In the Outer Wilds, there are a number of dangers to navigate. Of these, few are as terrifying to behold as the Anglerfish. Dwelling within the Dark Bramble on the outskirts of the Outer Wilds solar system, they serve as a deadly obstacle to any players looking for Feldspar, or indeed any of the other mysteries within the Bramble.
In this guide, players will learn how to navigate the Dark Bramble without drawing the attention of its many-toothed inhabitants. Please be aware that this guide will contain spoilers for many of the secrets within the Dark Bramble. Warnings for these spoilers will be provided beforehand where possible.
The Dark Bramble
The Dark Bramble is one of the hardest locations to navigate in the Outer Wilds, largely due to its thick fog, along with each path deeper into the Bramble acting as a sort of portal inside a seed, teleporting the player around in ways that make traditional navigation tactics unfeasible.
These portal seeds emit light, but this light matches the glow emitted by the Anglerfish lures, making it difficult to tell if the player is flying toward the path deeper in, or into the waiting maw of a monster. Hidden beyond these portals are many secrets and useful pieces of information if the player can survive long enough to find them.
Making good use of probes to see what lies on the other side of a portal before entering it is the best way to check it leads, and to identify if a portal leads to a different part of the same area of the bramble, rather than somewhere new entirely.
This next part contains spoilers. Skip ahead to the next section to avoid them.
Of the many secrets found within the Dark Bramble, three of the most noteworthy are the egg cluster, fellow Timber Hearth astronaut Feldspar, and, most importantly, the Nomai Vessel.
The Nomai Vessel must be found in order for the game's ending to be reached, meaning players will eventually be forced to enter the Dark Bramble and contend with the Anglerfish. The egg cluster provides a possible insight into the origins of the Anglerfish and is one of the few locations within the Bramble to contain two Anglerfish close to each other.
They Track Prey By Sound
The secret to avoiding the Anglerfish lies in one simple detail about them. The Anglerfish are completely blind, and can only locate the player by sound. Thus, the safest way to avoid the Anglerfish is to line up the chosen destination from a distance, fire the engines briefly to gain momentum, and then cut the engines so that the ship makes no noise as it coasts through the fog of the Bramble.
While undeniably scary to attempt, it is the best way of ensuring the Anglerfish do not hear the ship as it passes them. To ensure the ship is not launched silently right into an Anglerfish mouth, scouts should be launched and used to photograph any light source within the Bramble from a safe distance. This allows players to check whether the light source is a seed or an Anglerfish.
Launching scouts and traveling as silently as possible should allow players to pass the Anglerfish without catching their attention, which is ideal, as they can swallow the ship in a single bite.
Advanced Tips for Navigating the Bramble
While the information in the previous sections makes navigating the Bramble fairly straightforward, there are a few more useful tricks for navigating the area, especially when trying to reach certain key areas.
In several locations, there are small seeds that the player and their ship cannot fit through. It is possible to launch a scout through them though. Since the scout emits a tracking signal that can be detected through portals, this will cause all portals leading to the other side of that seed to be shown on screen as signals that the player can follow. This is often the easiest way to locate two of the most important locations within the bramble.
This next part contains spoilers, so stop reading now to avoid them.
Reaching the campsite of Feldspar is most easily accomplished by finding the stray seed on Timber Hearth and firing the probe through it, then heading into the Bramble by ship and following the signal all the way to the area with his campsite. Feldspar is camping inside the skeleton of a dead Anglerfish.
Reaching the Nomai Vessel can be made easier similarly, though a brief venture into the Bramble is necessary in order to find the small seed that leads to it.
The seed can be found by tracking a distress signal from an escape pod within the Bramble (escape pod 3) and then following the trail of lights to a seed surrounded by several Nomai corpses.
Fire the scout into this seed to reveal two duplicate scout signals. The signal emitting from the bright red light is the one that should be followed. When reaching the seed emitting the red light, build up as much speed as possible while heading into it and then kill the power.
There are three Anglerfish beyond the seed, so players should wait until they can no longer be heard breathing before starting maneuvers to follow the scout signal further. The seed in that area that the scout signal emits from will lead to the Vessel.
Outer Wilds is available now for PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.