Where to find Pointed Scales and Crustaceous Moss in Wild Hearts

Upgrading your Wild Hearts weapons and crafting new armor requires parts from the giant Kemono you hunt along with materials from each region you visit — stuff like ores or parts from small Kemono. Killing the next giant Kemono unlocks the next set of armor or tier of weapon upgrades, but figuring out where to find those other materials is a lot harder.

Two armor and upgrade materials you’ll be looking for early in the game are Pointed Scales and Crustaceous Moss. Our Wild Hearts Pointed Scales and Crustaceous Moss guide will tell you how and where to find them, and give a couple tips for how to find similar small Kemono materials across Azuma.

Why you’ll need Pointed Scales and Crustaceous Moss in Wild Hearts

After you kill your first Sapscourge in Harugasami Way during chapter one, “Azuma, Land of the East,” you’ll open up the upgrade path to turn an Edgestone weapon into an Intoxicating Birch weapon. You’ll have the various Sapscourge parts, but you won’t pick up any of the Pointed Scales you need for a while.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo/Electronic Arts via Polygon

You’ll be able to make the beach-themed Ocean Wave armor set once you reach Natsukodachi Isle (The Spirit Isle) in the second half of chapter one. You won’t need giant Kemono parts for it, but you will need some Crustaceous Moss.

Where to find Pointed Scales and Crustaceous Moss in Wild Hearts

Some crafting materials, like Mirrorstone and Lightstone, can be collected just by exploring the new regions you unlock. Other materials come from either killing or petting small Kemono.

Just like the ores, small Kemono vary between regions. So finding Pointed Scales and Crustaceous Moss depends on what region of Azura you’re in.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo/Electronic Arts via Polygon

Crustaceous Moss comes from Grassghoul Decapods that you’ll encounter in the latter half of chapter one when you get to Natsukodachi Isle (The Spirit Isle). You’ll get Crustaceous Moss every time you pet them, or some of the time when you kill (slay) them.

Natsukodachi Isle (The Spirit Isle) is also where you’ll find Snapspine Wisps that drop Snapspine Cotton when you kill them. You’ll need that for the Ocean Wave Momohiki leg armor. They’re found in a narrow canyon on the east side of the island.

Pointed Scales are dropped by Nightshade Monitors or Shardshower Monitors when you kill them. You’ll find Nightshade Monitors in Akikure Canyon that unlocks at the beginning of chapter two, “Ancient Technology.” Shardshower Monitors show up in Fuyufusagi Fort that unlocks in the second half of chapter two.

Small Kemono: to pet or to slay?

Depending on how closely you paid attention in the tutorial, you might not have noticed that you have two options for interacting with small Kemono.

If you approach a small Kemono while crouching and remaining unnoticed, you’ll get the option to pet them by hitting L2. “Unnoticed” here just means, basically, not sprinting straight at their face — there’s a lot of wiggle room in their awareness of you.

Image: Omega Force/Koei Tecmo/Electronic Arts via Polygon

Petting and slaying the small Kemono drop different materials — kind of like how attacking different parts of the giant Kemono drop different stuff. You can see what you’ll get in your Cyclopedia under the Small Kemono tab. In the upper right, the material next to the sword icon is what you’ll get for slaying (killing) them, and the material next to the hand is what you’ll get for sneaking up and petting them.

You’ll also get the Tender Touch achievement or trophy for petting 30 small Kemono.

For more help with Wild Hearts, read our beginners guide and explainers on multiplayer, fast travel, stamina, and building camps.