Photon Drop
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- High purity crystal Photon.
There is someone who needs this...
Photon Drop, commonly abbreviated as PD, is a unique item that is used as a common, valuable currency between players. Photon Drops can drop from any enemy or box in the game on any difficulty. They can also be given to Paganini in exchange for items and weapon enhancements. Paganini will trade various items for PDs, at prices ranging from 1 to 99 Photon Drops; he will also add specials to ES Weapons for set amounts of PDs, and he will add attributes to non-ES Weapons at a rate of 5% per 20 PDs.
Uses
In 
Gallon's Shop, talking to Hopkins with at least one Photon Drop on hand and selecting "Yes" will prompt him to bring the player to his father, Paganini. "Exchange for an item" is the only available option by default, but others can be unlocked after completing special prerequisites in other quests.
Exchanging for Items
Selecting "Exchange for an item" will allow the player to trade all of the Photon Drops in their inventory for an item from Paganini; the selection of items he offers depends on the number of PDs in the player's inventory.
| # of PDs | Items Offered |
|---|---|
| 1 | AddSlot, Assist Barrier, Recovery Barrier |
| 20 | Berill Photon, Blue Barrier, Broom, Flower Cane, Magic Water, Nei's Claw (Replica), Parasitic Cell Type D, Red Barrier, Yellow Barrier |
| 50 | Blue-black Stone, Magic Rock "Heart Key", Photon Booster |
| 99 | Photon Sphere |
Adding Specials to ES Weapons
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If the player brings Paganini the data from the terminal at the top of The East Tower, the "Modify ES Weapon" option will be available for the character that completes this sidequest, though it can be completed on any difficulty. (Paganini will no longer be accessible in this quest for that character once you have done this, and Hopkins will only state that, "My father is working on a huge project right now.", as an alternative method of checking completion.)
- Start the East Tower quest
- Talk to Hopkins in the lab (he is in the same place you would find him in Gallon's Shop for accessing "Modify ES Weapon" after sidequest completion)
- Kill Epsilon at the top floor of Control Tower, then interact with the terminal (you will receive a Quest Board item).
- Upon killing Epsilon, player teleporters (via
Telepipe or 
Ryuker) can no longer be created, and any that are active will be turned off. The gate in the Lab leading to the Central Control Area will also become locked. If you use the provided teleporter before interacting with the terminal, you will be forced to redo the quest to properly complete the sidequest.
- Upon killing Epsilon, player teleporters (via
- Return to the lab and talk to Hopkins before ending the quest
This allows the player to add a special attack to their ES Weapon, with the available specials depending on the number of PDs in the player's inventory and the ES Weapon in question.
| # of PDs | Specials Offered |
|---|---|
| 20 | HP Revival*, TP Revival* |
| 30 | Blizzard, Burning, Tempest |
| 40 | Berserk, Chaos, Geist, Gush, King's, Spirit |
| 50 | Arrest, Demon's, Hell |
| 60 | Jellen (21), Zalure (21) |
* HP Revival and TP Revival refer to passive recovery over time, similar to the HP/Revival and TP/Revival units.
Note that ES Knuckle cannot receive HP Revival and TP Revival, ES Psychogun can only receive HP Revival and TP Revival, and ES Windmill can only receive HP Revival, Jellen, TP Revival, and Zalure.
Adding Attributes to Weapons
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As a prerequisite, first the player's character must collect the East Tower data for Paganini (see Adding Specials to ES/S-Rank Weapons above for directions).
Then if that character also brings Paganini the data from the terminal in Seabed during The West Tower quest, the "Enhance weapon's Photon" option will be available for the character that completes this sidequest, though it can be completed on any difficulty. (Unlike East Tower, there is no easy way to check through Hopkins if you have already completed the West Tower sidequest, as Hopkins in this quest will say the same "My father is working on a huge project right now." line, both before completing the previous sidequest as well as after completing this one.)
- Start the West Tower quest after having completed the East Tower sidequest
- Talk to Hopkins in the lab (he is in the same place you would find him in Gallon's Shop for accessing "Enhance weapon's Photon" after sidequest completion)
- Traverse the Seabed Upper levels until you find and access the terminal containing the Research Data (you will receive a Quest Board item).
- Return to the lab and talk to Hopkins before ending the quest
This allows the player to add and boost attribute percentages on their weapons for a set amount of PDs, at 4 PD per 1%, or 20 PDs per 5% on an attribute. A Photon Sphere can also be used to add 30% to an attribute, but only if the attribute in question is at or below 70%. There are some restrictions to adding attributes:
- a weapon cannot have more than three attributes (Excalibur, Lame d'Argent, Sealed J-Sword, and Tsumikiri J-Sword cannot have more than two, and ES Weapons can't have any at all),
- Hit % cannot be added to a weapon,
- an attribute cannot exceed 100%.
Availability
Black Paper's Dangerous Deal
Note that all rates are the chance of getting an item per Photon Crystal, not per roll.
| Quest | Difficulty | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Black Paper's Deal 2 | Normal | 1/9 |
| Hard | 1/16 | |
| Very Hard | 1/8.76 | |
| Ultimate | 1/8.76 |
Quest Reward
Photon Drop can be obtained from the Lucky Roulette in Gallon's Shop. If the roulette lands on Paganini after obtaining both God's Shields from him, the player is rewarded a Photon Drop.
Photon Drop can be obtained from the gambling terminal in To The Deepest Blue -MA4 Venue-. After every first-prize item has been won once, any more first-prize wins will be rewarded with a Photon Drop.
Photon Drop can be obtained from the Beak's Cafe roulette.
Events
Photon Drop could be obtained from a Present on Normal difficulty in 2015, all difficulties in 2016, and Normal and Hard difficulties in 2017.
Photon Drop was given as a consolation prize for failing the 5-Egg gambles in the 2016, 2017, and 2018 Egg Shops, as well as the 10-Egg gamble in the 2016 and 2018 Egg Shops.
