It’s safe to say that there are a lot of chests littered around Palpagos to be found and opened in the hope of worthwhile rewards, but none are more rare or hard to find than Gold Key chests.
Getting Gold Keys is easy, you can find them in the most basic chests or even obtain a few by killing Black Marketeers, who drop two upon their death or capture. A lot of players seem to have a surplus of Gold Keys and still struggle to find Gold Key Chests, but I’m here to help.
Gold Key chest locations
By far the easiest place to find Gold Key chests is the Astral Mountains, the frozen realm to the North. They’re still not exactly common up there, but they can be found with a little effort and time spent exploring the area.
Unfortunately, this area’s recommended level is between 35 and 50, so if you’re below this level you might have a hard time surviving long enough to find any Gold Key chests. You’ll also need to craft some Cold Resistant Armor and, if you plan to explore during the dark hours, you’ll need a secondary heat source, such as a hand-held torch, Arsox, or Thermal Underwear to survive the night.
I’d also strongly recommend that you take a flying mount Pal with you in order to navigate the steep terrain, or at the very least, a Grappling Gun.
Gold Key chests can also occasionally be found in the Desiccated Desert (you’ll need both Heat and Cold Resistant Armor to head here and be at least level 40) and on the Wildlife Sanctuaries, though these locations are less common spawn sites.
The exact location of Gold Key chests is impossible to predict. Chests spawn on specified locations, but the type of chest that could spawn there at any given time relies solely on RNGesus. What’s inside the chest is entirely random, too. I’ve opened a few that only held Gold and Bread, but others that contained Epic Schematics and Technology Manuals.