You will start to gather Odd Shards as you explore the expansive world of Aionios in Xenoblade Chronicles 3. It’s not immediately clear what these are or what they are actually for, but that’s for good reason as the answer to the first question is a story-related spoiler that won’t come to light until the game’s final chapter.
With that, it’s worth warning you not to read on if you would like to make the discovery about their true name for yourself. You can continue to collect these Shards without worrying about them, but, the immediate warning here is that you should at least make sure that you don’t sell them at a Nopon Merchant or another trader.
For those that want to read on, you will not be able to use the Shards until you complete a late-game side quest called Uniting the Seven Nopon. Samon is the quest giver for this – a moustachioed yellow Nopon who you will have met much earlier – who will reveal that the obscurely-named Shards that you are collecting are actually called Origin Shards. He explains that if you can bring together the seven Nopon who wield Ultimate Hammers, they can fuse the Origin Shards with your party’s Blades to make them stronger.
That’s more than enough motivation, and so your immediate goal is to work out the identities of the unnamed Nopon and reunite them. There are five that you will need to find at first, which will let you unlock the Seven Nopon discussion topic at a Rest Spot. After this, Riku will reveal that he is the last Ultimate Hammer wielder and you will need to return to Colony 9 to retrieve it. We have listed the Nopon locations below:
Uniting The Seven Nopon Locations
Name | Region | Location |
---|---|---|
Panepane | Aetia Region, Full | You can find Panepane at the Hillside Ferronis Hulk rest spot. |
Gingin | Pentelas Region – Maktha Wildwood, Lower | From the Warning Tree landmark, travel southwest to Gingin’s treehouse. |
Tempapa | Cadensia Region, Full | From the Fifth Pillar Remnant landmark, travel northwest to Tempapa’s home. |
Burrburr | Fornis Region, Full | Burrburr can be found at the Sage’s Domicile landmark, which is next to the Nopon Coin X-change. |
Fixifixi | Cadensia Region – Li Garte Prison Camp | From the Cell No. 1 landmark, head to the cell furthest south. You must have the Hero character Valdi in your party to speak to him. |
Riku | Any Resting Spot | 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. |
How To Upgrade Your Weapons in Xenoblade Chronicles 3
With the legendary Nopon smiths reunited, they will gather at Samon’s workshop in the City Interior which your quest marker will guide you back to. The nearest fast travel point is either the Serene Square landmark or the Michiba Canteen rest spot, and after your initial interaction, a question mark will appear at its location on the map.
After the conversation, the Origin Shards in your inventory that you have already gathered will be renamed by their shape. These can then be handed to Samon to upgrade each of your party’s weapons once, and, while he promises to make them “stronger,” from our experience it is simply a visual change.
Once every character has had their Blade upgraded, Samon will state that his workforce has done everything they can and it is now up to you to “use Blades to tear cosmos a new future!” Good luck with that.
Weapon Upgrade | Origin Shards Required |
---|---|
Noah Blade Upgrade | 2 x Round Origin Shard 1 x Toroidal Origin Shard 5 x Trigonal Origin Shard 3 x Hexagonal Origin Shard 4 x Square Origin Shard 4 x Rectangular Origin Shard 2 x Rhomboid Origin Shard |
Mio Blade Upgrade | 3 x Round Origin Shard 5 x Toroidal Origin Shard 3 x Trigonal Origin Shard 1 x Hexagonal Origin Shard 1 x Square Origin Shard 4 x Rectangular Origin Shard 4 x Rhomboid Origin Shard |
Lanz Blade Upgrade | 1 x Round Origin Shard 3 x Toroidal Origin Shard 2 x Trigonal Origin Shard 3 x Hexagonal Origin Shard 5 x Square Origin Shard 3 x Rectangular Origin Shard 7 x Rhomboid Origin Shard |
Sena Blade Upgrade | 5 x Round Origin Shard 2 x Toroidal Origin Shard 2 x Trigonal Origin Shard 4 x Hexagonal Origin Shard 1 x Square Origin Shard 2 x Rectangular Origin Shard 5 x Rhomboid Origin Shard |
Eunie Blade Upgrade | 5 x Round Origin Shard 4 x Toroidal Origin Shard 3 x Trigonal Origin Shard 3 x Hexagonal Origin Shard 3 x Square Origin Shard 1 x Rectangular Origin Shard 2 x Rhomboid Origin Shard |
Taion Blade Upgrade | 2 x Round Origin Shard 3 x Toroidal Origin Shard 3 x Trigonal Origin Shard 4 x Hexagonal Origin Shard 4 x Square Origin Shard 4 x Rectangular Origin Shard 1 x Rhomboid Origin Shard |
If you’re looking for more help with Xenoblade Chronicles 3, we also have guides for hunting down the game’s Unique Monsters, all about Gem Crafting, the amiibo rewards that you can receive, the game’s many cooking recipes, and what carries over to New Game Plus.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is now available at retail and digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo Switch worldwide.
Okay, I upgraded them all in my first run, I want to know if that was a mistake, but I still have a lot of shards. Is there anything else I can do with them in NG+?