Time Shards

* 8-Bit (Individual)
* 16-Bit (Individual)
* 8-Bit (Big)
* 16-Bit (Big)

### Instruction Booklet Description

A currency that can be used to purchase abilities and upgrades from The Shopkeeper.

**Time Shards** are a collectible currency found scattered around the world in The Messenger. Individual Time Shards are orange-yellow crystals that float in midair, while Big Time Shards are very large orange-yellow crystals attached to the ground that release many individual Time Shards upon being attacked until they are depleted.

Time Shards can be obtained by touching them in the overworld, attacking lanterns, attacking Big Time Shards, and killing enemies. The currency is spent at the shop in order to purchase shop upgrades, or reveal hint locations for The Prophet's prophecy. They can also be thrown away into the Money Sink that appears after buying all of the available upgrades (Version 1.0.4) or spent for toys from The Craftsman's Corner (Version 2.0.2 or higher). Additionally, as payment for revival, Quarble eats Ninja's Time Shards.

## Notes

* Time Shards released from lanterns, Big Time Shards, and enemies automatically fly into Ninja and increment his Time Shard counter.
	+ Space Shooter Enemies are an exception to the rule, and their Time Shards remain in place and must be manually collected.
* Lanterns will either drop health, 5 Ki charges, or 3 Time Shards.
	+ If the Windmill Shuriken is equipped, then lanterns that are filled with Ki charges will instead drop 3 Time Shards.
* Typically, enemies drop 1 health, 1 Ki charge, 1 Time Shard, or nothing.
	+ If the Windmill Shuriken is equipped, then enemies no longer drop Ki charges.
	+ Space Shooter Enemies always drop predetermined amounts of Time Shards. Space Shooter Sin Enemy drops 1 Time Shard, Space Shooter Baisc Enemy drops a ring of 6 Time Shards (0 in the Clockwork Concierge boss fight), and Space Shooter Cannon drops 0 Time Shards.
	+ Voodkins never drop anything, including Time Shards.
* Big Time Shards have 15 HP and drop a total of 65 Time Shards. They respawn when the player either switches between areas or restarts the game.

## Farming Time Shards

The fastest way to farm Time Shards is to break a Big Time Shard near a checkpoint, save at that checkpoint, quit to the main menu, and then load the save file. This will replenish all Big Time Shards and allow the player to destroy them again. Switching between areas (for example, switching between Forlorn Temple and Autumn Hills) will also replenish Big Time Shards.

Good farming locations include:

* One Big Time Shard above the leftmost checkpoint of Forlorn Temple. This location is useful for farming early-game shop upgrades but is otherwise slow compared to other options.
* One Big Time Shard below the rightmost checkpoint of Bamboo Creek.
* Two Big Time Shards above the rightmost checkpoint of Cloud Ruins.
* Two Big Time Shards right of the checkpoint below the second Voodoo Mask Piece in Fire Mountain.

## Trivia

* According to Thierry Boulanger, the main director and writer of the game, only those who carry the scroll or are in The Void can see Time Shards. The two Ranged Kappa killed by The Bowman in the beginning of the game were not supposed to drop Time Shards since it contradicts the lore.
* There are wind tunnels in Autumn Hills and in Searing Crags that have Time Shard-filled lanterns. If you build up enough upward speed and attack the lanterns, sometimes the Time Shards fail to fly into Ninja and remain stuck in midair near the lanterns.
* A DevolverDigital Twitch stream titled "Sneak Peek at The Messenger!" showcases a beta version of the Big Time Shard. The beta Big Time Shard released Time Shards that fell to the ground where they had to be manually collected, rather than automatically flying into Ninja like the final game.

## Achievements

*For the main article, see Achievements.*

## Gallery

Time Shard 8-bit spritesheet.Time Shard 16-bit spritesheet.Time Shard collection spritesheet.Big Time Shard 8-bit spritesheet.8-bit spritesheet of a Big Time Shard being attacked.8-bit spritesheet of a Big Time Shard being attacked.Big Time Shard 16-bit spritesheet.16-bit spritesheet of a Big Time Shard being attacked.16-bit spritesheet of a Big Time Shard being attacked.An example of a Big Time Shard in Bamboo Creek.An example of a Big Time Shard in Glacial Peak.An example of a Big Time Shard in Sunken Shrine.Time Shards that encourage the player to jump down the waterfall.Time Shards that form an arrow pointing upward.
## References

1. ↑ Thierry's Lore Tidbits#January 16, 2019
2. ↑ https://www.twitch.tv/videos/241283423?t=0h14m34s