If you came to Remnant: From the Ashes looking for a fresh take on the Soulslike formula, complete with nearly impossible to solve mysteries, then you're in luck. This game stands out for taking that Souls style of combat but focuses primarily on firearms rather than your traditional swords, shields, and other melee weapons.
What isn't so different from a Soulslike game is the obscure nature of certain items. Case in point, Glowing Rods are something you might come across and have no idea what it does or why you need one. Obviously, they weren't put there for no reason, so this guide will help you understand why they're so important.
Where To Find Glowing Rods
If you haven't yet encountered Glowing Rods, or need to find some more, you will have to first reach, or return to, the Rhom plane. There are only three rods in total to find in a single game, and you will need all three for the reward.
Now, because Remnant utilizes a procedurally generated world, there's no set location for where to find these rods. You will have to dive into the dungeons here and just do your best to thoroughly search them for the rods. They have a distinct orange light shining from them in the environment so they're not too difficult to spot as you're exploring. If you don't find one, your only choice is to go into a new one and try again.
How To Use Glowing Rods
Once you've picked up all the Glowing Rods you can read the description which states, "This key lies heavy in your hands, both a burden and a strength." Even for Dark Souls, that's incredibly ambiguous. What the purpose of these rods really is is to unlock a special armor set locked away at the end of one of Rhom's dungeons.
With all three in hand, go into the Vault of The Herald and search for the locked entrance to the vault itself. Again, due to the randomness of the game, you'll need to locate this for yourself unfortunately. Once you do find it, though, you will be prompted to use the rods in three pedestals relating to three doors. Insert one into each to open the door and retrieve one set of the unique armor, the mask, garb, and leggings, locked behind.
This armor is the Akari set. It has 376 total armor, when fully upgraded, and 20 weight. The set bonus is called Opportunist, which gives a buff to your firing, melee, reload, and evasion speed for 20 seconds after performing a perfect dodge. On top of that it also makes your evasion window a bit bigger. The speed boost you get with a full set is a massive 30%, making this an armor set well worth hunting down these three mysterious rods.