User:1Maven/Empyreal Farming

To return to this page, you may use http://bit.ly/4empy or http://tinyurl.com/farmempy

---

I have found that Empyreal Fragments are the most difficult component of a Vision Crystal and Lesser Vision Crystal to obtain. One of these is required to craft each Ascended-Weapon or Ascended-Armor. 500 each of Empyreal Fragment , Dragonite Ore and Pile of Bloodstone Dust are required to make one Vision Crystal. One Lesser Vision Crystal is required to craft each piece of Ascended-Armor (except for chest-pieces). 200 each of Empyreal Fragment, Dragonite Ore and Bloodstone Dust are required to make one Lesser Vision Crystal.

NOTE: As of the addition of Ember Bay, chopping the petrified wood stumps will yield Empyreal fragments in far greater quantity than chest farming, but not as good as silverwaste shovel farming. You get 1-3 fragments, per chop (normally 3 chops per stump but you can get more). You can farm about 100 per day this way in less than an hour. Only those really desperate to maximize fragments need to resort to chest farming.

• With the addition of Draconis Mons, Empyreal Fragments can also be obtained by farming Primordial Orchids. This area "may" provide a greater amount daily than Ember Bay due to the large quantity of Primordial Orchids (at least 48).

Empyreal Fragments may be found in Fractals, Dungeons, WvW, and Jumping Puzzles. However, if you have difficulty with any of these or just want to supplement there are many Open World Chests.

Empyreal Fragments may also be farmed by using low-level tools in high-level areas while having the  Recycler: Empyreal Fragments effect active.

Recent Changes

For those who like to check back for changes, here is a list:

• 2019-02-22 Added Primordial Orchid farming
• 2016-11-04 Added Petrified Stump farming
• 2015-09-07 Added Excess section
• 2015-03-22 Reformatted using tables adding nearest waypoints with links, Dry Top & Silverwastes
• 2015-01-19 Added Strategies section
• 2014-12-10 Added Blackhold Mine Camp in Harathi Hinterlands
• 2014-12-10 Added Martyr's Tomb in Harathi Hinterlands
• 2014-12-10 Added Skritt King in Brisban Wildlands

Strategies

I am able to consistently solo every chest below with every profession, but it may take a little practice or a partner your first few times.

Some chests are more difficult because of heavy guard. In most cases, what works for me is running past all mobs (hostile NPCs) that (mostly) will not hold aggro until reaching the chest. Mobs in the immediate vicinity of the chest must be killed before opening the chest. If hit, it will interrupt your opening the chest and you will need to begin again. Stability helps with mobs that knockdown or otherwise interrupt your attacks. Instead of fighting your way back out, save time by porting to a Waypoint near the next chest.

Some chests are guarded by powerful Champions that are impossible to kill solo. Sometimes the champion wanders away from the chest, giving you an opening. If the champion does not wander or you are impatient then you may still open those chests by using skills unique to your class.

• Ranger use your pet to attack and distract the champion while you open the chest.
• Necromancer use a minion to attack and distract the champion while you open the chest.
• Mesmer use an illusion to attack and distract the champion while you open the chest.
• Thief turn invisible and sneak by the champion to open the chest.

If none of the above strategies works for you consistently then party with one or more other players. Being in a party makes everything easier and is more social.

It is a LOT of porting, but IMHO worth the cost. You should average 3 Empyreal Fragments per chest. This is about 30 Empyreal Fragments if you do just 10 chests (of over 20 listed below) for one character. However, this process may be REPEATED BY EACH LEVEL-80 CHARACTER IN YOUR ACCOUNT ONCE A DAY! Remember, you must be level-80 to obtain Empyreal Fragments. If you have 2 level-80 characters in your account each perform the entire sequence, that's over 100 Empyreal Fragments per day just from Open World Chests!

Locations

Here are the Open World Chests that I find easiest to access, in the order I usually use. Each gives 2-4 Empyreal Fragments (average 3). They are organized into tables (below):

• Waypoint Link may be copied-and-pasted into the game chat area to facilitate rapid map travel.
• Level, shown as #↓# is your effective level followed by the surrounding mobs level. When your actual level is higher then the area you are in, it is dynamically reduced.
• Nickname is a shorthand reference to a chest used by some chatting to others, example: "Let's do Wolf's chest next." However, using a Waypoint Link in chat may be more useful.

If you know of more easily-accessible Open World Chests then you are encouraged to add them. However, please do NOT add Jumping Puzzles, Mini-Dungeons or chests that only spawn after specific events. Include the appropriate Waypoint Link codes. If you have an issue or question then post it on the Discussion page.

Southern Run

Always read the notes at the link provided for most chests (under Area) for clues on how to find and/or solo. I often start from Divinity's Reach.

Nearest-WP Waypoint-Link	Area	Level	Nickname	Description
				Queensdale (1-17)
Ojon's	Beggar's Burrow	11↓9	Begger's	at WP, do about-face if not facing lake then go directly to the entrance. Read the Notes.
Crossing	Altar Brook Vale	9↓8	Wolf's	NNE into the cave. Run past the wolves that will (mostly) not hold aggro. However, you will need to fight a Veteran Wolf and a few of her pups guarding the chest against the back wall.
Vale	Altar's Windings	11↓9	Harpy's	SW up the hill towards the Vista. Turn right, taking the middle trail, inside the harpy-nest, guarded by a Veteran Harpy Matriarch.
Tunwatch	Cliffwatch Camp POI	15↓14	Cliffwatch	South from Waypoint. The chest is inside the largest tent, guarded by a Veteran Tamini Chieftain, just north of the Cliffwatch Camp Point of Interest.
Swamplost	Demongrub Pits	16↓15	Demongrub	Go NE of Righteous Hoofmoot POI, entering Demongrub Pits. The chest is due east of Kiterin against the far east side of the 1st major cavern. Harder due to distance and guard by Veteran Cave Spider and a few smaller spiders. 2 more chests are deeper within the Demongrub Pits (jumping puzzle).
				Brisban Wildlands (15-25)
Hillstead	Skrittsburgh Center	21↓21	Skritt King's	NW through Hillstead () Gate (if open). Two chests on either side of the Skritt King's throne.
				Kessex Hills (15-25)
Gap	Goff's Bandits POI	20↓19	Gap	Go North from WP into Earthlord's Gap. Chest in back behind door that opens after killing two Veteran Cave Trolls.
				Alternate Starting Point: Asura Gate to Southsun Cove near Postern Ward Waypoint in Lion's Arch
				Southsun Cove (80)
Pearl Islet	Pearl Islet	80↓80	Pearl	Near the mast of the ship on the eastern-tip of Pearl Islet. May be guarded by an Elite Reef Skelk that has an Ambush (skill) attack that may one-shot you if allowed to attack first. Also, the nearby Under New Management jumping puzzle is pretty easy.
				Sparkfly Fen (55-65)
Fort Cadence	Shattered Keep	58↓55	Shattered	Go north into Shattered Keep that contains both a Splendid Chest and a Chest that are not hard to reach. See notes.
Saltflood	Saltflood Mire	57↓56	Ooze's	Go NW over bridge. Make right towards Vista. Go past. Chest behind Veteran Ooze. See notes.
Aleem's	Aleem's Penance	64↓63	Aleen's	Chest at Ruined Vallah POI. See notes.
Dryground	Diresight Caverns	63↓63	Diresight	NE from WP into Diresight Caverns. See notes.
				Mount Maelstrom (60-70)
Avernan	Avernan Volatile	66↓65	Avernan	NW from WP. Kill 2 Trolls then Veteran. Chest in cave behind Veteran.

Central Run

Always read the notes at the link provided for most chests (under Area) for clues on how to find and/or solo. I often start from Lion's Arch.

---

Nearest-WP Waypoint-Link	Area	Level	Nickname	Description
				Gendarran Fields (25-35)
Brigantine	Wiley's Cove POI		Wiley's	From WP in Newbeach Bluffs, swim underwater past the right side of the shipwreck. Enter the cave and surface. Avoid combat by staying far left. You can open the chest from outside the 3rd tent.
Lionbridge	The Lawen Ponds		Ketsurak's	Chest inside the cave in the Southeast corner of the swamp. More difficult because it's guarded by Ketsurak. However, a Ranger's pet, Necromancer's minion or Mesmer's illusions can distract while you open the chest. (Ketsurak also wanders--you can sneak in behind him without drawing aggro if you time it right.)
				Harathi Hinterlands (35-45)
Nightguard	Nightguard Beach		Nightguard	From Nightguard Waypoint, head north-east through the underwater exit. The Chest is under a shipwreck to your right, guarded by a Veteran River Drake.
Demetra	Martyr's Tomb POI		Martyr's	Go a bit west then north from the Martyr's Tomb POI through the archway. The chest is behind the open crypt..
Barricade	Hangman's Saddle		Hangman's	To get the Chest access the Vista on top of the camp wall and continue following the path. The Chest is in a small cave guarded by a Veteran Modniir Sage and several Harathi. .
Junction Camp	Cloven Hoof Pass POI		Cloven	1st of 3 Chests is NW of WP. All 3 chests in the Cloven Hoof Pass area are more difficult when the waypoint is contested during the pre-events for Defeat Ulgoth the Modniir and his minions
Junction Camp	Northpasture Camp POI		Northpasture	2nd of 3 Chests near the Junction Camp Waypoint. There's a short, no-achievement jumping puzzle that begins west of the Northpasture Camp Point-Of-Interest up the path going southwest. Jump from rock-to-rock then run to the end of the 1st ledge where you'll see a 2nd set of rocks to jump leading to a second ledge. The Chest is inside a tent on the second ledge.
Junction Camp	Southforge Camp POI		Southforge	3rd of 3 Chests near the Junction Camp Waypoint. The Chest is south of the Southforge Camp Point-Of-Interest in a tent.
Junction Camp	Blackhold Mine Camp POI		Blackhold	The chest, which may be guarded by a Champion Modniir High Sage, Veteran Harathi Commander and other enemies, is located at the bottom of the mine down a staircase that leads to a small underground lake More difficult due to distance from WP and heavy Harathi guard, but there are usually other players around to help.
Recovery	Watchlin Armory POI		Watchlin	From the WP go SE or from the Thunder Rock POI follow the road north then turn east into the Harathi camp. Once in the camp, turn left and enter cave. Chest at the back of the cave. More difficult because of distance from Waypoint and heavy Harathi guard which may knock you down multiple times without Stability.
Grey Gritta	Ourobore Caves		Ourobore	More difficult because of distance WP and heavy guard by several Veteran Skritt. To get the Splendid Chest, head north from Grey Gritta's Waypoint into Ourobore Caves. Always going uphill, bear slightly-left a short distance then slightly-right a short distance then left again in almost a complete circle until you see several Veteran Skritt guarding the Splendid Chest.

Northern Run

Always read the notes at the link provided for most chests (under Area) for clues on how to find and/or solo. I often start from Hoelbrak.

Nearest-WP Waypoint-Link	Area	Level	Nickname	Description
				Wayfarer Foothills (1-15)
Outcast's	Alpenzure Cave POI	6↓4	Outcast's	Go South past Svanir into Outcast's Cleft cave. The Chest is located at the back of the cave. This may be soloed with an AOE attack, by running past the Sons of Svanir to the Chest then killing the Sons of Svanir surrounding the Chest.
Grawlenfjord	Kresdor Kenning	5↓4	Joten's	To get the Chest, go North-North-East from Grawlenfjord Waypoint, up the hill, past the camp, you should see a cave full of Jotun. At the back of the cave is a platform with the Chest. This may be soloed by running past the Jotun and jumping onto the platform with the chest in the back behind the chest, where the Jotun usually do not hold aggro.
Lostvyrm	Wurmhowl Spikes	13↓12	Svanir's Valley	Either go east from Halvaunt Waypoint or south-west from Lostvyrm Cave Waypoint. A bit north of the Vista is a group of Sons of Svanir surrounding the Chest
				Snowden Drifts (15-30)
Highpass Haven	King Jalis's Refuge		King Jalis's Refuge (Jumping Puzzle)	at the end of the puzzle, guarded by a veteran treasure looter.
Isenfell	Darkhoof Heights		Darkhoof	Above and to the right of the Modniir encampment, guarded by a Champion Snow Troll and a horde of other Trolls. Accessible from the rear of the Troll encampment, avoiding most of the Troll pests.
				Lornar's Pass (25-40)
Durmand Priory	Durmand Priory	35↓29	Posternus Caverns	Enter the cavern from either the Durmand Priory or the Cavern waypoint. Go through the large ice cavern, avoiding the bats and ice wurms. Keep to the left at each branch. The chest is guarded by a Champion Snow Troll and 2-3 other Trolls. Difficult to solo due to the fast repop of wandering trolls.
				Frostgorge Sound (70-80)
Earthshake	Trionic Lattice		Troll's	From the merchant, Rojan the Penitent go south. Look over the ledge to your left until you see the Chest that may be guarded by a Champion Snow Troll. If guarded then just wait for the Zerg that cycles through every 5-15 minutes to help you. Part of the Frostgorge Sound Champion Train
				Fireheart Rise (60-70)
Apostate	Apostate Wastes		Harpy's	Chest is in the south-west corner (west of the words Apostate Wastes on the map) guarded by Harpies and one Veteran Harpy Matriarch.
Apostate	Vexa's Lab		Spider's	Eastern corner of the spider cove that is due-east of God's Skull POI. On the border with Apostate Wastes (outside the mini-dungeon). Look for paths leading up the cliff to find it. Guarded by a Veteran Canyon Spider
Pig Iron	Pig Iron Mine		Pig Iron	Go SW around the right-side of Pig Iron Island. Go to the top of the wooden-staircase. Chest may be absent after event is over.
Breaktooth's	Rebel's Seclusion		Rebel's	From WP go north-east to enter the zone. Two chests are in here. First chest is guarded by normal mobs, second is at the end and guarded by a veteran.

Eastern Run

Always read the notes at the link provided for most chests (under Area) for clues on how to find and/or solo. I often start from the Black Citadel.

Nearest-WP Waypoint-Link	Area	Level	Nickname	Description
				Diessa Plateau (15-20)
Redreave	Reaper's Corridor		Reaper's	The chest is next to the tree at the top of the plateau directly underneath the word "Corridor" on the map. It's guarded by a Veteran Rock Dog.
				Iron Marches (50-60)
Bloodfin	Bloodfin Lake		Bloodfin	A Chest can be found behind the waterfall, at the end of the inlet, northeast of the lake. It's guarded by a Veteran Cave Troll.
Old Piken	Echoslab Arches		Echolab	See notes to reach Vista. NW from Vista. Guarded by Veteran Flame Legion Lava Shaman. More difficult because of distance from Waypoint and heavy guard.
				Plains of Ashford (1-15)
Feritas	Facula Castrum	8↓6	Facula	Go N from WP then see notes.
Ascalonian	Toppled Wall	12↓10	Toppled	N then W from WP. See notes.
Ascalon City	Human's Lament	15↓14	Lament	E from WP then see notes. More difficult because of distance from Waypoint and heavy guard.
Irondock	Windrock Maze	15↓14	Windrock	SW from WP then see notes. More difficult because of distance from Waypoint and heavy guard.
				Blazeridge Steppes (50-60)
Tumok's	Drake Hollow POI	43↓42	Separatist's	in Tumok's Last Stand, near the POI, between the three tents, guarded by Separatists including one Veteran Separatist Stormcaller. Easiest via Tumok's Waypoint north through the underground tunnel. Close to two waypoints, but difficult because of heavy guard.

Orr Chests

There are additional open world chests located in Orr, but they're more difficult because the mobs are all High-Level (70-80). The advantage is high-level materials [1]. Recommended solo only for Level-80 players with Exotic or better equipment or in groups. Always read the notes at the link provided for most chests for clues on how to find and/or solo. The chests in Orr include the following locations:

• Straits of Devastation (70-75)
  • Triumph Plaza, near Chapel of Lady Glaive
  • Waywarde Way, in the Conservatory
  • The Bloodtrough, at the Statue of Grenth in Zaishen Antheneum
  • Hunter's Table, at the Statue of Balthazar east of Snipe Hill

• Malchor's Leap (75-80)
  • Valley of Lyss Hope Falls Waypoint at the bottom of the waterfall.
  • Garden of Ilya Southwest of the vista, below Grenth's statue, behind a column.
  • 2 in Karst Plains

• Cursed Shore (80)
  • 2 in Azabe Qabar, the Royal Tombs, the 1st is to the left and behind the skill challenge. The 2nd is due east of the 1st at the eastern edge of Azabe Qabar, south of the mining resource node. It is up a small hill surrounded by boxes.
  • Cathedral of Silence, at the far northeast end inside the cathedral
  • Death's Anthem, down in the ship
  • 2 in Fields of Gold, the 1st near in the ruins east of Caer Shadowfain. The 2nd at the end of the platform southeast of Caer Shadowfain directly north of the Artesian Waters.
  • The Artesian Waters, near the far end. Heavily guarded.
  • Winterknell Shore, west of Cachistic R&D at Grenth Statue

Dry Top & Silverwastes

There are several chests in both Dry Top and Silverwastes. None of these are as yet included here because of their relative difficulty due to distance from waypoints, level-80 heavy guard or both. In addition ,there are special chests that are unique to each area, which do not contain Empyreal Fragments.

• Lost Bandit Chests across Silverwastes, AND in "Home Instance" daily.
• Buried Locked Chests across Dry Top.

Unconfirmed Chests

There are several chests that may not have clear access directions or that I have not confirmed or may be better described as mini-dungeons or jumping-puzzles. If you locate one of these, please move it to the appropriate section above.

• Plains of Ashford
  • Barradin's Vaults In the third room of the Vaults. Chest is in an alcove and normally guarded by the second Veteran Red Ooze in the Vaults.
  • Decimus Stones, Fight your way through the many Ascalon ghosts and 1 Veteran, top left.

• Blazeridge Steppes
  • Shattered Palisades, on a ledge directly north of the Guardian Stone Waypoint; guarded by Veteran Ascalonian Captain

• Brisban Wildlands
  • Aurora's Remains, spawns after completing Draw out and destroy the Demagogue's spirit, doesn't count

• Caledon Forest
  • Dark Reverie, Foes: Nightmare Court
  • Ruins of the Unseen - end of Don't Touch the Shiny

• Dredgehaunt Cliffs
  • Tribulation Rift, Foes: Veteran Stone Guardian, Earth Elemental (confirmed)

• Fields of Ruin
  • Hunter's Gorge, Foes: Ogres - in Foulbear Kraal at end of Harass the ogres of Foulbear Kraal

• Fireheart Rise
  • Rebel's Seclusion, Foes: Veteran Ascalonian Enchanter, Ascalonian ghost

• Lornar's Pass
  • Posternus Caverns, Chest that spawns at end of Guild Rush does not count.

• Mount Maelstrom
  • The Mire Sea, close to the Vista. Foes: Champion Krait Nimross

• Snowden Drifts
  • Darkhoof Heights, Foes: Champion Snow Troll Leader. (confirmed)
  • King Jalis's Refuge, Foes: Veteran Relic Hunter that is either a charr or asura.

• Straits of Devastation
  • The Long Way Around
  • Ship of Sorrows

• Timberline Falls
  • Gyre Rapids - cave northwest of Concordia Waypoint Foes: Grawls, Champion Fleshreaver (confirmed)
  • Nonmoa Lake - at the top of the island/ship/structure, near the vista. Foes: Krait

• Wayfarer Foothills (1-15)
  • Shaman's Rookery (Nickname: The Shadowhorns) Jumping Puzzle end reward (confirmed)

Excess

Suppose you have way more Empyreal Fragments than you need. Or perhaps, too many of one of the other two components of a Vision Crystal, Dragonite Ore and Pile of Bloodstone Dust. Never destroy these items when multiples of 50-each can be converted using a unique item to produce a reward.

The easiest conversion is refining. 100-to-1 is a fantastic compression ratio. However, if you have excessive refined product (remember, vision crystals require the same amount of each) then there is a special item that will convert each one.

Material	Refined (100:1)	Item (50)	Produces	Obtained
Pile of Bloodstone Dust	Bloodstone Brick	Mawdrey II	Gift from Mawdrey II	with Mawdrey
Dragonite Ore	Dragonite Ingot	Princess	Gunk-Covered Pellets	Lion's Arch Exterminator
Empyreal Fragment	Empyreal Star	Star of Gratitude	Generosity's Reward	Orphan's Generous Gift

Additional References

Here are other references that may prove useful:

• List of basic chests includes Jumping Puzzles, Mini-dungeons and chests without Empyreal Fragments
• [2] Map for farming both Dragonite Ore and Empyreal Fragments
• [3] article describing the map

Obsidian Shards

One final note, if you are having trouble obtaining this essential item for Ascended gear. The best place IMHO to get OBSIDIAN SHARDS is the Karma Merchant, Tactician Deathstrider in the Temple of Balthazar when it is uncontested (rarely) for 2100 Karma each. The most likely time is when the server is busiest. If you do guild missions, you can also purchace them from the vendor in your guild hall at a rate of 5 shards per 1 guild commendation. Rarely there are bags available with 10 shards per 1 guild commendation. You can buy 3 'items' per day (5 shards per item =15 shards, and an additional 30 shards if that bag is available).

See Also

• List of basic chests
• Splendid Chest
• Grand Chest
• Magnificent Chest
• Basic Chests

[[Category:Ascended crafting materials|Empyreal Farming]]