DragonSword: Awakening Farming Guide
Quick answer
Fragments of Memory and Whirling Thoughts, the two Karma materials in DragonSword: Awakening, both come from the Tower of Trials, unlocked through Cerese's Bond Quest. Gear materials — ore, Trait Stones and molds — come from world content instead. Fragments of Memory are the usual bottleneck because the Afterimage recipe consumes 100 per craft.
Updated · Verified on Patch 1.0.x · Sources: in-game testing, Steam store page, Hound13 announcements
Farming in DragonSword: Awakening splits cleanly in two: Karma materials come from the Tower, gear materials come from the world. Knowing which side of that line a material sits on saves a lot of wasted running.
DragonSword: Awakening material sources at a glance
| Material | Used for | Primary source |
|---|---|---|
| Fragments of Memory | Karma progression | Tower of Trials |
| Whirling Thoughts | Karma progression | Tower of Trials |
| Fragment of Afterimage | Higher-tier Karma | Crafted: 1 Whirling Thoughts + 100 Fragments of Memory + 100,000 Gold |
| Duplicate Karma cards | Karma ascension | Drops and rewards — do not dismantle |
| Ore | Gear upgrades | World gathering nodes |
| Trait Stones | Gear affixes and reforging | World content, Hunts |
| Molds | Gear crafting | World content |
| Hero EXP | Hero levels | Combat, quests, EXP items |
| Gold | Crafting, gear, vendors | Quests, world clears, selling surplus |
| Adventurer's Emblems | Vendor exchange, including Familiars | Activity rewards |
| Cooking ingredients | Food buffs | World gathering |
Unlock the Tower first — it gates everything
The Tower of Trials is the source of both Karma materials, and it is locked behind Cerese's Bond Quest. Until that quest is complete you have no Karma material income at all, which means your single largest source of power in DragonSword: Awakening is switched off.
Do it as soon as it becomes available. This is the highest-value progression action in the early game and it is easy to leave sitting in a quest log. See Cerese.
Farming Fragments of Memory efficiently
Fragments are the bottleneck for almost everyone, because the Afterimage recipe eats 100 of them per craft against a single Whirling Thoughts. Two rules:
Clear reliably rather than deep. Higher Tower floors return more, but an inconsistent clear at floor 35 returns less per hour than a clean, fast clear at floor 30. Find the floor you beat comfortably and farm there.
Bring a complete team. A trio missing its break role stalls badly on higher floors — see best team comps and check yours with the team builder.
Use the material planner to convert "how many Fragments do I need" into "how many runs is that", using your own observed drop rate rather than a guessed average.
Gold: the forgotten bottleneck
At 100,000 gold per Fragment of Afterimage, gold stops being pocket change surprisingly quickly. Players routinely reach the Fragment threshold and then discover they cannot afford the craft.
Reliable gold sources:
- Area Quests and Hero Requests. Steady, and you are doing them anyway for achievements.
- Selling surplus materials. Low-grade monster parts accumulate far faster than you consume them.
- World bosses. Daily, and they pay in more than gold — see world and exploration.
- Clearing world content once rather than repeatedly. Most open-world rewards are one-time; re-running cleared areas is a poor gold rate.
Do not dismantle duplicate Karma cards for quick value. They are your ascension currency and cannot be re-acquired on demand.
Hero EXP and gear materials
Hero EXP comes from combat, quests and EXP items. It is rarely a real bottleneck, which is why upgrade priority puts levels below Karma — levels are the floor, not the ceiling.
Ore, Trait Stones and molds come from world gathering and world content rather than the Tower. Trait Stones matter most, because they drive the reforging that lets you push Ailment Buildup Rate onto your setup hero — the affix that decides whether an ailment lands in one skill cast or two. See status ailments for why that difference is so large.
Familiars and Adventurer's Emblems
Some Familiars are bought rather than found. The Fierce Rhinoceros Beetle is redeemable with Adventurer's Emblems at the exchange vendor, and it is a good early sink because its stamina passives pay back across every hour of exploration afterwards. See Familiars.
A farming order that works
For a fresh DragonSword: Awakening save, work through these in order.
- Unlock Tower of Trials via Cerese's Bond Quest. Nothing else competes with this.
- Settle at your reliable Tower floor and farm Fragments of Memory.
- Bank gold in parallel through Area Quests and selling surplus, so crafts are not gated on money.
- Gather ore and Trait Stones opportunistically while exploring — do not make dedicated trips.
- Cook before pushes. Free power you already own the ingredients for.
FAQ
Where do you farm Fragments of Memory in DragonSword: Awakening?
In the Tower of Trials, which also drops Whirling Thoughts. It unlocks through Cerese's Bond Quest.
What is the fastest way to farm Karma materials?
Clear the highest Tower of Trials floor you can beat reliably and repeatedly, rather than pushing a higher floor you clear inconsistently.
How do you get gold in DragonSword: Awakening?
Area Quests, Hero Requests, selling surplus low-grade materials, and daily world bosses. You need 100,000 per Fragment of Afterimage craft.
Should I dismantle duplicate Karma cards?
No. Duplicates of the exact same card are the only way to ascend that Karma, which unlocks and strengthens its trait effect.