Outer Wilds: The Attlerock guide

The Attlerock is a moon orbiting Timber Heart. It’s nearby, and therefore easy to get to, so it’s a logical first stop on your journey to explore the solar system.

When you leave the Observatory on Timber Hearth, Hal will suggest you head to the Attlerock — it’s close, and there are some Nomai ruins there. This guide will walk you through what you can do on the Attlerock. We’ve listed the places of interest along with the important clues you’ll find at each.

Esker’s Camp

While in orbit, look for a crater with a cabin, some trees, and a campfire. If you’re having trouble, use your Signalscope and listen for Esker’s whistling.

Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon

Visit Esker and talk to him. He’ll fill you in about how the Hearthian space program works, and he’ll point you to the Lunar Lookout just to the north.

Lunar Lookout // North Pole //

Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon

Esker will mention this location when you speak to him. It’s a good place to use your Signalscope to check out the sounds you hear coming from other planets. There’s nothing you can do with those sounds yet, but it’s worth noting that Feldspar’s harmonica seems to be coming from two different planets — also he’s presumed lost, so that’s odd.

Nomai ruins and Eye Signal Locator // South pole //

After you’re done up north, head to the south pole. This is where the ruins that Hal mentioned are located. Don’t worry about repositioning your ship. It’s a quick hop. (You can actually literally hop and make it most of the way there with your jetpack. Just be careful that you don’t accidentally end up in orbit.)

Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon

Above ground, you’ll find the ruins of a small Nomai observatory. Stand in the center, and you’ll be able to move the small sphere by looking at it. There are four symbols to roll the sphere to. The leftmost symbol will make the observatory’s rings spin without stopping. The next three make the observatory’s rings follow the sun, Giant’s Deep, and Brittle Hollow respectively. There’s nothing else to do above ground.

Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon

When you’re done playing with the observatory, look for some nearby stairs that lead below ground. At the bottom, there are trees to refill your oxygen tank. Take a left at the bottom of the stairs and look for a tape player recording left by Riebeck. In it, they’ll say they’re headed to some Nomai ruins at the south pole of Brittle Hollow.

Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon

Turn left and follow the wall until you come to a blue, triangular symbol on the wall and some Nomai script. Translate the story to learn about the ruins above you. You’re in an Eye Signal Locator, but it’s not working right.

Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon

Continue to the left until you pass an empty-triangular socket in the wall. Just past it, there’s a bookcase (scrollcase?) with a Nomai scroll on the shelves. Take the scroll back to the wall socket, then translate the conversation. You’ll learn that there’s a Quantum Moon Locator on Ember Twin (take note of that, but it probably doesn’t mean anything to you yet), and that the Nomai plan to build a larger Eye Signal Locator at the south pole of Brittle Hollow.

Chert’s crater

Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon

On the far side of the moon from Esker’s Camp, you’ll find a gigantic crater. Head all the way down to the center to find Chert’s Research Notes on a tape recorder there (and some jetpack fuel nearby). Chert thinks that the Attlerock was hit with a chunk of the planet that used to exist where the Dark Bramble is now. That probably doesn’t mean much to you yet, so just file it away.

What have we learned? // What’s next?

The Attlerock gives us some clues about who the Nomai were and what they were looking for — specifically, they were looking for a signal from the Eye of the Universe. They built a locator on the Attlerock that didn’t work right, so they planned to build another, larger Eye Signal Locator at the south pole of Brittle Hollow. We also learned that fellow Hearthian Riebeck went there, too.

The next logical step is to investigate the south pole of Brittle Hollow, and try to find (and talk to) Riebeck while we’re there.

A quick note: Depending on how long you’ve taken to get this far, you might not make it far into your exploration of Brittle Hollow before the sun goes nova. If (when) it does, you can skip the visit to the Attlerock and head straight to Brittle Hollow. Everything you learned should be in your Ship Log, so there’s no reason to waste your time revisiting the moon.