Most activities in The First Descendant take place in its open zones, but there are a few secrets to discover outside missions, including Encrypted Vaults and Encrypted Storage Boxes.
Whether you need them for a quest or just want to explore, here’s how to find and open Encrypted Vaults and Encrypted Storage Boxes in The First Descendant.
Encrypted Vaults come in three rarities that spawn depending on the type of Code Analyzer (key) you have in your inventory. If you ever see the game mention the Encrypted Storage Box, it’s the Encrypted Vault of the most basic rarity that requires a regular Code Analyzer to open.
How to find Encrypted Vaults and Encrypted Storage Boxes in The First Descendant
To find Encrypted Vaults and Encrypted Storage Boxes, use your scanner (Tab key on PC by default). When there’s a vault nearby, the scanner shows a white line pointing to its location. You also see the “An Encrypted Vault is nearby” message in the chat or “An Encrypted Vault is right in front of you” if the vault is in your field of view.
The vaults look like upright skeleton coffins and turn towards you when you come close. Every zone in The First Descendant has multiple fixed locations where Encrypted Vaults can spawn. Check all the possible locations in the area, and if you can’t find a vault, move to the next zone or go back to Albion.
How to unlock Encrypted Vaults and Encrypted Storage Boxes in The First Descendant
You need a Code Analyzer, Precision Code Analyzer, or an Ultra-Precision Code Analyzer consumable to open vaults. You can’t research them at Anais. Instead, they drop from missions—you might already have a few in your inventory.
Interact with the Encrypted Vault to start a minigame. The goal is to press the highlighted button when the dial is in the highlighted zone. Do that multiple times before the timer expires, and you unlock the vault.
The difficulty of the minigame depends on the rarity of the vault/analyzer, and if you fail it, you lose the Code Analyzer. To make the process much easier and get additional resources, use Enzo to unlock the vaults.
