Crystals fund the run
Crystals are the currency you earn and spend during a run. Battles, mining, landmarks and chests can contribute to your supply. They travel with you between planets, but they do not become a permanent wallet for the next run.
The useful question is what your next purchase will accomplish. A vault offers a reward roll; an Ascension Shrine improves a card you already own; a Training Altar improves a chosen stat. Compare the certainty of an upgrade with the possible value of a new item.
Size and rarity tell different stories
Small Cache, Sealed Chest and Grand Chest are the three chest sizes. A chest also has a rarity, which affects the quality of its rewards. Size and rarity are separate properties, so a larger chest is not simply another name for a higher-rarity chest.
The current reward flow uses a single main reward. Do not assume the three sizes always pay one, two and three separate items. Reward modifiers can change the result, and the actual reveal is the reliable record of what the chest paid.
Chest rewards include cards, elements and relics, with other opportunities such as stat items or special protection depending on the source and conditions. As a run develops, reward weighting changes to support the build’s needs. A full deck does not make every card reward impossible, but it makes that reward type less favored.
Crystal Vault prices
A Crystal Vault spends crystals to open unless its discovery rules make it free. The base visible-vault prices are 20 crystals for a small vault, 60 for a medium vault and 150 for a large vault. Read the interaction prompt before spending.
Some sonar-only or compass-hidden vaults are free once discovered. This makes scanning valuable even when you cannot afford the visible vaults around you. Finding a hidden reward and buying a visible one are different decisions.
| Visible vault | Base crystal cost | Reward quality floor |
|---|---|---|
| Small | 20 | Uncommon |
| Medium | 60 | Rare |
| Large | 150 | Epic |
A simple spending plan
Early in a run, look for tools that make the next fights safer and more consistent. A useful attack or a missing defensive option can matter more than preserving every crystal for a distant purchase. Once your opening hand works, upgrades become easier to evaluate.
In later worlds, compare vaults with the stations you have found. An Ascension Shrine is attractive when a main card still has a valuable level available. A Relic Astrolabe offers a choice among three relics. A Training Altar is useful when a chosen stat directly solves a problem.
Do not buy a reward just to avoid leaving currency unspent while ignoring an available, stronger purchase. Equally, do not finish a dangerous final stretch holding crystals that could have bought the upgrade needed to survive it.
Special rewards and optional protection
Warding Charms can appear in eligible rewards under harmful Mirefall skies. They provide temporary protection from the weather rather than a permanent combat defense. The Warding Altar is another route to that protection and is free in the current rules.
Secrets can have their own reward floors and special item routes. A chest left by a spirit, moving treasure or another secret is worth checking even when its size looks familiar. The source can matter as much as the chest model.
When an item would not fit, inspect the replacement choices carefully. Card discards and relic scrapping have different economic consequences, and their brief undo opportunity ends when another inventory transaction takes place.
Keep exploring
Exploration
Worlds, Weather & Exploration
Navigate the active planets, follow sonar leads and adapt to changing skies.
Exploration
Shrines & Altars
A reference to each station, its purpose, and the resources worth saving.
Exploration
Secrets, Spirits & Hunters
Follow unusual signals, finish optional encounters and uncover the rewards they hide.