Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Shards: How To Get & Use

What Are Shards In Xenoblade Chronicles 3? 

The Odd Shards in the game are used as a weapon upgrade material. The weapons that the character use needs an upgrade for better performance. This upgrade usually takes place towards the end-game content. You will collect these shards while exploring the vast world of Aionios in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

It will not be clear what these shards are used for when you will gather them at the beginning of the game. However, their usage will be clear towards the end game. It is advisable to not worry about their usage at the start and gather these shards as much as you can. A quick tip here is to not sell these shards to Nopon merchants or any other trader.

How To Collect Shards

You can discover these Origin Shards by just exploring the areas around Aionios. They’ll be like little crystallized objects that you can find from bosses and in several hard-to-reach areas.

You can collect Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Shards during your first playthrough by defeating all the unique monsters. If you defeat all these unique monsters during your first new game, you will be able to collect these Odd Shards from them.

The monsters are scattered throughout the world of Aionios, so you will travel all around to collect the shards. You will not sell these odd shards to any trader and save them for later. You will use these to upgrade weapons, as explained later in this guide. Besides that, consider reading our guide on Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Accessories.

When To Use Shards

You have to remember that you will not be able to use Shards until you complete an end-game side quest Uniting the Seven Nopon. This quest will be given to you by a mustachioed yellow nopon known as Samon, who you will meet earlier in the game. He will explain that the Shards you have been collecting are called Origin Shards. 

The task here will be to bring together the seven Nopon who will fuse party blades with Origin shards to make them stronger. The immediate task will be to figure out the identities of these unnamed Nopons and reunite them. You will be required to find the five Nopons at first who will unlock seven nopon discussion topics. Riku will himself reveal that he is the last Hammer wielder, so you will return to colony 9 to retrieve it. 

Locations Of The Seven Nopon

The locations of Uniting the Seven Nopon have been mentioned below, so you can complete this quest easily and use the Odd Shards.

Panepane

You can look for Panepane in Aetia Region. You will find him at the Hillside Ferronis Hulk rest spot.

Gingin

The location of Gingin is Maktha Wildwood, Lower Pentelas Region. From the Warning Tree landmark, travel southwest to Gingin’s treehouse. 

Tempapa

To find Tempapa, from the Fifth Pillar Remnant landmark, travel northwest to Tempapa’s home. The region to locate it is Cadensia Region, Full. 

Burrburr

Burrburr can be found at the Sage’s Domicile landmark, which is next to the Nopon Coin X-change in Fornis Region, Full.

Fixifixi

From the Cell No. 1 landmark, head to the cell furthest south. It is a must to have the Hero character Valdi in your party to speak to him in Cadensia Region – Li Garte Prison Camp. 

Riku

After watching the cutscene related to the Seven Nopon conversation topic, you must return to Colony 9 so that Riku can recover his hammer from the workshop.

From Odd Shards To Origin Shards

The progress of the quest will reveal that Odd Shards are actually Origin Shards. All these odd shards get renamed to Origin Shards. Not only does their name change, but their shape changes too. For the shape changes of these shards, refer to the following table. 

How To Use Shard

Once all seven nopon reunite, they will be gathered at Samon’s Worksop. Your odd shards that have been renamed and changed in shapes will be handed back to Samon. You will hand them over to Samon so he can upgrade each of your party’s weapons.

Once all characters’ blades are upgraded, Samon will say that his workforce has done its best job, and it is now up to you how you use these blades. You need a certain amount of each shard to upgrade your weapons. To help you with this, we have listed everything in the table below.

Conclusion

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Shards are an end-game resource that you will use to upgrade your weapons. You can also collect them during your first playthrough by killing monsters. However, you could not use them back then, and you should not sell them to any trader.

You will save these odd shards, which will become origin shards once you complete Uniting the Seven Nopon quest. You will also be able to use these shards after completing this end-game side quest.

Next: Xenoblade Chronicles 3: BEST Gems