A quick guide to farming Zskera Vault Keys to open up all those doors!

Every time there is new content in WoW, it can initially feel a little overwhelming. It seems like every mob I kill drops some new currency, and I have no idea why I want it — and that is exactly how the Zsekra Vaults felt my first time. However, now that I’ve played around in the vaults a little, I’ve learned that I want to get more keys. In this guide, I want to walk through how you and I, can get more juicy Zskera Vault Keys and some addons that can help.
What is Zskera Vault Keys?
Zskera Vault Keys is an item you will need to open Zskera Vault doors in World of Warcraft. Each door you unlock will consume one key. Opening a door gives you access to puzzles and loot that can power your Onyx Annulet ring. You can get more keys from treasures, quests, enemies, and items found in the Forbidden Reach.
Suggested Article: How to Get to the Forbidden Reach
In the rest of this guide, I will walk you through the specific ways to farm Zskera Vault Keys. Let’s jump in!
1. Rare monsters
One of the main ways you will earn keys is by killing rares around the Forbidden Reach. Each rare can be defeated once a day for a chance at a key.
You can find rares by keeping an eye out for icons with a yellow star surrounded by a silver dragon on your map.
There are dozens of rares spread across the Reach, so instead of listing each one, I highly recommend you download the HandyNotes and HandyNotes: Dragonflight addons. These will make your life so much easier by placing blue skulls on your map at rare spawn points.
I also really like the addons because, if you hover over the skulls, it tells you how to summon/find the rare. Even better, once you defeat a rare for the day, HandyNotes removes it from the map until everything resets the next day so you know which ones you still need today!
I can’t play without HandyNotes!
2. Forbidden Reach mobs
In addition to rares, you can also get Zsekra Vault Keys on occasion from random mobs across the Forbidden Reach. These have a much lower chance of dropping keys, but some players have reported reasonable success farming elites in the War Creche area which can be entered at /way 51.8, 60.0.
3. Treasure chests
Like any other zone in World of Warcraft, the Forbidden Reach is littered with treasure chests for you to unlock. Each time you open one, you have a shot at a Zsekra Vault key.
Large treasures will appear on your minimap, but smaller ones will not.
To see the smaller chests, you can use the HandyNotes addons I mentioned above, or you can buy a Reliquary Scroll of Perception from Cataloger Daela in Morqut Village (/way 34.3, 60.0). Buying the scroll costs 2,000 Elemental Overflow and will place the treasure locations on your map for 1 hour.
Personally, I think buying the scroll is a waste of overflow because there is a much better way to spend it which we’ll talk about now.
4. Sack of Oddities [Chance to Drop Zskera Vault Keys]
Cataloger Daela sells another item that is great for farming keys. It is called the Sack of Oddities.
The Sack of Oddities costs 2,000 overflow, but it has a chance to contain a Zskera Vault Key inside. Based on player reports, the drop rate seems to be about 1 in 3, but you could obviously be more or less lucky.
If you are sitting on a bunch of Elemental Overflow, this is a good way to offload some to pick up some keys.
5. Faction surplus chests
The other Renown Envoy members you find near Daela also have “surplus” items that can contain keys.
To get these items, you’ll need to collect the appropriate currency and exchange it with one of the envoy NPCs. When I was playing the other day, I saw a red X on my minimap for a “Wonderous Fish.”
I traveled to the marker and collected a glowing fish out of the water. From there, I was able to turn it into the Tuskarr envoy for an Iskaar Surplus Bag.
Here is a table that shows which items you can exchange for a surplus bag and shot at a vault key.
Currency | NPC | Received Item |
---|---|---|
Draconic Artifact | Cataloger Daela | Dragonscale Surplus Crate |
Wondrous Fish | Turik | Iskaara Surplus Bag |
Token of Blessing | Storykeeper Ashekh | Maruuk Surplus Bundle |
Mysterious Writings | Kraxxus | Valdrakken Surplus Chest |
6. One-time quests and key funneling
If you have already jumped into the Zsekra Vaults, you probably already know this. However, for completeness’ sake, I figure it is worth pointing out that you will receive 6 Zskera Vault Keys when you do the Forbidden Reach introduction questline.
If you have max-level alts, you can take advantage of the fact that keys are bind on account, complete the introduction quests, and funnel them to your main character!
7. Weekly quests that award Zskera Vault Keys
In addition to the one-time quest, you can also get keys occasionally from weekly quests in your vault. My vault this week contained a quest called Primordial Answers which rewarded a single Zskera Vault Key!
Final Thoughts
If you are looking to farm cataloged research, the best thing to do is focus on collecting treasures, killing rares, and spending Elemental Overflow on the Sack of Oddities.
When I wrote this guide, it seemed pretty easy to farm the keys, but that could obviously change so may as well start farming now! I hope this was helpful!
Thanks for reading!
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