Life of the Scavengers is a side mission in Stellar Blade that unlocks after you return the second Hyper Cell to the Presence Chamber. You receive the mission from Cyrus at the entrance to the Last Gulp bar in Xion, and he asks you to find his partner, Tommy.
Tommy went to a part of the Wasteland called the Forbidden Area in search of treasure but never returned. So, your first objective in this Stellar Blade side mission is to investigate the Forbidden Area and to see if you can find Tommy—or at least some clues as to what happened to him.
How to get to the Forbidden Area in the Stellar Blade Wasteland
The Forbidden Area is on the eastern edge of the Wasteland map. I found that the best way to get there was to start at the Central Scrap Plains Supply Camp and head east in a straight line. Eventually, you find the remains of a road, and you can follow that to the broken bridge, then turn left and activate the waypoint phone. This would be a good time to fast travel to a Supply Camp and spend any Gold, SPs, and resources you might have spare. I didn’t do that, but ended up wishing I had.
If you want a Beta Core (and I’d recommend getting it), then go into the large ruined building and follow the blue “one-way” signs and yellow paint. When you reach the top of the building, you have to do some pretty daring dash-jumps and swing on a horizontal bar to reach the corpse that has the Beta Core. Also, if you follow the narrow path between the building and the chasm and then climb over some rubble, then there’s a flat area with a wooden crate and a chest for which I don’t yet have the passcode.
But the Forbidden Area is actually that frighteningly deep pit next to the waypoint phone and ruined building, and if you go right up to the edge, you’ll see a rope that you can jump to and slide down. Use the various ropes, ledges, and ladders to get to the bottom of the pit. By now, you’re getting some serious boss-fight vibes from this place, right? Sure enough, this is yet another Stellar Blade mission in which you go looking for someone, only to find their corpse and get attacked by the thing that killed them.
How to defeat Brute in Life of the Scavengers
I have to tell you that I found this boss fight really tough. I actually gave up, went away, and came back to it. And even when I finally beat Brute, I needed to use a WB Pump to insta-revive. But only one—I brought three and expected to need all of them.
It starts pretty easy, as Brute moves and attacks slowly, so even before you’ve learned the rhythm of its combos, you can see most of its attacks coming. But once its fists turn yellow and it goes into overdrive, it gets much, much harder. It then starts using a variety of long, powerful, unblockable combos, and the only way to survive is to learn their rhythms and perfect dodge out of the way. And until you’ve learned those rhythms and patterns, you’re going to die a lot.
Once Brute is defeated, collect your rewards: 1,300 SP, 18 Polymer Material, 11 Advanced Polymer Material, 5 Extreme Polymer Material, 27 Nano Elements, 17 Advanced nano Elements, 3 Extreme Nano Elements, several hundred Gold, one Damaged Weapon Core, and one Perfect Combat Gear.
Then check Tommy’s corpse and find the passcode for Tommy’s safe. Go back to Xion and speak to Cyrus to complete the Life of the Scavengers mission and get two Sonic Grenades, one Biotic Field Generator, and one Lingering Potion.
Where to find Tommy’s safe in Stellar Blade
Tommy’s safe is at the C&T Trading Company, at the Xion Scrap Market, but it isn’t marked by any kind of sign. If you’re facing Sisters’ Junk, turn to the left and find the C&T Trading Company at the end of the row of stores. Tommy’s safe is the large chest outside the front. Unlock it with the passcode θθθθθθ, and you get a big stash of Nano Material and Polymer Material.
