Welcome to the AFS! It seems you’ve completed Bootcamp and are ready for battle. This brief walkthrough of Concordia Wilderness will get you started on your way to a successful career in the AFS. There are many more missions available to you while you in Wilderness, but this is just a quick look at some of the ones you will need to complete before moving out to the frontlines in Concordia Divide, the next area you will travel to.
Note: If you have elected to skip Bootcamp, all further references to the “Moving Up to the Big League” mission can be replaced with the “Bootcamp Bypass” mission.
Once you complete Bootcamp, the teleporter from Destination Outpost leaves your character on the eastern side of Concordia Wilderness, not terribly far from the base at Alia Das. Talk to Major Bonham, just to the north of your position, and complete another step of Moving Up to the Big League.
Alia Das
Walk west from the landing pad and enter Alia Das proper. Use the glowing blue pillar of light there to register a Waypoint[md]these are used for fast transport within Battlefields. You can’t go anywhere through this teleporter yet, as you must have at least two Waypoints to get around: the starting Waypoint and the destination Waypoint.
Talk to Commander Rogers on the camp’s eastern edge. He completes the next part of Moving Up to the Big League or Bootcamp Bypass. Once the mission is completed, he will give you a new mission named Too Close for Comfort. At this point, you can continue the Too Close for Comfort mission chain, where you will be introduced to the Native Foreans that inhabit Alia Das. Before continuing, you should return to the waypoint after exiting the tent. Just outside the sandbags, Lieutenant Colonel Cimoch will be waiting there to speak with you. He will give you a series of missions called Wilderness Targets of Opportunity. You will complete parts of this mission as you explore the area and defeat new enemies. Each time you complete one of the targets of opportunity, you will receive a new title to let everyone know about your accomplishments on the battlefield.
Too Close for Comfort (Mission Chain)
If you decide to accept this mission, you will be asked by Commander Rogers to go and speak with a Forean named Council Elder Moawi. Apparently, the Forean Elders are not very trusting of the AFS, especially new recruits. Commander Rogers is hoping that you can help convince the Foreans to fight alongside the AFS troops stationed in Alia Das.
You will find Council Elder Moawi north of the Alia Das waypoint in a Forean shelter. Before you can earn his trust, he will ask that you continue north past the shelters and down the hill to protect another Council Elder named Solis. It seems the Bane have breached this part of the encampment and it is up to you to protect Solis. A Bane dropship will enter the area as you speak to him and you must defeat the Thrax patrol before moving on the next mission objective.
Once Council Elder Solis is safe, he will thank you and give you your first Logos mission, Receptive Reception. He will ask that you continue north to the waterfall. To your right, you will find a cave entrance.
Creep into the cave and look for a hole in the floor at the end of the first tunnel. Drop down to the lower level, and follow the path to the top of the cave. At the top of the cave you will find a teleporter that takes you to the Logos: Enhance; interact with the glowing symbol to gain it permanently.
Logos Are ForeverOnce you learn a Logos symbol, it is part of your character forever. Even future clones of your character have full use of the symbol. This is somewhat important, because you might want to look for as many Logos symbols as possible before each stage of cloning. Being thorough now saves you from having to go back and get older Logos symbols with multiple characters.
After you learn Enhance, drop down to the level on which you entered and move out. Be careful. The odds of you being ambushed as you leave the cave are very high. Impressed with your skills, Solis will send you to see a Forean Warrior named Apirka. You will find him to the south, in the Forean shelter next to Council Elder Moawi. He will give you your next mission, Forming Alliances, where you will be asked to observe the Forean tradition to look into the heart of their enemy by killing Thrax soldiers and harvesting their hearts. A bit gruesome, but by doing so, you will earn the trust and respect of the Forean People.
Logos Shrines (Side Mission Chain)
As you work on the early missions in Alia Das, talk to Logos Mentor Ensine. This Forean is north of Alia Das, near the river. He will help you find the Logos: Damage, Logos: Enemy, and Logos: Time. This is worth experience, and having the missions makes all of these Logos appear on your map! Go after Time first[md]it’s marked as Map Point 4, and there are plenty of hostiles along the way. Use these enemies for to gain experience and to work on your Targets of Opportunity mission.
Find the remaining Logos for Ensine, and then return to the Logos Mentor. He gives you clues to find many more Logos Shrines.
With all of your previous missions completed, new tasks will appear in Alia Das. However, for now, we are going to take you on a brief tour of another AFS base of considerable importance that is located towards the map’s southern end[md]Twin Pillars.
The Cusp of Level 5!Somewhere around this time, you should be very close to reaching level 5, where you will be receiving your first cloning point and career choice. You can’t dip into level 5 until your character speaks with a trainer. Return to Alia Das and speak with either the Soldier or Specialist Trainer. This is an ideal time to clone your character. That way, you can have both a Soldier and a Specialist! These Trainers are on Alia Das’ western side.
Also, remember to don any higher-level equipment once you gain level 5. This new tier offers several nice items, and you might already have one or two of them in your backpack. If you don’t, it’s worth buying some level 5 gear outright. Though armor rewards come in quickly, there aren’t always weapon rewards that you specifically want.
Finally, having a solid level 5 shotgun and/or pistol can be a great way to endure this period of the game without running into problems. Upgrading in this fashion every five levels is a good strategy!
Twin Pillars Hospital
Twin Pillars offers rest, vendors, and fast transportation. Head south on the map , and pick up the Attack Logos as you come in.
Traitors to the Cause (Pravus Research Pre-requisite Mission)
Outpost Commander Taylor is deep in the base. He gives you Traitors to the Cause. This is a very important mission. Speak to Elder Baruhi to find out why some Foreans might be fighting for the Bane! You can find this NPC on the Memory Tree Hill’s eastern side, inside a small building.
Traitors to the Cause then chains into Machinations. Destroy the tainted Foreans that are commonly found assaulting the hill and collect their remains. When you have ten samples of these remains, take them to Lt. Commander Parsons. Parsons is just outside the Pravus Research Facility entrance, at Map Point 24. Pravus Research Center is just one of several instanced areas available in Wilderness. Instances are not only very important to the continuing story arcs in Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa, but are great sources of experience and contain some very nice equipment and Logos Shrines as well.
Destroying Machines with EM and Energy WeaponsEM weaponry does the most damage to machines, so equip anything that inflicts EM damage to reduce the time and ammo required to trash a Mechanized unit. It’s good to learn how powerful EM attacks are now, when the machines are dramatically weaker so you can use similar tactics against stronger enemies in the future!
Smuggler’s Blues (Mission Branch; Ethical Parable)
Private Moore is also stationed in Twin Pillars Base, and can be found lurking by the northwest wall behind the Hospital. He gives you Smuggler’s Blues. Moore isn’t playing by the rules, and you end up with an interesting choice. You can talk to the Commander again and betray Moore, or you can let the guy know that his Commander is on to the thefts.
Though the issue seems to be clear[md]smuggle for cash or tattle to stay honest[md]the dilemma is actually more complex. It sounds like there is a great deal of mismanagement in Twin Pillars. Unlike many other bases, this area is not well maintained. The enlisted men and women don’t trust their officers, and there are rumors of corruption and unfair supply distribution. There may not be a “right” answer here, and your decision here will impact how the other AFS officers and enlisted respond to you in future encounters. It’s probably best to go with your gut instinct, whatever that may be.
Imperial Valley (Escort Mission)
Many places are easier to find than Ranja Gorge. Take a look at the map and head toward the Imperial Valley. Stop at the base there to collect the useful Waypoint, and then be sure to talk to Matthew Corman, who will be by the supply tanks at the southern wall of the base. Be warned however, this is a former Bane base that was overtaken by the AFS, and they are not happy about losing it. Chances are they will have troops nearby en masse, and may have even retaken the base. If it falls into Bane hands, you will have to help reclaim it before you can accept any new missions there.
The Walking Wounded
Matthew Corman was ambushed by a Thrax patrol and is suffering from life-threatening injuries. He requires your help to make it to the hospital in Ranja Gorge before he succumbs to his injuries, and will give you the mission, The Walking Wounded. This is a timed mission, and is also very important because finding this base is quite difficult on your own, so having someone with you who knows the way really helps. Once you accept the mission, he will mark the way to Ranja Gorge on your map. Head out of the base entrance with him in tow, and take the path up the mountain range that is located just west of the base entrance.
This path terminates in a long cave filled with nasty predators and Egg Clusters. Fight your way through to the cavern’s western end. Be sure to keep an eye on Matthew Corman, because if he dies, you fail the mission. Eventually, you reach a point above the gorge. Travel north from there. Ranja Gorge is only a minute or so away. The hospital is a large domed structure, and once you lead Matthew Corman inside and speak to Medic Quincy Corman, the mission will be complete. Be sure to head further north and grab the Waypoint, it makes future visits to this secluded base much easier.
This is only a sampling of the kinds of missions you will find yourself undertaking as a new recruit in the AFS. Once you get some experience under your belt, you will be sent out to the front lines where the mission objectives are more difficult to complete and Bane forces are more numerous and more deadly. Enjoy your training in Concordia Wilderness while you can recruit, it’s war out there!