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The randomly generated world ofReturnaltakes you through multiple biomes with unique designs and enemies. Each of these biomes follows a certain pattern, and this is reflected through the hostiles in the area as well. It can take you a long time to beat this game since it spawns you in the first biome whenever you’re defeated.
RELATED:Returnal: Crimson Wastes Walkthrough
Derelict Citadel is the third biome you’ll find yourself in, but it’s quite a journey to get there. As the name suggests, the area is filled with desolate ruins of what the Citadel used to be. You’ll encounter a ton of broken structures and enemies in the area.
How To Reach Derelict Citadel
When you start the game for the first time,Selene will crash on a rogue planet called Atropos. Near the crashed ship, Overgrown Ruins is the first biome you’ll come across. This is filled with greenery, and you have to fight Phrike at the end to get a Crimson Key in this biome. This key will lead you to Crimson Wastes.
The next biome is a desert area that also randomizes all the rooms every time you enter.This biome has quite a long walkthrough since you have to get to the mountain and then ascend twice to reach the boss battle. Once you get to the giant battlefield at the top, a boss called Ixion will spawn.
Ixion is much harder to fight compared to Phrikebecause the orbs thrown out by him limit your movement a lot. It also gets more aggressive through the three phases of the battle, and you’ll need some shield or healing consumables to defeat him.
After defeating Ixion, you’ll be able to interact with a corpse on the ground.This will give you an upgrade to the suit called the Icarian Grapnel. You might’ve seen certain areas with a tile with a yellow circle emitting light during your runs.This Grapnel lets you grapple to these tiles so that you can get to the platform.
This Grapnel can be used to get to the platform with the Translocator that takes you to Derelict Citadel. You’ll know why it was important to get this item before getting to this area as soon as you enter.
How To Restore Access To Central Tower
The starting area of the Derelict Citadel stays roughly the same.After going through the initial path, you’ll see yourself in the room shown above. You simply have to grapple to the two platforms and then head out the door to the right. This will take you to an open area where you’ll discover the ruins of the Citadel.
This path will have a few enemies you’ll have to defeat,which might include a Broken Automaton as well. As you get to the location shown by the arrow in the picture,the new quest will start where you’ll have to restore access to the Central Tower. In the first few rooms, you’ll fight against easier enemies like Citadel Turret or Tripods.
This area will also reintroduce the giant eye towers that you saw near the boss room of Overgrown Ruins.These eyes shine a light on the surface that constantly moves around the area. If you get under any of these lights, the turrets will detect your presence and shoot a quick laser.
The first few rooms of the Citadel will be in the open, and you’ll be able to see the surrounding ruins.Eventually, you’ll start getting to the main area as the rooms start being enclosed. These areas will also start giving youenemies like the Automaton or Armored Machina. It can be tough to deal with the waves in this area.
There will also be times when you have to grapple to a certain platform, but the enemies there are shielded so you have to get close to defeat them.The theme for Derelict Citadel seems to be self-sacrifice sincethree types of hostiles throw themselves at you and then explode to deal damage.
Derelict Citadel has special Translocators that resemble the picture above.They have a green light in the middle circle when you’re far away. As you get close, the light turns blue and the Translocator gives passage to a secret room.
These Translocators resemble the hidden rooms in previous biomes that were marked by a yellow aura in front of the statue.You might get a Malformed enemy on the other side, so be careful while using these.
After beating countless enemies and turrets,you’ll reach the structure shown above with another voice note from one of the previous Selene. When you interact with this mechanism, it will create a bridge to the Central Tower, finishing this part of the quest.
How To Find Nemesis
When the cutscene to open the bridge finishes, you’ll see a blue Translocator in front.This will take you directly to the bridge, and some enemies will spawn as soon as you get there. You can cross the bridge after defeating these enemies since there’ll be no more until you reach the next part.
Inside the Central Tower, you’ll be greeted with tons of trap rooms.You will also unlock the holograph room to study more runes here. These trap rooms will have red lasers, but you can simply dash through them if needed. Try to take no damage from these rooms since the next part will be hard.
After a bunch of trap rooms, you’ll reach the final area with stairs leading up to the Citadel.This area will be guarded by many Automaton and Broken Automaton. It’ll be hard to avoid taking damage in this area, so it’s important to stock up on health items. Keep climbing the stairs and you’ll find the boss room.
In this boss room, a cutscene will trigger and Nemesis will take you to a different dimension. This boss fight will be unique, andSelene will think it’s the end of the cycle after beating the boss. The final cutscene will lead you to Echoing Ruins, the fourth biome of Returnal where you’ll find your crashed ship again.
Tips To Survive In Derelict Citadel
After beating Crimson Wastes, you might have a little easier time at the start of this biome.Though things will escalate quickly as you progress, so here are a few tips to help you survive:
