Eridium isn’t as useful in Borderlands 3 as it was in Borderlands 2, but there are many benefits and perks to be obtained by farming the purple substance. At Crazy Earls’ Sanctuary players can use Eridium to buy cosmetic items like character skins, room decals, weapon skins and more. For practical purposes, it can be used in the special vending machine to obtain weapons with the helpful Anointed perk or thrown into the slots for potentially great rewards.
But even if these things don’t interest you there is a weapon you obtain towards the end of the game that uses Eridium as fuel. You will definitely want to use it as much as humanly possible for both the combat potential and the rewards. To ensure you have a healthy stockpile when that weapon enters your possession here are some methods to help you get more Eridium.
10 Eridium Resonator
In order to seriously start farming Eridium, you will need the Eridium Resonator which isn’t available until the first vault in Chapter 10. Prior to this point you can find tons of Eridium crystals, but be unable to harvest them.
So before you start worrying about how to get Eridium, know you need to get the Eridium Resonator first and then you can start farming.
9 Campaign
Considering this, it’s important to burn through the campaign as fast as you can. Find a solid build, skip the side quests, and charge through to Chapter 10 when you get the Eridium Resonator.
The other benefit of doing the campaign missions as quickly as possible is that some of them have Eridium as part of their rewards. It isn’t much, but it’s enough for a pull at the slots or a decent weapon or two from the vendors. You could also get a few cosmetic items if that’s what you want to focus on.
8 Crystal Mining
Once you get the Eridium Resonator then it’s time to get mining. Hopefully, you were paying attention while you were rushing the campaign to any Eridium Crystals you found and where they were. If not you’re going to have to go for a bit of drive.
Honestly, don’t waste too much time driving around looking for crystals, there are better ways to farm Eridium. Just go after the ones you remember or take a peek in The Droughts on Pandora. Scoop up the ones you know about and keep an eye out as you continue through the campaign.
7 Anointed Enemies
Once you reach Eden-6 you’ll start to encounter purple versions of enemies that have the Anointed modifier in front of their name. These enemies are guaranteed to drop Eridium upon death and make for a more interesting way to obtain Eridium when compared to meleeing crystals.
That being said, it’s still not very efficient, the amount they drop isn’t all that special and they can be tough to bring down. Definitely go for any that appear, just don’t spend too much time grinding them.
6 Side Quests
Some of the side quests will reward you with Eridium and the amount scales according to your player level and the difficulty of the game. It’s recommended you hold off on doing side quests until you’re at least level 40 to get the most Eridium.
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Do keep in mind that not all quests reward Eridium so you can do them whenever you want to obtain items or cash. But it is recommended you hold off on the ones that do reward Eridium to get the most out of it.
5 Crew Challenge
Some of the best side quests for obtaining Eridium are known as Crew Challenges. Each planet and each area should have at least one crew challenge. Crew Challenges are special missions that usually involve collectibles and unique enemies given by main characters.
Typhon Logs, Dead Claptraps, Crimson Radio Broadcasts, Legendary Hunts, Zer0 Targets, Red Chests, and Eridian Writing Locations are some examples. By far the best ones are Eridian Writing Locations as they net a ton of Eridium.
4 Legendary Hunts
A special mention from the Crew Challenges are Sir Hammerlock’s Legendary Hunts. These unique critters can be found across the galaxy and many drop a ton of cash, valuable loot, and some a good dose of Eridium.
Perhaps the best Legendary Hunt to grind over and over again is the Chupacabratch. Before the recent patch it used to drop guaranteed legendaries, but even now is a good source for the occasional legendary and some Eridium now and then. It’s a great way to kill two birds with one stone.
3 Eridian Slabs
Another amazing Crew Challenge you should focus on completing doesn’t become available until near the end of the campaign. You’ll unlock the ability to hunt for Eridian Slabs. There are 30 Eridian slabs found in the galaxy, but each one packs 25 Eridium making for a total accumulation of 750 Eridium if you find them all.
This is a one-time thing, but this hefty chunk of purple rock can buy some great things and makes for a hefty pile of ammo when you get the special Eridian gun towards the end. Absolutely spend some time hunting these down.
2 Mayhem/True Vault Hunter
The best way to increase your overall accumulation of Eridium is to either play the game on Mayhem Mode or True Vault Hunter Mode. Mayhem mode has three levels of difficulty that ramp up how dangerous your enemies are but increases the amount of Eridium that drops.
True Vault Hunter Mode is very similar to Mayhem but is much more challenging and as such much more rewarding for Eridium drops. Taking full advantage of these higher difficulties requires a level 50 character and some serious gear, but it’s where you want to be for maximum Eridium gains.
1 Circle of Slaughter
Once you’ve picked the planets clean of crystals, found all the Eridian writings and slabs, finished all the quests available in the game, are sick and tired of grinding Anointed and Chupacabratch, and have a strong character that can survive True Vault Hunter Mode; then the single best thing you can do for a recurring source of Eridium is grind the Circle of Slaughter.
It’s an endgame challenge that tasks you with grinding down several waves of enemies and some tough bosses. If you can manage it you are guaranteed to be rewarded with Eridium, more than any Anointed or Chupacabratch will ever drop. If you want every cosmetic, to farm Anointed gear, and to fire that special weapon for days this is where you want to spend your time grinding for Eridium.