Ascended Trinkets: A Quick, Easy Route

Why winterberries? A comparison

There are several ways to get ascended trinkets. Our recommendation for beginners is to gather Fresh Winterberries in Bitterfrost Frontier.

Benefits of the winterberry route

• No crafting required. Gather the currencies and buy directly from the vendor.
• Choose your stats. After buying the item, right-click it and select Customize to choose a stat combination.
• Each character has a separate reset. More characters let you gather more berries each day.
• No boss kill or party required. Find the bushes and gather. Avoid or defeat nearby enemies if they attack you.

Other routes at a glance

Recommendation: If you own HoT and this episode, start gathering winterberries for a ring. If you already have currencies from other content, check those rewards first.

Before you start

Prepare these four things before farming winterberries.

1. Unlock Living World Season 3 Episode 3

• Episode: A Crack in the Ice
• You need Heart of Thorns (HoT) and this episode to access Bitterfrost Frontier. For your first visit, progress through the Journey to Bitterfrost Frontier story step.
• Unlock cost: 200 gems (the individual Living World Season 3 episode price)
• Open H → Story Journal and check whether Season 3 Episode 3 is unlocked. Individual episodes can be unlocked there; season bundles are sold in the Gem Store.

2. A level 80 character

This is a level 80 zone. This guide assumes a level 80 character for gathering and using the portal scroll.

3. An orichalcum-grade harvesting sickle

• Winterberry bushes require an orichalcum-grade harvesting tool.
• Lower-grade tools can yield Ruined Plant Fiber, so use an orichalcum-grade tool or equivalent.
• Buy limited-use Orichalcum Harvesting Sickles from merchants in Bitterfrost Frontier or Lion's Arch.
• If you have an unlimited gathering tool from the Gem Store, you do not need a separate sickle.

4. Unlock access to Slooshoo's goods

• Slooshoo is a quaggan vendor in Sorrow's Eclipse Sanctuary.
• To buy trinkets from this vendor, you must unlock the ability to collect Unbound Magic.
• If you have completed the Season 3 story step Reaper of Magic, you already have access. Otherwise, buy Unbound Magic Gatherer from Slooshoo for 5 gold.

Farming route: a circuit of Bitterfrost

Bitterfrost Frontier has 21 winterberry nodes.

Suggested route

1. Start at Sorrow's Eclipse Waypoint.
2. Follow the solid red line in the image above and gather from the bushes.
3. Avoid enemies where possible, or use evade and defensive skills while focusing on gathering berries.
4. Once you know the route, aim for around 10 minutes. Your first runs may take longer while you find your way and deal with enemies.

Gathering rewards (per node)

• 1 Fresh Winterberry (guaranteed)
• An extra 1–2 Fresh Winterberries or 3–6 Dragonite Ore (random)
• 5–10 Unbound Magic (guaranteed)

Gathering all 21 nodes with one character

• Winterberries: 21 guaranteed berries plus extra drops. Your total depends on bonus rewards and additional gathers.
• Unbound Magic: 105–210 from the 21 base gathers. Bonus gathers and orbs add more.

Spending your berries: buying trinkets

Slooshoo is in Sorrow's Eclipse Sanctuary.

Available ascended trinkets

Suggested purchase order

1. First ring (Band): the cheapest option and a direct stat upgrade
2. Second ring (Band): attune only one of the two rings so you can equip a normal ring and an attuned ring together (see below)
3. Back item (Backpack): if you have not filled this slot, buy a stat-selectable ascended back item here
4. Accessory (Earring): fill another slot

When you need more Unbound Magic

• Double-click a winterberry in your inventory to consume it for 15–30 Unbound Magic.
• Keep the berries you need for equipment and consume extra berries to make up the missing Unbound Magic. For a ring, set aside 200 winterberries for the purchase.
• Collect purple orbs around the map for another 2–4 Unbound Magic each.

Unique restrictions and attuned rings

Check this before buying two rings.

The solution: attune one ring

Attuning a ring in the Mystic Forge changes its item ID, making it a different item. You can equip one ordinary ring and one attuned ring together.

Attuning recipe (Mystic Forge)

1. 1 ascended ring
2. 1 Agonized Essence: buy from INFUZ-5959 in the fractal lobby for 24 silver
3. 1 +1 Agony Infusion: obtain from fractal rewards or the Trading Post
4. 1 Philosopher's Stone: buy from Miyani beside the Mystic Forge with Spirit Shards

Required mastery

• Train Agony Channeler in Fractal Attunement to buy Agonized Essence.
• If you have not started fractals yet, train this mastery first.

Attuning also increases the ring's infusion slots from one to two.

Accessories and back items cannot be attuned

Only rings can be attuned. Fill your accessory slots with two different items. You can get the second accessory from another map vendor, a guild vendor, or another source.

Example: one Black Ice Earring from Bitterfrost plus a different accessory from another map

Using alts to gather more

Winterberry bushes have separate resets for each character. Using alts increases how much you can gather each day.

Minimum yield when gathering all 21 nodes

Getting alts to Bitterfrost

• Bitterfrost Frontier Portal Scroll: Buy from Slooshoo for 1,000 Unbound Magic + 50 silver. Use it to travel directly to the map.
• Season 3 Portal Tome: Costs 1,000 Unbound Magic + 1 gold. Buy each map's portal scroll separately and add it to the tome to access those destinations from one item.
• Teleport to Friend: With the episode unlocked on your account, teleport to a party or squad member who is already in Bitterfrost
• Unlock a waypoint: Once a character has visited the map and unlocked a waypoint, that character can travel there from the world map

Do you need a Thaw Elixir?

You do not need one for the normal winterberry gathering route. Prepare one when you need to enter the Bitter Cold.

A Thaw Elixir protects you from the Bitter Cold. After completing Elixir Cookin' on that character, gather the ingredients and brew it at the hot springs in Blister Cauldron, in the southeast of the map.

Use it when the story or achievements take you into the Bitter Cold. Brewing it applies the effect immediately.

Next: fill your remaining trinket slots

After getting two rings, one accessory, and a back item from Bitterfrost, you still need one accessory and one amulet.

Suggested sources by slot

Which trinket slots other maps offer

For your second accessory, we recommend Sparking Petrified Wood from Ember Bay. Each map sells different equipment types. Check whether you are buying an amulet or an accessory.

• Ember Bay (LWS3 Episode 2): Scholar Surra sells the Sparking Petrified Wood accessory for 150 Petrified Wood + 4,000 Unbound Magic.
• Draconis Mons (LWS3 Episode 5): Supplymaster Hanjo sells a ring and an amulet.
• Siren's Landing (LWS3 Episode 6): Provisioner Anlana sells the Coral Choker amulet.
• Before buying: Check that the item type is Accessory.