As someone who has been navigating the Astral Express since the game's launch, I can tell you that pre-farming for a new character is like preparing the soil for a rare, otherworldly bloom—you need the right nutrients at the right time. When Argenti, the gallant knight of the Knights of Beauty, graced our screens in the latter half of Version 1.5, I was ready. The beauty of his release was that all the materials we needed were already in the game, waiting to be gathered. Let me walk you through my personal journey and strategy for building the perfect Argenti, so you can have him battle-ready the moment you pull him from the warp.

The Foundation: Ascension Materials

First things first, you need to get Argenti to level 80. This is the bedrock of his power. Think of his ascension process not as a simple checklist, but as forging a legendary weapon—each level adds another layer of tempering to his fiery spirit. Here's the exact breakdown of what you'll need, which I've meticulously farmed:

Ascension Stage	Required Level	Mob Drops (Cores)	Boss Drops (Netherworld Token)	Credits
1	20	5x Extinguished Core	-	4,000
2	30	10x Extinguished Core	-	8,000
3	40	6x Glimmering Core	3x Netherworld Token	16,000
4	50	9x Glimmering Core	7x Netherworld Token	40,000
5	60	6x Squirming Core	20x Netherworld Token	80,000
6	70	9x Squirming Core	35x Netherworld Token	160,000
TOTAL	-	15x Ext. / 15x Glim. / 15x Squ.	65x Netherworld Token	308,000

My Farming Tips:

• Cores: These are your bread and butter. Farm them from Fragmentum monsters. I found the Supply Zone on Herta Space Station and the Corridor of Fading Echoes on Jarilo-VI to be the most efficient spots. It's a grind, but put on some music and treat it like a meditative harvest.

• Netherworld Tokens: This is your weekly commitment. Head to the Fyxestroll Garden Stagnant Shadow in The Xianzhou Luofu. Plan your Trailblaze Power around this. I made it a ritual every Monday. Without these tokens, your Argenti will be like a knight without his armor—present, but profoundly vulnerable.

• Credits: Don't overlook these! The Golden Calyx in the Administrative District on Jarilo-VI is your best friend. Running low on credits mid-ascension is more frustrating than a misplaced warp trotter.

The Art of Perfection: Trace Materials

Now, ascension gets him to the battlefield, but traces are what make him a masterpiece. Upgrading his traces is akin to tuning a grand celestial instrument; each level adjusts the harmony of his skills until they sing in perfect unison. The requirements are split between his Basic Attack and his Skill, Ultimate, and Talent.

Basic Attack Trace Materials

His Basic Attack caps at level 6. Here's what you need:

• Crimson Calyx Drops: 3x Key of Inspiration, 8x Key of Knowledge, 11x Key of Wisdom.

• Mob Drops: 6x Extinguished Core, 7x Glimmering Core, 7x Squirming Core.

• Credits: 240,000.

Skill, Ultimate & Talent Trace Materials

These are the core of his kit and can go to level 10. This is where the real investment lies.

• Crimson Calyx Drops: 3x Key of Inspiration, 15x Key of Knowledge, 30x Key of Wisdom.

• Mob Drops: 9x Extinguished Core, 13x Glimmering Core, 7x Squirming Core.

• Echo of War Drops: 3x Regret of Infinite Ochema.

• Tracks of Destiny: 2.

• Credits: 652,500.

The Grand Total for a Maxed Argenti:

To take him from level 1 to a fully ascended, trace-maxed powerhouse, you're looking at a stockpile that would make the IPC's treasury blush. Here's the final tally:

• Mob Cores: 24 Extinguished, 28 Glimmering, 22 Squirming.

• Boss Materials: 65 Netherworld Tokens & 3 Regret of Infinite Ochema.

• Calyx Materials: 6 Keys of Inspiration, 23 Keys of Knowledge, 41 Keys of Wisdom.

• Special Items: 2 Tracks of Destiny.

• Credits: A whopping 1.2 Million (combining ascension and all traces).

My Personal Farming Strategy & Philosophy

Over the years, I've learned that resource management in Honkai: Star Rail is less about brute force and more about elegant efficiency, like conducting a symphony across different game modes.

1. Prioritize the Time-Gated Resources First. Your weekly routine should be sacred:

   • Echo of War: Farm the 'Divine Seed' every week without fail for the Regret of Infinite Ochema. You only get three rewards per week, so don't miss them. This material is the bottleneck for reaching trace levels 8-10.

   • Stagnant Shadow: Dedicate a day's worth of Trailblaze Power to the Fyxestroll Garden for Netherworld Tokens.

2. Batch Your Farming. Don't jump between activities. I dedicate full days:

   • Monster Slaying Days: I'll spend 240 Trailblaze Power auto-battling in areas dense with Fragmentum monsters to stockpile all the Cores I'll ever need.

   • Calyx Days: The Crimson Calyx in the Storage Zone is my home for farming Keys. The drop rates for higher-tier Keys (Wisdom) can feel as rare as a 5-star pull on a single ticket, so patience is key.

3. Leverage Events and the Nameless Honor. Never let a Tracks of Destiny reward slip by! These are arguably the most precious resources in the game. The Nameless Honor battle pass and seasonal events are your primary sources. Securing these feels like finding a secret path in the Simulated Universe—it unlocks the final, most powerful tier of progression.

4. Credit Farming is Non-Negotiable. That 1.2 million credit cost is no joke. I make a habit of doing a few Credit Calyx runs whenever my reserves dip below 500k. Letting this run dry will halt your progress faster than a freeze effect from Cocolia.

Looking ahead to 2026, the principles remain the same for any new character, though the specific materials change. The core lesson from preparing for Argenti is this: understand what is time-gated (weekly bosses) and what is stamina-gated (calyx, stagnant shadow), and plan your week accordingly. Start farming the generic mob drops and calyx materials as soon as you know you want a character. By the time they release, you'll be ready to immediately unleash their full potential, just as I did with the noble Argenti. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a new world to explore on Penacony, and my fully-built knight has some beauty to uphold.

Data referenced from SteamDB helps contextualize why disciplined, time-gated pre-farming matters: when major updates land and player activity spikes, having your Ascension and Trace materials ready lets you immediately test builds, rotations, and farming routes without losing efficiency to crowded schedules or limited weekly attempts. Applying that mindset to Argenti means locking in weekly boss clears and Stagnant Shadow runs first, then using any remaining stamina windows to batch Calyx sessions and top up Credits so your upgrade path doesn’t stall mid-progression.