Verdant Ruins

Verdant Ruins is an extra dungeon categorized as threat 2. Talk to S.A.I.L. to beam there.

Acquisition

You will need to find and interact with a map to receive this quest. The map can be found in some specific biomes on the planet surface (sometimes on the starter Garden planet). Unlocking the quest will unlock the dungeon in your S.A.I.L. interface.

Quest Reward

1 Vine Whip, 1 Verdant Carbine, 1 Verdant Rifle, 1 Bulbop Figurine, 1 Greenfinger Medal, 500 Research

Item Requirement

An enhanced jump, such as the Pulse Jump tech. Methods to mitigate fall damage can also be helpful (like slowing your fall with an Umbrella or EPP) or a way to fly (rocket spear, rocket boots, etc.)

Dungeon Guide

You will start the dungeon inside a small building. You can exit by walking left or right, where you will see stairs leading to the upper floor of the building. However, the doors to enter are locked. To open them, you need to activate 2 switches, which must be activated by completing both the left and right paths and flipping their respective switches

Path to the right

Exit the starting building to the right and continue until you reach a large wooden door. Inside this room, 5 Swarpions will appear and attack you. Enter the door at the right of the room, then take the stairs leading to the upper landing. 3 Florans are patrolling to your right, with 2 wielding spears and 1 wielding an assault rifle. Across this square, you will find additional stairs leading you to the next upper floor. A spear-wielding Floran stands guard in one of the rooms, but they shouldn't leave post if the door remains closed. You will then reach a trapped room at the top of the stairs. Press the wall button to activate cannons that fire through the hallway every few seconds. Once the button is pressed, you have 15 seconds to cross the room and reach the exit door. You can use your Sphere tech to roll under the shots. The lasers deal 40 damage per hit and ignore armor, so you will need a lot of (HP)/regen to tank them. After exiting, you can go downstairs where you will find a few containers in the room to your left and a console to your right that opens a return route. If you go left instead of downstairs, you will reach another room guarded by 1 spear Floran and 2 AR Florans. Some of them will likely see you as soon as you exit the trap room. On the other side of that room, you will find an elevator that leads up. Ride the elevator and exit through the right door. You will find 3 more spear Florans and 2 AR Florans. Past the Florans, you will find another elevator leading upwards. Be careful while using it; the elevator goes extremely high and a lot of people might experience small freezes in the Verdant Ruins. The freezes might cause you to glitch through the elevator and fall to your death. If you have a way to fly, you can just skip the elevator and fly instead. If you are unable to fly, you might want to use some method to mitigate fall damage in case you glitch through. One viable method is repeatedly jumping on the platform to prevent glitching through.

Once at the top, you will need to cross another trap room. You will once again have 15 seconds to cross it before the door closes, but the turrets are arranged in a different position this time. The one on your side will shoot high enough to be dodged with the Sphere tech, but the one at the opposite side of the room will shoot at ground level. You will need to make your way jumping above some lasers and using the Sphere tech or crouching to dodge the other. After crossing the room, the path below will let you open a way back and the path leading upstairs will lead to the end of the right path section. There, you will find 2 doors: the one to your left is closed, so head to the right instead. There, you will find a console in the middle of the room. Activating it will lock you inside for 30 seconds, before opening the exit as well as the previously locked door. You will face waves of monsters during this time. First, 4 Inklings will spawn, followed by 4 Hypsnares, and finally, 4 Bulbops. Once the doors open, head to the left and cross the room filled with bookshelves. At the end of the room, you will find the first of the two switches required to open the last part of the dungeon. Activating this switch will also remove the golden blocks below. If you jump down, you should land safely in a pond on the ground.

Path to the left

Exit the starting building to the left and keep going that direction until you reach a metal door. A bit further to the left, you will find platforms leading you in a small pit. You will meet 2 spear-wielding Florans there, and 1 wielding an assault rifle. Exit the pit to the left and you will reach a small building. You will find 1 spear Floran and 1 AR Floran upstairs. They might be sleeping in the rooms, in which case they will not attack unless you open the door of the room they sleep in. Continue to the left and you will find another metal door. Next, you will find a room covered in boost pads, with 2 Sporgus walking below you. The Sporgus may try to attack you, but you can easily cross the room and ignore them. Behind the next metal door, you will cross two small ponds. Once you reach the ground between the two ponds, 4 Miasmop will fall from the sky. You will then reach a pond filled with healing water. Above, you will need to use the small stone platform to reach the top right of the room, then head into the building to your right. 3 spear Florans await you inside. Head upstairs and take the door to your left. You will reach a trapped room. Pressing the button will activate a series of laser turrets that will shoot every few seconds, dealing 40 armor-ignoring damage. You will need to carefully jump above those shots. The button also opens the door at the end of the room, but it will only stay open for 15 seconds. After crossing the trapped room, quickly head to the right before the door closes. Inside the room, you will find 3 consoles. The first one will open the door to exit the room, the second one will activate an elevator to proceed further, and the third one activates the lights in the room. After activating the necessary consoles, exit the building to the left. You will find an elevator a bit further along. Be careful while using it: it goes extremely high, and Starbound is prone to glitching players through vertical platforms, sending you falling to your death. If you have a way to fly, you can just skip the elevator and fly instead. If you don't, some way to mitigate fall damage is your best option. For some players, repeatedly jumping might prevent the glitch.

Once at the top, press a button to your left and cross the left platforms. The platforms will disappear a few seconds after you step on them. Falling at this height will likely cause death without a way to slow your fall. The third platform will cycle every 2 seconds, so you need to reach it at the right time. Pressing the button and waiting for the timer next to it to reach 4 before jumping on the first platform should ensure you reach the third platform at the right timing. After crossing the platform, you will meet an AR Floran. You will then find another button. Pressing this button opens the door above you for 15 seconds and activates the turrets on the sides of the room. Make your way to the top using the platforms before the door closes, taking care not to get hit by the turrets' attacks. You will find a console in the top room. Activate it and head back to the top of the elevator. Head to the right using the disappearing platforms to find an open metal gate. You will find a wooden bridge to your right with 3 AR Florans below you. After crossing the bridge, you will find the console that opens the final part of the dungeon, as well as a button to activate an elevator leading you back below.

Back to the starting building

After completing both paths, return to the starting building. Climb the stairs on either side of it and you will find the doors open. Climb the building using the stairs to reach a trapped room. As usual, pressing the button will activate the turrets and open the door for 15 seconds. This time, you need to make your way through disappearing platforms. You will then reach some platforms that appear/disappear every 2 seconds. Make your way through this platform section until you reach the last elevator of the dungeon. Like the others, it is rather buggy and you might glitch through. At the top of the elevator, you will find a console that will spawn waves of monsters that you need to defeat. The waves are:

• 3 Nutmidges
• 4 Sporgus
• 4 Mandraflora
• 2 Mama Poptops

The Mama Poptops will drop the same rewards as the one fought in the Dark Cavern. After killing all monsters, platforms will appear on the tree in the middle of the arena. Climb them to reach the end of the dungeon, where you'll find several treasure chests, a diamond pedestal to complete the quest, and a teleporter to warp back to your ship.

Speed running trick

The Verdant Ruins can be completed in less than 5 minutes. It can be a good way to farm chests at the end or the 2 Mama Poptops to obtain Poptop eggs. To do so, you need some way to freely fly. The Flightfire spear special ability is one way you can do so pretty early in the game, but there are other methods as well, such as using tech, vehicles, or other weapons. Exit the starting building to the left and fly to the top of the building past the first rail. On the second rail, use a rail hook to travel upward. Go left to complete a jumping puzzle that opens the gate. Go past the gate to push the button. Fly to the right side. At this point, you need to continue forward as normal. However, rail hooks can increase your speed. Once you reach the part where you're supposed to fall down, fly to the left instead. You'll skip a good chunk of the centre portion. Then head up, fight the boss, and finish the quest.

Secrets

There are two locked doors blocking treasure chests at the end of the mission. There is also another secret, which is quite difficult to find. The walkthrough to find those can be found on the Secrets page.