Halcyon is the rarest upgrade material in Saros, and the game does a poor job of explaining where it actually comes from. You need it to unlock the purple nodes on the Armor Matrix skill tree, and without a steady supply, your build progression stalls out fast. Here's everything you need to know to farm it efficiently and spend it wisely.
What is Halcyon in Saros?
Halcyon is a permanent upgrade material used exclusively at the Armor Matrix in the Passage. Spend it on the purple nodes in the skill tree to unlock abilities and passive bonuses that carry across every run. According to IGN's wiki, it appears as a white-and-purple orb floating in the air, and the moment you pick one up it's stored permanently. You can't lose Halcyon on death, which makes it one of the safest resources in the game to chase.
The catch is that each biome contains a fixed number of Halcyon collectibles. Once you've grabbed them all, that biome's supply is exhausted until you move on to the next region.
Armor Matrix purple node upgrades
Where to find Halcyon in Saros
Multiple sources confirm there are several distinct ways to pick up Halcyon during a run.
Red chests during an Eclipse
According to Shacknews, red chests are the most reliable repeatable source. They appear during an Eclipse event, and while the drop isn't guaranteed, consistently entering the Eclipse zone each run and opening every red chest you find is the best farming loop available. Running an easier cycle repeatedly is a valid strategy if you're short on Halcyon early.
Boss tunnels and first-time kills
Defeating a boss for the first time rewards a small amount of Halcyon. Shacknews notes this doesn't scale into a repeatable farm since it's a one-time reward per boss, but it's worth knowing you'll get a burst of Halcyon from each new encounter.
Containers, side rooms, and Alpha enemies
As documented by VGC, Halcyon can also drop from containers, appear as ground loot in optional side rooms (marked with a white flag), and drop from Alpha enemies. Some side rooms are locked behind yellow barriers, so clearing those access requirements pays off.
Nightmare Strands
IGN's wiki highlights Nightmare Strands as a high-yield source. These optional locations are only accessible during an Eclipse, making them genuinely difficult to complete, but Halcyon appears as the final reward at the end of each one. If you can survive a Nightmare Strand, it's worth the detour.
Container choice rewards
Sometimes Halcyon appears as one of two container reward options alongside a weapon pickup, an Aether heal, or a Power Weapon. IGN recommends always choosing the Halcyon in these situations, and based on how scarce it is compared to those other rewards, that advice holds up.
Red chest Halcyon drop
Permanent Equipment and side paths
Some Halcyon is locked behind side paths that require specific Permanent Equipment items. If you haven't unlocked every piece of Permanent Equipment for your Enforcer Armor yet, IGN suggests focusing on the main story first to acquire them, then returning to earlier biomes to clear those blocked-off routes.
How to check remaining Halcyon in each biome
Speak with Primary in the Passage and hover over any biome on the World Dial. This shows exactly how many Halcyon remain in that region alongside other collectibles. If the counter is still above zero, there's more to find.
VGC notes that some players have found their Halcyon trackers reading above the listed biome cap (for example, 26 out of 24). This suggests that repeatable sources like Nightmare Strands and Alpha enemy drops may not count toward the biome limit, though this hasn't been officially confirmed.
All Halcyon biome totals
Here's the full breakdown of how many Halcyon are available per biome, as documented by IGN's Saros wiki:
VGC also notes that the final area of the game contains 70 pieces of Halcyon, though you won't collect all of them in a single run. Completing the skill tree with Lucenite will likely happen before you need to fill the remaining nodes with Halcyon, so maxing out Halcyon collectibles is more of a completionist endgame goal.
What should you spend Halcyon on first?
Every purple node in the Armor Matrix costs at least one Halcyon. Since supply is tight in the early game, prioritize carefully.
Shacknews specifically calls out two early purchases worth making:
- Lucenite Saver: Reduces how much Lucenite you lose on death. Given how often Saros sends you back to the Passage, this pays for itself quickly.
- Restoration Upgrade: Improves the effectiveness of Aether. Better healing directly translates to surviving longer runs.
IGN's wiki adds several other notable purple upgrades to work toward: Second Chance (a second life mechanic), Attribute Enhancers, additional Artifact Slots, and Hostile Lucenite Extraction upgrades. These are mid-to-late tree investments, but they're the ones that meaningfully change how your runs feel.
Don't spend Halcyon on purple nodes you haven't thought through. The supply is limited per biome, and some of the later upgrades provide far more value than early convenience nodes.
For more Saros tips and the rest of the game's systems explained, browse more guides on GAMES.GG.
