Stygia is a currency used to buy goods in Ve'nari in the Maw in World of Warcraft Shadowlands, and you can easily lose hours of farming if you're not careful. The stygia is dropped on death (but only part of it), and while you can pick it up by visiting your tomb in the Maw, it will be lost if you die again. Yes, it's basically a Soulsborne currency. That's why it's important to know the best ways to earn Stygia and maximize your daily earnings before the jailer sets eyes on you.
Stygia in Shadowlands is earned by killing enemies in the maw and completing quests.
It is important to note that the Stygia obtained by killing enemies in the Maw area of Shadowlands varies. While you gain a Stygia from normal and regular elite enemies, you're much better off hunting down the various rare enemies that spawn in the Maw. For example, a rare special encounter (the rarest found in the Maw) leaves 45 Stygies on death. There is a catch though: killing rare enemies increases your Eye of the Jailer meter faster than assassinating regular enemies.
Technically, you can farm more Stygia and earn less Jailer's Eye from killing regular mobs than from killing rare events, but that's a job and a half. Rare enemies aren't your only source of Stygia - the Maw has daily and weekly quests that provide the precious currency, but these increase your Eye of the Jailer meter more than killing a rare monster! Rares also have a chance to drop Maw Lore quest items, which can be repped with Ve'nari.
The key to successful and efficient Stygia farming is focus. You'll want to knock out your mob quests first, then fall back on rares and events. Prioritize Minor and Major Rares over Event Rares, as they offer more Stygia per Eye (special rare encounters are the skull icons on the minimap, while all other rare are the usual star) . There's a weekly Wrath of the Jailer event that pops up occasionally, though you'll want a team to take down the final boss (shouldn't be difficult to organize, but may get more difficult later in the week as more more and more players complete it). As a bonus, Wrath of the Jailer has a chance to drop level 183 gear.
Burningbamf at WoWHead has created a great chart that breaks down all of Stygia's sources, which I've included below. Reference this if you want to know exactly what you'll earn from each source and how much Eye of the Jailer will cost. Each rank of Eye of the Jailer takes 1000 points to achieve, so at 5000 points you will reach Rank 5 and can no longer gain Stygia from the Maw (stygia and reputation gains are literally disabled at Rank 5).
| Activity | Stygia | Jailer's Eye | Stygia / eye | ||
| normal murder | 1 | 6 | 0,17 | ||
| Killer Elite | 1 | 12 | 0,08 | ||
| Minor Rare Murder | 75 | 300 | 0,25 | ||
| Major Rare Murder | 75 | 500 | 0,15 | ||
| Rare event | 45 | 300 | 0,15 | ||
| Special kill/completion encounter | 45 | 300 | 0,15 | ||
| Save an imprisoned soul | 20 | 100 | 0,20 | ||
| Daily Quests | 140 | 500 | 0,28 | ||
| Weekly Quests | 425 | 1000 | 0,43 | ||
| Perdition Hold / Beastwarrens Weekly Quest | 700 | 1200 | 0,58 | ||
| Tuer le boss de Wrath of the Jailer | 100 | 500 | 0,20 | ||
| Completion of the hunt | 300 | 1000 | 0,30 | ||
| Stygian Cache | 45 | 0 | 0,00 | ||
| Maw Lore Green Ques | 0 | 0 | 0,00 | ||
| Maw Lore Blue Quest | 0 | 0 | 0,00 | ||
| Ve'nari History Quest | Various | 0 | 0,00 |
Stygia in Shadowlands is used to purchase items from Ve'nari, your helping hand in the Maw. She has items that will aid in both Maw and Torghast, in addition to two items that will greatly benefit your endgame progress: the Limitless Reality Fragment and the Spatial Realignment Device. Remember that Stygia is dropped when you die, but only part of what you're holding. If you want to get it back, you'll have to go back to your corpse and loot it. If you die before recovering your Stygia, it will be lost forever, and you will again drop Stygia which can be recovered from your new corpse. Approach your Stygia farm with caution and choose your tasks wisely.
