Quest: Finding the Research Assistants
Starting Location: Akkala Ancient Tech Lab (Northeast Akkala hilltop)
Quest Location: The Depths underneath the Akkala region.
Quest Giver: Robbie (inside the Tech Lab)
Rescue Mission: Depths Edition!
First, make sure you’ve progressed far enough with Robbie at the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab (the lighthouse-like building on the high hill in Northeast Akkala, near Jochi-iu Shrine). You usually need to have completed his initial Purah Pad upgrades (like Shrine Sensor, Travel Medallion prototype) for this quest to become available.
Your Mission: Retrieve the Researchers!
Talk to Robbie: Head inside the main dome of the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab and speak with Robbie. He’ll express concern about two of his research assistants who went into the Depths beneath Akkala and haven’t returned. He’ll ask you to find them.
Prepare for the Depths: Stock up! You’ll absolutely need:
- Light Sources: Bring lots of Brightbloom Seeds (Large ones are great) or wear the Miner’s Armor set if you have it. Giant Brightbloom Seeds are also useful for large areas.
- Gloom Protection/Healing: Food cooked with Sundelions to restore gloom-damaged hearts is highly recommended.
- Weapons and Arrows.
Enter via Akkala Chasm: Robbie suggests they likely used a nearby entrance. The most convenient is the East Akkala Plains Chasm, located southwest of the lab (approx. coordinates 3808, 2021, 0091). Find the chasm (a big hole with red gloom) and jump in. Deploy your paraglider before hitting bottom!
Navigate the Darkness: Immediately upon landing, throw or shoot Brightbloom Seeds to light up your surroundings. Your primary goal is to find Lightroots – they look like large glowing tree roots reaching down from the ceiling. Activating a Lightroot (A button) illuminates a large area permanently and maps that section of the Depths (corresponding to the surface map). The Sikutomog Lightroot is usually very close to where you land from the East Akkala Plains Chasm.
Follow the Clues: Robbie mentioned his team might have left a trail. As you explore outwards from the chasm landing point (often heading towards other visible Lightroots), look carefully for:
- Small, extinguished Campfires.
- Dropped Research Notes or Logs on the ground.
- Sometimes, a trail of Zonaite Deposits they might have been mining.
Locate Assistant #1: Following the trail or exploring areas around nearby Lightroots, you should find the first assistant, often huddled near a campfire, looking scared. Talk to them (A button). They’ll explain what happened.
Locate Assistant #2: Continue exploring, potentially following more clues or heading towards another Lightroot further in. Find the second assistant, talk to them as well.
Return to the Surface: Once you’ve found and spoken to both assistants (they usually stay put or head back on their own after you talk to them), you need to return to Robbie. Use Ascend (L) under a Lightroot to get back to the surface quickly, or warp to a surface shrine/tower.
Report to Robbie: Go back to the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab and tell Robbie the good news – his assistants are safe (or at least found).
The Payoff:
Robbie will be immensely relieved and grateful! He’ll reward you for the successful rescue operation, typically with:
- A good sum of Rupees.
- Potentially some valuable Zonaite or Crystallized Charges.
- This may also unlock further quests or dialogue with Robbie.
Dive deep, light the way, and bring the science team back!