Lunar Spies: Alternate paths for the lactose intolerant.

[Cray]

"Lactose Intolerant" meaning you don't want to cheese the vault. ^{Thank you, I'm here all week.}

Alright, let's be honest. These vaults are hard. The main routes are long and difficult, don't give much room for error, and have even less room for forgiveness. But guess what? For each vault, there's at least one alternate pathway that allows you to complete each vault without uber speedrunning/parkour skills, Rift Walk/Banish, or a frame with more agility than a room full of trapeze artists.

In fact, using these pathways, you can take each vault at your own pace.

 

 

Vault 1 (Entrance)

First up, the easy vault. Now we're probably all familiar with the path to the right that Rebecca took, but we aren't going that way. (Disregard that door)

Instead, go forward and look left. You'll see a staircase. (View from above)

Mind the lasers as you go up those stairs, and a little back from the top, you'll find a rift. (As shown here)

Go through, and you'll find yourself in the pristine version of the room you were just in. (Oh nice, the lasers are off now)

Just a short distance from where we came through, you'll find another rift. (We arrived via the rift that's closer in this shot)

Go through this new rift, and you'll find yourself in a hall similar to the one Rebecca went through, only this one is the destroyed version. (Yay, no more lasers!)

Destroy/Avoid the sensor drones in this chasm as you hop from platform to platform. (I prefer the ol' No-Orbit Ion Cannon option, myself...)

Going through the door at the end of this chasm will lead you to the destroyed version of the room connecting directly to the Shiny Thing. (Oh look, more drones)

Once again, Destroy/Avoid the sensor drones in this room. (Careful, they can spawn down there)

At the bottom of the stairs, make a hard right, and you'll find another rift. (Almost finished...)

After going through this rift, you're on the last step: Touch the plate and race the ice-patch door. (If there's an alt path for this race, I didn't see it)

And you're done! Claim the Shiny Thing that's worth 12k Affinity on the open market, and move on to the next vault!

 

 

Vault 2 (Entrance)

The 'Trial' vault. Start by opening the door to the first challenge. (This door)

Now, rather than spending 30 minutes trying to do this challenge, only to accidentally hit one of 2 lasers and wrecking your perfect run, go back through the rift. That same door opened in the destroyed version as well! (And here you thought you'd need more parkour practice...)

For the next few screenshots, your path is defined by going from waypoint to waypoint.

(Start)

(This waypoint is where you exit to if you bow out after the first challenge of the trial)

(The top of that white 'tendril' is the easiest place to aim for in this shot)

(Hop down and go through that opening)

You should now be entering the last section of this chasm. (You'll see something like this)

The opening you're aiming for is actually around the corner. I don't recommend trying to go over the electrified stone. (Waypoint on destination, where you start is to the right)

And you're done again! Through the rift next to the terminal and claim the next Shiny Thing, we're makin' bank today.

 

 

Vault 3 (Entrance)

The longest vault. The racetrack vault. The Simon-Says vault. Etc. Start as you normally would by going into the pristine version, and head to the first laser room. (DE, I think you have a laser addiction...)

Before you go through, look at the right wall. (Hey, what's that?)

Yep, that's a destructible grate. (Grate Prime, anyone?)

Now you can shoot the button, then slide to the left side of that planter in the center, until the laser wall passes. Now you can go through the hole. (Mind the laser wall on the other side!)

You will now be in this room. Proceed to the pressure plate. (This shortcut bypasses 2 timed doors. Nice, eh?)

Use the plate, shoot the button behind and above the door, and head into the icy-floored room. Up to now, you've been following the main path (not counting the shortcut). Now is where we really start to move between pristine/destroyed versions (if your brain doesn't hurt yet, it will soon). In the middle of the room, you'll find a rift. (Popsicle Zephyr is not amused)

In the destroyed version of this chilling room, look for the big hole in the wall. (Mind the laser)

Through this hole, and down the tunnel we go. (No yellow bricks, but it'll do...)

You will now be in this room. Head to the far side. (For safety, I suggest destroying the laser plates)

Now we come to the first moving rift. (Which side of the door frame you're on when you touch the rift affects where you end up!)

Make sure you're on the correct side of the door frame before going through this rift. (I'm standing on the correct side in this shot)

You will now be in this room. Oh look, it's the main path again. (Once again, you can destroy the laser plates for safety)

Going through the door on the far side, you'll find yourself in the dreaded Simon-Says room. (Seriously, DE, SLOW THAT THING DOWN. I gave up trying to do this puzzle after you stopped us from getting a new pattern without pressing an incorrect button)

Now, you're probably thinking 'oh, great, now I gotta do this thing', right? Guess what? There's an app alt path for that. Look to the left. (The lasers kinda give it away)

Obviously, if you can handle the Simon-Says room, then you're home-free, enjoy your Shiny Thing. If you don't want to even attempt this room, read on.

At the entrance to this alt path, shoot the button to open the laser grid. (Pass through before time runs out)

Once inside, mind the walls. A couple of lasers will activate after the timer for the first laser grid ends. Also, DO NOT TOUCH THE PRESSURE PLATE. Life is easier with it untouched. (Instead, look to the right)

Without touching that pressure plate, go through the rift in this room. The door that would be opening if you had touched the plate will be partially open in the destroyed version. (If you can call that open...)

Be careful going through this opening, as there is an active laser orb that's spinning at an angle. As far as I'm aware, you can't destroy it. Once clear of the lasers, go to the far side of the room. (As marked by the waypoint)

At the far end, you'll find another rift. Pass through, but mind you don't move too much on the other side. (Those lasers would probably hit you if it wasn't for the railing...)

Luckily, these lasers can be destroyed. I strongly recommend doing that before anything else. (Much safer now)

Directly above the rift you arrived from, you'll find a button. Shoot it. (Wait for the container inside to go through the rift before proceeding!)

After the explosive container passes through the rift, follow after it. It will now be resting right here. (Ready, Fire, Aim)

Shooting this newly exposed container will cause the obelisk to fall over and crash into the door. (It was like this when I got here, honest!)

When the smoke clears, you'll see a nice little hole for us to go through. (I wonder what's inside...)

Inside this new room, you'll find a rift. There's a couple steps in this room, start by going through that rift. (We're getting there, this is the second-to-last area)

We have now reached the second (and last) moving rift. Get the button on the wall moving by hacking the console. Next, shoot said button. The rift will appear, attached to the button. (After a few seconds, it'll send the two canisters through)

Once it sends the explosive canister through (and the loot one if you want it), pass through this rift yourself. (You may have to shoot it open again for yourself)

On the other side, you'll find the explosive canister sitting on the floor. Fire away. (No last words, it just asked for a smoke and a blindfold)

Like the last explosive canister, this one will result in a hole being constructed in the wall blocking our way. (By this point, we could pass for engineers)

Just beyond this new room is another rift. It leads to the terminal at the end, but do yourself a favor and don't go through it yet. (Wait! There's one more thing you should do on this side of the rift)

In the middle of the room with the rift, you'll find an explosive container. 3rd time's the charm, open fire. (Credit where it's due: This is the most creative use of the rifts yet.)

The resulting explosion will send a large stone through the rift. You may now follow it through. On the other side, you'll find that stone has knocked open the pristine version of the room we passed through to get to this one. (For the last time, it was like that when I got here. I'm innocent, you can't prove anything!)

Now, at this point, you could rush to the terminal and get the Shiny Thing, but this new hole has something in it that will make your victory sweeter. (Behold, priceless treasure!)

Got your loot? I hope so, because guess what? You made it! Collect the Shiny Thing and relish in an undetected extraction of the longest (and arguably most difficult) vault in the game! Incidentally, the length of this vault makes it my favorite of the three.

 

Side Note: As of 18.6.1.1, there's still a bug with that rift you sent the large stone through with the third explosive canister. If you happen to find yourself stuck on the destroyed version and can't get the rift to open, it's because the hitbox is in the wrong place.

(Where you expect it to be)

(Where it actually is)

 

Welp, that's all there is to it. Enjoy the moon, it is truly a beautiful tileset, and is worth slowing down for the sake of taking it all in.

Edited March 18, 2016 by DeltaPhantom
Proofreading

[PikeOrShield]

Good job!  This will sure help a lot of people!

Since these are useful tips, I'll leave one too.

A note for anyone who wants to do the wall latch portion like Rebecca did in OPs vault 2: don't aim glide when jumping platform to platform, it messes up your wall latch.  Only use your wall latch/aim button once you are rubbing/about to rub the platform you want to latch onto.  When jumping from platform to platform, aim at the top edge of your target platform; bullet-jump, double jump when your 1-2 meters away, and then wall latch.

[Anti-1337]

These are the routes I take for Pavlov, Earth. My memory sucks too much for the Simon says part of vault 3, and I hated the spinning laser circles of alarmingness on vault 1. The benefit of not doing the Simon says bit is that you don't really have to do any backtracking to get the treasure room, even though it still probably takes longer. I get it every time.