Marastan is the second area we recommend completing during Act II of Hell is Us, after discovering its location while exploring Talju. Although you’re completely free to search for the Lymbic Forge Keystones in any order, several collectibles can be missed once certain events are triggered. It’s therefore best to follow a specific order so you don’t ruin that precious 100% completion.
Begin by heading directly east from the APC. Follow the road for a while until you reach a checkpoint containing several enemies and a security booth you can enter once the area is clear.
There’s a computer inside the booth. Enter the code 4132 and read the file to begin and immediately complete the Locked Down Mystery. That’s one less to worry about. Now return to the APC and take the turn beside the sign illuminated by the vehicle’s headlights. Ignore the path to the right and, when you reach a junction, turn left. You’ll cross another bridge and climb some steps to reach another road.
Once you’re at the top, head northwest towards the streetlamp. Just to the right of the lamp is a path leading to a lone monster beside a cliff. Kill the creature and drop down the cliff to find a cave. Follow it to the end to collect the Lymbic Core and a Polearm of Terror. Now retrace your steps, descend the cliff on the right and climb the stairs, but turn left this time. Follow the road until you reach a building.
Enter the shop and look behind the counter to find the Keys - Samo’s Spare, beginning the Samo’s Keys Good Deed. In this same building, head into the back room to find a chest that can be opened with the Keys - Algae from the Lost Keys Mystery, which you collected at Lake Cynon. This completes the Mystery and rewards you with the Baseball Cap - Terror.
Right, now we’re heading towards the other side of the path we came from, travelling northwest. This time, head towards the illuminated streetlamp until you see a petrol station and an auto repair yard.
Eliminate the enemies and use the ladder at the back to reach the roof, where you’ll find Dorno Grisibel. Give him the Keys - Samo’s Spare to complete the Good Deed. Return to Samo’s General Store and head down the slope just beyond the shop, ignoring the stairs leading upwards for now. Once you reach the road, look southeast to spot a barn behind a metal fence. You’ll hear someone crying as you approach.
Go around the barn and, as soon as you cross the fence on the other side, look to your right to find the Key - Antenna, beginning the Insult to Injury Good Deed. Return to the road and take the path to the left of the slope.
Continue straight ahead and turn right to enter the courtyard of the nearby house. Go around the left-hand side of the building to collect the Death from Above - Elite module. Retrace your steps, head up the slope and climb the stairs into the village. Look for the house in the southern area with an open door. Use the statue on the right-hand side of the image as a reference.
Once inside, you’ll see a door leading to the garage from the living room. Inside, you’ll find a medkit and three Fuses, beginning the Power to the People Good Deed. Leave and enter the courtyard of the house directly to the north, where you’ll see a ladder leading up to a small roof.
From there, you can enter the house through a balcony and collect an Urn and the Letter - Getting Out, beginning the Family Feud Good Deed. Now return to the street and look for the stairs west of Keol & Sons.
Climb the stairs and look behind the house on the right to find a fuse box where you can install one of your three Fuses. Return to the main street and head north, where you’ll hear a man calling out to you. Eliminate the enemies and check the house north of the man. There’s another fuse box on the porch.
Now go to the neighbouring house and climb the ladder to the balcony, where you’ll find Talis, another NPC whose dialogue options you need to exhaust. He’ll give you the Key - Statue, which is required to continue.
Our objective is to enter the statue, but there are still things to do around the village. Continue along the street to the north, turn right and check the garage of the house on your left. From the doorway, you’ll see the glow of an item: the Citizen’s File.
Return to the street and continue west and then northwest until you reach a house with an open door, a van on the left and a military truck on the right.
Enter and head down into the basement to find some stairs leading to the house’s backyard. You’ll find the third fuse box on one side of the building, completing one of your active Good Deeds. Now head up the slope from the courtyard.
Continue straight ahead, turn left at the second junction and then turn right. You’ll be able to drop down a cliff and enter a cave. Take the path to the left of the save point to find the Key - Marastan Church and the Note - Tithe, beginning the Ill-Gotten Gains Mystery. Follow the other side of the tunnel until you can turn right before the next save point.
You’ll reach a room with an enemy and two paths. Take the one with the metal fence to find the Lymbic Rod - Rage, Y and the Children’s Book. This rod is connected to another active Mystery that must be completed elsewhere. You’ll also automatically collect the Recording - Caspian’s Stalled Research. Drop over the edge and head left first to open a shortcut. Then continue through the other side of the tunnel.
You’ll soon see an antenna down the path as you descend the rocks.
Use the Key - Antenna on the machinery box to open it, then flip the switch to complete another active Good Deed. Open the nearby gate and, in the courtyard, you’ll find Father Bramante, another important NPC whose dialogue options you need to exhaust.
Now head down the slope to the southwest until you reach a dock containing a glowing item. This is the Gas Canister, which begins The Depths of Hell.
Return to the APC and head west to the blue house on your right.
Go around the right-hand side of the house to find some stairs leading down. At the dock, you’ll meet Korio Della, who must be given the Gas Canister.
To continue, we need to find several Tablet Fragments. Start by heading to the church cemetery, just below the village. As you walk between the gravestones, you’ll see six bird statues that can be rotated.
You must rotate all of them so they’re facing east—use the compass to check. Once they’re correctly positioned, the entrance to a crypt will open. Head through it until you reach a room with a locked door to the west and stairs to the north and south.
Begin with the stairs to the south and you’ll soon find the Lymbic Rod - Terror, V. This begins the Lymbic Chest - Marastan, Ruins Mystery. Continue along this same corridor—the path is completely linear—until you find the Tablet Fragment - Angled.
Return to the large room and climb the stairs to the north. Turn right twice as soon as you can to find the Tablet Fragment - Square. From there, you can head west. Follow the corridor to the end to find a door that can be opened with the Key - Marastan Church.
Opening it will complete one of your active Mysteries. Inside this room, you’ll find the Horse Figure and the Bracelet of Grief - Depression. Retrace your steps along the corridor until you can continue west. You’ll encounter several enemies, find the Tablet Fragment - Oblique inside a room, spot a consumable at the far end and discover a lever that opens a shortcut.
Return to the APC and take the path to the right, followed by the first path heading northeast.
A little farther ahead, climb the hill to the right. You’ll pass through a ruined stone arch containing several enemies and the Newspaper - Sports Results. It was meant to provide the code for the computer in the security booth from earlier... so you don’t need it anymore. Retrace your steps and continue northeast until you reach a large stone door.
On the ground in front of the door, use the Tablet Fragments you’ve collected to raise four pillars. You must now rotate them so that a specific symbol "faces" the centre. Treating the door as "up", the solution is:
Once inside, eliminate the enemies and interact with the mechanism in the centre of the chamber. It works like the codes used for the Vaults of Forbidden Knowledge. Enter the code Sword - Crown - Eye - Tower.
This lets you collect the Sword of the Blood Queen, an item required to reach the next location, as well as the Scroll - Queen’s Eulogy. However, we still have things to do in Marastan before leaving.
Return to the APC, head straight along the road and take the first path leading south through the woods. Continue for a while until you reach a large clearing containing some ruins and a whole bunch of enemies.
Clear the entire area and approach the remains of the ruins. As you draw near, look to the right of the "entrance" you could see from the front to spot the glow of the Kada Page. Afterwards, circle the ruins while eliminating enemies and collecting consumables. There’s no direct entrance into the ruins from here. What you’re looking for is a wooden bridge leading to a tower on the opposite side of the ruins from where you approached.
You’ll find a tunnel, and while passing through it you can open the Vault of the Beck, one of the Vaults of Forbidden Knowledge. Make sure you collect everything inside before leaving through the other side of the tunnel. You’ll emerge inside the ruins. Climb the nearby stairs and drop into the largest courtyard in the inner area, where you should see a couple of enemies.
Once they’re dead, climb the wooden stairs in one corner and follow the wall west. You’ll soon see a Lymbic Chest below your position. Use the Lymbic Rod - Terror, V to open it. This completes one of your active Mysteries and rewards you with an Amine Prism - Zeta.
Don’t leave just yet. You need to head back through the tunnel and, when you emerge this time, look northwest after climbing the stairs. You’ll see that you can drop onto the wall, so do exactly that.
Following the entire route will net you several consumables. After collecting everything on the upper section, you can drop down to the left to find a couple of Tuning Stones. Climb back up and this time jump to the right-hand side at the end, where you’ll see a large enemy. Inside this enclosed courtyard, you’ll find another Amine Prism - Zeta that will be essential for closing the Timeloops.
Speaking of Timeloops, make sure you close the Marastan Woods Timeloop, which is nearby. Simply head northeast from the ruins and take the path that follows the river to reach it.
Return to the Vyssa Hills to collect your Good Deed and Timeloop rewards from Gildas Brom, then visit the Acasa Marshes to upgrade your equipment. Remember that earning the Platinum/1,000G requires a pair of Twin Axes, a Greatsword, a Sword and a Polearm at grade 5, regardless of their Lymbic Sphere. By now, you should have at least one of each at grade 4. Once you return to the APC, make sure Tania examines all your Research Items. You can then ask her about Arcas Spire, our next destination.
