Essence Traders are one of the most important NPCs on any Realm in Nightingale. These vendors are your primary sources of almost anything you’ll need for crafting or survival.
As you explore your Realm, you’ll come across a fair amount of Essence Dust, and you’ll be able to extract Essence Dust from any items you break down. While Essence Dust is necessary for repairing your gear, it’s arguably more valuable as currency just because of the sheer amount of items, plans, and schematics you can buy. Many of the things you buy are actually very important to improving your Gear Score and progressing the Nightingale story.
Where can I find the Essence Trader in Nightingale?
While Essence Traders are rarely in the same place given Realms in Nightingale are procedurally generated, they are marked on your map by a ticket icon. Because the Essence Trader is typically with members of their faction, you may have to zoom in on your map to spot the Essence Trader icon—it may be tucked behind another icon. In my Abeyance Realm, the Essence Trader was right next to the Antiquarian Site of Power, but this may not always be the case.
Each Essence Trader sells different wares depending on what Realm they are in, meaning the Realm Cards you play effectively determine what they sell. To view what Essence Traders in other Realms sell, open your Guidebook and go to the Traders section.
If you’re making the trek to the Essence Trader and you’re in a Realm with bountiful crude materials like Fibre and Sticks, I would recommend picking up as many of those items as you can on the way to the Essence Trader. Once you’re there, you can extract all of them into more Essence to increase your spending power. As long as you’re in a Realm where these resources are plentiful, you aren’t going to miss a stack of them, and it can help unlock some needed early game recipes quicker.
