The 
Ancient Vase is a breakable pot from the Deeper and Darker mod that you’ll find in the Ancient Temple of the Otherside and along the walls of Ancient Cities. Smashing one gives you a handful of loot, from String and Iron to the odd Diamond, Enchanted Golden Apple or even a 
Warden Carapace.
Not every vase is what it seems though, as some of them are fakes with something living inside. Breaking a fake one releases a group of Sculk Leeches or a Stalker, and a Stalker is a tough fight to walk into unprepared, so it’s worth knowing the odds before you start swinging.
Obtaining
Ancient Vases sit in almost every room of the Ancient Temple, from the stairways in the basement to the fountain rooms and the very top of the building. Since the 1.4 update they also generate along the walls of the Ancient Cities in the Overworld, so you’ll come across a few before you even reach the Otherside.
The vases in Ancient Cities were added in 1.4, so they aren’t in the 1.20.1 version of the mod, which stops at 1.3.3. On that version you’ll only find them inside the Ancient Temple, which means you’ll need to reach the Otherside before you can loot any.
Mining one with a Silk Touch pickaxe gives you the vase itself instead of its loot, and you’ll need a pickaxe to get anything from it at all. It falls like Sand when there’s nothing under it, so be careful knocking out the block beneath one.
Loot
Breaking a real vase rolls its loot twice, using two separate lists. The first list is where the good items are, and it’s rolled once or twice, with a fair chance of nothing at all, while the second always gives you some filler like Cobwebs, Redstone or Sticks.
Ancient Vase Loot
Sand 
String 
Rotten Flesh 
Gold Ingot 
Iron Ingot 
Golden Apple 
Emerald 
Diamond 
Book 
Enchanted Golden Apple 
The chances above are for each roll, and the first list rolls once or twice per vase, with about a 27% chance of giving nothing each time. The Book comes with a random enchantment, and the Warden Carapace is the big one, as it goes into the 
Reinforced Echo Shard you’ll need for Warden gear.
Each vase also drops a few points of experience when it breaks. With a whole temple full of them, it adds up, so it’s worth smashing every real vase you come across rather than just the ones near the chests.
Fake Vases
Around one in six vases is a fake, and breaking one doesn’t give you any loot at all. Instead, the vase shatters and either one to three Sculk Leeches come out, or about a third of the time, a Stalker climbs out of it instead.
There’s no way to tell a fake from a real vase by looking, so it’s worth being ready for a fight before breaking any of them. The Sculk Omen effect makes fakes a lot more likely, raising the chance to about 17% at level I and to around 44% at level III, so it’s best to wait for it to wear off before looting a temple.
A vase you’ve placed yourself is never a fake, so collecting them with a Silk Touch pickaxe and breaking them somewhere safe will always give you the loot. Fakes also can’t happen on Peaceful, or with the doMobSpawning game rule turned off.
Breaking a Stalker vase is the way most players run into one for the first time, and it’s well worth it if you’re prepared, as Stalkers are the source of 
Soul Crystals. There’s more on the fight itself on the Stalker page, along with what it drops.
FAQ
A real Ancient Vase drops things like Sand, String, Rotten Flesh, Gold, Iron and Golden Apples, with a small chance of Diamonds, Emeralds, an enchanted Book, an Enchanted Golden Apple or a Warden Carapace. A second roll adds filler like Cobwebs, Redstone or Sticks, and every vase gives a bit of experience as well.
Ancient Vases generate all through the Ancient Temple in the Deeplands of the Otherside, and since version 1.4 they’re also found along the walls of Ancient Cities in the Overworld. You can pick one up with a Silk Touch pickaxe and place it anywhere.
Some Ancient Vases are fakes, about one in six, and breaking a fake releases either one to three Sculk Leeches or a Stalker instead of giving you loot. Vases you’ve placed yourself are never fakes, so Silk Touch is the safe way to collect them.
You can, as a Warden Carapace is one of the rare items in the first loot list, with a small chance each time it’s rolled. It’s a lot less reliable than killing a Warden, which always drops one to three, but a temple full of vases gives you plenty of tries without a Warden fight.
