Chaos Zero Nightmare Material Farming Routes and Drop Tables

Chaos Zero Nightmare’s best material routes change as you level: Simulations carry early/mid game, but once you hit Captain 40, Chaos/Zero stages become your primary source for almost everything, especially Memory Fragments and Chaos Orbs. Farming below the right difficulty is the main way players waste Aether.​​

Core simulations and what they drop

The main Simulations are your baseline material sources and your early leveling engine.

• Growth / Promotion / Potential sims
  • Growth sims drop Combatant EXP manuals, promotion mats, and Potential materials, and give fixed Captain EXP per Aether (e.g., 400 EXP per 20 Aether, 1,200 EXP per 60).​​
  • Early guides recommend focusing here until your core trio is promoted and you’re gated more by content than raw stats.​​
• Memory Fragment Simulation (gear)
  • Unlocks at Captain 25 and drops set‑specific Memory Fragments (gear) for 60 Aether per run, with higher difficulty increasing rarity and adding Particles of Memory at the top.​
  • Early on (around Difficulty 1–4), it mostly drops Blue gear; LDShop and other guides say to farm it only enough to:
    • Complete the “12 runs” Growth quest.
    • Get 1 Attack set for your main DPS and 1 HP/DEF set for supports.​
  • Over‑farming low‑tier Memory Sim is called out as “arguably the least efficient method” once you’re past that point.​​

Use sims early for EXP, promotion, Potentials and minimal gear, but plan to move your heavy gear farming into Chaos/Zero later.​​

Memory Fragments and where to farm them

Memory Fragments are your gear pieces; farming them efficiently is key.

• Early/mid game (pre‑40)
  • Best practice:
    • Run Memory Fragment Sim to Difficulty 5 just enough to activate set bonuses (Attack on DPS, HP/DEF on supports).​​
    • Stop once you have basic sets; continue pushing account level and story instead of chasing perfect substats.​​
• Late game (40+): Zero System Chaos vs Sim
  • Once you unlock the level‑40 tier (e.g., Sim level 5+ and Zero System difficulties), legendary drop rates jump “exponentially” as you go higher.​
  • Multiple creators and written guides agree:
    • Past 40, Zero System Chaos stages are the real best source of Memory Fragments and Particles, not Sim.​​
    • You also collect Chaos Orbs and other pricey mats in the same run, making your Aether much more efficient.​​
  • Recommended route from LDShop’s 4‑step plan:
    • Step 1: short farm of Sim D5 for basic sets.
    • Step 2+: transition to Zero System Chaos as your primary Memory farm and stop burning Aether in low‑tier Sim.​​

In short: Sim only for starter sets and quests; serious Memory farming belongs in high‑difficulty Zero/Chaos once you’re 40+.​​

EXP, Captain Level, and what to farm for levels

Account XP comes from Aether spending and Chaos/Zero clears.

• EXP per Aether
  • Simulations give 400 XP per 20 Aether, 1,200 XP per 60, regardless of stage, making them reliable for pure leveling.​​
  • Chaos bosses and ticketed Chaos clears also give large chunks of Captain EXP via a weekly currency system.​
• Best leveling routes
  • Guides for fast leveling recommend:
    • Use all Aether in Simulations (especially Growth/Potential) while you’re pushing toward level 40 for Zero System.​
    • Clear Story/Battle Missions and Chaos bosses once each for one‑time EXP injections.​

Once Zero System unlocks, it becomes your “XP with benefits” path since each run gives Chaos Orbs, gear, and Save Data alongside EXP.​

Chaos / Zero System farming: tickets, fragments, and mats

Chaos/Zero runs are the endgame material farms, with several key drop types.

• Chaos / Zero System drops
  • Memory Fragments & Particles of Memory at good rates on higher difficulties.​​
  • Chaos Orbs & weekly Chaos currency for Chaos Matrix rewards (crystals, units, partner EXP, endgame mats).​
  • Potential materials and promotion mats as side drops, letting you double‑dip on stamina.​​
• Special mention: “Katiklysm” farm
  • A player note calls out Katiklysm as “the top farm between levels 40 and 50,” turning 60 energy on Chaos Zero level 9/10 into Chaos ticket rewards plus three Memory Fragments, beating even Fragment Sim 10 in value.​
• Loot Vouchers / Certification Cards
  • When running Chaos/Zero, you can consume Loot Vouchers at the end to claim extra visible loot (extra Fragments, Particles, or gear), making these runs even more lucrative vs Sim.​​

Route rule: spend your best Loot Vouchers and high‑Aether bursts in Zero System Chaos once you can comfortably clear D7+, where endgame Fragment sets like Black Wing and Executioner’s Tool start dropping consistently.​

Practical “where to farm what” summary

Here is a quick material → content mapping for planning routes:

• Combatant EXP & Promotion mats
  • Growth and Promotion Simulations (all difficulties).​
  • Secondary: high‑level Chaos/Zero for hybrid runs.​​
• Potential materials (including Shards/rare nodes)
  • Potential Simulations and Weekly Challenges/Bosses.​​
  • Extra from Chaos/Zero runs at higher difficulties.​​
• Memory Fragments & Particles of Memory (gear)
  • Early: Memory Fragment Sim up to D5, just for starter sets and quests.​
  • Mid/Late: Chaos/Zero System stages, especially D7+ and specific farms like Katiklysm (D9–10), plus Loot Voucher boosts.​​
• Chaos Orbs / Chaos Matrix currency
  • Exclusively from Chaos/Zero System clears; use them periodically to claim Chaos Matrix rewards.​
• Captain EXP
  • Any Aether spend (Sim/Chaos/Zero), with Sim having predictable EXP per Aether and Chaos giving big chunks via weekly currency.​​

If you follow these patterns, Sim for early growth, minimal early Memory farming, then a hard pivot into Zero System and high‑tier Chaos for gear and orbs, you convert each point of Aether into much higher‑value drops instead of low‑rarity fragments and filler mats.