Guide on How to Optimally Farm Transmutation Crystal [In Progress]

skyhawk002

Hello ESO Forum Community,

I want help to figure out how best to optimize and efficiently farm crystal geodes using the current system in place for both pvp, pve and mixed pvp/pve players. I know a lot of you may be disheartened over the low drop rates and the inherent RNG but this is not the post to talk about that. Instead let’s think how we can get the most bang for our buck.

To preface from patch notes:
• Transmutation requires Transmute Crystals, precious resources occasionally received for successfully completing Veteran PvE activities such as Pledges, Trials, and Arenas, and several PvP sources such as Rewards for the Worthy, Battleground end of match rewards, and AvA end of campaign rewards. Transmute Crystals are an account wide , capped currency (100 or 200 for ESO+) which cannot be banked or traded.


Guaranteed Drops Rates are below:
Weekly 12 person veteran/normal trials Quest: 5 crystals
Weekly PvE trial Leaderboards: 5 crystals
Normal Random Normal Daily: Green Tier Geode (Estimated 1 crystal)
Veteran Random Normal Daily: ???
vDSA: 5 crystals
vMSA: 4 crystals
10 day Cyrodil Campaign leaderboards: 10 crystal
30 day Cyrodil Campaign Leaderboards: 50 crystals
Battleground End of Match Rewards: ???

RNG Drop Rates for Uncracked Transmutation Geodes
1st Reward of the Worthy (RotW) (20k AP): Gold Tier Geode: (4-25 crystals)
HM Pledge: Purple Tier Geode: (1-10 crystals)
Final boss of Veteran dungeon: Low Chance for Purple Tier Geode (1-10 crystals)


A few concerns and personal observations:
1st point: I “farmed” vFG1 3 times and only 2 drops occurred for the final boss. This puts farming vet dungeons at a roughly 1/6 chance (4 ppl, 3 runs) to receive a purple geode tier reward (1-10 crystals)
2nd point: I received RotW yesterday on my PvP alt and then again today after 24hrs. I only received a Gold Tier Geode (4-25 crystals) on the first day. I think this is only a weekly drop per toon, not sure yet.
3rd point: Farming 20k AP is most efficient on the winning team or in small groups where you can kill lots of Pvpers. Taking keeps and resources in a Zerg are most likely and unfortunately your best ways to hit RotW ASAP.
4th Point: Farm the fastest and easiest normal trial like HRC and AA first before talking the longer and relatively more difficult ones like HoF and SO.

Conclusion:

I think the best way to farm these crystals is by completing all normal trials quests (HRC, AA, SO, MoL, HoF, AS) for 30 guaranteed crystals then complete RotW on every toon in either Vivec (Cp) or Sotha Sil (no-CP) campaigns for 4-25 per geodes.

Agalloch

Thank you!

I don't understand why on my second account ( no eso plus active) the crystal cap is only 100.

Dusho_Edin

It's only 100 cuz eso plus Get double the amount so 100x 2 = 200 without eso plus you get 100. Just like houses 700 with eso plus 350 without.. fairly simple to understand

AzraelKrieg

So PvE is getting the short end of the stick? Yay

Ackwalan

It's a shame that 'random' doesn't mean random to ZOS. I've gotten 6 of those 4-25 boxes in PvP, and they all had 4 each.

Recremen

AzraelKrieg wrote: »

So PvE is getting the short end of the stick? Yay

@AzraelKrieg
Nah, you get 4-40 (but more likely just 4) every day by doing all three pledges plus your daily random. PvP folks look like they'll be getting 4-25 (but more likely just 4) every day. That's not counting trials and end-of-campaign of course, but those are less frequent in both cases. Looks to be about even with a possible slight edge to PvEers due to the chance for up to 40 per day, but we really don't know how often you get more than 1 for purple geodes or more than 4 for gold geodes.

Mojmir

Dlc dungeons should drop 4-5 guaranteed, as long as they are vet and HM.

AzraelKrieg

Mojmir wrote: »

Dlc dungeons should drop 4-5 guaranteed, as long as they are vet and HM.

I don't often agree with Mojmir but this. The added difficulty of the DLC dungeons, especially on vet HM, deserves to be rewarded appropriately.

skyhawk002

Does anyone have data on random vet dungeons, battlegrounds, delve bosses, world bosses, rotw and their drop rates to complete the above guide? Thank you

Ilsabet

I got 1 crystal for turning in the Undaunted quest after my character hit level 45. Not that that's something you can farm.

skyhawk002

Ilsabet wrote: »

I got 1 crystal for turning in the Undaunted quest after my character hit level 45. Not that that's something you can farm.

Have you been getting any crystals from other quests like main story or Caldwell silver/gold?

Ilsabet

skyhawk002 wrote: »

Ilsabet wrote: »

I got 1 crystal for turning in the Undaunted quest after my character hit level 45. Not that that's something you can farm.

Have you been getting any crystals from other quests like main story or Caldwell silver/gold?

No, but I also haven't been doing those things. The ones I've gotten have been from Rewards for the Worthy and the end quest of normal Halls of Fabrication.

EdmundTowers

I pvp'd in sotha with 5 characters just until I got the rotw. I got 27 stones. 10 4 4 4 5 or something like that.

Tasear

Assuming you are skilled and lucky pledges have potential to net up to 30 stones. Assuming you are unlucky then 10 stones in 45 mins to hour.

Sadoruro

Hello, random vet dungeon is one green geode (1 transmutation shard). So same reward than for normal ^^

RiverBrian

Only public dungeons have crystal drops. Which sucks because I really don't do the dungeons. They should make it so every boss has a chance to drop. The easier the boss, the less the chance.

Brutusmax1mus

So i can get rotw on all my 14 characters once a day of i want to? Comes with the added benefit of gaining ap for Friday's.

Gilvoth

AzraelKrieg wrote: »

So PvE is getting the short end of the stick? Yay

we are forced to PVE to get the weapons and armors most wanted in PVP.

CiliPadi

So there's no way to get these crystals solo?

Morgul667

CiliPadi wrote: »

So there's no way to get these crystals solo?

Arena give some geodes

Then group finder for normal or veteran random daily

This is a mmo so it is group oriented

CiliPadi

Morgul667 wrote: »

CiliPadi wrote: »

So there's no way to get these crystals solo?

Arena give some geodes

Then group finder for normal or veteran random daily

This is a mmo so it is group oriented

So much for ESO "Play your way"
LMAO

Asardes

Veteran Maelstrom gives 4 per completion and 5 from weekly leaderboard so you can do it solo. PvP can also be viewed as solo content since there are no well delimited group roles and you don't need to be in a group to enter Cyrodiil. Also most normal dungeons are so easy you can pretend the other players are not there. So in fact there are plenty of options for the solo player.

Bobby_V_Rockit

Turning in normal pledges too, many of which are soloable. In fact, I usually queue for some normal dungeons and solo it before I get a group anyway, so saves time just doing it yourself

silver1surfer69

so far i got for every 5th or 6th mission rewards from the boards in sotha sil, 1 geode. in there are normally 4 crystals, every second or third box has 5 crystals, the most i got so far from 1 box, that was 10 crytals, that was 1 time out of maybe 15-20 geodes. (these values are just by feel)

-> someone said you get only 1 geode per day (from pvp mission reward?) But that seems not to be true, or am i wrong. Pls confirm.

MythicaLMeddLer

Does it have to be the pledges and daily randoms or could you get them from doing from doing any of the dungeons?

silver1surfer69

now i got it, you get per character per day from the mails from ROTW 1 geode, sometimes 2. so just open 1 reward mail per char per day for max pvp crystals.

Insandros

humm stupid question, how do you get them from vDSA, no quest givers to reward you with geodes like trials....? Only from scorebord and not completion?

Asardes

Insandros wrote: »

humm stupid question, how do you get them from vDSA, no quest givers to reward you with geodes like trials....? Only from scorebord and not completion?

From the end chest, together with the Master's weapon. vDSA doesn't have a separate leaderboard, but it may come up as weekly trial. So if you earn a good enough score to be on the leaderboards that week you will earn an extra Master weapon, a set item from Archer's Mind, Footman's Fortune, Healer's Habit or Destruction Mastery sets together with a geode containing 5 crystals. It's the same for any other trial or vMA leaderboard.

Victoria_Marquis

My husband and I work long hours and do ESO as our family time, we don't like to bother People with our random play times... So is there any PvE that 2 People can do to get the crystals?

And from what I've read you can get then from AP farming in PvP as well yes? Like the end of campaign? The mail system reward?

Another problem is it takes 50 Crystals per item... So like that's 9 - 12 months of farming If you need to change all your weapons and armor...

Mureel

dwemer_paleologist wrote: »

AzraelKrieg wrote: »

So PvE is getting the short end of the stick? Yay

we are forced to PVE to get the weapons and armors most wanted in PVP.

and we are for skills that shouldn't be behind PVP gate - don't start this again.

Raudgrani

Tasear wrote: »

Assuming you are skilled and lucky pledges have potential to net up to 30 stones. Assuming you are unlucky then 10 stones in 45 mins to hour.

How would you go about that? Seriously curious. I've done like a dozen veteran hardmode dungeons since the introduction of the Transmute rewards, and I still only get purple uncracked geodes. I think the highest number I got so far was 4. From PVP, I've had one 20 I think, but that's from a golden one. How many can purple ones drop, really?