Ectoplasms--huh?

Just off the bat, I know what these are--do I ever @_@. I need 30 of them to create my leg armors... now... they're 7pl from the merchant, and I need a way of finding them.

However, I believe I've been led astray. I've seen/heard several different accounts of where to get ectos other than the underworld.

1: The mystery material crafter--heard of him a while ago, no idea if he exists or not.
2: Salvaging from various objects--attested to in the guidebook by prima itself, the eyes of the Mesmer-class watcher mobs are claimed to Expert salvage into ectos, on occasion.. 10 eyes later, no ecto. Also, said to be salvaged from a "phantasmal armor."... no idea what this is.
3: Treasure chest loot--proven by me personally, I've only located the one north of Beacon's perch. The reason I don't do this for my stuff? I got one ecto in about 1.5 hours of running back and forth.

Any clarification/help would be very much appreciated, ty <3

I've found some from the underworld and fissure. I think I got 4 from killing an Aatxe right in the beginning.

You can buy them from me for 6k each :P ... better than the trader, but I won't allow you to not get ripped off

Wait--4 from -an- Aatxe? As in singular? This might be worth looking into... I'm a fissure man myself.. always died with the PUGs that went into UW.

Alas, I may be forced to sit it out till the prices drop~

yup. 4 from a single Bladed Aatxe. Of course, that was a long long time ago, when I first got to the Temple of Ages (maybe 3-4 days after release, tops). So it's probably no good anymore.