Sapphires

[chinosbeltbuckle]

I failed the Builder Bout mission with just hours to spare and only needing one more sapphire, and I have to say, I really wish there was an easier way to collect them!

Given that I rarely if ever needed them before the update, and therefore I only really ever needed one crystal tree, I never considered planting more. I did so, of course, after I got the quest, but by the point they had matured and produced crop, my time had already run out. I also followed the advice of sites stating they could drop from quarrying large rocks, but that turned out not to be the case. The fibre itself was a pain and required in my case a certain amount of grinding to obtain, but despite not enjoying that process at all, I could at least ensure I had a definite way to collect them in time. The sapphires, however, caused continual problems, and in the whole time the quest was active, not a single one dropped from the crystal desposits on Amber Island.

I love the game, i really do, but I'm not going to hide the fact that I'm really disappointed, and I have no idea whether this affects the main storyline or not. I know someone is going to accuse me of not preparing well enough, but sapphires were never a serious consideration for me before the update and they were rarely if ever needed during that time.

[Panfilo]

Crystal formations can drop sapphires. There are several of them that spawn regularly on amber Island and also the collapsed ruins.

[chinosbeltbuckle]

As stated in the OP, I tried farming them religiously from the deposits with no luck at all. The drops rates apparently aren't great.

As it happens I went back to the furthest save I could and eventually got my last sapphire. Despite this, I still think either they need to be made more available or they need to be included in more blueprints so people get used to needing them and hopefully planting enough crystal trees that should see them through it all, because otherwise if you find yourself at this point in the game with a tiny number and without a clue what provides them or doesn't, you stand a good chance of basically messing the end of the game up, as I managed to do first time around.

[idlespectator]

I'm pretty sure the Deepest Ruins were meant to solve the carbon fiber & sapphire problem of the Builder Bout requirements. Every time I finished a level in there I either got carbon fiber, sapphires, or power stones.

[Buttfart Princesspants VIII]

Originally posted by idlespectator:

I'm pretty sure the Deepest Ruins were meant to solve the carbon fiber & sapphire problem of the Builder Bout requirements. Every time I finished a level in there I either got carbon fiber, sapphires, or power stones.

Absolutely this.
Boss battle floors or S Rank floor clearings get you 2/3 Sapphires a go. I farmed over 200 during the late game by fighting the last 10 boss levels over and over. If the drops are good, you can get about 18+ a day.

[chinosbeltbuckle]

That's odd, because honestly all I ever got from the Deepest Ruins when I managed an S run was carbon fibre, condensed stones and silicon chips. I farmed the place for a fair number of in-game days for the fibre and never saw a single sapphire drop. I didn't even know they were supposed to! Admittedly I only got up to level 16, so maybe they're gained on higher levels only?

[Buttfart Princesspants VIII]

Probably! I'm referring to levels 90+, but the floor changes at level 30, so potentially they might start to appear at later areas. I know Carbon Fibre and Condensed stones are very common drops, along with conducting wooden floors, but that might be later!

Keep charging ahead and you might find some more! I'll test out the earlier levels again and see the rarity.

[chinosbeltbuckle]

I managed to obtain the sapphire needed when I reloaded to an earlier save and tried my luck on the deposits.

Thanks for the offer to test! I will head back in game myself at some point and see if I can trigger them to drop on a higher floor.

I think I may have missed getting to the levels necessary to see them (not that I knew that would be advantageous, as I never knew they dropped there to begin with) because I dislike the combat aspect of the game and can struggle with it at times. The second I discovered the much-needed fibre dropped there I would just repeat from level 5 upwards as opposed to increasing the difficulty for myself by forging beyond level 16 or so. In retrospect, I probably hurt my own game by stubbornly sticking to what I was comfortable with.

[ArgentumRattus]

get a crystal tree from the church and grow it in a big planter box, it gives sapphires every week or 5 days or something like that