When I first made it to the mid-game of Enshrouded, I spent three whole in-game days trying to craft the Flame Ward armor set, only to hit a wall over and over. I had all the base materials, but I couldn’t make the enchanted ingots the recipe required, no matter which crafting station I tried. It wasn’t until I asked a more experienced player in my co-op group that I learned I was missing one key station entirely. This guide breaks down exactly how to get athanor enshrouded, plus what you need to use it to its full potential so you don’t waste time like I did.
What You Need Before You Can Get Athanor in Enshrouded
You can’t rush unlocking the Athanor, no matter how badly you want those endgame crafts. There are two non-negotiable prerequisites you have to hit first, or you won’t even be able to access the recipe. Skipping these steps will just leave you wandering the map confused, so make sure you check these off your list first.
First, you need to have your Flame Altar upgraded to Level 4. This upgrade unlocks access to level 3 shroud zones, which you’ll need to farm for rare materials required for the Athanor. It also boosts your shroud resistance enough that you can stay in those mid-game zones long enough to farm what you need without dying constantly.
Second, you need to have rescued the Alchemist NPC from his cage in the Revelwood region. He’s tucked in a small outpost on the eastern edge of Revelwood, guarded by a handful of low-level shroud enemies. Once you free him and set up his station at your base, he’ll give you the Athanor crafting recipe automatically as part of his initial quest line. There’s no way to get the recipe without him, so don’t waste time trying to find it in chests or as enemy drops.
You’ll also need to have basic crafting stations unlocked already, including the Furnace, Alchemy Station, and Blacksmith. You’ll use these to process raw materials into the components you need for the Athanor itself.
Step-by-Step Process to Craft Your Athanor
Once you have the recipe from the Alchemist, the next step is gathering all the required materials. If you’ve been exploring the mid-game areas at all, you probably already have some of these in your storage chests. For the rarer materials, I’ve included quick farm tips next to each list item to cut down your grind time.
- 20 Iron Bars: Smelted from Iron Ore you can farm in northern mountain regions or mid-level cave systems. If you have a pickaxe with a mining speed buff, you can gather enough ore for 20 bars in less than 10 minutes.
- 5 Enchanted Dust: Dropped by magical enemies like Wisps or Shamans, or crafted from broken magical gear at the Alchemy Station. If you’ve been saving old magic weapons you don’t use, this is the perfect time to break them down for free dust.
- 3 Shroud Cores: Dropped by elite shroud enemies, most commonly found in level 3+ shroud zones near the Revelwood border. Each elite has a 75% drop rate for a core, so you won’t have to kill too many to hit your quota.
- 10 Charcoal: Made by burning regular wood in a Furnace, super easy to farm in bulk from any forest area. I always keep a stack of 50+ charcoal in my storage for random crafts like this.
- 2 Glass Sheets: Smelted from Sand you collect on riverbanks, crafted at the Furnace with a high heat setting. The river just south of your starting base has more than enough sand for these, so you won’t have to travel far.
Once you have all these materials in your inventory, head to the Alchemist’s crafting menu, select the Athanor, and hit craft. The whole process takes 30 in-game seconds, so you’ll have your new station ready to place in no time. If you've been following along, you already have all the prerequisites sorted, so you're halfway to figuring out how to get athanor enshrouded without the frustration I faced my first playthrough.
Best Locations to Farm Rare Athanor Materials Fast
If you’re struggling to find the rarer materials like Enchanted Dust or Shroud Cores, these farm spots will cut your grind time in half. I’ve tested all of these across multiple playthroughs, and they’re the most consistent spots I’ve found so far.
For Enchanted Dust, the best spot by far is the Wisp Grove just west of the Revelwood fast travel point. Wisps spawn there in groups of 3-4 every 10 in-game minutes, and each drops 1-2 Enchanted Dust. You don't need to bring heavy damage gear here – wisps are low health, just bring a fire weapon to take them down fast, since they’re weak to fire damage. I can farm 20+ dust in 15 minutes at this spot, which is more than enough for multiple Athanor crafts if you’re playing co-op.
For Shroud Cores, head to the abandoned mine in the southern part of the Kindlewastes border. There are 3 elite shroud enemies that spawn there on a loop, and each has a 75% drop rate for a Shroud Core. I usually farm 6 cores in under 20 minutes there, which is way faster than wandering random shroud zones. Just make sure you bring a weapon with high void damage to take down the elites quickly, and stock up on healing potions before you go.
If you’re short on Iron Ore, the northern slopes just south of the Frost Spire have more iron nodes than you can count. Bring a pickaxe with a mining speed buff, and you can get 40 iron ore in 10 minutes easily. If you’re playing with friends, split up to farm materials – one person can get ore and sand, another can farm wisps, and the third can take on shroud elites. You’ll have all materials for your Athanor in half the time.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Your New Athanor
Getting your Athanor built is only half the battle. A lot of new players make simple mistakes that waste materials or stop their station from working entirely, so keep these tips in mind when you set yours up.
The most common mistake I see is placing the Athanor too close to other heat-generating stations like the Furnace or Blacksmith. The Athanor needs at least 2 blocks of empty space on all sides to work properly, otherwise it will overheat and stop crafting mid-process, wasting all your materials. I learned this the hard way when I lost 3 enchanted ingots because I crammed it next to my smelter on my first playthrough.
Another mistake is using low-quality fuel to power the Athanor. You can’t use regular wood to run it at all – it only accepts Charcoal, Coal, or Enchanted Coal. For high-tier crafts that take 10+ minutes to complete, use Enchanted Coal to cut crafting time by 50%. It’s worth the extra cost to avoid waiting around for crafts to finish when you’re gearing up for a boss fight.
Don’t forget to unlock upgrades for your Athanor as you progress further into the game. Once you beat the first major boss in the Kindlewastes, the Alchemist will sell upgrade recipes for the Athanor that let you craft higher level gear, like the legendary void armor sets. These upgrades cost a bit of rare material, but they make the Athanor 3x more useful in the endgame, so they’re well worth the investment.
Finally, if you’re moving your base, make sure to pick up the Athanor first before breaking any surrounding blocks. It can break if it’s not supported properly, and you’ll have to gather all the materials and craft it all over again. It’s a small hassle to move it first, but it’s way better than redoing hours of farming.
Getting the Athanor is one of the biggest power spikes you can get in Enshrouded, opening up access to all the best gear and upgrades that make late-game content feel far more manageable. It might feel like a lot of work to unlock at first, but the payoff is more than worth the time you spend farming materials and hitting prerequisites. Once you know how to get athanor enshrouded and avoid the common pitfalls that trip up new players, you’ll be cranking out endgame gear in no time. If you have your own favorite farm spots for Athanor materials, drop them in the comments below to help other players out.