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If you’ve made your way to the Fractured Wastes biome ofReturnal, you’ve already been on quite a journey. This Roguelike game takes you through six unique biomes, and you respawn in the Overgrown Ruins or Echoing Ruins if you’re defeated in battle. Both of these biomes have Helios in the starting area.
RELATED:Returnal: Echoing Ruins Walkthrough
Echoing Ruins serve as a permanent checkpoint in the game until you beat the story, and you’ll spawn back here if you’re defeated in Fractured Wastes as well. The special thing about Fractured Wastes is that it doesn’t have any final boss, but the walkthrough will almost make you wish that it did.
How To Reach Fractured Wastes
If you’ve recently started playing Returnal,the Overgrown Ruins is the first biome you’ll have to beat. This area will teach you the basic mechanics of the game and introduce you to different artifacts and weapons. In the end,you’ll fight your first main boss called Phrike to move ahead to Crimson Wastes.
The second biome is designed like a Desert, andyou have to reach the mountain and ascend it twice to reach the final boss battle here. In the end,you’ll be fighting Ixionand this boss will limit your movement quite a lot. After defeating this hostile, you’ll get the Icarian Grapnel that will help you a lot.
After Crimson Wastes,you’ll reach the Derelict Citadel biome where you’ll use the grappling mechanic a lot. Even the boss fight in this biome has you grappling to different platforms all the time. You’ll have to beat Nemesis here to trigger a long cutscene.
This cutscene will spawn you in the Echoing Ruins area with Helios.The starting area of this biome is similar to Overgrown Ruins and you can also find the Tower of Sisyphus on your right. You’ll have to find two keys to unlock the boss area where you’ll fight Hyperion to stop the melody.
When the boss is defeated,there’ll be a hole on the battlefield that will take you down to the area with two pathways. One of these paths will lead you to the portal that can be unlocked with the key dropped by the boss. This portal will take you to Fractured Wastes, which is an ice area.
How To Beat Fractured Wastes
Apart from not having a final boss, the Fractured Wastes biome also has a unique structure.When you get to the biome through the portal, you’ll see a short icy path leading outside. After following the path for a bit, you’ll see a giant open room with the following things in it:
This is the main area of this biome, andyou have to go through the three cyan rectangular doors to get the Hadal Keys required for the vault. These cyan rooms might have a Translocator taking you to a different area, as shown above. You’ll go through multiple rooms in each of these doors to reach the key.
At the end of each area, you’ll find a mini-boss room that will go into lockdown when you enter.You’ll be fighting multiple waves of different normal and Malformed enemies in this room. If you manage to defeat them all, you can claim the key in the next room.
Once you get the Hadal Key from a certain area,you’re able to use the Translocator near it to go back to the main area. Through your run, you’ll most likely get at least one Atropian Key. It’s recommended to save this for the red triangular room in the main area. Unlock this room and head through the obstacles to get a permanent upgrade at the end.
You’ll acquire the Promethean Insulators on a Fabricator at the end of this room. This allows you to endure hazardous areas like the red toxic water found commonly in Echoing Ruins and Fractured Wastes.
After getting all three Hadal Keys,open the vault and claim yet another permanent upgrade that will allow you to sink to the depths. This will let you go down the giant pool in the main area to reach Abyssal Scar, the final biome in the game.
Tips To Survive In Fractured Wastes
If you want to get past the Fractured Wastes biome, here are a few tips that will help you a lot:
