The main quest of Rex Infernus step by step, the end of the Dark Aether Saga: the Void Talon, the Nexus Forge, the rain pool and the lantern, the cleansing of the four temples, the four phases of the Warden, the ending and the rewards.
The main quest of Rex Infernus closes the Dark Aether Saga. The crew of eight cleanses the four temples of the Shadowsmiths, finds the inner sanctum of the Warden and kills him. It needs the Pack-a-Punch, the Void Claw and the Warden’s Blight, and it starts on its own in Her House: survive there until round 3, answer the phone that rings downstairs, and leave by the front door for the portal to the Nexus Forge.
The Void Talon is earned by going back to Her House on an Exfil round: shoot down the basketball in its broken window, shoot the four blue symbols that appear on the house in their order of appearance, then fire a charged shot of the upgraded Warden’s Blight into the closed bathroom upstairs for the Eye of the Forge. Set in a Void Claw pedestal, the Eye turns it into the Void Talon.
Her House from the Nexus Forge
The house on its spire as seen from the edge of the Forge, where the basketball of its broken window is shot down; a Void Claw pedestal stands in front.
cat 03-taking-control-of-the-forge.log§ 3/8
Taking control of the Forge
With the Void Talon, shoot the small square plates off the columns around the Nexus Forge.
Under the Forge, shoot the same plates off the top of the walls around the central room. The walls fall and show spider webs; Deathspinners come out meanwhile.
Burn the webs with the Warden’s Blight or with explosives.
Back at the Pack-a-Punch, pull the crank to surge the Forge.
Under the Forge, press the switch in the floor, in the middle of an ornate tile: the ring around the Forge starts to turn. The switches on the pillars slow down the part of the ring they stand on.
cat 04-two-optional-steps.log§ 4/8
Two optional steps
The rain pool of Veytharion
Four cubes, fire, water, flower and hand, lie around the Veytharion Sanctuary and Main Chamber. Slid into the wall puzzle in the right order, without the fire touching the water or the flower, they open a pool and a Random Perk. Using the pool makes the next round a rain round, which many steps need.
The Pierced Lantern of Caltheris
Four stone plates in the floor of the Caltheris Main Chamber, near the Ammo Cache. On each one, shoot four yellow lights within six seconds, or the plate collapses. With the four done, a wall opens on a Lantern and two Astral Tears; the Lantern makes more Tears appear around the map.
cat 05-cleansing-the-temples.log§ 5/8
Cleansing the temples
The four temples can then be cleansed in any order, one at a time: the three pillars of the Nexus Forge outside the temple must first be aligned, which shows when a light enters the mouth of the Shadowsmith head at its entrance. Each cleansing follows the same pattern:
Find the offering of the temple and lay it in the brazier of its Main Chamber, then light the brazier with an Astral Flame. A mist settles on a nearby zombie.
Kill that zombie with a Titan Trap.
In the Main Chamber, move the square plate of the floor with the action the temple asks for, then raise the circular plate under it with a charged shot of the Warden’s Blight.
Turn the plate so its light points at the right wall, and kill zombies to feed it souls until the wall breaks open on a statue.
Shoot the statue: a lockdown starts, and every Shadow Soul that appears must be killed. Shoot the statue again to end it.
Pull a purple orb under the head of the temple with the Void Claw, raise it into the head with a charged shot, and on a rain round shoot an Astral Flame at it. Lightning strikes and the temple is cleansed.
Temple
Offering
On the square plate
Light aimed at
Veytharion
Woven Sash, found only in the rain, off the edge of Ruinas, Spira or Aranea Insula
Jump for 15 seconds
The west wall
Caltheris
Shimmering Thread, a reward of the Astral Tears grappled close
Aim down sights for 15 seconds
The northeast wall
Dravakar
Blacksmith’s Hammer, behind one of the four shields of the Dravakar Inner Sanctum, dropped with Shatter Blast
A scroll, dropped by a zombie killed with Shadow Rift in the forest of the fruit
Go prone for 15 seconds
The wall by the lava pit
cat 06-the-warden.log§ 6/8
The Warden
In the Nexus Core under the Pack-a-Punch, each player stands in one of four circles to go down into the arena. The Warden fights as a giant scorpion.
The Warden
He charges the players and throws them off the arena, then summons Warden’s Stingers from the ground and a red disc that bombards them. Destroying the Dread Skulls that float around him stuns him and opens a weak spot at the tip of his tail for a few seconds; the bolts of the Warden’s Blight seek the Dread Skulls on their own.
The jail
A player who dies to a Dread Skull is sent to a cell, where an HVT has to be killed or a timer survived, and comes back with sixty seconds of speed. A second death is final. At the start of the third phase every player is jailed at once.
Four phases
Two Dread Skulls in the first; Stingers, Shadow Souls that make him immune, the red disc and three skulls in the second; four skulls and a wipe attack of the Stingers, stopped by destroying three of them, in the third. Brought down, the Warden drains Ava Jansen and comes back with a third of his health for a fourth phase.
Shadowsmith Blessings
From the second phase, power-ups on pedestals around the arena, one for each Shadowsmith beaten on the earlier maps: Veytharion’s Blessing gives three more perks, Caltheris’ Blessing a full Field Upgrade and refilled equipment. The Void Claw can be taken from two pedestals as often as needed.
The Warden dead, the ending cutscene plays. A team that goes on playing is sent back to the Nexus Forge with every perk and a pile of loot: Bonus Points, Aether Tools, Aetherium Crystals, Legendary weapons, Salvage and a random wonder weapon.
cat 07-the-ending.log§ 7/8
The ending
Ava Jansen
With the Warden gone, the Entity is free and shows who she is: Ava Jansen, the future daughter of Samantha Maxis and Elizabeth Grey.
Going home
Ava sends Weaver, Grey and Carver back to their world, where they prepare her future before their deaths in Zaravan with Oskar Strauss; Maya goes to a world where her brother Nathan is alive; Dempsey, Nikolai, Takeo and Richtofen leave for a new adventure. Ava and the Twins stay in the Nexus.
cat 08-rewards.log§ 8/8
Rewards
Reward
How to get it
Rex Infernus Early Completion calling card
The main quest before Directed Mode came out, on September 17, 2026
Rex Infernus Standard Completion calling card, Bloodthorn skin of the Warden’s Blight, 10,000 XP
The main quest in Standard mode
Rex Infernus Directed Mode Completion calling card, Netherclaw skin, 5,000 XP