Palia Infected Essence Guide | How to Farm Infected Essence

Infected Essence is found everywhere in the Elderwood in Palia. It clings to animals and plants, emits an aura of negativity, and is generally unwanted by the locals. Being able to collect it, however, is one of the primary focuses of Elderwood gameplay. Not only is the resource used to make other items, but it's also a currency that enables you to buy Elderwood furniture set pieces, Potion Store items, and more. This is how to farm Infected Essence efficiently in Palia. 

How to Farm Infected Essence in Palia

The most straightforward way to get Infected Essence is to collect every orb of it you see while exploring the Elderwood. This gives you a base amount of one-eight Infected Essence. Unlocked by progressing through The Nature of Shadows main quest, this is the first way you can obtain the resource. From there you'll unlock gathering infected forage, hunting infected animals, and catching infected fish and insects. These are all ways to get Infected Essence. 

*This guide is a work in progress. As more animals are caught and hunted, and forage found the table will be updated.*

The best ways to gain essence fast is to focus on rare fish and creatures to hunt. These net you the largest amounts of essence at a single time, making them the most efficient way to farm. Combing the swamp areas near the docks for Waveback Ogopuu are my best suggestion. 

Piksii Grove

The Piksii Grove, a placeable item for your home plot, is awarded at the end of Something Wicked. Place it on your plot and every actual day at midnight, you'll be visited by Piksiis. They'll leave you a loot bag on the stone in the center. When opened, it can gift you various items from the Elderwood, as well as Infected Essence. So far I've seen between 75-200 Echo given at a single time. 

How to Collect Infected Essence With NO Main Story Progression

If you're like my friend, work keeps you busy and your time off is spent catching up on chores, eating, and sleeping. You may not have had time to dive into the main story, complete the four temples, or make it through Answering the Call. Thankfully, partying up can help you catch up to others without having to go through all those quests right away. 

As long as you're in a party with someone who can hunt animals or catch insects, you'll be able to reap the benefits. Though you won't be able to participate, when the loot bag drops with a bug or the remains of a Schmol or Ogopuu, you can still pick it up. You'll get the regular items like meat, skin, and the insect that you'd expect. You'll also get the Infected Essence, even though you may not have unlocked any way to get it yourself. Since it drops as an item with infected creatures, you will be able to collect it. This also applies to chopping infected Ancient Trees, though you won't be able to gather Honey or Kopaa Nuts.

I have tested this out and my friend was able to collect over 100 Infected Essence in our gaming session without finishing Answering the Call himself. The downside is he can't get the rewards from fishing or collecting plants. This is a good middle ground to include everyone that wants to check out the Elderwood region, but might not have as much time as other players they normally party up with. 

How to Increase Infected Essence Amounts

Currently, there's a single item you can purchase to increase how much essence you gather. Purchased at Elouisa's Shop, the Brighteye Amulet Schematic lets you craft the corresponding Relic. It boosts the amount of all essence you collect, no matter what method was used to obtain it. The buff increases as you upgrade it, ending with what is referred to in the 0.191 patch notes as a "massive buff to essence looted".

Since Relics emit a radius when equipped, coupling it with Guiding Lantern will increase that boost even more. You'll just need to stay close to your party members so everyone gets the benefits. 

How to Use Infected Essence in Palia

There are a number of uses for Infected Essence. 

• Complete various quests in the main storyline of the Elderwood, starting with The Nature of Shadows. 
• Purchase Elderwood Furniture Set pieces. These are found across the Elderwood. Payment is made to the Piksii and you'll obtain the item. The cost for each piece varies. 
• Purchase items from Tamala's Potion Store. 
• Purchase grab bags from Subira's shop.
• Craft Elderwood Arrows
• Craft Elderwood Lures
• Craft Elderwood Smoke Bombs

Collecting Infected Essence also gets you closer to completing a new achievement introduced in the Elderwood patch 0.191: In Essence. Tier 1 starts at 1,000 essence collected with the final tier (Tier V) is achieved once you obtain 50,000 Infected Essence. Reaching the different tiers also unlocks different grab bags in Subira's shop.