can charge it for free at any fast travel point, so it only takes 2 seconds to top it off. Never use flight during a storm weather event, because high winds will push you off course and drain your stamina 3 times faster than normal, even if you’re using the stamina conservation trick we covered earlier. If you’re trying to complete a timed flight challenge, don’t equip any heavy outfit pieces that add weight, because that will slow your flight speed by 20% and make it almost impossible to hit all the challenge markers in time. You can cancel flight at any time by pressing the transformation button twice quickly, which is useful if you accidentally fly into a restricted area and want to land before you hit the barrier.
Flying with the Astral Swan completely changes how you interact with Infinity Nikki’s open world, turning what used to be 10 minute walks across the map into 2 minute scenic flights that also let you collect rare rewards along the way. You don’t need to be a pro player to master it—all it takes is a little practice with the controls and avoiding the common mistakes we covered earlier. Once you get comfortable with how to fly with Astral Swan Infinity Nikki, you’ll wonder how you ever played the game without it. Don’t be afraid to experiment with long flights across regions you haven’t explored yet, some of the game’s best hidden secrets are only accessible from the air.