One of the first big challenges players face when playing Nightingale is the task of acquiring the Antiquarian Card. Without this item, players are unable to continue on to another realm, so it's important to obtain it as soon as possible. But just how do you get the Antiquarian Card? Turns out it's a rather involved process that includes fighting a boss, gathering materials, and building specific workstations.
I'm here to help. In this page, I'll go over everything you need to do, craft, and, build in order to get the Nightingale Antiquarian Card.
Nightingale: How to get the Antiquarian card
You will need to go to the Antiquarian Site of Power located on the map before you can get the Antiquarian Card. This is the ancient temple-like structure that will be somewhere on your procedurally generated map. Your map might be in a different biome (forest, swamp, or desert) than what's shown in my pictures depending on where you told Puck you wanted to go.
Step 1: Get your gear rating up to 20
You must have an Equipment Rating of 20 (you can check your rating in the Inventory menu) in order to enter the Site of Power. If your gear isn't up to snuff then you need to build a Sewing Bench to craft better clothes as well as Workbench to craft better tools (Simple tools).
The Sewing Machine can be purchased from the Essence Trader at the base of the Site of Power. Note that you will need to have a lot of Hides on you from defeating animals in order to craft Simple Clothing gear upgrades.
Step 2: Enter the Site of Power at the top of the temple
Somewhere on the procedurally generated map, there will be a large ancient temple-like structure known as a Site of Power. Somewhere near the base of this building, there should be some NPCs. You should be able to recruit one to travel and fight alongside you. Recruit them now if you haven't done so yet.
With your NPC buddy in tow, run up the stairs outside of this building and enter the opening near the top. Don't be phased by the orange electrical current over the entry, you can walk right through the entrance without getting hurt.
Make your way down the stairs and defeat any Bound enemies you come across along the way. If you have recruited someone before this, it will be easier to take these baddies down. There will be quite a few of the Bound here, so make sure to repair your weapons and tools using Essence if necessary by right-clicking on a tool in your inventory and then clicking Repair.
Continue on your way through the building until you get to an alter and interact with it. This will make a Fabled Automaton Knight boss appear, which you will need to defeat. I found it was easy to beat with the Simple Mining Pick which knocked large chunks off of its health bar. This boss hits hard, so eat food or take potions to regain health when necessary.
After beating this boss, interact with the alter and then talk to Puck when he appears to get the Antiquarian Card blueprint and some reward materials.
Step 3: Craft the Antiquarian Card
This is where things get a bit tricky. You're going to need to do a lot of crafting at different workstations in order to get the Antiquarian Card.
If you haven't done so yet, go to the Essence Trader at the base of the Site of Power temple and purchase the blueprints for the Simple Enchanter's Focus, the Mortar Station, the Simple Saw Table, and any other Refined or Crude workstations you haven't acquired yet.
If you need more Essence to purchase things from the Trader, quickly gather sticks, fiber, and rocks. Then go into your Inventory, right-click on a material, and select Extract to convert it to Essence.
Pro tip: I suggest building the Simple Saw Table first. You'll need to craft Lumber from it before you can build other workstations.
In order to open the portal you need both an Antiquarian Card and a Forest Card. Both can be crafted at the Simple Enchanter's Focus. For the Antiquarian Card you will need:
- 1 x Paper
- 1 x Alchemical Ink
- 25 x Essence
For the Forest Card, you will need:
- 1 x Paper
- 1 x Alchemical Ink
Note that Paper is crafted at a Simple Saw Table using two Wood Bundles, which is easy enough to gather after using an axe on a tree.
Meanwhile, Alchemical Ink is crafted via a Mortar Station. You will first need to craft pigment by supplying various materials you've gathered into the Mortar Station. Then you can use the pigment to craft ink.
Finally, Essence can be obtained by selecting Extract on items in your inventory. It can also be collected from treasure chests or can be dropped after felling trees or killing enemies.
Step 4: Activate the portal using the Antiquarian Card
Each map is procedurally generated and will look different from one player to another. However, you should still be able to check your map and locate the icon for the portal regardless of what map you're on. Head that direction and get to the portal.
Once there, interact with the mechanism and place the Antiquarian Card and the Forest Card to activate the portal. From there, you're good to pass through and see what else Nightingale has in store for you.
Now continue exploring the Fae Realms!
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With the Antiquarian Card and Forest Card in tow, you can activate the portal and continue on to the next stage of your adventure. This will lead you to a new biome that you haven't visited yet with additional characters to interact with. The wide, bizarre, and haunting world of Nightingale awaits, so make sure to upgrade your gear as often as possible and have plenty of Essence on hand to repair tools if needed.
Something you quickly learn from this task is that it takes a lot of different workstations in Nightingale in order to have all of the materials you need to craft items. As such, you'll want to unlock as many blueprints for additional workstations as possible as you continue throughout your journey. So, whenever you see an Essence Trader, stop by and acquire anything you don't have yet.
