Pod Hunt
The Wanderer · Dunewell Town, west plaza
Bring him 5 Healing Pods from Outpost Kessa. Reward: ₵2,000.
At a glance
The main route
- Outpost Kessa Finish Instructor Tamsin’s training, then hack the Town Security Gate (Hacking 5).
- Dunewell Town Train up in the mine, craft Warlord or Enforcer armour, then kill the Cyborg King Scorpion for Elder Varo.
- Lake Vire Buy a hoverbike from Zip (₵2,500) and ride north to Neo-Haven.
- Neon Sprawl Hack the Laser Fence (Hacking 30), ride the elevator down and kill the Infiltrator Guardian.
- Orbital Hub Aster Take the red teleporter up. Win the Swamp Emerald from the Bog Warden in Mirehold and the Molten Core from the Forgemaster Colossus in the Foundry.
- The vault Place both gems in the pedestals by the sealed door on the hub’s east wall and step through to Frostpeak.
- Frostpeak Colosseum Get the Eskimo Elder’s blessing on the Summit, survive five waves and take the Rusted Lab Key from the Champion’s Coffer.
- The ending Open the Rusted Bulkhead in Dunewell Mine, defeat Zomborg Prime and teleport to the Verdant Expanse to meet the Sage.
0
Before you set off
Basics worth knowing
- Click or tap the ground to walk, and click anything to use it: enemies, plants, rocks, terminals, people.
- Eat when you’re around half health. Food lives in the Inv tab. Better food heals more, so save your best food for bosses.
- Melee or Ranged. Armour comes in melee and ranged sets. Wear the set that matches your weapon and it also boosts your accuracy.
- The skill guides. Click any skill in the Skills tab to see where to train it, what every level unlocks and the gear it leads to.
- Waygates. Walk up to a waygate to attune it, then use any waygate to travel between attuned ones. They’re in Kessa, Dunewell, Neo-Haven, Orbital Hub Aster and Mirehold.
- Focus. Bury bones to train Focus, and pray at a focus altar to refill your focus points. Rituals give buffs, transmutations upgrade food, and abilities and summons help in fights. Ossie the Bone Breaker in Dunewell explains them all.
Focus unlocks: Skeleton summon 12 · Wrath 12 · Kinetic Push 16 · Bastion 18 · Knight 24 · Mind Freeze 26 · Ascension 26 · Cyborg Samurai 30 · Aegis 32 · Warlock Master 34. - Credits. Hacking terminals is the steady earner. Banks are in Neo-Haven, Orbital Hub Aster and Mirehold.
- Lost? The 🗺 Map shows where you are, and the 📖 Atlas describes every area. The Quests tab always tells you the next step and where to go.
1
Levels 1–10
Outpost Kessa
Basic Training Part One
Instructor Tamsin is standing right next to you when you arrive. Talk to her and work through her checklist:
- Defeat a Scrap Bot.
- Pick a Healing Pod from a plant.
- Hack a green Public Kiosk for credits.
- Eat a Healing Pod once you’re hurt.
- Bury some bones.
- Start a ritual in the Focus tab.
- Restore your focus at the altar to the north-west.
- Craft a Laser Pistol at the workbench (3 scrap).
Return to Tamsin for ₵250 and 3 Healing Pods.
Getting out
Kessa’s only way east is the Town Security Gate in the east wall. It needs Hacking 5, which you’ll have after a few kiosks. Before you leave, smash Scrap Bots and Sand Raiders until your combat skill is around 8–10.
The walled Holding Pen in the south-west corner is part of a side quest (Caged). You’ll come back for it at Hacking 22.
2
Levels 8–25
Dunewell Town & the mine
Basic Training Part Two
Find Prospector Gage in the south plaza. Mine 5 ore in Dunewell Mine (east of town), smelt 2 bars at the Forge in the north-west, and return to him for a free level in a skill of your choice.
Gear up
- Craft a Basic Drill at a workbench from 6 Ferrite ore. It mines faster and leads to better drills later.
- Smelt Ferrite into bars for Bronze Guard (melee) or Shadow Outlaw (ranged) armour.
- At Mining 12 you can mine Cobalt. At Crafting 16–19 you can make Warlord (melee) or Enforcer (ranged) armour, which you can wear at level 16.
- Weapons: the Buster Axe (level 14) or Pulse Rifle (level 16) from the workbench, or the Steel Scimitar and Desert Hawk from the Wanderer.
- Pick Blissnuts in the mine (Gathering 8) to take into the boss fight.
Main Quest: Sting in the Deep
Talk to Elder Varo in the central plaza, just south of the Forge. The Cyborg King Scorpion lairs in the far north-east chamber of the mine. Kill it and return to Varo to claim the Venom Pistol. Zip the Bike Dealer will now sell you a hoverbike.
Our test fight Melee 20, full Warlord armour and a Buster Axe beat the Cyborg King Scorpion (level 49) using 4 Blissnuts. Melee or Ranged 25+ makes it comfortable.
3
Levels 16–44
Neo-Haven & the Neon Sprawl
Crossing Lake Vire
Buy the hoverbike from Zip for ₵2,500. It deploys by itself whenever you walk up to water. Lake Vire is just north of Dunewell, and Neo-Haven is on the far shore.
Into the Sprawl
From the docks, follow the dark road north between the Bank and the Town Hall to the Neon Sprawl gate. Robo-Hounds (level 25) patrol the streets. The Sprawl is where you mine Zorium and Voidstone and pick Ruby Blissnuts.
Main Quest: Retake the Lab
At the top of the Sprawl, the Laser Fence guards the Sublevel 9 Lab elevator. It needs Hacking 30. Corp Datavaults in the Sprawl and the Transit Ticket Terminal in Neo-Haven are good hacking training on the way.
Ride the elevator down. The Infiltrator Guardian waits by the red teleporter. Kill it and the teleporter switches on, sending you up to Orbital Hub Aster.
Our test fights Melee 30 in Paladin armour with Twin Violet Sabers beat the Guardian (level 55) using 4 Glowcaps. Ranged 32 in Ember Exo armour with an Ion Bazooka also won. Aim for 32+ with level-30 armour.
Neo-Haven has three side quests worth doing now: Room with a View, Paper Trail and the hidden panel in the east wall (see Secrets).
4
Levels 27–44
Orbital Hub, Grimfen Swamp & the Foundry
The hub is a safe zone with a bank, a forge, a casino, Kira’s weapon counter and a focus altar. Attune its waygate. Two teleporters lead on: Grimfen Swamp and The Foundry, both on the west side of the hub. You need a gem from each to open the sealed vault door on the hub’s east wall.
Main Quest: Emerald of the Mire
Teleport to Grimfen Swamp and head into Mirehold. The Bog Warden is on the south boardwalk near the Taxidermy hut. An Elite Raider stole his family ring when he was hunting the dunes, so Elite Raiders now patrol Outpost Kessa. Waygate back to Kessa, kill one (level 27) among the domes in the north and east, and bring the ring back. He’ll give you the Swamp Emerald.
Main Quest: Bigger They Are…
Take the Foundry teleporter. Reaper Endoskeletons (level 44) roam between the lava vats, and the Forgemaster Colossus waits at the east end. It drops the Molten Core.
Our test fight Melee 33, Paladin armour and Twin Violet Sabers beat the Colossus (level 54) using 5 Glowcaps. At 40 with a Mireglass Cleaver it’s easy. Aim for 38+.
Opening the vault
Back on the hub, place the Emerald and the Core in the two pedestals beside the sealed vault door on the east wall. Walk through and you’re in Frostpeak Outpost.
Glowcaps (Gathering 35) grow in Grimfen Swamp, and Mireglass ore is there too. Stock up on Glowcaps before Frostpeak. You’ll want 20 or more.
5
Levels 40–55
Frostpeak & the Colosseum
Main Quest: Challenger Approaches
Frostfang Yetis and Cryo Sentinels (level 47–49) roam the outpost. Take the mountain trail in the north treeline up to Frostpeak Summit and speak to the Eskimo Elder. He gives you permission to enter the Colosseum.
The Colosseum’s ice gate is in the outpost’s east treeline. Once inside you must survive five waves:
- 2 Frostfang Yetis
- 2 Cryo Sentinels
- 2 Yetis and a Sentinel
- 2 Sentinels and 2 Yetis
- The Glacier Warden (level 55)
You’re healed to full after every wave, so you only need food for the fight in front of you. When the Warden falls, the frozen portcullis melts. Open the Champion’s Coffer behind it for the Rusted Lab Key, then return to the Eskimo Elder for the Ice Buster.
Our test runs This is the hardest fight in the game. Melee 36 in Paladin armour with Twin Violet Sabers won using 19 Glowcaps. Melee 40 with a Mireglass Cleaver used 18, and Melee 45 in Demon armour used 14. Go in at 42+ with 20+ Glowcaps, or Bauble Berries if you have them.
Quartermaster Bryn by the cabins has the Yeti Laundry side quest. Its spade reward digs up a secret on the Summit.
6
Level 48+
The Derelict Lab & the ending
Main Quest: We Came, We Saw
The key opens something “deep beneath Dunewell”. Head back to Dunewell Mine and find the Rusted Bulkhead in the mine’s east wall. The key unlocks it. (A Hacking 99 player can crack it instead.)
The Derelict Lab is full of Cyborg Zombies (level 48). Its teleporter is dead until you defeat Zomborg Prime, who drains its power.
Our test fight Melee 36, Paladin armour and Twin Violet Sabers beat Zomborg Prime (level 56) using 5 Glowcaps. Clear the zombies around him first, and aim for 42+.
Step on the teleporter to reach the Verdant Expanse, walk up the stone path and speak to the Sage. That completes the main story. Your rewards are a party hat in the colour of your choice, plus Max Mode and the XP boost, which unlock in Options.
Before you leave the Derelict Lab, check the clothing rack in the corner.
Boss table
Every boss, tested
Levels are your Melee or Ranged level. “What beat it” is the lowest setup that won in our playthrough, and “Recommended” leaves room for mistakes.
| Boss | Where | What beat it | Recommended | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyborg King Scorpion Level 49 | Dunewell Mine, far north-east | 20 · Warlord + Buster Axe · 4 Blissnuts | 25+, Warlord or Enforcer | Venom Pistol (from Elder Varo), hoverbike access |
| Infiltrator Guardian Level 55 | Sublevel 9 Lab, by the red teleporter | 30 · Paladin + Twin Violet Sabers · 4 Glowcaps | 32+, Paladin or Ember Exo | Teleporter to Orbital Hub Aster |
| Forgemaster Colossus Level 54 | The Foundry, east end | 33 · Paladin + Twin Violet Sabers · 5 Glowcaps | 38+, Mireglass weapon | Molten Core, Aetherium bar, ₵2,500 |
| Glacier Warden Level 55 | Frostpeak Colosseum, wave 5 | 36 · Paladin + Twin Violet Sabers · 19 Glowcaps (all five waves) | 42+, 20+ Glowcaps | Rusted Lab Key, Ice Buster, Aetherium bars, ₵4,000 |
| Zomborg Prime Level 56 | Derelict Lab | 36 · Paladin + Twin Violet Sabers · 5 Glowcaps | 42+ | Powers the teleporter to the Verdant Expanse, ₵4,500 |
Bosses respawn, so you can farm them. The Cyborg King Scorpion, Infiltrator Guardian and Forgemaster Colossus each have a 1-in-20 chance to drop a piece of their own armour set: Hivemind, Shadowveil and Warhunter.
Optional, but worth it
Side quests
Nut Cracker
The Wanderer · Dunewell Town
Bring him 10 Blissnuts from Dunewell Mine (Gathering 8). Reward: Snowveil Ninja Hood.
Caged
Mara · Dunewell Town, outside the blue-roofed house
Hack the Holding Pen Lock in Kessa’s south-west corner (Hacking 22), free Jory and return to Mara. Reward: Healzooka.
Bar Brawl
Brakk · The Dusty Flagon (Dunewell tavern)
Beat Brakk the Brute (level 8) in a fist fight, then his friend Vagabond Victor at the east tables. Reward: Red Bandana.
Room with a View
Hotel Concierge · Neo-Haven, outside the hotel
Ask Officer Ryn in the south plaza, find Tess on the lake shore, get the keycard back from Vanta outside the Armory, and return it. Reward: unlimited Hotel Room Ticket, and the east suite chest opens.
My Own Pocket
Estate Agent Vale · Orbital Hub Aster, beside the POCKET teleporter
Buy a Pocket Dimension (₵100; a Camp Cot and Stool come free), step through the teleporter, use the Home Sphere to place one piece of furniture in Build mode, then leave Build mode and talk to Vale by your portal. Reward: Questing XP.
Paper Trail
Dex the Whistleblower · outside Neo-Haven Town Hall
Hack the Mayor’s Terminal in the Town Hall (Hacking 27), then confront Mayor Castellan. Reward: Hybrid Servo Legs.
Swamp Fever
Injured Man · Mirehold Infirmary
Nothing in the swamp cures him. Equip the Healzooka from Caged and talk to him again. Reward: ★ Dart of Destruction (legendary).
Leap of Faith
Mother Silt · Mirehold Chapel
Answer her four questions correctly. Talk to her again to retake. Reward: Focus Band (+10 focus).
Show the answers
- Who mounts every creature? Mortimer the Taxidermist
- Where is focus restored? At a focus altar
- What deepens focus? Bones
- Which city lies across Lake Vire? Neo-Haven
Meltdown
Foreman Rusk · The Foundry, by the teleporter
Scrap 4 Reaper Endoskeletons, then bring him 3 Voidstone bars (Voidstone is mined in the Neon Sprawl). Reward: Champions Chestplate.
Yeti Laundry
Quartermaster Bryn · Frostpeak Outpost
Recover 3 woolly socks from Frostfang Yetis. Reward: Frost-Tempered Spade and ₵1,500.
Spoilers
Hidden treasures
There are five treasures to find, and finding them all earns the Treasure Hunter award. Open one only when you want the answer.
Dunewell Mine
A boarded-up hole in the south-west corner of the mine. Pry it open for the Wellspring Flail.
Neo-Haven
A dusty wall panel in the east wall, down by the lake. The Sprawl Gatekeeper drops a hint. Inside is the Hybrid Servo Chestplate.
Grimfen Swamp
The Sealed Swamp Cache in the far north-west corner needs Hacking 50. It holds the Toxic Claws.
Frostpeak Summit
A patch of disturbed snow. Dig it with the spade from Yeti Laundry to find the Barbed Baseball Bat.
Derelict Lab
A clothing rack in the north-east corner. Someone left their Black Leather Jacket.
Ready to go again?
Beat the Sage, then chase the legendaries, the 40 achievements and level 99 capes.