Starfield ‘Into the Unknown’ quest walkthrough, how to ‘track distortions on the scanner’

After the first two quests in Star fieldyou get access to three main missions at once, one of which is the mysterious-sounding ‘Down the rabbit hole.” If you came here via our guide to which quests to choose first, you’ll immediately see why we recommend doing this one first.

In this Star field guide, we guide you through all the quest steps for ‘Into the Unknown’ – including “track distortions on the scanner”which turned out to be difficult for some players – and help you navigate the game’s bizarre take on procedurally generated planets.

How to fix the bugs in ‘Into the Unknown’

Some players have reported some bugs with “Into the Unknown”. These are the only solutions we found after researching both.

‘Into the Unknown’ is not in the mission menu

If you encounter the bug where Star field just doesn’t give you the Down the rabbit hole search, for now you will actually have to do that skip it use console commands.

Unfortunately, this means that Xbox players are completely out of luck if they encounter this bug. If you find yourself in such a situation and cannot install the game on a nearby PC, you may have to wait for a patch.

I can’t track the anomaly

Another bug is that players sometimes use the scanner and find the Temple with the anomaly inside (which we describe below).

If this bug happens to you, please go back to track and waiting by passing the time (just for good measure). Consider turning off the game and launching the verse also, just in case.

When you want to land back on the planet, be absolutely sure you are making the right choice Scanner anomaly site. If you accidentally end up somewhere else, the temple will not appear on the map and you will not be able to find it.

The ‘skip it’ solution we described for the first bug will also work for players who encounter this, but this mission is critical for Star field‘s story – especially the ending – and we recommend waiting to skip the mission until Bethesda comes up with a solution.

Finding the artifacts

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

“Into the Unknown” introduces you Vladimir And Andrejaand gives you the task of collecting two artifacts.

Talk to Vladimir and choose which planet you want to go to first

To start ‘Into the Unknown’, zoom out to the Alpha Centauri system card. Directly next to New Atlantisyou will find a space station named The eye. Travel there and arrive at the station. Once inside, walk down the hallway until you meet Vladimir.

Vladimir will tell you that he has clues to two different artifacts – a pretty good return for one main mission. Both planets are randomly selected from a pool of potential planets, meaning your quest will differ slightly from ours, just which planets you need to travel to on the map. Vladimir served for us Piazzi IV-C And Piazzi I.

For this step, you need to help Vladimir find a girl named Andreja, who hasn’t checked in for a while. Unfortunately, we can’t tell you which of your two planets she is on. Fortunately, it doesn’t matter, as you must visit both planets before continuing the quest.

We happened to start with the planet she was not op — Piazzi IV-C. You may experience the following events in a different order.

Go to Piazzi IV-C

We chose to first go to Piazzi IV-C, in the Piazzi system. Land on whatever planet you need to go to and board. Follow the waypoint to a nearby dungeon, where the quest is no longer procedurally generated (at least for now).

Find the artifact on Piazzi IV-C

Make your way to the cave on your planet and make your way through it. We didn’t encounter any enemies on the way to the artifact.

Once you reach the floating one caelumite deposits, you know the drill (literally). Pull your Cutter and aim it at the minerals. Cut away the excess rock and pry the artifact free. You will experience a different vision here. Once you have the artifact, return to your ship.

Go to Piazzi I

We chose to go second to Piazzi I, the planet where we found Andreja. Land on whatever planet the game tells you to and then jump out of your ship. Follow the waypoint to a nearby cave, where the game’s procedural generation ends – at least for this quest.

Find the artifact on Piazzi I // Find Andreja

When you enter the ‘deep cave’ you will immediately know if you are in Andreja’s as you will see her kill a man in close quarters combat. After a short conversation, she will help you find the artifact.

With two companions in tow, you make your way through the deep mine, tackling everyone along the way Spacers you encounter. A quick tip for this mission is to be prepared with a gun or long distance some kind of weapon. There’s a shootout in a huge cave, and you’ll probably have to deal with Spacers from afar.

When you reach the cave, take out the enemies and take the stairs (like an idiot) or, if you have the Boost Pack Training skill, jump down and stop your momentum just before you crash into the ground.

Now that the enemies are dead and you are at the bottom of the cave, follow the waypoint until you come across another artifact embedded in a wall. Cut it out as usual and head back up and out of the cave.

Add the artifacts to the collection // Talk to Matteo

With both artifacts in hand and Andreja saved, return to the Lodge on New Atlantis. Place the new artifacts on the table and talk to them Matteo about your discovery. After a small argument with another Constellation members, he will ask you if you support “to dream” or “science.”

If you side with science, you’ll gain reputation with Sarah, Andreja, and some other Constellation members, depending on who you’re around. If you choose to dream, you will gain reputation with Matteo. You can also abstain from the choice, which will not give you any reputation at all.

Track distortions on the scanner

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

You probably expected the quest to end after you deposited the artifacts, as most missions do Star field. But this time Vladimir has a different task for you.

Talk to Vladimir // Go to Procyon III

Travel to The Eye again and talk to Vladimir.

Once you reach him, he will tell you that he wants you to investigate an anomaly on the planet Procyon III. Jump in your ship and fly there.

Find the anomaly with the noise on the scanner

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

Countries at the Scanner anomaly site and draw your scanner. If you look around with your scanner off, you’ll notice a few small distortions around the edges of your user interface.

Be warned: these distortions may be terribly subtle and difficult to see, especially in this snowy world, so move slowly at first to make sure you don’t miss it. Walk in the direction where the distortions occur, adjust yourself and move in a different direction if the scanner circle remains static for too long.

Follow the static data until a waypoint appears. This takes you to Temple Eta. Walk around until you find one of the two doors to the temple. It should be pretty obvious, but you’ll know you’re in the right place when you see a set of glowing rock pillars descend into the floor, revealing a doorway.

Enter the temple as soon as you can open the door.

Investigate the cause of the deviation

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

In the temple where you find yourself zero gravity, floating around mysterious rings.

This is how you complete the ring puzzle

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

This is a very small puzzle, made confusing by the fact that the game doesn’t really make it clear that it’s puzzle time. If you look around the room with the spinning rings you will find one faint sphere made of light. These are our goals, here’s what you need to do next:

• Float in the ball of light – you know you’ve done this right because the music will begin to swell and the rings will run
• Locate the next ball of light and fly into it
• Repeat this process several times – we’ve had a few of these puzzles where the game requires many more orbs than previous times to activate, and we’re not sure why
• Once the rings stop, float inward of the rings

Once inside the rings you are treated to a small cutscene where you get your first power: Anti-gravity field.

This power allows you to cause enemies in an area in front of you to stop moving and float, making them easy to catch.

Return to the Lodge // Use ‘Anti-Gravity Field’ on Vladimir // Talk to Vladimir

Now that you’re a superhero, jump back into your ship and return to the Lodge. Everyone will think you’re a bit strange for claiming you can now handle things with your mind (and who can blame them). Vladimir will ask you to show off. Obligate it (the game teaches you how to use it with your preferred control method, but they’re both shoulder buttons for controller players). Unfortunately, the members of Constellation won’t be floating to the ceiling like Charlie and Grandpa Joe Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Finish talking to Vladimir and the rest of the Constellation crew about your new powers to complete the quest.

When you complete ‘Into the Unknown’ you’ll get a faction mission for Constellation called ‘Power from Beyond’, which will take you to a procedurally generated planet to gain another power.

If this is the first of the three main missions you’ve completed, you can explore the galaxy or jump into ‘The Empty Nest’ or ‘Back to Vectera’. If you did ‘Into the Unknown’ last, as we (unfortunately) did, you can do the main quest ‘All That Money Can Buy’.