Olins Apartment¶

A short distance downhill from the Vantage Point - Eagle Canyon are the outskirts of Meridian, where it seems many travelers (including more than a few irate merchants) are held up at the gate. The one merchant you can interact with here sells the same stuff as the one at Cut-Cliffs, so you need not bother yourself worrying about it too much.

Cross the long bridge leading to Meridian and just before you enter the actual city you’ll be pestered by a Carja guard. Seems that a murder - of Captain Ersa, no less - is the cause of the restricted access to the city. Just as it seems this is going nowhere, Erend will show up out of nowhere, relieved that you’re alive, and just a little bit inebriated. Have a chat with him and indulge in a consequence-free trialogue decision before getting to the business at hand - finding Olin. Apparently he had a house in the city, and it’s as good a place to search as any.

Follow Erend through the city until you come to a riled-up crowd, angry about Ersa’s death. Erend doesn’t have time for their foolishness, however, nor does he seem keen on talking about it afterwards. Beyond this little encounter is Olin’s apartment, and Erend is kind enough to open the door for you before turning you lose in the apartment. Scan, then examine the carpet in the southern corner of the living room to reveal a trap door, then head upstairs and examine a family portrait - for flavor, if nothing else. Along the east, northeastern wall you’ll find a ladder you can climb which leads to a loft with a pallet of Stacked Ingots. Give the ingots a gentle push and they’ll persuade the trap door below to open up.

Head back downstairs and explore the secret cellar, then scan and examine a map, a datapoint (this logs the Hologram Datapoint “A Message for Olin” ) and a journal (logs the Scanned Glyph “Olin’s Journal” ). All together, these will show Olin’s obvious motivations, his thoughts on the matter, his immediate location, and previous areas he’s explored. Very handy stuff. Talk to Erend and Aloy will rather coldly resolve to abandon him in his hour of need for her own vengeance mission before relenting, starting the quest “The Field of the Fallen”.

Rockwreath¶

Your next goal, Rockwreath, where you’ll doubtlessly find Olin and the Shadow Carja he’s working with, is far to the north. An ideal spot to fast travel to is the campfire between Cut-Cliffs and the (unmarked) Lonesome Rock fort (there’s a Longleg Site nearby, if that helps matters). From this campfire head north along a riverside road until it branches in three new directions. Take the northwestern fork and you’ll pass by another Campfire just south of the river, which you’ll have to ford on your own.

Cross the river to the north and follow the road beyond into the hills, where you’ll find a merchant east of the road, apparently standing around in the dangerous wilderness solely for your benefit. How nice of him. At a fork to the north, take the path to the northeast and eventually you should spot some Shadow Carja lurking to the east, along with their pet Corrupted Watchers, Exterminate them, then climb a ledge at the end of a trail and continue south, southeast, down a ledge and into the quarry.

Witness a scene that seems staged for your benefit to learn where Corruptors come from - digging up war machines from the past probably puts these Shadow Carja safely on the “too dangerous to live list”, even if they hadn’t attacked the Nora tribe earlier. After some deux ex sabotage at the hands of anonymous Focus-speaker, you’ll be left to the task of clearing the quarry. Channel your best bandito-slaying skills and put them to good use here - scan and tag every enemy with your Focus (the humans, anyways) and note that there are two Corruptors worrying the quarry bottom. With a Shadow Hunter Bow dedicated to the task of delivering Fire Arrows with maximum efficiency they shouldn’t be too much trouble, but you doubtlessly want to pick off the Shadow Carja, first.

After all the meaty foes are tagged, snipe them - patiently - with your Sharpshot Bow. Once that task is completed, consider sneaking to the southern end of the quarry, where you’ll find some ladders you can utilize to reach the cliffs above. Shadow Carja prowl(ed) up here, so you’re not entirely safe unless you eliminated them ahead of time, but it’s a fine, somewhat safe way to engage the Corruptors. Yes, they have plenty of ranged attacks, but there’s lots of cover up here, and ropes you can cross to reach new ledges, as necessary. Use Double Shot or Triple Shot to bundle up Fire Arrows and aim to inflict burning status on the Corruptors, then let them burn. Repeat as necessary until they’re dead. Alternatively, you can just fight them on the quarry floor - it’s more hectic, but if you’re willing to roll constantly and counter attack when your Concentration is charged, you can burn them to death easily enough that way.

When Aloy and Olin are the only two things still living in the quarry, talk to Olin to learn about the mysterious woman on the Focus you recovered earlier, and the Shadow Carja - the Eclipse. Apparently they have a metal devil commanding them named Hades, which is capable of controlling dormant ancient machines. He will also name the Carja who attacked you at the Proving - a man named Helis, who commands the Eclipse. It’s a lot of information to take in, and after you’re done you’ll get to decide Olin’s fate. Whether Olin lives or dies, he’ll ask you to save his family, starting the Errand “Collateral”. This also ends “The City of the Sun” and starts “Maker’s End”.

Now, you have plenty of things to do - Maker’s End beckons to the north, which is where Aloy might learn about the woman who looks like her, but before that, why not see to the end of Olin’s troubles? The quest “Collateral” takes you back to the eastern end of Carja territory, a ways southwest of Cauldron RHO, and it’s as fine of an excuse as you’ll get to explore down that way.

Ancient Vessel - Odyssey¶

Before you leave the Rockwreath quarry on whatever quest you decide to do next, be sure to loot the fallen and search a pile of Ancient Debris to find the Ancient Vessel - Odyssey . You’ll find this pile of Ancient Debris just west of the Ancient Vessel icon on your map.

Collateral¶

Fast travel to the Campfire southwest of Cauldron RHO and from there follow the road west, past the first fork and to the second. At this second fork, turn down the first (eastern-most) road to the south and pass by another Campfire. Continue south from this next Campfire and eventually you’ll come to a four-way fork in the road, east of which you’ll find the cultist compound. If he’s still alive, first head west of the road to find and talk to Olin, then follow him to the cultist compound and talk to him again and decide whether or not to accept his help, otherwise… well, just head east to the compound.

Either way, this assault is easy-peasy. There’s a half-dozen Shadow Carja on the farmstead, including one elite wielding a Deathbringer Gun. Fortunately, you can head south to find some cliffs outside the farmstead, where one Shadow Carja keeps guard. Kill him, then climb up to where he was posted to find pretty much the ideal spot from which to exterminate the rest of the Shadow Carja. Tall grass? Check. High ground? Check. Easy escape? Check. Inaccessible to enemies? Check. Good stuff. If you brought Olin along, he won’t do much in the way of stealth, but he’ll distract the Shadow Carja just fine. Pick them off with your Sharpshot Bow, then loot them to claim the Farmstead Key. With this key in your possession, circle around to the southern end of the farm house and open the doors to find Olin’s family. Watch the reunion, or go tell them the bad news. Either way, this quest is over.

Metal Flower - Mark III (B)¶

Before heading on to the next quest (ideally helping out Erend) leave the farmstead and return to the four-way intersection to the west, at which point turn south and follow the road. West of the road you’ll find a Glinthawk Site, north, northwest of which is a Metal Flower icon. Naturally, expect to be pestered by bird-bots when you approach, after which make your way southwest of the Metal Flower icon to find the actual collectible - Metal Flower - Mark III (B) - waiting for you in its customary triangle of flowers.