Lies of P: How to Solve the Mechanical Cryptic Vessel Quest

You picked up the Mechanical Cryptic Vessel, nothing happened, and now the treasure hunt looks broken. It is not. This vessel is a four-step chain, and one easy-to-miss equipment check at the end is what actually gates the reward.

The short version

• Loot the chest in Arche Abbey Broken Rift to get the Mechanical Cryptic Vessel.
• Take it to Venigni at Hotel Krat to decode it.
• Travel to Collapsed Street via the Abandoned Apartment Stargazer and find the Wandering Merchant up the stairs past the archway.
• Equip Frozen Feast before you talk to him — this is the trigger.
• Reward: Red Fox's Hunting Apparel and a Quartz.

What the Mechanical Cryptic Vessel is

It is not a weapon, a Legion Arm part, or a stat item. It is a Cryptic Vessel: a collectible you find in the field, hand to Venigni to decipher, then cash in for a hidden reward. Picking it up gives you nothing on its own — the hunt only advances after the decode, and this particular vessel has a final interaction that depends on the boss weapon Frozen Feast. That is why so many players end up standing in the right spot with no progress prompt.

Where to find it in Arche Abbey Broken Rift

Start at the Arche Abbey Broken Rift Stargazer. From there, go through the archways and down the stairs, push through the doorways ahead, then climb the ladder. The chest holding the Mechanical Cryptic Vessel sits at the end of the room on the right.

The chest is not behind a puzzle or a secret wall — it is at the end of a short, dangerous approach. Clear the enemies before you open it. Lies of P is unforgiving during interaction animations, so grabbing the loot mid-fight usually ends with you clipped out of the prompt, burning healing charges, or dying with no progress. If you are underleveled, pull enemies back toward the stairs and wider ground instead of fighting in the tight forward space, then open the chest once the room is clear and confirm the vessel is in your inventory before you warp out.

Take it to Venigni first

Return to Hotel Krat and speak with Venigni. He is the NPC who decodes Cryptic Vessels, and the hunt does not move until he does. Do not leave Hotel Krat until the vessel is deciphered and you have the decoded clue — skip this and the merchant step later will simply do nothing.

Where the decoded clue sends you

The clue points to Collapsed Street. Warp to the Abandoned Apartment Stargazer, move into Collapsed Street, and follow the path to the archway and the stairs that climb to the Wandering Merchant. The target is not the merchant inside the house — that phrasing trips people up. Use the route as your marker: Abandoned Apartment → Collapsed Street → archway → up the stairs → Wandering Merchant.

Equip Frozen Feast — this is the trigger

Before you talk to the Wandering Merchant, equip Frozen Feast. Having it sitting in your inventory is not enough; it has to be the weapon you are actively wielding when the conversation starts. With it equipped, the merchant hands over the reward. If the interaction does not resolve, unequip and re-equip Frozen Feast, then speak again.

Frozen Feast is Champion Victor’s boss weapon. You get it by trading his Reborn Champion’s Ergo to Alidoro at Hotel Krat. If you have not assembled it yet, do that before you make the trip to Collapsed Street — arriving without the weapon equipped is the single most common reason this vessel stalls.

The reward

The Wandering Merchant gives you Red Fox's Hunting Apparel and a Quartz. The apparel is the cosmetic prize; the Quartz is the reason this hunt is worth finishing, because it feeds directly into your stat and P-Organ progression rather than just padding your inventory. For the full picture on where Frozen Feast stacks up among boss weapons, see our best weapons guide.

Common mistakes

• Assuming the pickup completes the quest. It does not. Go straight back to Venigni at Hotel Krat after looting the chest.
• Talking to the wrong merchant. The target is up the stairs past the archway in Collapsed Street, not the merchant inside the house.
• Reaching the merchant without Frozen Feast equipped. The weapon must be actively wielded, not just owned, when you start the conversation.
• Opening the chest mid-fight. Clear the room in Broken Rift first; interaction animations leave you wide open.

Practical takeaway

Treat it as a sequence, not a scavenger hunt: clear the room and loot the chest in Broken Rift, decode it with Venigni at Hotel Krat immediately, warp to the Abandoned Apartment, follow Collapsed Street up the stairs to the Wandering Merchant, and equip Frozen Feast before you speak. If anything fails, check the Frozen Feast equip first — it is the real gate on the reward.