UPLIFT: Bio-Research Mission Walkthrough – ICARUS

In UPLIFT mission, you’ll be helping Group 15 collect some interesting non-Earth-origin biota. This guide will first list the relevant details of the mission, and then provide a step-by-step walkthrough.

Prospect Details

• Approximate time to complete: 1 hour
• Difficulty: Easy ()
• Recommended Level: 10
• Location(s): Forest Biome
• Objectives:
  • Find and Investigate Unusual Flora
    • Travel to the map location
    • Gather Data
  • Locate and Unearth Geode Data
    • Travel to the map location
    • Gather data

Rewards

• 200

Variants Modifiers

Prospect Notes

To complete the objectives, you’ll need to locate two separate samples, and then press [F] to interact with them. For the Flora, you simply need to wait until it’s night; the Geo sample requires you use a pickaxe to open up a rock before you can interact with the sample. Note that you’ll need a T2 pickaxe or better to complete this mission (see “Preparing for UPLIFT” section below).

Objective Locations

While you don’t have to do the Geode first, the Flora sample can’t be collected until it gets dark (18:00h) so it makes more sense to head to the Geode first. The only exception to this is if you didn’t bring a T2 pickaxe with you, and need to tech up before heading to the geode.

This particular section of the Riverlands has a lot of cliffs, so you’ll want to craft some ramps or ladders to help you get up and down cliffs safely. You can probably make it to the geode with careful falls, but getting back up those cliffs as you head northeast to the flora sample almost certainly will require some building.

Preparing for UPLIFT

You’ll need at least a Tier 2 Pickaxe (steel or better) to harvest the geode on this mission. The best choice is to bring one from orbit — this mission isn’t rewarding enough to justify doing it otherwise, since the time it will take to tech up and harvest the geode will make it much longer than similarly rewarding missions. The “Dong” and “Kuang” pickaxes are easy to unlock, useful on many missions, and either will allow you to harvest the geode.

While it’s definitely possible to complete this prospect with little to no equipment (besides the aforementioned pickaxe), you will likely run into wolves and/or bears while collecting the samples. Plus, you’ll need to eat eventually. At a minimum, be ready to craft the following:

• Wood Bow or better
• Stone Arrows or better
• Stone Knife or better
• Cloth Armor or better

If you’re very risk-averse, you can also create a portable shelter to help you fight predators.

Fighting Predators in the Riverlands

This mission is made much safer by the fact that you can follow the path of a river to every objective. In doing so, you’ll make yourself safe from any and all predators, because wolves and bears are not very good swimmers. If you draw the attention of a predator, simply sprint into the water, get to deep enough water that the predator has to doggy-paddle, and then let them get close enough that you can hit them with your knife. At that point, hold [S] to swim away from them while attacking with your knife. If done correctly, you can easily dispatch bears and wolves without taking any return damage.

Mission Walkthrough

Step 1: Collecting the Geode

Once you land, open up your map and find the blue circle to the southwest in B-4/B-5. Double-click it to set a waypoint, then start making your way there. While you do so, craft all the essentials: Bow, Arrows, Knife, Campfire, and eventually Cloth Armor. This area has some relatively high-level wolves and bears, so move carefully and stick close to the rivers. You’ll also have to jump down some pretty steep drops — go carefully and/or build ramps rather than risking death by splat.

NOTE: This mission is short enough that you can probably get away with just eating berries, but feel free to hunt for some food as you make your way southwest; if you really dislike moving around in the dark, you should also try to collect the resources for a Bedroll.

Once you reach B-4, keep the river on your right and continue south. Right as you hit the border of B-4/B-5, you should see a purple rock that looks a lot like an Exotics deposit (see below). Hopefully, you brought a decent pickaxe from orbit as suggested, as otherwise you’ll need to craft at least a Steel Pickaxe in order to crack this sucker open. A few swings of your pickaxe should expose the geode — examine it with [F] to complete your first mission objective.

Step 2: Collecting the Flora Sample

It should be getting close to dark by now — if you’ve hunted enough animals, you can craft a Bedroll and small shelter and rest until morning. If you do so, it’ll be easier to find the plant, but you’ll have to wait until it becomes night again to finish the mission. Whatever you decide, once you’re ready you’ll want to start heading northeast. It’s a little easier to climb up the cliffs by doing so on the eastern side of the river, but you’ll probably still need to craft some ramps or ladders to scale the steepest portions.

Make your way to the blue circle in the bottom right of E-3 — the plant you’re looking for is in the bottom right of the grid square, south of the river and just east of where the east-west river meets the north-south one.

Anytime past 18:00 (the clock is in the upper right of your UI), the plant should bloom and you’ll be able to interact with it using [F]. Sometimes it bugs and won’t bloom — if this happens, quit the prospect and reload it. You may also have to wait for another day to pass for the plant to bloom if it doesn’t work the first night. You’ll know if it’s blooming, since flowers will sprout and you’ll be given the option to interact with it (if close enough).

With that done, you’ve collected both samples, and can head back to the dropship, which is just a short hike north of the flower.

We hope this UPLIFT guide was helpful! Please leave any questions, suggestions, or thoughts you may have on plants that bloom at night in the comments below.