Exclusive Karma cards are some of the most powerful upgrades you can chase in DragonSword: Awakening, and Fragments of Afterimage are the material standing between you and a fully maxed-out roster. The problem is that these fragments don't drop from quests like most other resources. They require a specific transmutation chain that new players often miss entirely.
How do you get Fragments of Afterimage?
Fragments of Afterimage cannot be found in the world or earned through standard quests. The only way to obtain them is through transmutation at Shanoa the Alchemist, located at Orbis Royal Castle near the cathedral. Her shop icon is visible from the moment you arrive, so finding her isn't the hurdle.
The real challenge is gathering what she needs. Each transmutation costs:
- 1 Whirling Thoughts
- 100 Fragments of Memory
- 100,000 gold
That cost adds up fast when you consider the full scope of what's needed. Maxing out all exclusive Karma cards requires a total of 128 Fragments of Afterimage and over 10,000 Fragments of Memory. Each character's exclusive Karma card demands 7 fragments (600 Fragments of Memory) to fully unlock, with Hero Quest cards requiring slightly less at 6 fragments (500 Fragments of Memory).
Shanoa's transmutation shop
How do you get Whirling Thoughts?
Whirling Thoughts are the bottleneck in this entire farming chain. They come exclusively from Tower of Trials, the game's timed-combat mode. You unlock it by speaking to Cerese and completing the Bond Quest during the game's third main chapter.
The Tower of Trials has three variants:
Climbing all floors across all three variants can yield over 160 Whirling Thoughts in total. Each variant also rewards over 2,600 Fragments of Memory, making the Tower your primary late-game source for both materials at once.
90-second floor clear timer
How do you farm Fragments of Memory efficiently?
Fragments of Memory feed every transmutation, so running low on them will stall your Karma progress entirely. The Tower of Trials is the best repeatable source in the late game, but several other methods contribute while you're still working toward it.
All Fragments of Memory sources:
- Climbing Tower of Gale, Tower of Amplitude, and Tower of Crushing (2,600+ per variant)
- Opening treasure chests of any rarity
- Reaching new Mercenary Corps level milestones
- Completing quests
- Clearing stages and challenges for the first time
The first-clear rewards dry up eventually, so the Tower becomes your long-term plan. Chest hunting is worth doing on the side, especially early on when the Tower isn't available yet.
Full farming route at a glance
Here's the complete loop once you have Tower of Trials unlocked:
- Run all three Tower of Trials variants and complete floors within 90 seconds for full rewards
- Collect Whirling Thoughts and Fragments of Memory from each variant
- Visit Shanoa the Alchemist at Orbis Royal Castle
- Transmute 1 Whirling Thoughts + 100 Fragments of Memory + 100,000 gold per Fragment of Afterimage
- Use Fragments of Afterimage to unlock and upgrade character-exclusive Karma cards
Since each exclusive Karma card needs 7 Fragments of Afterimage (or 6 for Hero Quest cards), you'll be running this loop repeatedly. The 128-fragment total to max everything out means the Tower grind is a long-term commitment, not a one-session job.
What should you prioritize first?
With 128 Fragments of Afterimage needed to max the full roster, you're not going to do this overnight. The smarter approach is to pick two or three characters you're actively using and push their Karma cards to completion before spreading resources thin.
For players still working through the hero upgrade systems like Breakthrough and Awakening, it's worth getting those foundational upgrades sorted first. Karma cards amplify a hero's existing kit, so a hero with strong base stats benefits more from exclusive Karma than one who hasn't been upgraded yet.
The Tower of Trials is also a good benchmark for where your party stands. If you're struggling to clear floors within 90 seconds, that's a signal to invest in upgrades before doubling down on the Karma grind. Check the full DragonSword: Awakening strategy guides for more ways to strengthen your roster before tackling the Tower's upper floors.