Old Keepsake Boxes can contain a number of different tomes in Diablo III, which are required for several achievements. They are found in Act I along the first part of Old Tristram Road before reaching The Old Ruins, as well as in the Ruins itself.
Location[]
Only one or two boxes appear in each game session. They may appear in a few random locations.
Along part I of Old Tristram Road (before reaching Old Tristram):
- Next to various buildings
- By the broken bridge past the northwest elbow of the road before reaching the old town
In Old Tristram itself:
- Next to the remains of Griswold's storefront on the east side of the town square
- In front of or inside the collapsed building on the north side of the town square, under which the Dark Cellar may appear
- South of the southernmost building in town
Tomes and achievements[]
Each box has a chance to contain one of the following nine journals (including the second installment of the two multi-part journals). Each contributes to one of three achievements.
- Taking Notes (10 Points)
- Historian of Tristram (10 Points)
- A Quick Study (10 Points)
- Cain's Old Journal - Part 1 and 2
- Gillian's Diary - Part 1 and 2
- Lost Journal
- Old Diary
- Despina's Journal
Availability[]
The Old Keepsake Box is responsible to an unusually large number of lore books relative to the small area and low numbers in which they are found. Furthermore, bounties are very rarely offered in these areas. As a result, since Adventure Mode came out it has become quite unlikely to find all the books during general endgame gameplay.
Even for players who replay the campaign on new or rebirthed characters during multiple seasons, it is difficult to obtain the second part of either of the journals that have them, since tome progress starts from scratch with every character. Each time the campaign is played, even assuming there are two boxes along the road, the first box would need to contain one of the two journals that has a second part (2/7), and the second box would have to contain the same journal (1/7), a final probability of 2/49, or approximately 4% of fresh campaign playthroughs - just to complete one of the two-part journals this way. The probability of getting both parts of the other journal would then be only 2% for each campaign thereafter.
Intentionally hunting for the journals by repeatedly revisiting the area is therefore required for most Reaper of Souls players to get the "Quick Study" achievement. Revisits to Old Tristram Road also help with the hunt for Ebenezer Samuel, a unique monster required for another achievement, who is similarly unlikely to be encountered during endgame play. However each Keepsake Box is guaranteed to drop a journal not already found, so at most nine boxes must be opened on one character to complete all journals, whereas Samuel could require many more than nine trips down the road.