CRASH COURSE: The Reach

Welcome to your CRASH COURSE on The Reach.

This lightning-quick guide will take you on a drive-by dive into our delightfully dangerous region of space where the loot’s sweet, the storms are mean, and no two adventures are ever the same. 

So, if you have fewer hyperjumps under your belt than Ion has arms, then listen up! These rookie-friendly tips will help you get into the Reach and ready to take on (most) of what it has to offer. 

 

COME TO THE REACH, WE'LL HAVE A FEW LAUGHS

Let’s get one thing straight: The Reach is not your friend.

It’s a cosmic sandbox full of shiny things and sneaky ways to die. It's also your game map, where every match of Wildgate takes place. The most important thing to know about the Reach, though? This galactic soup of stardust and space crimes is procedurally-generated, which means its size, shape, layout, encounters, and more are randomized...and thus cannot be predicted when you first jump in.

The only viable solution in the face of all this uncertainty is simple: fly around and find out. 

PROBE IT, SCAN IT, LOOT IT (OPTIONAL: BOP IT)

Your first job when you enter the Reach? Probes. Launch 'em.

Scan anything that looks even remotely interesting; you'll earn experience and whatever you find will be marked on your map for later! You’re sure to discover all kinds of weird stuff, including Points of Interest (a.k.a. "POIs")—an Astral Tree here, an Abandoned Ship or two there, Skull Rocks (totally fine to visit, honest) or even an Ancient Monolith if you’re lucky.

Each Point of Interest in the Reach brings its own mix of mysteries: hostile enemies, no-oxygen zones, special objectives, puzzles, and maybe, just maybe... treasure worth risking your hull for. 

Any prospector worth their spice salt follows the rule of "ABC":  Always Be Checking…around with probes. (Okay, we could have thought that acronym through better.) But seriously, when in doubt—i.e. whenever you're not sure what you should be doing—just hop on your nearest probe and scout. 

TALK A WALK BY THE WILDGATE

Speaking of scanning, the Wildgate is also an important thing to find. Perhaps the most important!

In the Reach, you either win by being the last ship flying, or by finding an ancient Artifact and escaping through your exit point: the eponymous “Wildgate.” (Feel free to acquire that Artifact through any means necessary, by the way—including from another crew. Whoever you sell it to won’t care.)

The Wildgate doesn’t immediately open at the start of the match, nor will it appear in the same location in every match. Finding and scanning it early will give you and your crew options. Because when the ships hit the fan, it’s good to know where your opponents are running to—or where YOU may need to run to in order to abscond with your peacefully-acquired and absolutely-not-stolen prize. 🙃

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS (A.K.A "NATURE'S PVP")

If other crews don’t get you, the Reach just might!

Not every match will have the same hazards, so you won’t face them all at once—but if you’re “lucky,” here a few different dangers that may be waiting for you right around the proverbial corner: 

• Cosmic Storms – They zap. You cry.
• Lava Asteroids – Spicy rocks. Stay back.
• Reach Leeches – Clear them off your hull, or get a nasty surprise. Tick or Treat.
• Explosive Debris Fields – Look both ways before crossing the road.

 

🧠 Pro tip: Certain hardpoints for your ship will protect you against some of these threats! Cosmic Storm near the Wildgate? Get a Storm Barrier! Lava Asteroids in your way? Fire Barrier to the rescue! Leech on your hull? Mmm...maybe just shoot it off, that one’s easy.

A SONG OF FUEL AND ICE

The Reach is full of many dangers, but it's also full of GOODIES. Like fuel and ice asteroids. 

Fuel asteroids = fuel for ship's afterburner = more space zoomies where needed to enter or exit combat. Ice asteroids = ice for your ship's reactor = less chance that it will explode and end you and your crew's crime spree. Your pilot and/or resident engineer will love you for getting these, trust us.

Luckily, the Reach is loaded with these resources. 🔥

You’ll need both to stay flying, especially once the Artifact enters the picture. Hunt these tasty space treats down with probes, mine them with your multitool, then pop the resulting hunks of rock into your ship's processor...and boom! Sal's your gal! (Or something. We're still workshopping that one.)

The Reach is what makes every Wildgate match a glorious, one-of-a-kind story. Explore it. Loot it. Survive it. Or, don’t! That’s also a very valid story arc. (You’ll get ‘em next time, champ.)

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