There’s a lot to collect in Sundered — shards, ammo, health, perks — but only one in-game item can alter the game’s end (including the final boss) and radically alter how Eshe’s weapons and abilities look and function against the hordes of Lovecraftian Eschaton and mechanized Valkyrie: the Elder Shards. With each Elder Shard, players have the choice to embrace its eldritch power, aligning Eshe closer to your demoniac guide, the Trapezohedron, or torch the shard in The Incinerator, thereby thwarting the Trapezohedron’s plans and preserving your humanity. Both options have their advantages. But to get the full benefit of the Elder Shard upgrades and the alternate game endings, you’ll need to find every single Elder Shard and fragment.

Here’s how to find every Elder Shard.

First you need to know what you’re looking for. Each of the three Sundered Regions have a total of two and one-third Elder Shards: one complete Shard and four fragments, with three Elder Shard fragments forming the second complete Elder Shard. A complete Elder Shard can only be won by defeating the Region’s main boss. Three of the Elder Shard fragments are won defeating three minibosses. And the final fragment is a secret, hidden somewhere in the Region. Combined over the three Regions, there are seven total Elder Shards.

Let’s look at the regions one by one.

Region #1

Boss Elder Shard

Dominion upon his throne. Keep the high ground. Remember that a mid-air strike, including on Dominion’s vulnerable crystals, replenishes your double jump. It’s worth dodging the arms punching through portals, though the red portals unleashing crawlers can be safely ignored. Create a Boss-specific perk build.

Miniboss Fragments

The Region #1 minibosses are all fairly central. You’ll find them in normal exploration. They’re all souped-up versions of common enemies, so you’ll recognize the tactics. Here’s where they’re located on the map (look for the little boss head icons):

Secret Fragment

To reach the Region Boss, Dominion, Eshe will have to pass through a gauntlet of lasers. It’s a tricky room, but its patterns can quickly be mastered (unlike many areas, it doesn’t randomize after each death). To find the secret Elder Shard fragment, you need to work your way up to the top left of the room. Look for this pipe/platform:

Here’s where it is on your overworld map:

Region #2

Boss Elder Shard

Hysteria: the mechanized corpse of a dead giant, like a cross between Dog from Half-Life 2 and the Alien Space Jockey.

Those leg turrets regenerate, so they’re only worth targeting opportunistically. If you’re not on an approach vector, or within melee or cannon range of a vulnerable crystal, you’ll want to be on the ground. The key is to be on the ground for the big stomp, but out of reach of the actual attack, so get far away and prepare to jump over the cannon blast from its mouth (you’ll see the laser targeting right before). That will launch you into the air for another go at those crystals. It’s easy to focus too much on maintaining your position on useless platforms, instead of falling back and down to get a fresh upward launch.

Miniboss Fragments

Two of the Region #2 minibosses can be found to the right side of the “Vista” chamber (the glowing eye on your map), accessible from either the top or bottom (of three) chamber exits on the right wall. The third is very remote and a little trickier to find, all the way to the upper left, here:

Secret Fragment

This one’s in the same main chamber (you spend a lot of time here). It’s easier to get once fully unlocked, when all the stairwells and jumping platforms are available, but it’s possible to pick up this secret Elder Shard fragment by falling from the topmost entrance on the right, sliding down the wall until you encounter a little indentation or lip of rock that indicates the hidden space. Use your double or wall jump to get inside and reveal the hidden cavern.

And here’s where it is on your overworld map:

Region #3

Boss Elder Shard

Legion and Salvation, each a flying weapons platform, one tentacular and disturbingly sperm-y, the other a minigun, like Jesse Ventura in Predator, if he could fly. This one’s frustrating until you figure out the trick, then it becomes one of the easier fights. Damage either Legion or Salvation’s crystal enough and they’ll freeze in space. Freeze one, ignore the other and head for the center, where a big purple rock has lost its shield. That’s your target.

Miniboss Fragments

Region #3 is a gigantic, sprawling map that can be tricky to navigate. The first miniboss is easily accessible to the right of the first stop upward from ground level on the glowing, crystal elevator. The second is about halfway up the map and far off the right. The third miniboss can be found all the way at the top of the elevator, then immediately to the left.

Secret Fragment

The secret fragment in Region #3 is at the top of the map. Ride the elevator all the way up and step out to the left. Just outside the elevator, you’ll see Grappling Hook holds if you jump up. Grab hold and follow them up to a platform on the right side.

That’s all of ‘em! Now that you have all the Elder Shards, how will you spend them? Here’s our guide to the various corrupted and upgraded abilities.