Essences

Essences are motes of pure Elemental power, given to the Circle by the Elementals so that they may pass on their magical abilities to Warlocks. In gameplay terms, they are a type of equipment which allows a Warlock to cast more powerful Spells and Rituals. Up to three Essences may be equipped at a time.

## Lore

Before the formation of the Circle, the capabilities of a Warlock's magic were quite limited, as they had a weak connection to the Outer Spheres. When the Circle was formed, the Elementals each presented their favoured Magisters with a Primal Essence of immense power, which gave them a direct connection with their particular Sphere. These Essences were replicated over time with varying success.

## Acquisition

Players may obtain Essences from a variety of sources.

##### Crafting

Players can craft new Essences using the Essence Condenser. The player will first need to acquire an Essence of the same type they want to create at the tier below it, which will be consumed in the process. They will also require materials which are usually acquired from a related region. For example, an Umbral Essence may require Obsidian Shards, which are only obtainable in Tennaris.

##### Generic Loot

Essences can occasionally be dropped by enemy Warlock NPCs. The tier of the essence will be proportionate to the Warlock's level, and they will only drop Essences which they have equipped.

##### World Bosses

World bosses are guarenteed to drop Sundered Essences which correlate to their region. Bosses of a high Difficulty Rating have a small chance to drop more powerful Essences.

##### World Events

World Events will occasionally reward Essences to participating players upon completion. The type of Essence depends on the zone in which it is located, and the tier of the Essence depends on the Challenge Rating of the event.

##### PvP

Using an Essence Siphon on a downed enemy player will allow you to steal one of their equipped Essences.

## Mechanics

##### Spells

When the player equips an Essence, they will gain the ability to cast Spells of the same type. Doing so will consume the Essence, which will fade away for a short time before being ready to use again. The cooldown of an Essence depends on the Spell being cast.

In order to cast a Spell, the player much have an Essence of the required tier or higher equipped. If the player has multiple Essences of the same type equipped, the spell will consume the weakest possible Essence which is available.

##### Cantrips

When casting a Cantrip of the same type as an equipped Essence, its active cooldown will be reduced by 0.5 seconds.

## Anomalies

Some Essences possess special properties known as Anomalies. An Anomaly is a passive modifier which offers unique gameplay to casting Rituals and Spells. Anomalies can be positive, negative, or a mix of both. An Essence may only contain a single Anomaly at one time.

 Mute
 Inert
 Defiant
 Greedy
 Solitary
 Eager
 Biased
 Clown

##### Amalgamation

Players can remove, add or swap Anomalies using the Amalgamator inside their Tower. To learn how to add an Anomaly, it must be first researched at the Amalgamator, which destroys an existing Essence in the process. Once researched, that Anomaly can then be added to another Essence. The Amalgamator can also be used to purge an Essence of its Anomaly. The Anomaly will not be researched, but the Essence will not be destroyed by doing so.