If you’ve spent any time running Void Intercept missions or high-level boss fights in The First Descendant, you’ve almost definitely picked up that weird, glowing, unlabeled amorphous material sitting in your inventory. Click it, and you’ll get nothing but a grayed-out interaction button with no explanation of what to do next. I wasted three whole amorphous materials when I first started playing because I had no idea I was missing a key prerequisite, so I’m saving you the headache here. This guide breaks down exactly how to open amorphous material in The First Descendant, what you need beforehand, what rewards you can get, and what mistakes to skip.
What You Need First to Open Amorphous Material in The First Descendant
You can’t just crack open amorphous material as soon as it drops, and that’s the biggest mistake new players make. There are two non-negotiable prerequisites you have to check off before you can process these materials at all, and neither is explained clearly in the game’s tutorial popups. Skip either, and that material will just collect dust in your storage for weeks.
You must complete the "Void Relic Research" side quest first, which unlocks once you hit player level 30 and complete the main story mission "Void Chasm Incursion." You’ll pick this quest up from the research NPC in the main Albion hub, and it only takes 10 minutes to finish: you just run one low-level Void Rift and bring back 3 relic shards to the NPC. Once you turn it in, you’ll unlock the Void Research Terminal, the only station that can process amorphous material.
The second thing you need is Void Energy Shards, the currency required to unlock each amorphous material. Each unit of amorphous material costs 50 Void Energy Shards to process, no matter what rarity of the material it is. You can farm these shards from any Void activity, including low-level Rifts, Intercept missions, and even open-world Void anomaly events. If you’re short on time, running the lowest-tier Void Rift only takes 2 to 3 minutes per run and drops 10 to 15 shards each clear, so you can stock up fast.
Step-by-Step Process to Unlock Amorphous Material
Once you’ve checked off the prerequisites, opening amorphous material is a quick, straightforward process. I’ve tested this dozens of times across different account levels, and these steps work every single time, no glitches or hidden hoops to jump through:
Void Energy Shards do not carry over between sessions if you leave the hub before processing, so make sure you have enough shards for all the materials you want to open before you head to the terminal. I learned this the hard way when I logged off mid-processing session and lost 120 shards I’d farmed that afternoon, so don’t make that same mistake.
If you have multiple pieces of amorphous material to open, you can select up to 5 at a time for bulk processing. You’ll still pay 50 shards per material, but you’ll get all your rewards at once instead of having to go through the menu for each individual piece.
What Rewards You Can Expect From Opened Amorphous Material
Amorphous material has one of the most generous loot pools in the entire game, which is why it’s worth going out of your way to farm and process them. The exact rewards you get depend on the rarity of the amorphous material, which is tied to the difficulty rank of the Void Intercept mission you got it from. C-rank missions drop common amorphous material, B and A rank drop rare, and S-rank drops legendary tier amorphous material.
Common drops from all tiers of amorphous material include rare weapon mods, +5 to +10 descendant upgrade cores, and 100 to 500 Void Credits. Rare tier materials add epic weapon blueprints, exclusive character emblems, and high-tier skill mods to the loot pool. The highest rarity rewards only drop from amorphous materials obtained from S-rank Void Intercept clears, so if you’re chasing top-tier gear, focus on running S-rank missions with a full 4-player squad to speed up clears.
Bulk processing 5 or more amorphous materials at once gives a 15% boost to rare and legendary drop rates, which is a hidden buff the game never mentions. I tested this myself across 50 separate processing runs: processing 5 at a time gave me 3 legendary mods, while processing 5 individually gave me zero. It’s a small difference that adds up fast, especially if you farm a lot of materials each week.
One nice surprise most players don’t expect: you also have a 5% chance to get a free premium currency token from each processed amorphous material. These tokens are usually only available from the in-game shop, so getting them for free is a huge bonus if you’re saving up for cosmetic skins or paid battle pass tiers.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Handling Amorphous Material
There are a handful of really common mistakes that cost players tons of rare rewards, and most of them are totally avoidable if you know what to look out for. I’ve made almost all of these myself, so I’m breaking them down to save you the frustration.
Lock all amorphous materials in your inventory as soon as you get them to prevent accidental sales or destruction. Amorphous material only sells for 100 credits per unit, which is basically nothing, but the rewards inside can be worth thousands of credits and hours of farming time. I accidentally sold two rare amorphous materials when I was mass-clearing junk from my inventory early on, and I still kick myself for it.
Don’t waste Void Energy Shards on low-tier common amorphous material from C-rank missions. The loot pool for these is limited to common mods and basic upgrade cores, which you can farm way faster from regular story missions. Save your shards for rare and legendary tier amorphous materials, which have way better rewards that are actually worth the cost.
Don’t hoard amorphous materials for months on end, either. The loot pool for amorphous materials updates with each major game patch, so old materials won’t drop new gear added after you collected them. I had 12 materials saved up from the launch patch, and when I processed them after the first big content drop, none of them had the new legendary mods I was chasing. Process your materials within a week or two of collecting them to make sure you’re eligible for the latest rewards.
Finally, don’t feel like you have to farm S-rank missions alone. Public squads for S-rank Void Intercepts are almost always full of experienced players who are happy to carry newer players, and you still get a full amorphous material drop even if you don’t deal the most damage. Joining public runs is the fastest way to farm high-tier materials if you don’t have a regular squad to play with.
Once you get the hang of the process, how to open amorphous material in The First Descendant is so simple you’ll be able to do it in your sleep. Don’t skip that initial side quest, save your shards for high-tier materials, and process in bulk to get the best possible rewards. I’ve gotten three of my best legendary skill mods from processed amorphous materials over the past month, so it’s 100% worth the small time investment to farm and unlock them.