Remnant 2 devs hid a whole new class behind datamining - and yes, someone’s already found it
Here’s how to unlock the Archon
Remnant 2, this year’s sequel to surprisingly good ‘Dark Souls, but a co-op shooter’ Remnant: From the Ashes, continues to land surprise after surprise - from being a surprisingly ambitious follow-up to the less-good surprise of its tech woes on PC. The biggest and best surprise so far might be an entirely new class, which devs Gunfire Games deliberately hid behind an unlock process so obscure you needed to datamine its solution.
The Archon’s existence was revealed by principal designer Ben Cureton in a tweet, which cryptically teased “one must penetrate the code itself” to unlock the hidden class.
Rather than mess players around, Cureton’s tweet also offered a decidedly less cryptic confirmation that the class needed to be datamined out of the game, inspired by the devs’ own love of datamining.
“We knew we couldn't stop datamining, so we leaned into it and created an entire Archetype that could be shared with the community once revealed by those with the ability to see between worlds,” Cureton wrote.
To unlock the Archon in #Remnant2, one must penetrate the code itself.
— Ben Cureton (a.k.a. tragic) (@verytragic) July 28, 2023
We knew we couldn't stop datamining, so we leaned into it and created an entire Archetype that could be shared with the community once revealed by those with the ability to see between worlds. pic.twitter.com/EOAqmAoX4r
Naturally, it didn’t take someone long to discover the obscure process required to unlock the Archon, which involves equipping a very specific set of equipment on a character with very specific specs, before opening a specific door. In other words, the kind of thing you’d only work out by datamining, but accessible enough that others can easily copy the process to get it themselves.
Forbes details the whole process, which requires a character to have the Invader archetype at level five with the Worm Hole skill activated and the Explorer Archetype at level 10 with the Fortune Hunter skill activated as a start.
After you have those, it’s time to equip a very specific set of gear:
- Leto's Amulet
- Amber Moonstone ring
- Anastasija's Inspiration ring
- Zania's Malice ring
- Black Cat Band ring
- Realmwalker armour
- Ford's Scattergun (primary weapon)
- Cube Gun (secondary weapon)
- Labyrinth Staff (melee weapon)
- Void Heart relic
With all that, you’ll be able to open the corrupted door in the Labyrinth, in order to find the Strange Box Engram in the Backrooms and unlock the Archon class.
It’s a fun way to encourage hardcore players to dig that bit deeper into a game that plays with the Soulslike obfuscation of information, while keeping it accessible enough for your average player to be able to do themselves. Will this be the last secret hidden in Remnant 2? I hope not!