Back to the Compound

**Back to the Compound** is the first section of Сhapter 4 where you have to get to the Oxygen Shield Generator at the top of the Main Operations Building, and then into the underground.

## Walkthrough

This section can start in one of two ways depending on whether you fought Utgy or Narelle in The Central Spire.

If you fought Utgy, you, Lucas and Narelle will arrive outside the compound in a spaceship, your goal being to reach the Oxygen Shield Generator at the top of the Main Operations and disable it so the Celestial can destroy the Varkem Compound with orbital bombardment. Follow Narelle’s directions to head up to Level 3 of the Main Operations Building, however Private Gordon spots you and sounds the alarm just before you get there.

If you fought Narelle, you will have a conversation with Utgy in the Main Operations Building for a short while. After some time, Lucas and Narelle will arrive, and he will escape with his rocket boots. Because it will look like he is attacking you (either as a stage or in actuality, depending on the choices you make), you end up rejoining them and the next parts of the map go on as normal.

The first thing that happens once both paths branch back together is that Sergeant Rogers along with some Varkem Soldiers will crash through the window and begin attacking you. Sergeant Rogers is the first of many Varkem Elite Soldiers you will encounter. He has much more health than his regular counterparts.

Once you defeat him, some Varkem Commandos will spawn on the overhead ledges and begin firing down at you. You have to shoot all of them dead, and then two things happen - ways up will open up on both sides of the room, and also you will unlock Celron weapons at the Matter Manipulator.

Go up the stairs to the next level of the Main Operations Building, fighting the Varkem Soldiers in your way. At the back of the upper level you will enter a room filled with black-and-green databank structures. This area can be difficult since Varkem Soldiers can come at you from any direction in the cramped spaces, including some Varkem Commandos from above.

Once you reach the stairs and head up to the next level, you will face off against a Varkem Elite Soldier. Upon defeating them, the door will open and you will emerge into another room with a large window, which explodes and you will see some Varkem Fighters hovering outside. You have to shoot each of them until they explode, however they fire exploding shots right back at you that have the capability of taking out all of your health in one blast. Their shots do move slowly however, and you can take cover behind what remains of the blasted-out window.

Once destroying them, head up to the top level where the Oxygen Shield Generator is, however it turns out there is no way to destroy it without cutting off the power, which you come to believe is located deep underground. Since you found a hatch leading underground back in Chapter 2, you make it your next goal to head there. Once you realise this, a small group of Varkem Soldiers enter the room.

Once you defeat all of them, Narelle runs to one of the windows and blasts out a hole. Once she and Lucas have jumped down, you can jump down yourself. Walk across the top of the bridge, and Narelle will place a Fusion Charge to blast out a way into the Matter Manipulation Facility.

Inside you will face off against some waves of Varkem Soldiers, including a few riding Varkem Ravagers. There are three waves total, which have a long period of time in-between each spawn. The final wave spawns two Varkem Elite Soldiers, and once you defeat them the way out opens up.

You will find the hatch is closed, but Narelle blasts it open with another Fusion Charge. Simply go inside to move on to the next section.

## Equipment

You can unlock some updated recipes:

 Celron Force Field - Now requires Celron Metal and Celron Energy Cells. You get 8 (upgraded from 2). In addition, all Varkem Force Fields in your inventory turn into Celron Force Fields.

The equipment you can now craft are:

 Celron Energy Blade - 20 Attack Damage, 1.6 Attack Speed. Crafted using 3 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 1 Celron Energy Core.

 Cryo Edge - 26 Attack Damage, 1.2 Attack Speed, 14 Sweeping Damage, Knockback I. Crafted using 5 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 1 Celron Energy Core.

 Matter Switchblade - 16 Attack Damage, No Attack Cooldown. Gives Speed II for 5 seconds upon damaging an enemy. Crafted using 2 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 1 Celron Energy Core.

 Magnetic Repulsor - 37 Attack Damage, 0.8 Attack Speed. You can right-click to get levitated upwards and then slam down and emit a shockwave upon landing that deals 32-64 damage to enemies within 5 blocks. You can actually use this to jump even higher in combo with the rocket boots. Crafted using 6 Celron Metal, 2 Celron Energy Core.

 Absolute Zero - When holding and right-clicking, emits a deadly, constant beam that deals 8-12 damage per hit to mobs caught in the beam. It also inflicts Slowness. Can break the same blocks as a Laser Drill. Has a range of 8 blocks. Crafted using 4 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 2 Celron Energy Core.

 Frost Thrower - When holding and right-clicking, emits a frosty aura that deals 8-12 damage per hit. It also inflicts Slowness and sets mobs on fire. Has a large area range of 4 blocks in front of you. Crafted using 3 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 2 Celron Energy Core.

 Pusher Beam - 40.5 Ranged Damage. Punch II. Good for knocking enemies away or into pits. Crafted using 2 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 1 Celron Energy Core, 1 Celron Barrel.

 Subspace Rapid Blaster - Spam right-click to constantly shoot shots. 12-22 Ranged Damage. Piercing I. Crafted using 3 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 1 Celron Energy Core, 1 Celron Barrel.

 Solar Flare Triblaster - Spam right-click to constantly shoot spreads of three shots. 11-19 Ranged Damage. Multishot. Crafted using 2 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 1 Celron Energy Core, 3 Celron Barrels

 Cosmic Commando Phaser - 47.25 Ranged Damage. Zooms in when holding, reducing your movement speed. Crafted using 1 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 1 Celron Energy Core, 2 Celron Barrels.

 Quantum Energy Launcher - 40 Explosive Damage. Has a slow loading time. Crafted using 4 Celron Metal, 1 Celron Grip, 2 Celron Energy Core, 2 Celron Barrel.

 Nebula Orb - Spawns a glowing pink-and-blue orb that zaps up to 3 enemies per second, dealing 8-12 damage with each shot. Has a range of 5 blocks. If you are within its range when it zaps an enemy, you get a regeneration buff that heals 5 health. Crafted using 2 Celron Energy Cores, 7 Celron Energy Cells.

The weapons you can now obtain as drops are:

 Lightning Bolt - 28 Attack Damage, 1.1 Attack Speed. Loyalty III. Can be thrown, and can pass through enemy force fields. Has a low chance of dropping from Varkem Soldiers that wield this weapon.

## Recommendations

Given the fast-paced nature of most Varkem Soldiers, Rapid Blasters are most effective against them in general. Swords can be used at close range, and the Shockwave Gauntlet can deal a considerable amount of damage each slam. Varkem Commando Phasers can also take out individual Varkem Soldiers quickly at a range.

The Extreme Beam, Laser Drone Head, and Electric Burst can be useful against groups of soldiers, though their general damage output is a bit too low against just one soldier.

Another important decision is what Celron weapons to craft first. Without going into too much detail of what is coming next, the weapons that will be most useful are the Absolute Zero or Frost Thrower, Subspace Rapid Blaster or Solar Flare Triblaster, and the Magnetic Repulsor.

The Cosmic Commando Phaser can be handy against Varkem Soldiers and especially Commandos, but its slow attack speed can suffer against the new enemies in the section after this one.

Having at least one Celron-tier sword (Celron Energy Blade, Cryo Edge or Matter Switchblade) is also a good thing to eventually have, but it’s not a priority.