Haluk needs special materials to craft the Dawn Shield. He would also like to get contacts so that they could help during the expedition to silence the Heart of Rage.
A Sentinel nicknamed Dax, luckily, has been looking for the Freelancer. Hopefully, this is a contract so that the Freelancer could get some reputation and curry her favor.
Hints and Suggestions
- The dialog exchange between the characters will change depending on whether single player or multiplayer mode is played.
- Remember to perform Feats to obtain XP for increasing Pilot Level and receiving Alliance bonus.
- This particular expedition may have a video walkthrough after the Cortex Entry section for documentation.
- There is no text popup
during this mission. - Beware of the exploding Worker type skorpion, as the acid they release will weaken the javelin’s armor.
- Use
Acid, 
Armor Buster, or 
Fire type damage to Outlaw Lancers, and Outlaw Shotgunners. - Deplete enemy shields using Shield Breaker, Lightning or Ice type damage.
- It is also recommended that the explosives scattered across the map during combat be used when in need.
- To fight the ursix, focus on its head, which is its weak point. Other parts of the ursix does regular amount of damage. It is also preferable to weaken them using Acid or support abilities. Best is to use Armor Buster damage dealing combat equipment.
- In multiple playthroughs, use crafting to make tougher Combat Equipment to fight enemies.
Objectives
Mysterious Beginnings
Get Corium by Assisting Matthias or Sentinel Dax
Meet Sentinel Dax
Meet Dax outside Fort Tarsis
Launch Expedition
Speak to Dax at the meeting Spot
Travel to Coordinates
Locate the Camp Dax mentioned
Travel to Coordinates
Restore Power to the Abandoned Camp
Search Camp
Activate Generator
Search the Camp for Clues
Search Camp
Activate Archive
Wait for Faye to Analyze Archive
Analyzing
Follow the Archive’s Signal
Follow Signal
Find and Recover the Cypher Link
Search Cave
Defeat Outlaws and Ursix
Search Cave
Defeat Ursix
Recover Link from the Ursix
These are the locations where the Freelancer begins the expedition, has to perform tasks to advance, and conclude the expedition.
Cortex Entry
The Cortex Entry shows the description and the outcome of the expedition.
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Outcome: Despite Dax's jumbled instructions, you were able to recover a cypher link containing intel on the Emerald Abyss. Hopefully, this new information will shed some light on why people have been vanishing from that region. |
For a Collection of similar Cortex Entries, See: Critical Objective (Journal) |
Video Walkthrough
Video guides are added for convenience and documentation of 
Anthem. These guides show almost all possible incidents that may occur during each playthrough of this particular expedition.
The below video is on rotation. The cycle repeats after 4 days. The type of javelin used, the voice of the Freelancer, and any possible season changes during each rotation. If any Cypher Annotations are found, they are mentioned in the video’s description. Not all such annotations are in one video, but all 4 videos will make up for each other’s shortcomings, if any.
Quest Chain
This expedition is a part of the Mystery of the Emerald Abyss Storyline. When the storyline is completed, an appropriate challenge is also completed, which will reward the Freelancer. The following are the related quests in order for this storyline:
Trivia (May Contain Spoilers)
- This expedition makes use of a Hidden Place called The Sovereign Mine.
- Dax’s personality as a spoiled princess can be seen throughout the storyline.
- Karney is never seen again after this mission.
- Although it is not confirmed explicitly, it has been hinted that all the expeditions where the Freelancer comes out of a strider, is from Haluk’s Strider.
- The flowers brought by Lord Roye can be found in the wilderness outside the Fort.
- The outlaw Zane who is heard in the chatter can heard before fighting the Ursix inside the Sovereign Mine, but is never seen.
- This is the first mission where an Ancient Ursix is encountered. However, Ancient Ursix is not ay class of ursix, unlike the titans.
- The Ancient Ursix encountered is a female.
- The additional ursix found along with the Ancient Ursix is very likely its mate and family, since ursix are social creatures and come to aid their families when in distress.
- If the Freelancer is friendly towards Dax, she sends a mail inviting them to her apartment through Faye. The mail is not received otherwise, however, the Freelancer must still meet with Dax.
Below is the Script and Walkthrough for Mysterious Beginnings (Mission):
Briefing
The Freelancer goes to the Bar to look for a Sentinel Dax. As they enter, they notice Amal and the other servers busy as usual. The Freelancer can take a stroll around the busy Bar. A well-dressed man, likely a nobility of Bastion, in the distance stands holding a bunch of flowers among other patrons. A woman is drunk and seated beside a pillar in the corner with her bag on the table. Another long-haired man in gray is standing in the corner, probably waiting for something or someone. A Sentinel is seated by the counter holding onto her drink. The Freelancer goes towards her.
Get Corium by Assisting Matthias or Sentinel Dax
The Freelancer speaks with the Sentinel.
Meet Sentinel Dax
- Sentinel Dax: "The Freelancer that survived the Heart of Rage?} I thought you’d be…"
- The Freelancer: "What?"
- Sentinel Dax: "I thought you’d be bigger."
- Patron: "Hey! Thief!"
The shady long-haired man steals the drunk woman’s bag. As the patron stands up to confront him, he runs for it.
- Sentinel Dax: "One sec…"
Before the brunette man could escape, the Sentinel stands to punch his face. He falls on his knees. She picks him up by his collar.
- Sentinel Dax: "I was three steps away, Karney. You had no choice. I got this."
The Sentinel forces Karney on the seat she had been sitting. She grabs the purse from Karney’s using her free hand and gives it to the drunk woman who has now come to take it
- Sentinel Dax: "Everything’s fine."
Karney tries to escape, but the Sentinel easily pulls him back on his seat as she was still grabbing his collar
- Sentinel Dax: "Hey!"
- The Freelancer: "We can do this later…"
- Sentinel Dax: "My aunt disappeared in the jungle."
- The Freelancer: "I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t find missing people."
- Sentinel Dax: "It was ten years ago. She’s dead now."
- The Freelancer: "I don’t find missing corpses either."
- Sentinel Dax: "That’s not what I’m after. Ever heard of the Emerald Abyss? A jungle region where dozens of people have vanished. Including my aunt, a royal cartographer. Gone without a trace."
Karney tries to be sneaky and slowly steps aside. But the Sentinel grabs his collar and pulls him back to his seat.
- The Freelancer: "A royal cartographer?"
- Sentinel Dax: "Not just any. The best."
The noble man with flowers casually walks towards the Sentinel who takes a quick peek at him, then rolls her eyes.
- Sentinel Dax: "Ugh. Beautiful. My Aunt left a journal. She was onto something big."
The nobility in blue presents the flowers and his smile worth a million shards to the Sentinel who immediately dismisses him.
- Sentinel Dax: "No."
The man, surprised, retracts the flowers as the Sentinel continues to speak to the Freelancer.
- Sentinel Dax: "Legend has it, the first time anyone vanished in the Emerald Abyss was the same day the Heart of Rage appeared."
- The Freelancer: "And that’s why I’m here."
- Sentinel Dax: "Right. That time you went into the Heart? Yeah. An entire merchant caravan was never heard from again."
The man in blue presents the flowers again.
- Lord Roye: "My lady—"
This time, the Sentinel accepts the flowers from Lord Roye, but quickly gives them to Karney
- Sentinel Dax: "My aunt’s journal proves there’s connection between the Heart of Rage and the Emerald Abyss."
Lord Roye simply stands staring at the Freelancer.
- Sentinel Dax: "One of the world’s biggest mysteries, just waiting for us to solve. So… you in?"
The Sentinel grins. Karney, still holding the flowers rolls his eyes.
- The Freelancer: "I need to see that journal."
- Commander Vule: "Sentinel Dax!"
At hearing the commander’s voice, the smile on Dax’s face vanishes.
- Sentinel Dax: "Damnit."
She then looks at the Freelancer.
- Sentinel Dax: "Don’t go anywhere."
As Vule walks in, everyone looks at him
- Sentinel Dax: "Commander!"
- Commander Vule: "What is going on here?"
Roye grins. Vule stares at the Freelancer as Dax answers to him.
- Sentinel Dax: "Keeping the streets safe, sir. Noticed this undesirable entering the premises. Stole that citizen’s bag—"
Dax pulls Karney by his collar and shove shim towards Vule. Vule grabs Karney’s collar. Karney looks terrified as Vule shouts.
- Commander Vule: "That is not your job. You file reports. At your desk. You— It’s no matter. Your family has ordered you home."
- Sentinel Dax: "To Antium?"
- Commander Vule: "Immediately."
- Sentinel Dax: "Beautiful."
Karney gives the flowers back to Roye and smirks. Roye smirks back at him.
- Commander Vule: "Come with me! Now!"
Vule drags Karney along with him. As Dax follows him, she whispers to the Freelancer.
- Sentinel Dax: "I’ll contact your Cypher. We’ll set up a meet. Explain everything. ‘Kay?"
Roye boasts while holding onto his flowers and nods.
- Lord Roye: "There she goes. Lady Adaxia Miravala Dell. Third in line for the throne of Antium. A glorious sight."
- The Freelancer: "What? You mean Dax?"
Roye looks at the Freelancer.
- The Freelancer: "Of course. Lady Adaxia is the most eligible unmarried woman in the world… she will be mine. (Laughs.)"
Lord Roye walks away. Later, Dax contacts Faye and gives her the details of her contract. When the Freelancer is ready, they can start the expedition.
Meet Dax outside Fort Tarsis
The Freelancer prepares for the mission.
Launch Expedition
The Freelancer launches the expedition.
Briefing Gallery
In Expedition
The Freelancer begins the mission and travels to the Praedean Falls in a Haluk's Strider.
Speak to Dax at the Meeting Spot
The Freelancer goes towards Exile's Arch.
Travel to Coordinates
The Freelancer flies to the meeting point.
- Faye: "The Freelancer, patching in Sentinel Dax."
- The Freelancer: "Dax. Hope I haven’t kept you waiting."
- Sentinel Dax: "Yeah. About that. I’m… not gonna make it. Vule buried me under a mountain of paperwork."
- The Freelancer: "Should I turn around?"
- Sentinel Dax: "No, no. I can walk you through it from here. There’s a camp nearby. Head to it."
- The Freelancer: "As you wish, Your Highness."
- Sentinel Dax: "(Groans.) Please don’t call me that."
The Freelancer flies to the camp
Locate the Camp Dax Mentioned
The Freelancer flies through Darkwood Barrens, Vassa's Way, Legionnaire's Ravine, and Crosslands.
Travel to Coordinates
The Freelancer flies to the coordinates provided by Dax.
- The Freelancer: "So, exactly how did you end up in Fort Tarsis."
- Sentinel Dax: "One of my suitors claimed he was a better shot than me. I proved him wrong."
- The Freelancer: "How?"
- Sentinel Dax: "In a duel, obviously."
- The Freelancer: "You shot him?"
- Sentinel Dax: "Barely grazed his shoulder. He was a total baby about it."
Then the Freelancer reaches Giant's Crossroads. There s
- The Freelancer: "Al right. I’m here. Now what?"
- Sentinel Dax: "Hmm. Long gone. Dead end? Or a new lead?"
- The Freelancer: "Dax? A little direction, please."
- Sentinel Dax: "Oh! Sorry. Thinking. Um, see if you can get the power back on. It’ll be easier to search the camp."
Restore Power to the Abandoned camp
The Freelancer must find a way to turn on the lights of the abandoned camp.
Search Camp
The Freelancer looks around for any equipment for generating power. The Freelancer finds one.
- Sentinel Dax: "There! A generator! That should get the camp back up and running."
Activate Generator
The Freelancer turns the generator on by interacting with it.
- The Freelancer: "You know, chapter one of the Freelancer Handbook doesn’t mention generators."
- Faye: "(Chuckles.) Well, chapter two has entire pages on the subject. Power restored."
- Sentinel Dax: "Nice! Look around. See if they left something behind."
- The Freelancer: "“They?”"
- Sentinel Dax: "Yep."
- The Freelancer: "(Sighs.)"
Search the Camp for Clues
The Freelancer scours for any signs of items left by these unknown people.
Search Camp
The Freelancer could look for an archive. There is something hidden among some abandoned equipment.
- Sentinel Dax: "Hey! Over there. Is that an archive?"
- The Freelancer: "Is that what we’re looking for?"
- Sentinel Dax: "It could be. Won’t know until I see what’s on it."
Activate Archive
The Freelancer activates the archive by interacting with it.
- The Freelancer: "Faye, can you process the data?"
- Faye: "I’ve never seen an archive so disorganized. This might take a while."
Faye creates a green ring of cypher projection to establish a radius for transmitting the archive to her.
Wait for Faye to Analyze the Archive
The Freelancer must remain within the range during the process and defeat enemies while they are at it. If enemies enter the circle, then the scanning process slows down, and the circle becomes pale in color. If the Freelancer steps outside the range, the circle turns orange, and the progress made dwindles.
Analyzing
The Freelancer must remain within the range of the circle.
- Sentinel Dax: " Hey… are those eggs moving?"
- The Freelancer: "Ah, crap. Faye, process faster."
- Faye: "It doesn’t work like that!"
The Freelancer must defeat skorpions while staying within analyzing range. When Faye finishes analyzing.
- Faye: "Done. Sending analysis to Sentinel Dax. We should secure the area before moving on."
Once all the enemies are defeated.
- Sentinel Dax: "Yes. This is great. This is… oh."
- The Freelancer: "Oh?"
- Sentinel Dax: "Not what I’m looking for. But it’s okay! I know where to go next."
- The Freelancer: "I’m all ears."
- Sentinel Dax: "The archive was transmitting a signal nearby. That must be the place."
Follow the Archive's Signal
The Freelancer flies to the next location through the Iron Serpent.
Follow Signal
As the Freelancer flies towards Crescent Lake, there is a disturbance in the comms link.
- Fate: "The Freelancer. Picking up radio chatter."
- Outlaw 1: "(Static.) Ursix… (Static.)… surrounded… (Static.)… your asses in here!"
- Outlaw 2: "Zane. You’re breaking up."
- Outlaw 3: "Sounds like trouble."
- Outlaw 2: "He’s a big boy. He can take care of it."
- Faye: "Hmm. Outlaw mentality right there."
- Sentinel Dax: "Outlaws? Beautiful. This is the place!"
- The Freelancer: "I dunno. Sounds like they’re having trouble."
- Sentinel Dax: "They’re idiots. And not our problem. The signal’s inside."
- The Freelancer: "But I thought you said—aren’t we looking for outlaws?"
- Sentinel Dax: "No. We’re looking for a cypher link. Didn’t I tell you?"
- The Freelancer: "No!"
- Sentinel Dax: "Oh. No wonder you were confused!"
The Freelancer reaches Crescent Lake only to see a bunch of outlaws running out of The Sovereign Mine. The Freelancer intercepts the outlaws and defeats them.
- The Freelancer: "No link."
- Sentinel Dax: "Well, yeah. I told you the signal’s inside."
- The Freelancer: "Yes. Because your directions have been flawless."
The Freelancer enters the Sovereign Mine.
Find and Recover the Cypher Link
The Freelancer explores the mine.
Search Cave
The Freelancer flies inside the mine and searches the cave.
- The Freelancer: "I thought we were trying to solve the mystery of people vanishing in the Emerald Abyss."
- Sentinel Dax: "We are…"
- The Freelancer: "Then why am I in a creepy cave looking for a cypher link?"
- Sentinel Dax: "Because the signal directed us here and—"
- The Freelancer: "No. I mean, how is this link connected to the Emerald Abyss?"
- Sentinel Dax: "Oh. It has intel on it."
- The Freelancer: "What intel?"
- Sentinel Dax: "Important intel…"
- The Freelancer: "Dax!"
- Sentinel Dax: "Look, if I had all the answers it wouldn’t be a mystery."
- The Freelancer: "(Sighs.)"
As the Freelancer goes further inside, they can hear gunfire and screeching roars. The Freelancer then sees outlaws fighting an ursix.
- Zane: "Dammit! Where the hell are they?"
- The Freelancer: "Found what was bothering the outlaws."
- Sentinel Dax: "Oooh. Ursix. Pretty nasty."
- The Freelancer: "Tell me about it!"
Defeat Outlaws and Ursix
The Freelancer fights the Ursix while dealing with the outlaws.
- The Freelancer: "Are we closing in on the signal?"
- Sentinel Dax: "I think so… it’s on the move. Do you think… Is it possible the ursix ate the link?"
- The Freelancer: "I swear to god if I have to dig through poop…"
- Sentinel Dax: "Okay, number one: feces is the professional term. And number two: I said it’s moving. What kind of weird shit do you have?"
Search Cave
The Freelancer flies deeper inside the cave and finds two more ursix.
- Sentinel Dax: "The belly of the beast!"
- The Freelancer: "Please, Dax."
- Sentinel Dax: "Sorry. Couldn’t resist."
Defeat Ursix
The Freelancer fights the two fauna and defeats them both after some struggle.
Recover Link from the Ursix
- Sentinel Dax: "Ursix on… “your six”! Ha! Get it? Ursix. “Your six”?"
- The Freelancer: "Hilarious."
- Sentinel Dax: "Signal’s pointing to her, by the way."
- The Freelancer: "Of course it is."
An Ancient Ursix shows up. Once the Freelancer defeats the ursix, they recover the link.
- The Freelancer: "Found the link."
- Sentinel Dax: "And you didn’t even have to dig through poop. I mean, feces."
- The Freelancer: "Lucky me."
- Sentinel Dax: "I can’t help you if you’re gonna be picky."
- Faye: "I’ll analyze the link’s intel and send it to Dax."
- Sentinel Dax: "Beautiful! We can discuss back at Fort Tarsis."
The Freelancer returns to the Fort.
Post Expedition
As the Freelancer gets out of their javelin and walks from Fort Tarsis Forge, Faye contacts them through their link to update.
- Faye: "The Freelancer, I sent the link's intel to Dax. She's waiting for you at her apartment."
The Freelancer walks to Dax’s apartment.
Notes and Remarks
- This is the beginning of the Mystery of the Emerald Abyss storyline.
- The dialogs in this expedition will always remain the same as mentioned in this script. However, certain conversations may be skipped if actions are performed quickly, or additional conversations will show up if there is a delay.
Expedition Map
Note: The Expedition Maps feature is still a Work in Progress. Sometimes, a refreshing/reloading of this page may be required to zoom-in or zoom-out completely.
- Guidelines:
- Click on an to find expeditions related to "Mysterious Beginnings (Mission)".
- Click on Filters to select or unselect various expedition types.
- Click on + to Zoom-in and -to Zoom-out.
- Clicking on the link below the description/image of each pop-up will take you to that page.
- Click on an