Chapter 5: Return to the archives

With that, you've now secured half of the game's Octoliths. With a pair of new weapons in your arsenal, you'll now be able to open up new areas in previous locations to explore. You're free to explore all four worlds now, but for this guide I'll take you through a specific order based on scoring new weapons to open up new regions.

You'll also notice that now you've faced all six hunters, they'll randomly travel around to different worlds indicated on the star chart. You'll face them again at key regions of each world, either before you've secured new Octoliths or during the escape sequences.

They'll use the same tactics as before (except Sylux won't use his ship again), with each new weapon you pick up you'll have scored the weakness of another hunter, so be sure to use the right weapon if you have it (so far you possess Kanden and Spire's weaknesses).

So let's go back to the Celestial Archives first. Hop out of your ship upon landing and be sure to pick up UA Expansion CA.01 before moving forward. Right now your ultimate target is the Synergy Core where you'll find a new area to explore. But instead of using the ship deck teleporter to shortcut your way there, we'll go the long way to pick up a few items along the way.

Exit the gateway and head for the Helm Room. Deal with the lone Guardian assaulting you there and move on to the Meditation Room. Proceed through to Data Shrine 01 to find yourself curiously locked in. Head inside to the central chamber and take out the lone Guardian hopping around in there to unseal the doors. Move ahead to Fan Room Alpha and climb up to Data Shrine 02.

Now for those promised items along the way. Data Shrine 02 will seal you in like before, head left to find a green blast shielded-door locking you out of the central chamber. This one's no problem now, simply use the Battlehammer to open it up. Two Guardians inside wield Volt Driver weaponry, so your visor view will mess up if they strike you. Use the Battlehammer against them, don't forget to climb on top of the pillar at the center of the room to grab UA Expansion CA.02.

With both targets down and out you'll be free to leave this area. But before moving on, see that floating platform with two pillars atop? Jump up there and leap across to the hole in the wall ahead. Crawl inside - a nifty surprise awaits in the form of the Volt Driver! Now you'll be able to break through yellow force fields, one of which blocks access to an unexplored area in the Synergy Core.

Before leaving Data Shrine 02 be sure to pick up scans for the Medical Hub and Literary Hub. Move up to the Synergy Core and feel free to take a quick trip back to your ship to save the game. Head back to the Synergy Core and climb up the shaft till you spot a yellow force field. Take it out with the Volt Driver and cross the corridor beyond.

Ride the small lift up a floor and hop on the jump pad you find to be launched across to a yellow blast shielded-door. Grab the Alimbic Prophecy 05 entry from above the door before opening it with the Volt Driver.

Step inside the following tiny chamber to locate a lone teleporter. Now this one can't head back to the ship deck, so you must be on the right track. Jump in the teleporter to find yourself at the head of the Transfer Lock, a huge open-air chamber. But before stepping outside through the force field ahead, spin around and grab the Docking Bay L2 entry from behind the teleporter.

Hop down to the level below you to find a spawning unit come to life nearby. Watch out for the Voldrums it spews out, deal with them all before moving on. Once you've taken out the spawning unit, head up to its former position to find UA Expansion CA.03 hiding in a corner. Also look for the Docking Bay L3 scan entry nearby here too.

Hop on the jump pad nearby to be launched right up to the third floor of this area where an inactive teleporter rests. Scan Docking Bay L1 before going out to the main open area. Step outside to find yourself atop a bridge leading towards an elongated structure beyond. Scan the Photon Stabilizer keeping the bridge afloat before moving forward (and check out that funky skybox above).

As you move forward you'll be greeted by three spawning units springing to life. Quickly deal with the one atop the bridge ahead before it spews out too many Psycho Bits. With the first one dealt with, drop to the floor and finish off the other two Voldrum-generating units. With this half of the room secure, you'll notice three force fields along the sloping structure blocking access to a control terminal behind each.

Climb up the slope and move towards the back of the region. One the way you'll spot a sealed chamber with what looks like a large control terminal inside. That's ultimately where you need to be. But watch out for pair of crazy Guardians attacking from behind, deal with them before they cause too much trouble.

Move around to the back of the sealed chamber to find your next challenge - a trio of spawning units here sending forth a Psycho Bit v2.0 each. Scan one for your Logbook and steer clear of their Volt Driver projectiles if you want to avoid a face-full of static.

Blast the spawning units before finishing off any remaining airborne targets with the Battlehammer. Upon destroying each if the remaining trio of Psycho Bits a force field will lower, granting you access to projectile-sensitive switches in the canal below. Shoot each one to lower the force fields protecting those switches you found earlier, then shoot all three of those to finally grant yourself access to the sealed chamber above. Step inside and scan the large lone terminal you find to energize the upper teleporter back in the chamber you entered this region via.

Cross the bridge and step inside the now-active teleporter to find yourself outside the station in the Docking Bay area. A lone Guardian on sentry duty will attack, quickly deal with it using the Battlehammer and don't fall off the ledge. If you fall off into space it's lights out, so no careless footwork if you want a clean no-life-lost record.

With the Guardian gone you'll be free to poke around. Look for scans of Alimbic Order 02 and Alimbic Order 03 first. You'll also find a handy Shield Key sitting patiently near the center of the platform (it materialized once the Guardian left). Pick it up to grant access to Celestial Archives Cartograph Artifact 02 way out over the abyss.

Look out towards the artifact's platform and wait for the moving lift to come towards you. Hop aboard and wait for it to bring you straight to your prize (when riding on these lifts, don't touch the touch screen as you might accidentally jump and fall off the lift - I know it's annoying but there's not much else you can do). With the artifact secured, scan Alimbic Order 04 here before going back.

Once back on the main platform, climb up to the long bridge jutting from the wall. Step towards the end where all the moving lifts arrive and scan the Final Wish entry there for your Logbook. The message in this one again alludes to this Gorea creature, so the mystery of the Alimbic's disappearance is slowing starting to unravel... Anyway, time to take a ride on one of those lifts. There's four lifts to choose from, firstly ride the second one from the left to find yourself at a platform where UA Expansion CA.04 resides.

With your latest item tucked away, scan the Alimbic Order 01 entry here before returning to the bridge. Now the other three platforms the moving lifts will take you to all possess teleporters, so you're about to enter a confusing maze of rooms all connected by a variety of teleporters, but a few items hidden away inside them make it all worth it.

Begin by jumping in the teleporter the far-left lift takes you to. Upon reappearing you'll be inside Incubation Vault 01 - the first of three. Take your time to explore these chambers and see where each teleporter takes you. Remember that teleporters standing beside control terminals will return you to the Docking Bay.

There's a bounty of items to be found in these chambers, so don't leave without the Shock Coil, Missile CA.02 and Celestial Archives Attameter Artifact 02. Also don't forget to scan the top of the large green tanks in Incubation Vault 01 and 03 for Incubation Tank A and B respectively. Grab a scan from an Electro Voldrum in Incubation Vault 02 as well.

With all your escapades here complete, time to move on. Head to Incubation Vault 03 (via the second teleporter from the right in the Docking Bay) and tear open one of the blue force fields to find a lone teleporter inside the smaller chamber. Step inside to finally find yourself reappearing in a new area. Exit the chamber and cross the winding corridor beyond.

Through here lies the Tetra Vista - a massive curving observation tunnel with a grand view of outside space. Only problem is that most of it's wrecked with gaping holes everywhere. Once again, you don't want to go falling into space.

Move through very cautiously and take it slow when Psycho Bits appear. Fry them from afar but watch out for any Volt Driver projectiles are sent your way. Also don't forget to scan the Shield Generator and Gravity Stabilizer objects for your Logbook on the way through. This area's definitely going to test your patience, so take it very slowly and always look before you leap (literally).

Upon clearing this nightmarish corridor, move ahead to eventually find a corridor inhabited by small creatures moping about. Scan one to reveal it as a Quadtroid - this is as close you'll get to seeing an actual Metroid in this title. Keep back and watch out if it grabs hold of you. Lay a bomb to break free, stand back and rip into them from afar. With all three gone the doors will unlock. Move on to find yourself at the base of a tall silo, complete with an abyss into space below.

Clear any appearing Psycho Bits giving you trouble before moving. See the ship deck portal across the gap on the other side of the silo? Power it up and return to your ship for a quick save. Return to the New Arrival Registration area and clear off the respawning Psycho Bits.

Ascend the silo thanks to the moving platforms to reach the second one (don't worry about these lifts as they only move vertically so if you accidentally jump while aboard one you shouldn't fall off). In the next silo look down below from above, see the large opening on the right side? Make your way down there to find the final artifact waiting inside a tall chamber.

As you enter the chamber a force field blocks your exit. With nothing visible in the chamber beside the artifact itself, simply switch on the Scan Visor to reveal a number of lore scans. Scan Gorea 06, 07, 08, and 09 to reveal the Shield Key, then secure Celestial Archives Binary Subscripture Artifact 02 to finally activate the nearby Stronghold Portal. But before you can leave a large nasty creature drops from the ceiling, quickly scan it to reveal it as a Greater Ithrak.

This beast's far nastier than its weaker buddies, you'll need to get around behind it and fire at the small yellow tail to inflict damage. Wait for the creature to lunge before sidestepping and send a missile into its back.

With your position clear, head back out to the silo and go over to the third and final silo on the right. Here you'll discover Energy Tank CA.02 at the base, grab it and return to your ship for a quick save, as you don't want to have to do all this again if you slip off into space.

Climb up the final silo to discover a snug chamber where the Stronghold Portal lives. Cross the elaborate hallway once inside to greet a friendly face - Slench v3 guards this Octolith. Refer to the bosses guide to secure this artifact and clear out the Celestial Archives.

With your fifth Octolith secured, you'll receive another cryptic message: "The cancer tried." Whatever this Gorea is can't be good. Grab all the health refills before leaving the chamber and head towards the outer hallway.

This time you've got a whopping 8 and a half minutes to make it back to your ship before this world reclaims its Octolith. But you'll need all of it during this good-bye tour throughout the station. Exit the Stronghold Void and quickly go through to the first silo of the New Arrival Registration. Take your time here, this is why you've got so much time to spare. Take it slow and don't fall off (turn off the music if it makes you nervous).

Leave here and move on to the Tetra Vista. Uhoh, now you've got to make it back through this tricky region. Take it slow again and blow the Psycho Bits apart from afar as they appear. Just jump straight up to avoid their projectiles - don't move around as you might fall off.

Put this place behind you and use the teleporter beyond to make it back to Incubation Vault 03. Don't waste any time; go straight for the teleporter beside the terminal to return to the Docking Bay.

Once there, drop off the right side of the bridge and hop in the teleporter there to return inside the Transfer Lock area. Fall below to the teleporter below you to finally make it back to the Synergy Core. Now we're getting there. Drop down the shaft and go through to Data Shrine 03. Naturally there's Guardian trouble in here, so head right and go inside the main chamber. Clear the annoyance away and exit the main chamber via the door without the two pillars either side.

Move through to Fan Room Beta and travel down to Data Shrine 02. Go inside the main chamber and use the Battlehammer to take apart the two annoying Guardians waiting inside. With both gone check your map and make certain you exit the right way and head for Fan Room Alpha. Return to Data Shrine 01 and ignore the Lesser Ithrak watching the door. Take out any Psycho Bits along the way, but watch out here as you may encounter a rival hunter inside the main chamber.

Deal with them if you have to and quickly return to the Meditation Room. Run upstairs and head for the Helm Room. Inside you'll face three remaining Guardians. These ones are incredibly psychopathic so you won't be able to avoid much of their fire. Blast them all with missiles (especially when they cluster together) and make a break for the Celestial Gateway to secure your latest acquisition.

Well done! Only three of these oversized diamonds to go.

Next Chapter: Excavating Alinos

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