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Just like in real life, radiation can be found in areas ofCore Keeper, and while it isn’t nearly as deadly as its real-life counterpoint, you still don’t want to be exposed to it. Getting too close to the crystals that generate them will quickly end your character’s life if you aren’t careful, or soften you up enough to get taken out by something else.
And with giant centipedes that can crawl through walls to get to you at any time, you want to keep your health high while you’re in the Shimmering Frontier, especially if you draw near the outer edges. If you want to stay safe and non-irradiated, you’ll need some specialized gear.
How To Deal With Radiation
Radiation is aunique type of damagethat exclusively comes frombeing within eight tiles of a Radiation Crystal, which are frequently found within theShimmering Frontier biome.
Radiation does80 damage every few secondsregardless of your armor and health, and it candamage you through wallsas long as you’rewithin rangeof it, so even in the late game, it can quicklychew through your healthwhile you’re mining Solarite Ore.
you’re able to also tell if you’re in a Radiation Crystal’s range if theamount of bright green particles around it drastically increases, and they begin flashing.
It is possible torun up and mine the Radiation Crystal, removing it as a damage source anddropping it as a material, but thisrequires at least 810 Mining Damage, notype of explosiveworks on them, and ifthere are multiplenearby, you cantake damage from them all.
Thebest way to counterattack this damageis by wearing theHazmat ArmorSet. It provides not only72-85 Armorand good Physical Melee Damage bonuses at 50 to 58 percent at base levelwithout reinforcing or upgradingit, but afull set of three piecesmakes youimmune to Radiation Damage.
With it equipped, you cansafely harvest the Shimmering Frontier’s many useful resources, such asSolarite Ore, Lunacorn, Sunrice, andGleamwood, all of which make late-game equipment or food dishes.
How To Get The Hazmat Armor Set
To get this armor set, you’ll need topurchase it from the Brave Merchant, but they need to beunlocked in a specific way like other NPCs.
First, you need tofind a Shimmering Frontier, which can befound along the outer edges of the three mid-game biomes– the Desert of Beginnings, Azeos' Wilderness, and Sunken Sea – then look for anAlien Tech Lab scenewithin it.
Inside it, you’ll get aminiature dungeonwith some Orbital Turret enemies and Alien Tech breakables, and at the end of it, there will be aChallenge Arenathat you’llneed to complete. Stand in thecenter to activateit, and severalwaves of enemies will spawnas theprogress circle fillsup as long as youstay within the center.
The Alien Tech Lab canspawn inside a Shimmering Frontier itself, but they can also be at the edges between two biomes, and be accessible without much Radiation damage.
Upon completion, you’llreceive a reward chestthat contains a fewUpgrade Gemsbased on themid-game biome you’re closest to, the chance for someAlien Tech lab-exclusive itemslike the Cosmic Set andObliteration Ray, and aguaranteedNuclear Battery Idolif it’s yourfirst timecompleting a Challenge Arena. If it’snot the first, you stillhave a chanceto get one, but it’sno longer guaranteed.
Bring this back to your base andmake a valid room for the Brave Merchant, and they’ll immediately move in. TheHazmat ArmorSet will immediately beavailable for purchase, but it’s going tocost a lot of Ancient Coinsto get it.
Afull set costs 10,950 Ancient Coins, but it’s worth it for thetotal Radiation Damage protection, and it has great stats that canbridge the gap between Galaxite and Solarite armor, and can even be better than Solarite if you want more damage as a melee character.
