Most of the activities in The First Descendant take place in its open zones, but apart from regular missions, there are a few secrets to discover, including Encrypted Vaults.
Whether you need them for a quest or just have nothing to do, here’s how to open Encrypted Vaults in The First Descendant.
How to find Encrypted Vaults in The First Descendant
To find Encrypted Vaults, use your scanner (Tab key on PC by default). But you’re not looking for visual queues but for audio. When there’s a vault nearby and in your field of view, the scanning chime has a higher pitch than usual. You can test it by looking in different directions and using the scan. The sound gets louder as you get close to the vault.
It’s unclear if vaults spawn in the same places, but I found two on the north side of the Classified Area in the Sterile Land. The vaults look like standing skeleton coffins and will turn towards you when you come close.
How to open Encrypted Vaults in The First Descendant
You need a Code Analyzer or Precision Code Analyzer consumable to open vaults. You can’t research them at Anais. Instead, they drop from missions—you might already have a few in your inventory.
Interact with the Encrypted Vault to start a minigame. The goal is to press the button when the dial is in the highlighted zone. Do that multiple times before the timer expires, and you’ll unlock the vault.
Keep in mind the buttons you have to press can change (on PC, it was both left and right click). If you fail the minigame, the Code Analyzer will be gone, and you’ll need to get a new one to try again.
If you travel to an area with a Precision Code Analyzer, the vaults will be blue and have a more difficult minigame.
