Encrypted Vaults may be a mystery to many players who have just stumbled across them in The First Descendant. These hidden vaults are first mentioned in the Hidden Magister's Assets, which provides very little information on their precise location and where to find them.
Finding these vaults is paramount in The First Descendant, as materials and essential items are needed. However, not knowing where to look could send players on an unnecessary wild goose chase. While finding them is one thing, the next concern is unlocking these tightly secured treasure troves.
Related
How To Get Void Shards In The First Descendant
Void Shards are hard to find in The First Descendant if you do not know what to look for as the game does not tell you where they are at the outset.
How To Open Encrypted Vaults In The First Descendant
Use A Code Analyzer
Upon encountering various Encrypted Vaults in The First Descendant, players will find that there are different types and rarities across the landscape. Some may be easier to decrypt than others, indicating that the items inside may be more valuable. However, no matter the type, each vault has a normal and easy version, requiring unique materials to unlock.
To get more materials in The First Descendant, kill mobs and keep an eye out while farming for other items.
The table below details all types of Vaults and what is required to unlock them:
Vault Type | Items Used To Unlock Normal Vaults | Items Used To Unlock Hard Vaults |
|---|---|---|
Encrypted Storage Box | Code Analyzer | Code Breaker |
Precise Encrypted Vault | Precision Code Analyzer | Precision Code Breaker |
Ultra-Precise Encrypted Vault | Ultra-Precision Code Analyzer | Ultra-Precision Code Breaker |
When you approach close to a Vault, you will see a prompt to interact with it. Simply press 'E' to 'Use Code Analyzer.' These are consumable items that players can obtain by defeating certain elite monsters from story missions.
Go into the Consumables menu to see if you have the corresponding Code Analyzer for the vault you are attempting to unlock. To identify this easily, it will match the color of the Vault in front of you.
Hover over a Code Analyzer and select 'Acquisition info' to see the different missions you can do to find more of these essential items. Players may get lucky and obtain more as drops. To farm in The First Descendant, repeatedly playing the Anticipated Ambush Point mission in The Sterile Land is the most efficient method to get Code Analyzers. It is relatively easy, quick, and unlocked early in the campaign.
Play The Minigame
With the correct item, you should be ready to unlock the vault by beginning to decrypt it. When interacting with it, a minigame will appear on your screen. A line will spin in a circular motion, and players must press a particular button mentioned at a specific time when seen entering a highlighted zone. The difficulty of the minigame is dependent on which Code Analyzer you've used on the Vault.
Utilize the Quartermaster, Enzo, a playable character in The First Descendant, as he can complete the minigame the easiest and obtain additional resources from the Vaults.
The timing of the sequence is extremely sensitive, and the game itself is also on a time limit. Moreover, miss-timing your click will cause the timer to drop even faster, adding to the pressure of the game. Aim to get it square in the center of the zone when pressing for the highest likelihood of succeeding. The Vault will open if done correctly, allowing you to claim the reward inside.
If you fail to complete the minigame within the time constraints or press the wrong buttons as indicated on the screen, your Code Analyzer will be used up, and you will have to use another to reattempt to hack open the Vault.
Upon successfully opening an Encrypted Vault, you will obtain unique items, with the main reward being Negative Ion Particles or Kuiper Shards. These are rare resources used to research the best characters in The First Descendant. Some Vaults even get you into various exciting side quests in the game, adding to your XP and unlocking more useful items if you fulfill them.
All Encrypted Vault Locations In The First Descendant
How To Find Encrypted Vaults
As you're traveling across the map in The First Descendant, you'll come across small, square green holograms sticking out of the ground in various locations within the landscape. This indicates to players that an Encrypted Vault is very close by. To find the Vault, YouTuber Glitchiz says to utilize your Ecive scanner by pressing 'R3' and looking in all directions until you hear a sound, much like a sonar.
The noise is there to showcase the direction in which players must take to locate the Vault. Following the direction of the sound, it should get louder as you get closer to the Vault, essentially using it to home in on the precise location. Be sure to keep your scanner activated when traveling to keep the sound running.
If you're stumped and can't locate your vault even as the sound gets louder, make sure to check atop buildings, behind dark corners and walls, or below objects. Soon enough, you should find an Encrypted Vault, identifiable as a robotic sarcophagus with a face slightly afloat above ground.
Encrypted Vaults spawn randomly across the map, and once a Vault has been opened, it will despawn while another respawns. Moreover, if another player opens a particular Vault, that one will despawn for you. Instead of a green hologram, you will see a blue hologram with no Vault attached, showing it has despawned.
While this may be a considerable loss, it may also be an excellent opportunity to farm for Encrypted Vaults by grouping up when playing with friends in The First Descendant. You could save yourself a lot of time grinding and obtain a wealth of Research Materials by taking this approach, farming with a party of four Enzos for optimal gains.
Although they spawn randomly and the map consistently updates, there are a multitude of Encrypted Vaults that can be found in the reliable spawn locations listed in the tables below:
Encrypted Vault Locations in Sterile Lands
The first area in The First Descendant is Sterile Land, where players can find Encrypted Vaults. So far, Classified Area seems to be the only area where these vaults can be found. They are almost located within the outer edges of the zone, fairly spread out between one another, with two close to each other in the northern region.
Location | All Vaults Marked on Map |
Classified Area |  |
Encrypted Vault Locations In Vespers
For those grinding for Encrypted Vaults in the Vespers, Timberfall is the best place to do so, with six not too far from one another. The other areas in Vespers are fairly scarce with Vaults, so it may not be worth scouring for them when a large cluster can be found in one spot.
Location | All Vaults Marked on Map |
Timberfall |  |
Moonlight Lake |  |
Loot Supply Depot |  |
The Ruins |  |
The lumberyard |  |
Encrypted Vault Locations In Echo Swamp
There are quite a few Encrypted Vaults to unlock in Echo Swamp, with the Abandoned Zone being the best spot for farming. There are four in total, with three in close proximity to each other.
Location | All Vaults Marked on Map |
Misty Woods |  |
Abandoned Zone |  |
Muskey Swamp |  |
Derelict Cover |  |
Related
Master the Vestigial Organ Launcher in The First Descendant to do a large payload of damage and take down your enemies with ease even at high levels.
Encrypted Vault Locations In Agna Desert
While Agna Desert has an abundance of these Vaults, they are fairly scattered across the map in The First Descendant, and none are particularly close to one another. The Remnant is the best place to head towards, and it won't lead to long treks between each Vault compared to the other, larger regions.
Location | All Vaults Marked on Map |
Vermillion Waste |  |
The Remnant |  |
The Storage |  |
The Mining Site |  |
Miragestone |  |
Encrypted Vault Locations In White-night Gulch
White-night Gulch is another good option to farm Encrypted Vaults, with three found at Shipment Base. However, as this is quite a high-level area, try to focus only on farming the Vaults here, especially if you're looking for a specific drop. You could potentially obtain a good amount of materials from here if you add this zone to your rotation.
Location | All Vaults Marked on Map |
Moongrave Basin |  |
Observatory |  |
Shipment Base |  |
Hatchery |  |
The Mountaintops |  |
Encrypted Vault Locations In Hagios
With three confirmed locations found, Dune Base is Hagios' best zone for farming Encrypted Vaults, with potentially more available. Other areas within this region are also worth checking out, as many of them are near one another, such as those in Starfall Road and Forward Base.
Location | All Vaults Marked on Map |
Starfall Road |  |
Forward Base |  |
Dune Base |  |
Fracture Monolith |  |
The Corrupted Zone |  |
Encrypted Vault Locations In Fortress
Fortress is the last map area you unlock in The First Descendant and is the ultimate place to locate and unlock Encrypted Vaults, with a huge abundance of them all close to one another. As rich in resources, it is also a high-level area with many dangerous enemies roaming. Ensure to prioritize other areas when hunting for particular drops before coming here.
Location | All Vaults Marked on Map |
Fortress |  |
Source: Glitchiz/YouTube
The First Descendant
Action RPG
Third-Person Shooter
Systems
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5 , PlayStation 4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Xbox One , PC
- Released
- July 2, 2024
- Developer(s)
- Nexon Games
- Publisher(s)
- Nexon
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ // Violence, Blood, Suggestive Themes, Strong Language
