Nine Sols Jades and Talismans: The Upgrade Order Hard-Boss Players Get Wrong (and How to Fix It)

Verified on Nine Sols v1.x (2025–2026). Values may change with updates.

Quick Start: Your First 5 Jade Decisions

Before anything else — if you’re stuck on a boss, these five moves cover the mechanics you need immediately.

1. At a Root Node after obtaining the Mystic Nymph, confirm the Jade System is active (you’ll see the jade configuration menu).
2. Buy your first Computing Unit from Chiyou in the Central Transport Hub for 1,000 Jin — your computing power jumps from 2 to 3.
3. Equip Recovery Jade (2 CP, Cyan) as soon as your loadout allows. This is the single most useful learning tool for hard bosses.
4. Buy Quick Dose Jade from Chiyou for 1,250 Jin and add it once you reach 4 computing power (the second unit costs 1,800 Jin).
5. Swap in Avarice Jade during exploration to rebuild Jin after deaths; always swap it out before a boss attempt.

Everything below explains why these choices work — and what to build toward as your computing power expands. For the full Nine Sols breakdown covering the parry system, boss strategies, and exploration routing, see our Nine Sols complete guide.

How the Jade and Talisman System Works

Yi’s Jade System activates at any Root Node once you’ve obtained the Mystic Nymph and reactivated Abacus Ruyi. You start with 2 computing power — your total slot budget for equipped jades. Each jade costs 1, 2, or 3 computing power, and you reconfigure freely between encounters with no penalty.

Jade colors map directly to function: Red jades enhance blade attacks and Charged Strikes; Blue jades improve parry mechanics and counters; Cyan jades handle survivability and recovery; Green jades power the talisman; Yellow jades affect Jin and experience gain [1]. That color coding is your fastest mental shortcut for building thematic loadouts.

Talismans work independently of jades but interact with them. The talisman attaches to an enemy and deals 32 base Internal Damage on impact; detonation converts accumulated Internal Damage into Direct Damage [2]. Tao Fruits — 13 in total — each increase both attach and detonation damage by 3% of base values, while two Enhanced Talisman skills add 23% each, for a potential 100% total damage increase through upgrades [2]. These are additive, so Tao Fruit collection is meaningful throughout the run, not just at endgame.

Computing Power: The Progression You Need to Plan Ahead

Eight Computing Units exist in New Kunlun, raising your maximum computing power from 2 to 10 [3]. The units don’t drop evenly across the game — two are affordable purchases early, two more spike sharply in cost post-Prison, and the rest require exploration. Knowing the order prevents you from hitting a difficulty wall with empty Jin reserves.

The practical implication: before you can run Hedgehog Jade (3 CP) alongside meaningful support, you need at least 5 computing power — which means beating Celestial Sentinel Jiaoduan or reaching late-game Chiyou stock. At 4 CP, your boss-fight loadout is built from 2 CP jades only. That’s fine — Recovery Jade and Quick Dose Jade (both 2 CP) are the two most useful learning tools regardless of where you are in the run [4].

Budget ahead for the post-Prison units. At 3,500 and 5,000 Jin, they’re expensive, but reaching 8 CP is when the endgame Hedgehog + Breather + Iron Skin loop becomes viable. Prioritize these over merchant upgrades if high-end builds are your goal.

The Parry Recovery Stack: Why Most Players Get the Build Order Wrong

The most common jade mistake isn’t equipping bad jades — it’s equipping offensive jades before learning the boss. Focus Jade (3 CP) and Qi Blade Jade (3 CP) both raise damage output, which matters only if you survive long enough to land consistent hits. Against Nine Sols’ harder bosses, the real problem is rep count: not enough attempts per session to internalize the pattern before frustration sets in.

Recovery Jade (2 CP, Cyan) increases the rate at which Internal Damage converts back to health [1]. During the brief windows between boss attack chains — the moments where you’re parrying and watching for the next opening — your HP climbs back faster. You stay in the fight longer. You get more reps per session. The boss becomes learnable through repetition rather than luck.

This is the parry recovery stack, built across computing power thresholds:

• 4 CP (early game): Recovery Jade + Quick Dose Jade — passive HP recovery plus faster heals, with no commitment to a specific playstyle
• 6 CP (mid game): Recovery Jade + Quick Dose Jade + Bearing Jade — Bearing reduces knockback when parrying, keeping you in melee range to punish immediately after deflects
• 8 CP (advanced): Hedgehog Jade + Recovery Jade + Quick Dose Jade + Bearing Jade — Hedgehog converts precise parries into Internal Damage on enemies, making your defensive play deal offensive damage [4]
• 10 CP (endgame): Hedgehog Jade + Breather Jade + Iron Skin Jade + Recovery Jade — the full loop where Iron Skin converts incoming hits to Internal Damage, Breather converts those back to HP on slash attacks, and Recovery Jade keeps the cycle turning between parries [5]

The progression is deliberate: Breather Jade and Iron Skin Jade require confident parry timing to function well. Equipping them during learning phases creates a false sense of protection — Iron Skin’s converted damage still needs recovery, which won’t happen if you’re eating full combos. Build from the 4 CP learning stack and earn each upgrade.

Jade Recommendations by Player Type

The correct jade loadout depends on what you’re trying to fix — not what’s objectively highest on a tier list.

One note on Revival Jade that most guides skip: it revives at 25% HP, not full HP. It’s a second chance, not a guaranteed phase-clear. Hardcore players who drop it aren’t being reckless — they’re reclaiming 2 CP for a jade that actively improves their performance rather than acting as a net beneath the trapeze. The calculus changes for players who are still establishing rhythm on a new boss [4].

Talisman Spell Styles: Which Type to Choose and When to Switch

Three talisman styles change how Qi is consumed on detonation. The choice has more mechanical impact than most builds acknowledge.

Qi Blast (default): Consumes all available Qi charges up to 3 on detonation. Damage formula: 32 base Internal + 32×(Qi+1) Direct [2]. At maximum 3 Qi, this deals 32 Internal + 128 Direct — the highest single-detonation output at that charge count. Qi Blast rewards players who let Qi build naturally before firing.

Water Flow: Automatically detonates at 2 Qi (or 1 Qi with the Enhancement unlock). Damage: 32 Internal + 60 Direct [2]. The value is consistency — you never accidentally detonate at 0 or 1 Qi. Use this if you’re firing reactively during boss windows rather than planning charges in advance.

Full Control: Variable Qi usage up to 5 charges. At 5 Qi: 32 Internal + 200 Direct — the highest ceiling of any style [2]. The cost is complexity: you manage up to five possible charge counts manually during a fast boss fight. This style is for players who’ve already mastered Qi Blast timing and want more ceiling, not a smoother experience.

The practical decision tree: start on Qi Blast. If you’re detonating at suboptimal counts — firing at 1 Qi when you meant to wait for 3 — switch to Water Flow for its automatic trigger. Only move to Full Control once Qi Blast feels limiting, not before. The performance gap between Qi Blast at 3 Qi and Full Control at 3 Qi is zero; the gap only opens above 3 charges, which Full Control alone enables.

Jades to Swap Out Before Bosses

Four jades are worth running in the open world but actively waste a boss-fight slot:

• Avarice Jade (2 CP) — increases Jin from kills. Boss arenas barely drop Jin; the bonus does nothing [5].
• Pauper Jade (1 CP) — expands Jin collection radius. Same problem at lower cost — easy to forget to swap.
• Cultivation Jade (2 CP) — boosts experience gain. Experience has no in-combat effect; strictly a between-zone jade.
• Stasis Jade (2 CP) — freezes enemies on talisman attach. Effective early-game and against standard enemies, but most boss enemies complete their current attack animation before the freeze activates [4]. Its value diminishes sharply against later bosses specifically.

The habit that protects your slots: before every boss door, open the jade menu and ask whether every equipped jade affects combat performance. If it doesn’t, swap it for something from the parry recovery stack.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the Jade System unlock?

After you obtain the Mystic Nymph and reactivate Abacus Ruyi, the Jade System becomes available at all Root Nodes. This happens early in the story — well before the first major boss — so you’ll have access from the start of meaningful combat encounters.

Is Hedgehog Jade worth 3 computing power?

Yes, but only once your precise parry rate is high enough to trigger it reliably. Players who equip it during learning phases often don’t feel the impact because precise parries are still intermittent — the jade fires inconsistently, and the 3 CP cost means you’ve given up a 2 CP survivability jade to run it. Build to Hedgehog as a capstone on an existing parry build, not as a shortcut to one.

How many Tao Fruits are there and does collecting them matter?

Thirteen total, each increasing talisman attach and detonation damage by 3% of base values [2]. Across all 13 fruits plus the two Enhanced Talisman skills (23% each), talisman damage peaks at 100% above base. Collecting all 13 fruits alone — without skills — adds 39%, which is a meaningful damage difference by late game. Tao Fruit routing is worth prioritizing once your jade loadout is stable.

Can I use all jades at the same time?

No. Maximum computing power is 10, reached by collecting all 8 Computing Units [3]. The best full build runs two 3 CP jades and two 2 CP jades simultaneously — four jades from 35 available in the game. The constraint is what makes loadout decisions meaningful rather than additive.

Should I focus on offensive or defensive jades first?

Cyan (defensive) jades first if you’re still dying before phase 2 of a boss. Red (offensive) jades when you can survive phase 1 reliably and want to increase damage output per attempt. Hedgehog Jade (Blue, 3 CP) is the most useful crossover: it’s defensive by positioning (parrying) but deals Internal Damage to enemies on a precise parry, giving defense an offensive return without changing your playstyle.

Sources

• Nine Sols: All Jades Checklist — game-checklists.com
• Nine Sols Combat Tips and Tricks — TheGamer
• How to Increase Jade Slots in Nine Sols — GameSkinny
• Nine Sols: 10 Best Jades, Ranked — DualShockers
• Nine Sols: Best Jades, Ranked — Game Rant
• Jades, Talisman, Computing Unit — Nine Sols Wiki (ninesols.wiki.gg) — primary data source for jade costs, talisman damage formulas, and computing unit locations

Michael R.

I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.