Potions and shards in Abyss are timed buff items that boost your XP gain, gun damage, tube speed, fish drop luck, or oxygen capacity for 15 minutes each. They split into two rarity tiers — four Rare potions and three Mythical shards — and every one of them can mean the difference between a profitable deep dive and losing everything to an empty oxygen meter.
Quick answer: Visit the Mr. Black NPC on the Forgotten Deep island, wait for potions to appear in his rotating three-item stock (refreshes every 44 seconds), and buy them with in-game cash. Equip a potion to your hand or press its hotbar key, then left-click to drink it.
Complete Potion and Shard Stats
| Item | Rarity | Buff | Drawback |
|---|---|---|---|
| XP Potion | Rare | 30% XP boost for 15 min | None |
| Strength Potion | Rare | 30% gun damage boost for 15 min | None |
| Speed Potion | Rare | 20% tube speed boost for 15 min | None |
| Drop Luck Potion | Rare | 30% fish drop luck boost for 15 min | None |
| Crimson Shard | Mythical | 50% speed and drop luck boost for 15 min | 15% strength reduction |
| Void Shard | Mythical | 50% strength and XP boost for 15 min | 15% speed reduction |
| Oxygen Shard | Mythical | 30% oxygen capacity boost for 15 min | None |
The four Rare potions are straightforward single-stat buffs with no penalty. The two combat-oriented Mythical shards — Crimson and Void — trade raw power in one area for a 15 percent hit in another, so pick the one that matches your current goal. Crimson Shard is ideal for exploration and loot farming, while Void Shard favors XP grinding and tougher fish fights.
How to Get Potions in Abyss
Buying from Mr. Black
The fastest method is Mr. Black, an NPC stationed on the Forgotten Deep island. He carries three items at a time, and his stock refreshes every 44 seconds. Most rotations feature small oxygen pods, but potions appear periodically. When one shows up, pay the listed price, and it transfers straight to your inventory. Because the rotation is random, you may need to wait through several cycles before the potion you want appears.
NPC Quest Rewards
If you'd rather not spend cash, certain NPC questlines hand out potions on completion. The Virelia and Diver quest chains both reward potions at various stages, making them a solid free alternative — especially early on when money is tight, and you're still working through gun and tube upgrades.
Redeeming Abyss Codes
The developers periodically release redeemable codes that grant free potions, Star Shards, Oxygen Pods, and other items. To redeem a code, open Settings via the gear icon, navigate to the Codes section, type the code exactly as written (codes are case-sensitive), and hit Redeem. Codes expire without warning, so use them as soon as you find them.
How to Use Potions
Step 1: Open your inventory and place the potion in your hotbar, or simply locate it if it's already there after purchasing.
Step 2: Press the number key that corresponds to the potion's hotbar slot to equip it in your character's hand.
Step 3: Left-click to drink the potion. The buff icon will appear immediately, and the 15-minute timer starts counting down right away.
There is no animation lock or cooldown between potions. You can drink multiple potions back-to-back, and their effects stack — drinking a Speed Potion and a Strength Potion at the same time gives you both the 20 percent tube speed increase and the 30 percent gun damage increase simultaneously for the full 15 minutes.
Stacking Potions with Artifacts
Potions pair well with Abyss artifacts, the passive-effect items you crack from geodes at the Virelia NPC. Because artifacts provide persistent bonuses while potions deliver large temporary spikes, combining the right artifact loadout with a well-timed potion can dramatically improve a single dive's output. For example, pairing a drop-luck artifact with a Crimson Shard pushes your fish drop luck well above baseline, making deep dives into Ancient Sands or Spirit Roots far more rewarding.
Best Potions for Exploration
For general deep-dive exploration, the strongest loadout is a Speed Potion, a Strength Potion, and a Crimson Shard. Speed keeps you moving through dangerous zones quickly, Strength ensures you can handle tougher fish without burning through ammo, and the Crimson Shard's massive 50 percent speed and drop luck bonus offsets its mild strength penalty — which the Strength Potion partially covers anyway thanks to stacking.
If you're pushing into zones where oxygen is the limiting factor, swap one of those for an Oxygen Shard. The 30 percent oxygen capacity increase buys meaningful extra time underwater, especially before you've upgraded to a higher-tier tube.
Potions are consumable and single-use, so save them for dives where you plan to go deep or farm specific rare fish. Burning a Mythical shard on a casual Forgotten Deep run isn't worth it when the Rare potions — or no potion at all — will get the job done.
