Exclusive Karma cards in DragonSword: Awakening are locked behind two materials that most players run short on. Fragment of Afterimage is the gate for each hero’s signature Karma, and Fragment of Memory is the currency you feed into it. Neither drops from ordinary story quests, so you need to know exactly where they come from before you start crafting.
Quick answer: Craft Fragment of Afterimage at Shanoa the Alchemist in Orbis Royal Castle by transmuting 1 Whirling Thoughts, 100 Fragments of Memory, and 100,000 Gold. Whirling Thoughts and Fragments of Memory both come mainly from the Tower of Trials.
What Fragment of Afterimage and Fragment of Memory unlock
Fragment of Afterimage is spent to claim a character’s Exclusive Karma. Each Exclusive Karma card costs 1 Fragment of Afterimage, and these cards go beyond raw stats by buffing a hero’s signature skills, sometimes changing burst timing or animations. Fragment of Memory feeds two purposes. You trade it for high-level Karma, and you convert it into Fragment of Afterimage at the Alchemist.
If you plan to fully build every hero, the totals are steep. Maxing all Exclusive Karma cards demands 128 Fragments of Afterimage and over 10,000 Fragments of Memory, with each card requiring 7 (700 Memory equivalent), or 6 (600) for cards tied to Hero Quests. Prioritize your main damage dealers first rather than spreading thin.
The Fragment of Afterimage transmute recipe
Fragment of Afterimage is not looted. It is crafted at Shanoa the Alchemist, whose shop sits by the cathedral in Orbis Royal Castle and is highlighted on the map from the start. Each single Fragment of Afterimage costs the following.
| Input | Amount per craft |
|---|---|
| Whirling Thoughts | 1 |
| Fragment of Memory | 100 |
| Gold | 100,000 |
Because every card needs multiple Fragments, the real bottleneck is stockpiling Whirling Thoughts and Fragment of Memory in bulk. Both of those come from the same place, which is covered below.
Unlock the Alchemy Workshop
You know it worked when the Alchemist’s crafting list becomes selectable and the Fragment of Afterimage recipe shows its input costs. If the option is greyed out, the second chapter is not finished.
Where to farm Fragment of Memory
Fragment of Memory has several sources, and you should tap all of them since you need it by the thousand. Early on it trickles in from exploration and story clears. In the late game, the Tower of Trials becomes the dominant source by a wide margin.
| Source | Notes |
|---|---|
| Tower of Trials | Best late-game route; each tower variant rewards over 2,600 |
| Treasure chests | All rarities drop it |
| Merc Crew | Steady early supply |
| Mercenary Corps levels | Awarded on reaching new ranks |
| Quests and first clears | Completing quests and clearing stages or challenges for the first time |
Farm Whirling Thoughts in the Tower of Trials
Whirling Thoughts has one source only, and that is the Tower of Trials. This is the game’s timed-combat mode, and every Fragment of Afterimage craft needs one Whirling Thoughts, so the tower is unavoidable if you want Exclusive Karma.
Tip: The tower doubles as your richest Fragment of Memory farm in the late game, since each variant hands out over 2,600. Climbing it therefore covers two of the three transmute inputs at once.
Farming order that saves the most time
Work through the story to clear chapter two and open Shanoa’s workshop, then reach chapter three to unlock the tower through Cerese. From there, treat the Tower of Trials as your main loop. It supplies both Whirling Thoughts and the bulk of your Fragment of Memory, and every completed climb converts directly into more Fragments of Afterimage at the Alchemist. Spend those Fragments on your priority heroes’ Exclusive Karma first, since fully maxing all of them requires a long haul of 128 Fragments and more than 10,000 Fragments of Memory.
