A Better Beginning (2)

Site 1: Promise

Your first order of business is to find the main control building to restore power to the site. As you explore the location or any new places for that matter, always activate your scanner to find the items of interest and earn research points for uncatalogued/unidentified objects. Follow the mission marker to find the central control building. Try to open the door to update the objective. You have to find an access code to the building so follow the mission marker again that will lead you to a datapad inside an open building. Interact with that datapad to obtain the code.

Now that you have the code, return to the locked building earlier and follow the mission marker again and interact with the console. You can’t still restore the power due to an interference so your objective will be updated and will require you to investigate the power relay station. Follow the mission marker once again to reach the relay station. Open the door to trigger a cutscene.

After reassuring the survivor turned salvager that you’ll deal with the kett that will certainly arrive after activating the relay, your task will now update to starting up the two nearby generators. They’ll be marked in the map and you can activate them in any order. The first one is found to the southeast near the pond. Activate the generator but it will fail at startup. Scan the nearby power pylon and interact with its console to restart the generator. Find the other generator in the eastern side of the power relay station, near the perimeter barrier. Repeat the same process to successfully kickstart the power.

Shortly after starting the power, a couple of kett dropships will arrive and deploy kett troops near the relay station. Take cover and deal with them. They’re the same as what you’ve faced before so you shouldn’t have problems dealing with them. Once you eliminate them, head back to the power relay station and open the door to trigger a cutscene. Clancy will let you in and you can check out what he salvaged for sale. He won’t be a permanent merchant here so get what you think you need then activate the highlighted control console to restore power to the site.

Next, you’ll have to find the exploration vehicle Clancy mentioned. Head to the northeast portion of Site 1 to find a large container van. Scan it and SAM will mention that the crate will require an access code from a forward station. Now you have to go to the marked spot to call down your first forward station. There are several fixed spots in the map where you can call down forward stations. These serve as safe spots where you can replenish shields, resupply consumables and ammo, change your loadout, and reveal nearby mining spots in the map. Activating these should be the priority when visiting new locations. You don’t need to do anything; just approach the spot and SAM will deploy the forward station immediately. After the first forward station lands, activate its terminal then return to the cargo container to open it.

From hereon, the Nomad will become your dedicated land exploration vehicle. It doesn’t have any Weapons at all but it has great handling and Controls. From the get-go, it features a speed boost, a jumping ability, and a six-wheel drive that you can toggle. The six-wheel drive of the Nomad is very effective when traversing various heights and cliffs. You can get new skins and blueprint upgrades for the Nomad in the Development and Research terminals and shops.

Your next task is to investigate the strange signal, consider mining the various mineral nodes in the site. Since the power has been restored in the site, you can now check out the newly unlocked doors around the site to loot more containers. The Research Center beside the Nomad’s cargo container can be accessed as well. There’s a dead body behind main control building that you can scan to start the sidequest “Task: Naming the Dead”.

Once done, you can hop on the Nomad and consult your map. You should do this regularly to find any nearby potential new side quests. At this point, you should also have the markers for Task: Lost Brother and Ryder Family Secrets. You can explore them and the other areas as much as you want. Take note that some of the areas will be too dangerous to explore even with the Nomad since the radiation level far surpasses the life support system of the Nomad. You’ll have to clear the radiation first in the atmosphere to lower the radiation to a manageable level before you can explore these areas.

First Monolith and Peebee

To continue with the story, head to the large alien structure called a monolith that has its own protective field. Interact with the console in the center of the structure to update your objective. Next, you need to find a nearby glyph to scan and to help SAM interface with the console. Use your scanner to trace the hidden cable leading to a glyph overhead. To reach it, use the scaffolding beside the structure to reach the top part of it. Once you reached the marked spot, use your scanner again to register the glyph to SAM’s database.

Now go back down and activate the main console to trigger a cutscene. Here you’ll meet Peebee and she’ll explain more about how the structure works. Shortly after, you’ll have to deal with hostile constructs called Remnants. Take cover and eliminate them to complete the task in this area. You need to reactivate two more monoliths in the area to reveal the location of the remnant vault that may help clearing the planet’s atmosphere of radiation. Like before, you can freely take and complete missions at your own pace before tackling the other monoliths.

Kett Research Center Monolith

The other two monoliths are located in the southwest and south of the large lake in the middle of the map. First, let’s check out the southeastern monolith. It’s near a forward station but will be heavily guarded by kett since there’s a Kett Research Center connecting to the cliff where the monolith stands. The place is crawling with kett so take cover and take them out systematically. Be careful of the heavily armed ketts; their shields and heavy Weapons makes them dangerous especially up close. Focus-firing them will get rid of them quickly.

After taking out the hostiles, you’ll have to find the two generators powering the shields. One of them is on the roof while the other one is found in the ramp leading to the monolith. Interact with them to disable the shields covering the entrances of the building. Once the shields are down, enter the kett base to trigger a cutscene. Here you’ll meet Drack for the first time. He’s a future party member but won’t be joining your crew until later.

While inside the kett research center, you can find a corpse here that’s part of Task: Naming the Dead and a component that’s part of the The Secret Project secondary op. After looting the containers and scanning the items of interest in the building, head to the monolith next.

Before you can activate the monolith, you have to find two glyphs in the area so that you can scan and upload to SAM’s database. Use your scanner to trace the cables leading to the glyph locations. Both of them are located on top of the monolith ledges. There are raised platforms that you can use as footholds. One of them is outside the safe zone so make sure to move quickly. After scanning both glyphs, go back to the central console and interface with it to activate the monolith.

Southwest Monolith

This monolith is located up the hills to the southwest of the lake. There’s at least one kett camp that you’ll run into along the way and it has really powerful troops (anointed and destined). There’s also a nearby forward station point. Make sure to approach it first to activate it. After re-supplying in the forward station, you can now make your way towards the monolith.

There are a few remnants guarding the monolith, including the floating, shielded observers. These guys have powerful lasers that can easily deplete your shields so make sure to prioritize taking out them first. Use the covers effectively and focus your fire. After taking out the remnants, you have to find two glyphs again to acquire the necessary decryption data to interface with the console. There are also scannable techs around the area as well as corpses that you can scan. One of them is part of Task: Naming the Dead.

One of the glyphs is on a steep ledge. To get close to it, use the separate remnant console beside it so you can use it to raise platforms that you can jump on. The other glyph can be reached by performing a jump, turn-around-mid-air, then dash towards the ledge.

After scanning the necessary glyphs, you now need to solve the puzzle. Most remnant tech will require you to repeat the same process; find the necessary glyphs and solve a puzzle. The puzzle generally follows the Sodoku gameplay. You may refer to the puzzle solution below:

You can also use Remnant Decryption Keys to solve the puzzle instantly. These items are rare and expensive but you can buy them from various merchants. After solving the puzzle and activating the monolith, a detachment of kett will arrive. Hold your position and take them out. There are a lot of good cover in the monolith area so use that to your advantage. With all the three monoliths activated, you now need to head to the lake where the main remnant vault is located.