How to Get Mixed Energy Residue in The First Descendant

If there were one material that would be considered one of the hardest to farm in The First Descendant, it would be the Mixed Energy Residue. They only drop from Encrypted Vaults. These Encrypted Vaults are not only hard to find, but there are two requirements before you can open them. This is the only way you can get Mixed Energy Residue in The First Descendant, and here’s the best way to farm them.

Where to Get Mixed Energy Residue in The First Descendant

The Mixed Energy Residue only drops from Encrypted Vaults in the Agna Desert region. These drop from both normal and hard mode difficulties. However, before you start looking for them, you need to farm the materials that are used to open these Encrypted Vaults. Here’s a quick cheat sheet:

Depending on the difficulty, these Analyzers and Breakers drop randomly from any mission monster. If you are farming normal monsters, it’ll drop Analyzers; if you are farming hard monsters, it’ll drop Breakers. Once you have these Analyzers and Breakers, you can go to the Agna Desert.

If you look at the images above, there are two spots you should alternate on. The specific area is marked with a red circle. In these locations, you’ll see a faded hologram icon, meaning an Encrypted Vault is nearby. Use your Ecive Scan to search for the Encrypted Vault. You’ll hear a pinging sound when an Encrypted Vault is available because sometimes it hasn’t respawned yet.

If you hear a low-pitched sound, you are looking in the wrong direction. You are in the right direction if it is a high-pitched sound. Sometimes, the sound is faint, but you can look at your Descendant’s hip area, and it’ll show a vibrating sound effect if there really is an Encrypted Vault nearby.

The strength of the ping is based on proximity, but the sound is based on your perception. Once you find one, you need the appropriate Code to open it. These Encrypted Vaults are completely random, so you must have at least two of each ready. Interact with the Encrypted Vault (which looks like a training dummy), and you’ll enter a minigame.

It is a timing-based minigame in which you press the button when the line approaches the green zone. The green zone will be smaller for Ultraprecise Encrypted Vaults, and you’ll also need to finish them multiple times.

Once you finish the minigame, you’ll get the Mixed Energy Residue. Ultraprecise Encrypted Vaults give more, but they are difficult. If you fail the minigame, you’ll lose your Codes. The Descendant Enzo makes everything easier, but not everyone has him yet. It is up to you if you want to unlock him first or continue farming.

Note: these Encrypted Vaults take less than a minute to respawn, so it is best to alternate between the two locations above for Mixed Energy Residues. If other players are opening them, you can still loot the Mixed Energy Residue if they successfully open it.

You can also get some Mixed Energy Residues from the “Something Can Be Improves” sub quest, but you can only finish this once.

Update: July 12, 2024 – These Mixed Energy Residues drop from random mission monsters in the Agna Desert. They have a low drop rate.

What Are Mixed Energy Residues Used For?

Mixed Energy Residues are only used for research or crafting Crystallization Catalysts. You’ll need several of these to build your weapons and upgrade Descendant modules for the endgame.

These Crystallization Catalysts reset the level of your Descendant if you use them to improve your Descendant module capacity.

You’ll need 8 Mixed Energy Residues for each Crystallization Catalyst research. I highly suggest farming more than 8 so you are always crafting Crystallization Catalysts. They take 8 hours to research, and you need a lot of them.