The Totem system is Winds of Viridia's build layer, and the word "customisable" in the official description is doing more work than it might appear. Totems are assembled from relics found across the valley, and the combination you build determines how you approach an encounter.
Relics are the collectible component, and they are found in the ancient ruins and other points of interest scattered through the valley. Relics combine into totems, and a totem is a functional setup rather than a cosmetic badge - it changes what your moveset and abilities actually do in a fight. Because relics combine, the same relic slot can produce different results depending on what it is paired with.
This is where the system earns its keep. Rather than a linear upgrade tree where a relic is strictly better than another, the totem approach means a player who favours aggressive, close-range play builds a different totem than one who wants space and defence, and both are viable. The choice is expressive in a way that a simple stat upgrade is not.
The practical advice is to commit to a direction rather than mixing. A totem with conflicting emphases tends to perform worse than either at full strength, which is a common trap in games that advertise free combination.
Relics come from the ancient ruins, and the ruins are positioned as progression-gated destinations rather than optional corners. That means totem experimentation is naturally paced by the game - you get new materials at a rate that lets you try a direction, and the demo is long enough to establish a starting loadout before the full release reworks it.
The full game is still in development and the totem list will almost certainly expand. Preview coverage has described the system as the central progression, so expect the details to become more substantial before the early 2027 release than they are in the demo now.