Progression in the Deeper and Darker mod starts with the Warden in an Ancient City, and it ends with the Sonorous Staff and the Soul Elytra, which are made from things you’ll only find in the Otherside. Most of the mod is behind the Otherside Portal, so the first thing you’ll be after is the 
Heart of the Deep that lights it.
From there you’ll work through two sets of gear, Resonarium and Warden, before heading into the Ancient Temples of the Deeplands for the rarer materials. It’s written for version 1.4.1 on NeoForge 1.21.1, and anything that works differently in the older 1.20.1 version is pointed out along the way.
| Step | Where | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kill the Warden | Ancient City | Heart of the Deep, Warden Carapace, Smithing Templates |
| 2. Light the Portal | Ancient City | A way into the Otherside |
| 3. Resonarium Gear | Blooming Caverns | Resonarium armor and tools |
| 4. Warden Gear | Smithing Table | Warden armor and tools |
| 5. Ancient Temples | Deeplands | Sculk Transmitter, Soul Crystals, Sculk Bones |
| 6. Late Game | Crafting Table | Sonorous Staff, Soul Elytra |
None of these steps are locked behind the one before, apart from needing the portal to reach the Otherside. You’re able to skip ahead to Warden gear if you already have Netherite, for example, though Resonarium is a lot easier to reach in the meantime.
Before the Portal
Everything starts in an Ancient City, deep down in the Deep Dark, where the Warden is waiting. Full Diamond armor at the very least is a good idea before you go, and so are a stack of Wool or Carpet, as walking on them won’t set off the 
Sculk Sensors the way other blocks do.
Kill the Warden once its Sculk Shriekers summon it, and it’ll drop a Heart of the Deep and 1 to 3 
Warden Carapace. Then loot every chest in the city, as each one has a 45% chance of a 
Warden Upgrade Smithing Template, the same chance of a 
Resonarium Upgrade Smithing Template, and a 20% chance of more Carapace.
Ancient City chests are also the main source of 
Echo Shards, and you’ll need one for every piece of Warden gear you make later. It’s worth taking every one you find, along with any Swift Sneak books, as Swift Sneak makes sneaking past the sensors in a city a lot quicker.
Both templates can be copied at a 
Crafting Table with 7 Diamonds, so a single one of each is enough to keep going. The Warden one also needs a block of 
Sculk, while the Resonarium one needs a piece of Resonarium, which you’ll get from the Otherside.
Lighting the Portal
The Otherside Portal is the big 
Reinforced Deepslate archway in the middle of the city. Clear every block of Sculk out of the opening, then use the Heart of the Deep on the inside of the frame, and it’ll light up the whole archway.
The heart gets used up, so you’ll need to kill another Warden later on for the Sonorous Staff. Bring a Bed, some building blocks and plenty of torches for your first trip, as the Otherside is far darker than anywhere in the Overworld.
Your First Trip
You’ll come out of a new portal that the mod builds for you, usually in a cave somewhere in one of the four biomes. Place your Bed close to it so you’re able to respawn there, and note down the coordinates, as mobs spawn at any light level and the caves all start to look the same.
Resonarium Gear
Resonarium is the first real upgrade you’ll find in the Otherside, and it comes from Sludges, which live in the Blooming Caverns. Four pieces of 
Resonarium and four scutes, which can be either 
Armadillo Scutes or 
Turtle Scutes, will make a 
Resonarium Plate.
Each plate turns a piece of Diamond gear into its Resonarium version at a 
Smithing Table, along with the Resonarium Upgrade Smithing Template. The armor soaks up part of every hit into its own durability, which works very differently to normal armor, and there’s more on that on the Resonarium Armor page.
In the 1.20.1 version, which stops at 1.3.3, Resonarium gear is made from Iron gear instead of Diamond, and it doesn’t need a Smithing Template at all. The template and the Diamond base were both added in 1.4.
Resonarium is also needed to copy the Resonarium Upgrade Smithing Template, so it’s worth keeping a few spare pieces. The tools are covered on the Resonarium Tools page, as they’re upgraded the same way.
Warden Gear
Warden gear sits a tier above Netherite, since every piece of it is made by upgrading a Netherite one, which means you’ll need to make a trip to the Nether first. Each piece takes a 
Reinforced Echo Shard, which is crafted from an Echo Shard in the middle, four Warden Carapace and four 
Phantom Membranes.
That adds up to a lot of Carapace for a full set, so you’ll want to loot every Ancient City chest you can find, and break the odd 
Ancient Vase as well. The 
Warden Helmet is the piece to make first, as it clears Darkness and Blindness for as long as you’re wearing it, and there’s more on the rest on the Warden Armor and Warden Tools pages.
Ancient Temples
Once you’re geared up, the Ancient Temples in the Deeplands are the next place to head. An 
Ancient Compass, made from a Compass and four Warden Carapace, will point to the nearest one, though it was added in 1.4, so it isn’t in the 1.20.1 version of the mod.
It’s worth looking through the basement for the secret aisle behind the Iron Bars, as the chest in there will always have a 
Sculk Transmitter. The Shattered around the temple drop 
Sculk Bones, and the Stalkers that come out of fake Ancient Vases drop 
Soul Crystals, which are the two materials you’ll need for the late game.
Farming Soul Crystals
Soul Crystals are the slowest thing in the mod to collect, as each Stalker drops one and only a small share of vases are fakes. Walking into a temple with Bad Omen from an 
Ominous Bottle turns it into Sculk Omen, which makes fake vases much more common, and at level V around one vase in five will release a Stalker.
Late Game
The 
Sonorous Staff is able to fire a sonic boom, just like the Warden does, and you’ll craft it with a Heart of the Deep, two Soul Crystals and two Sculk Bones. The heart from your first Warden will have gone into the portal, so you’ll need to kill another one before you can make it.
The 
Soul Elytra is an upgraded 
Elytra that’s able to boost you forward, and it takes four Sculk Bones, a Soul Crystal and two 
Soul Dust around a normal Elytra. That means a trip to an End City as well, so it’s usually the last thing you’ll craft.
The mod’s enchantments are worth picking up along the way, like Sculk Smite for more damage against Sculk mobs and the Warden. The Enchantments page covers all of them, including the two that only work on the Sonorous Staff.
FAQ
Start by finding an Ancient City and killing the Warden, as its Heart of the Deep is what lights the Otherside Portal. Loot every chest in the city while you’re there, since they hold the Smithing Templates needed for both Warden gear and Resonarium gear.
Warden armor is made by upgrading Netherite armor, and a full set gives 24 armor points against Netherite’s 20, with more toughness as well. The helmet also clears Darkness and Blindness while you’re wearing it.
Each Reinforced Echo Shard takes four Warden Carapace, and every piece of Warden gear needs one shard, so a full set of armor alone takes 16. The Ancient Compass needs four more, so it’s worth looting Ancient City chests as well as fighting the Warden.
Your first Heart of the Deep gets used up when you light the portal, so you’ll have to kill a second Warden for the Sonorous Staff. Each Warden also drops 1 to 3 Warden Carapace, which helps a lot with the Reinforced Echo Shards for Warden gear.
