Chapter 4: One eternal ice age

Samus stands defiant before the Alimbic Order's cybernetic defenses.

Only one locale left in this resort to explore. Launch your ship and travel to Arcterra - the frozen ice world. With only two hunters left to make your acquaintance, no doubt you'll meet them here. Hop out of your ship and scan the terminal nearby to learn more of this icy rock.

Look down off the platform you're standing on, from here the view below reveals a giant drop stretching below. Step forward to the doorway ahead and scan Alimbic Prophecy 04 above before going inside.

Follow the path downward to eventually spot a small creature meandering about on a ledge. Scan it to reveal it as a Geemer. Use a missile to clear it off the ledge, then deal with the second as you leap across. Keep moving around the path and grab the Alimbic Crest scan as you pass by one of the large ornate symbols on the wall.

Keep going and watch out for a pack of Shriekbat roosting on the underside of the platform where your ship rests. Scan one before they swoop, then simply take them out from afar before they dive-bomb you.

Climb down the central pillar formation below to reach the ground safely. Exit the gateway via the only door nearby and cross the corridor to locate the Sic Transit area beyond. As you enter this region the door behind you seals itself, so time to look for a way out. Scan the Alimbic Emblem on the wall opposite you first before moving on.

Step forward to catch the unmistakable sound of weapons fire up ahead. Step through the door to the outside region for an interesting sight. Rival hunters Noxus and Trace are busy duelling with each other, and you've just crashed their party. Noxus will immediately turn on you so no time to sit back and watch the fireworks. Refer to the bosses guide for tips to send Noxus away, keep in mind that defeating either himself or Trace will send the other hunter running off as well.

With both hunters retreating you'll be clear to explore further. Watch out for Voldrum-spawning units coming to life once the hunters depart, quickly destroy them before they send too many hostiles forth. Also watch out for a Psycho Bit-spawning unit inside the cave and a lone Alimbic Turret keeping guard.

With all hostiles taken care of, you'll be stuck in this area only once you've found and activated 6 proxy locks. Explore the area with your Scan Visor on to find them scattered around. Don't forget to scan the Damaged Bridge entry up above as well.

With all six locks deactivated you'll be rewarded with a materialising Shield Key down at the base of a long tunnel. Make your way up there to retrieve your prize, upon doing so a door tucked away inside the main cave tunnel will unlock. Go inside the chamber beyond to secure Arcterra Attameter Artifact 01 waiting snugly inside. Securing this artifact will unlock all the exits for this area, granting you passage beyond. Don't forget to grab Energy Tank AR.01 from here as well before leaving.

Exit the chamber and head right. Jump up to the door you find at the end of the cave tunnel and move beyond to locate the Ice Hive region. With a tall purple force field barring your left path, let's head forward for now. Walk over to the hole directly ahead and fall through into the main chamber.

Take a quick look around, see that large door up ahead? Your next path is through there, so you'll just need to find a way to open the door. Scan the Vault Door to reveal that something is blocking its main power conduit lines nearby.

Time for some electrician work. Spin around and take a look at the opposite wall. See all the shielded power nodes? One of them is exposed, scan it to send a charge through the conduit wire, disabling all the force fields. Scan the remaining power nodes to send a charge up both wires towards the door.

But see those small objects blocking the way? Watch as the charge aggravates a swarm of Barbed War Wasps to emerge and take you on. Quickly scan one for your Logbook before opening up.

Concentrate your fire on their hives first to clear the conduits, as more targets will appear if you don't take out the hives first. With all hostiles down a terminal across from the door promptly powers up, while a jump pad comes to life below the hole you fell through to reach this area. Jump back up there and move around to the terminal.

Scan the terminal to finally open up the vault door. Don't forget to scan Alimbic Pride 01 near the terminal. Climb up the vault door once it opens (and take note of that UA Expansion hiding behind the purple force field). Up above you'll be attacked by a Blue Barbed War Wasp, quickly scan it before taking out the hive first.

If it freezes you simply rub the touch screen again to break free. With the target down, make sure you scan the Ammolite Shards, Witherite Shards and Ice Bridge before moving on. Up ahead around the corner you'll discover an ancient hall not completely frozen yet. The game will pan up to the highest point of the chamber, revealing a purple orb hovering there. Now that must be something good.

Your entrance will be promptly sealed by a purple force field, so you can probably guess at what that item up there is. Climb up the ice ramp and grab a scan of the Alimbic Insignia up above the purple force field first. Climb across the fallen pillar and take out the Zoomer there before accidentally stepping on it. Over on the far wall you'll see a number of narrow tunnels running up the wall, but going in there now with the Morph Ball you'll find your path blocked.

But see that blue switch at the base of the wall? Scan it to rotate a number of platforms up above. You'll only have a few seconds to move on before they rotate back, so no time to waste. Crawl up through the wall quickly and make your way along the catwalk above. Rest yourself atop the platform at the end and wait for it to bring you across to the trio of rotated platforms. Quickly roll across to the other side, then simply follow the path around to reach the platform where the purple orb lives. Stand up and scan it to reveal it as the Judicator!

With your latest toy in hand, drop below and use it to break down the purple force field barring your exit. Step forward to find yourself atop the ice bridge you passed earlier. See the Stronghold Portal dead ahead? Before going towards it, turn right to spot a small purple force field blocking access to another area ahead. Disable it and leap across.

Inside you'll discover Universal Ammo Expansion AR.01 sitting snugly inside. With this item secured, quickly turn around and take out the Alimbic Turret firing at you from across the tunnel. Doing so will instantly reveal a Shield Key right behind it. Now isn't that handy? Pick it up to disable the force field covering the floor in here, revealing Arcterra Cartograph Artifact 01 directly below. But before leaping down, scan the Heating System directly above you first.

With your second artifact locked away, follow the tunnel to find yourself facing the handy ship deck teleporter. Fire it up and head back to your ship if you want for a quick save. Back in the Ice Hive, you'll find the Stronghold Portal above the teleporter, make sure you pick up History 09, History 10 and History 11 hovering above the portal.

Follow the path around the corner of the ship deck teleporter to locate a tall winding corridor filled with those harmful plants. Clear the path and move through till you discover a small opening on the left wall. Roll through here to locate a ledge overlooking the vault door where Missile AR.01 awaits. Remember UA Expansion AR.02 you also saw here earlier? Hop down and use the Judicator to break through the purple force field guarding your prize.

With these items tucked away hop back on the jump pad to return to the door you originally entered this area via. Before going through disable the tall purple force field to clear the path for your return trip. Now we'll go track down the final artifact. Return to the Sic Transit region and head left up the walkway there. Straight ahead lies a purple blast shielded-door, use your latest weapon to break through.

Beyond lies the Frost Labyrinth, a narrow network of twisting tunnels. Enter the network to find it riddled with Zoomers, your bombs will certainly come in handy here. Checking your map reveals the only two exits from here are both sealed with red blast shields, so that artifact must be close by. Make your way up through the maze, just watch out for the local wildlife.

Eventually you'll pass by a sealed hatch, remember where this is. Keep going further ahead (watch out for the pulsating green lasers giving you trouble) and try to make your way to a dead-end near the right-hand exit of the labyrinth. There you'll find a large cracked hole in the ice sheet, just large enough to squeeze the Morph Ball through.

Patiently position yourself directly below the hole (I say patiently as the slippery surface doesn't help), then double bomb-jump your way straight up to secure the Shield Key floating high above. With the key secured that hatch you passed by earlier will instantly unlock. But before backtracking there, keep going further up through the labyrinth to locate Energy Tank AR.02 way up in the corner.

Head to the unlocked hatch and roll through the tunnel beyond to locate Arcterra Binary Subscripture Artifact 01 hiding in a deep underground cave. With all three artifacts secure you're clear to enter the Stronghold Void again. Backtrack to the Sic Transit area and move on to the Ice Hive. From there, cross through the overgrown corridor and take a quick trip back to your ship to save the game.

Return to the Ice Hive and hop in the Stronghold Portal. Cross the void's main hallway and enter the Octolith's chamber to face Slench v2, guardian of the fourth Octolith. Refer to the bosses guide to clear this monster and get yourself halfway to that ultimate goal.

With your fourth Octolith safely tucked away, the usual telepathic message received informs you that although the Alimbic Order is gone, somehow they remain. The mystery deepens. Grab any health refills before leaving. As you enter the hallway outside, your gunship chimes in once more with the old security protocol; this time you've got 7 minutes to make it back to the Arcterra Gateway.

Zip down the corridor and return to Arcterra with haste. Drop below when you reappear in the Ice Hive and make a break for the exit beyond the overgrown corridor. Get yourself to the Sic Transit region to find a slight obstacle in your path - a number of force fields will appear blocking access to certain regions. Head out to the open area to find out what all the fuss is about - watch as a lone Guardian appears above before meeting an untimely end at the business end of Trace's Imperialist.

Trace will attack from an overlooking platform, quickly move towards him and scan the target for your Logbook. Refer to the bosses guide for tips to take this nasty customer down quickly before time runs out.

With Trace sent packing you'll be free to leave this area and head back to the Arcterra Gateway. Run to the exit as you've still got a short trek left before reaching sanctuary (ignore the spawning Voldrums after conquering Trace). Back in the Arcterra Gateway, you'll now have to manually climb back up the environment to reach your ship above.

Climb atop the central pillar to promptly find yourself blocked in by a materialising force field above. Three Guardians will enter the region in a last-ditch effort to stop you, introduce them to the Judicator to easily fend them off. With all three targets gone quickly begin ascending the area. Watch out for the odd Geemer along the way, and whatever you do don't fall down. Return to your ship and hop in quickly to secure your latest Octolith.

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