Astra Malorum Main Quest

For other uses, see Astra Malorum (disambiguation).

-
Astra Malorum Main Quest
Description	Complete the Main Quest in Astra Malorum in Standard Mode

The Main Quest of Astra Malorum follows "Tank" Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski, Takeo Masaki, Edward Richtofen, Grigori Weaver, Elizabeth Grey, Mackenzie Carver, and Maya Aguinaldo as they navigate the Thurston Observatory and confront a second Shadowsmith, Caltheris.

In order to complete the quest, players will need to have obtained the Little Green Menace-1. While the steps below are listed in a numbered order, it is worth noting that many of them can be completed simultaneously.

Step 1: Build the LGM-1

Collect the Pieces

1. Players must first collect several items:
   • Destroy one of O.S.C.A.R.'s flying drones to obtain the Damaged Drone.
   • Find a blinking lamp post around the map and shoot it to drop the Aberrant Wiring.
   • With a Pack-a-Punched gun, shoot the gearshift of Ol' Tessie in Crash Site to collect the Car Battery.
   • With Cryofreeze equipped, find and shoot three Aether Crystals around the map, dropping an Absolute Zero Shard each time. You need to collect a total of 3 shards.

Trap O.S.C.A.R.

1. Kill O.S.C.A.R. using three different traps. This can be done in any order, but only one can be done per round.
   1. Lead O.S.C.A.R to the Rocket Thrusters in Museum Infinitum and then interact with it to place the Absolute Zero Shard inside the Thrusters. The trap will activate. Lead O.S.C.A.R. into the thrusters to kill him. Insure he stays within them long enough to do so.
   2. Place the Damaged Drone, Aberrant Wiring, and Car Battery inside the Stellar Dissector at the Luminarium to turn it into the Electro-Volt Projector, by interacting with the trap's switch while holding all three items. Bring O.S.C.A.R. inside the room and interact with the trap to kill it. Again, ensure O.S.C.A.R. stays within the room until he dies.
   3. Inside the Observatory Dome, find and shoot several random fuming valves around the room. Only one valve will be fuming at a time, requiring players to search for the correct one to shoot. If done correctly, the telescope will move, angling into space. There is a limited time to do so, or the valves will reset. Locations are:
      • One in the portal room
      • Two under the Pack-a-Punch machine
      • Three around the Pack-a-Punch
      • Two on the Catwalk above the Pack-a-Punch
   4. Bring O.S.C.A.R. beneath the telescope and interact with the organ in front of the Pack-a-Punch Machine. Players will be brought to a Star Chart and will need to place their cursor over the Sun to activate the trap. Make sure O.S.C.A.R. stays within the laser beam to kill him.
      • Zombies will not attack the player while they interact with the Star Chart.
2. Once all three traps are done, the final O.S.C.A.R. killed will drop the LGM-1.

Step 2: Eavesdrop on O.S.C.A.R

1. Starting on Round 10; Find O.S.C.A.R. and stay behind him by about 20-30 meters, avoiding his detection. He will begin to repeat reports of previous missions of his. Follow him until he name of three planets in quick succession. Turn the planets into numbers based on their distance from the Sun. Mercury = 1, Venus = 2, Neptune = 8, etc.
   • Turning on Subtitles for this step will allow players to more comfortably keep their distance from O.S.C.A.R, as the list of planets will appear in the subtitles.
   • Similarly, it is best to ping O.S.C.A.R to more easily measure your distance from him.
2. Create a three digit number based on the order the planets are named in.
   • For example; Earth, Mercury, Mars becomes 314
3. Travel to the Observatory Dome and enter the 3-digit number into the terminal there. If done correctly, a lift will open.

Step 3: Retrieve the Brain

1. Retrieve the key from the corpse inside the lift then travel to Machina Astralis and interact with the cryopod. The pod will open revealing the corpse of Silas Thurston.
2. Travel to Museum Infinitium and find the Rock Saw located behind a glass display, shoot the glass to pick it up. Return to the pod and interact with the corpse head to collect the brain.
3. Travel to the Luminarium and interact with the Perfusion Machine on the table to replace the monkey brain inside with Thurston's brain. Interact with the machine again, and this will trigger a short lockdown where you need to defend the machine.
4. Pick the Perfusion Machine and bring it to the machine near the teleporter in Machina Astralis. If done correctly, the machine will power up and will display a list of words.

Step 4: Activate the Teleporter

Step 4a

1. Travel to the Archive of Orbis. Inside the room, there will be three busts of woman. Each bust will have a set of bookshelves either on their left or their right. For each bust, interact with the set of bookshelves and look for the book titles that were displayed by the machine.
   • You will need to interact with each bust as many times as the number of corresponding book titles found in their set of bookshelves. For example, if a set of bookshelves contains two books with the titles from the machine, you need to interact with the corresponding bust twice.
2. If done correctly, a ladder will drop from the ceiling. Climb it to retrieve the Neptune model and place it in the display at the top of the Machina Astralis.

Step 4b

1. Find three notes around the map that display a direction (eg. NE) and planet (Mars)
   • One note can be found on a desk in the Luminarium
   • One note can be found on a table in Machina Astralis
   • One note can be found on a table in Archive of Orbis
2. Shoot the corresponding planets on the model display to align each of them in the direction mentioned in the notes. The compass showing the directions is located around the Sun model.

Step 4c

1. Travel to the Observatory Dome and interact with the telescope, this requires players to have moved the telescope into position via shooting the fuming valves, as was done for the LGM-1 step.
2. Look for Mars and find its coordinates, this will be a 4-digit code.
3. Return to Machina Astralis and enter the code. If done correctly, the machine will say that the coordinates are for Mars.

Step 4d

1. Interact with the machine to reboot the portal. This will spawn O.S.C.A.R. and you'll have to defend the portal until it has rebooted. If done correctly, you will be teleported on Mars.

Step 5: Mars

1. While on Mars, pick up the brain jar located in the center of the arena and place it in the Aegis Terminal at the top of the stairs. Interact with it to create a portal.
2. Interact with the terminal to play a sound. This can be done once per round. When the sound is played, the Ascendant Eye will be seen flying near the giant head outside the map.
3. While the Eye is flying, shoot at the four pylons outside of the map in this order:
   1. Back Right
   2. Back Left
   3. Front Right
   4. Front Left
   5. Then shoot at the pylon located above the the entrance to the temple, above the Aegis Terminal. If done correctly, the Eye will fly to the center of the arena.
4. When the Eye is close enough to the ground, jump into it and interact with it to catch it.
5. Place the Eye in the device on the right side of the arena, viewed from the stairs.

Step 6: Harmonize the Pillars

1. Using the LGM-1, shoot at the antennas of the five pillars found around the arena, if done correctly, a note will be played and a symbol will be displayed on the pillar.
2. Travel back to the Observatory Dome and interact with the organ. The little screen on the right side will display the corresponding five symbols in a specific order. However, one of the symbols will be missing.
3. Return to Mars and interact with the corresponding pillars in the order shown on the organ's screen, noting which pillar corresponds to the missing symbol. If done correctly, the screen will bright up and a quote from Thurston will play.
4. Interact with the Aegis Terminal to start the fight against Caltheris.

Step 7: Caltheris Boss Fight

Caltheris is fought in four distinct phases, all within the temple on Mars. Caltheris is fought in four phases, each with different mechanics, though there are some general things that are good to know across the battle.

• The LGM-1 is extremely effective against Caltheris, particularly when upgraded, as it allows players to do passive damage and focus on avoiding her attacks. During the last 3 phases, the UFO's fired by it will target her weak points once exposed.
• An Armor Wall-Buy and Ammo Cache are both present on mars. The Armor Wall-Buy is right next to the entrance, and the Ammo Cache is on the left side of the arena against a pillar.
• Shock Mimics will spawn throughout the boss fight, in all phases.

Caltheris (Skull)

• In this Phase, Caltheris will take the form of a floating Skull made of rock. She will fire down on players with lasers while Zombies and other enemies flood the temple.
  • When Zombies are killed, their souls begin to fill one of the Defense Towers on the high walls of the Temple.
  • Once a Tower is filled, players must hold interact on the machine at the stop of the stairs to fire a laser into Calthersis.
  • Players must repeat this process three times.

Each time the player begins a damage phase, Caltheris will gain a new attack.

• Initially, Caltheris will fire lasers down at the player.
• In the second phase, Caltheris will begin throwing meteors at the player. These meteors will leave behind burning pits of lava which can damage players as well. Indicators on the ground will show where the meteors will strike.
• In the third phase, Toxic Zombies will spawn and Caltheris will eventually fill the arena with toxic air, slowly damaging the players unless they take refuge at the top of the staricase. If players are fast enough, they can avoid the toxic gas portion of this phase.

Draining her health bar will move players on to phase 2 of the fight. In between Phase 1 and 2, a meteor shower will begin, with large meteors impacting around the arena.

Caltheris (Golem)

• In this phase, Caltheris takes the form of a rock golem that players must fight. She will primarily attack by slapping players and throwing rocks at them. After taking enough damage, a crit spot will begin to shine brightly on her chest or shoulder. Players must only extinguish Caltheris' health bar to proceed to the next phase.

Caltheris Ascendant

• This phase begins with an immune phase, during which Caltheris will not attack and players will be swarmed with plenty of Armored Zombies. Players should take this time to re-stock their armor surplus.
• Once Caltheris begins attacking again, the fight plays out very similarly to Phase 2. However, Caltheris begins to fight far more aggressively and is once again covered in armor. This armor can be broken off after sustaining enough damage, revealing additional crit spots. She will also gain a Ground Slam attack that can only be avoided by jumping.
• Extinguishing her health bar will immediately begin Phase 4.

Caltheris the Needle

• In the final battle, Caltheris once again must simply be attacked, but she herself becomes extremely aggressive and fast.
• Caltheris' ground slam becomes significantly more powerful in this phase. Additionally, the rock she throws will now hurt more and also leave a charge of electricity at its landing site. This electricity lingers for a long period of time, and will damage any player that steps into it rapidly, easily shredding armor and downing players.
• At the beginning of the phase, players are granted a unique Power-Up at the top of the stairs, Veytharion's Blessing, if they have previously completed the Main Quest for Ashes of the Damned, Dust to Dust. Veytharion's Blessing does not need to be picked up immediately, and will grant players infinite ammo and lethal equipment upon activation for its duration.

Killing Caltheris here will immediately begin the final cutscene, completing the quest.

Post Main Quest

If players choose to continue playing, they will be teleported back to Thurston Obersvatory with all Perks, and Bonus Points Power-Ups, Aether Tools, Aetherium Crystals, Legendary tier weaponry, Salvage and a random Wonder Weapon from the map pool are all spawned around them.

Completion Rewards

Depending on the mode in which the Main Quest was completed, several different rewards are guaranteed.

Name	How to obtain	Item
Astra Malorum Early Completion Calling Card	Complete the Main Quest before the launch of Directed Mode
Astra Malorum Standard Completion Calling Card	Complete the Main Quest in Standard Mode
Astra Malorum Directed Completion Calling Card	Complete the Main Quest in Directed Mode
Bottled Up Nikolai Skin	Complete the Main Quest in Standard Mode
Cosmic Repair Grey Skin	Complete the Main Quest in Directed Mode
Crystalline Fracture Pack-a-Punch Weapon Camouflage	Complete the Main Quest in Cursed on Tier I
Void Fracture Pack-a-Punch Weapon Camouflage	Complete the Main Quest in Cursed on Tier II
Amethyst Fracture Pack-a-Punch Weapon Camouflage	Complete the Main Quest in Cursed on Tier III
XP	Complete the Main Quest in Standard Mode	10,000 XP
XP	Complete the Main Quest in Directed Mode	5,000 XP