Finding and opening Encrypted Vaults in The First Descendant is the primary method for acquiring the rare resources needed to craft Crystallization Catalysts and Energy Activators. Vaults appear as coffin-like statues marked by circle icons on your map once you load into a zone.
- Check your map for white, blue, or purple Encrypted Vault icons in supported base zones.
- Confirm you have the correct Code Analyzer (Normal difficulty) or Code Breaker (Hard difficulty) matching the vault's rarity.
- Interact with the vault to trigger the hacking minigame.
- Time your button press as the arrow passes through the green zone to open the vault.
Encrypted Vault Locations
Encrypted Vaults spawn in base zones across the map. They are marked with white (regular), blue (precise), and purple (ultraprecise) circle icons on your map. Higher rarities yield greater material quantities. You can find them in:
- Sterile Land (Classified Area region only)
- Vespers
- Echo Swamp
- Agna Desert
- White-night Gulch
- Hagios
- Fortress
Note that Kingston contains no known Encrypted Vaults, and Axion Plains is excluded from spawns.
Code Analyzers, Code Breakers, and Difficulty
To open a vault, you must carry the matching tool for the zone's current difficulty. Code Analyzers open vaults in Normal-difficulty zones, while Code Breakers are required for Hard-difficulty zones. Both drop from monsters in any zone matching that difficulty.
To change a zone's difficulty, open your map, switch the difficulty setting in the top-left corner, and fast-travel back into the zone.
| Analyzer / Breaker | Encrypted Vault Type | Zone Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Code Analyzer | Encrypted Vault (White) | Normal |
| Precision Code Analyzer | Precise Encrypted Vault (Blue) | Normal |
| Ultra-precision Code Analyzer | Ultraprecise Encrypted Vault (Purple) | Normal |
| Code Breaker | Encrypted Vault (White) | Hard |
| Precision Code Breaker | Precise Encrypted Vault (Blue) | Hard |
| Ultra-precision Code Breaker | Ultraprecise Encrypted Vault (Purple) | Hard |
Zone Materials Guide
Each zone yields one specific material from its vaults. The vault's rarity only scales the quantity received rather than changing the item dropped:
- Sterile Land: Murky energy Residue
- Vespers: Conductive Metallic Foil
- Echo Swamp: Macromolecule Biogel
- Agna Desert: Mixed Energy Residue
- White-night Gulch: Advanced Neural Circuit
- Hagios: Heat Plasma Battery
- Fortress: Polyatomic Ion Particle
Tips for the Hacking Minigame
Interacting with a vault launches a timing minigame where you press the action button as an arrow moves through a green target area. If you fail, your Analyzer or Breaker is still consumed. To simplify this process—particularly for Ultra-precision vaults—switch to playing as Enzo or Nell. Both characters possess passives that increase operational efficiency and boost final rewards.