Orb Vallis

“It's taking longer than I calculated.”

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The Orb Vallis is an open-world region on Venus. This land of duality, where cold tundras made by Orokin terraformation devices mix with the original harsh Venusian atmosphere, is home to multiple Corpus outposts and colonies, among them the debt-internment colony of Fortuna. It was introduced in Update 24.0 (2018-11-08) on November 8, 2018 on PC.

November 10, 2018 08:14:00 UTC   until the Warm Cycle until the Cold Cycle1600-1400mm ssfull

General

The Orb Vallis is a massive expansive area featuring various fields, hills, caves, and flowing coolant, acting like bodies of water, in a snowy climate. Unlike other mission nodes, Orb Vallis is not procedurally generated using Tiles, but is instead a massive static map with unique features.

Orb Vallis is accessible through two different mission nodes on the Star Chart on Venus. The first is the central hub of the Vallis – Fortuna – where the player will spawn in a plaza located within the underground city. The second mission node will spawn the player directly in front of the elevator that connects Fortuna to the Vallis.

Each server instance of Fortuna can hold up to 50 players within the town, however players can only exit onto the Vallis in the standard 2-4 man squads or Solo. Each map is considered its own separate mission instance, and will not be shared between squads.

Entering into the Vallis from either Fortuna or directly from the Star Chart will create a new mission instance of the Vallis, with procedural generation applying to objects like resource spawn locations and mineral veins, as well as assigning a random Challenge.

Progress on the Vallis is saved under the following conditions:

• Upon returning to Fortuna through the elevator at any point, with the mission concluding and all progress saved.
• On returning to the player's Orbiter via the escape menu.
• All progress is automatically saved on completing Bounties.
• Fishing, Mining, or using consumables results in a specific save of that content (fish caught, minerals extracted, consumables used).

Fortuna

Main article: Fortuna

Fortuna is an underground settlement that is home to the Solaris, a population of mechanically-augmented people who work as debt-slaves for the Corpus under Nef Anyo to bring the ancient Orokin terraformation devices on Venus back online. This town serves as the central hub for Orb Vallis, where players can interact with various NPC's to purchase items from shops, or accept quests to be accomplished out in the Vallis.

Upon arriving on Fortuna, players are deposited on a plaza by the center of the settlement near a large artificial river of coolant. From there, players can exit Fortuna onto the greater Vallis via a large door on the town's edge, leading to an elevator that will bring players up to the Vallis outside. The elevator acts as a loading screen, and players will be unable to exit out the other end until the loading is complete.

Main Features

Cold & Warm Cycle

Orb Vallis features a real-time cycle which sees the map seamlessly transition between cold and warm temperatures in Orb Vallis. The weather cycle consists of a period of Cold weather, followed by Freezing, followed by another transitionary period of Cold, and finally one period of Warm weather before repeating. Each of these four periods lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds. All players will experience the same weather at any particular time in Orb Vallis.

The weather determines the type of fish and wildlife that players can encounter on the fields.

Lorewise, this cycle is caused by terraforming reflector, orbiting around Venus.

Spear Fishing

Main article: Fishing

Orb Vallis features flowing coolant, acting like bodies of water, which house a wide variety of robotic lifeforms. Players can engage in spearfishing to catch various servofish, which can then be used as resources to craft various Solaris United items, or gifted to The Business to increase standing with the Solaris United faction.

Conservation

Main article: Conservation

Wildlife on Orb Vallis are endangered and The Business wishes to preserve them. Players can track creatures, use Echo-Lures to draw them out, and Tranq Rifles to subdue them, rewarding Solaris United standing.

Mining

Main article: Mining

Another means of getting resources in the Vallis is through mining; players can find mineral veins, visible as bright glowing marks, scattered throughout the landscape, which can then be mined with a dedicated cutting tool. Ores and Gems are used in a variety of crafting recipes, and uncut gems can also be traded in to Smokefinger to increase standing with the Solaris United faction.

Bounties

Main article: Bounties

Bounties are randomly generated quests in which the player completes a series of short objectives from Eudico. Upon completion of a set of missions, the player will be randomly receive a reward from the reward pool.

Solaris United Agents appear outside of Fortuna and provide bounties, allowing players to embark without needing to return to Fortuna. In addition, players can capture Corpus bases to spawn an agent there.

Bases

The Corpus have many bases scattered around Orb Vallis. Many of the smaller bases can be captured by the Tenno and subsequently serve as a launching point for future missions.

The following bases have an orange beam above them as well as the Corpus Systems required for the capturing process: 

• Transit Depot
• The Pearl
• Grow Site
• Temple Fabrication
• Reflector Control
• Central Maintenance
• Orokin Dig Site

In order to capture a base, kill enemies in the area of one such capturable base. These enemies have a chance to drop a datamass which can be inserted into the Corpus Systems to begin the capture process. The Corpus Systems must then be defended for two and a half minutes. After that, several corpus enemies must be killed. At this point, the base is surrounded by a blue objective marker, the beam will become blue in color and a Solaris United Agent will appear.

If the player is unsuccessful in defending the Corpus Systems, they will be destroyed and a message reading Abandoned Objective will appear. Any subsequent attempts to capture that base will result in the Abandoned Objective message appearing immediately after inserting the datamass. If the players leave the area while the base capture is in progress, they will receive an Abandoning Mission warning and accompanying countdown. Once the countdown is finished the Solaris United will no longer be able to claim the base. However, the Corpus Systems can still be damaged. If the Corpus Systems are destroyed, inserting a fresh datamass will once again cause an immediate failure.

The Solaris United Agent has three bounties to choose from these are unique and static for each base in the Orb Vallis. These bounties match the level of the bounty selected from Eudico when initially entering Orb Vallis. If no bounty was selected then the bounties found in bases are all of tier 1. Each bounty at the base has its own set of bounty sub-missions which are randomly selected when the bounties refresh. Capturing the same base again before the bounty reset will give the same set of bounties as previously. The rewards and refresh timers from these bounties are identical to those given by Eudico. When the players complete one of these bounties the host will be unable to select that bounty again, however other players can select bounties freely. If, however, the players fail a bounty, it will still be available.

If the players wish to capture a new base, they can collect a new datamass and insert it into the Corpus Systems of the desired base. A successful capture will leave the new base in the hands of Solaris United but the previous base will be returned to Corpus control. If the capture attempt is unsuccessful the old base will remain with Solaris United.

When Eudico's bounties refresh, if Solaris United owns a base in Orb Vallis, a datamass will appear and the Tenno will be prompted to either capture the current base or capture a new base. Doing so will refresh the bounty rewards to match Eudico's current rewards.

Caves

Orb Vallis has several caves which players can enter, which can contain items of interest such as minerals or bodies of water for fishing. Many of these caves are small spaces that can have multiple openings that players can go through to access the cave.

Aside from enemies spawned in certain bases, various Toroids can also be found hidden as pick-ups, similar to Ayatan Sculptures, in many caves throughout Orb Vallis.

Like Plains of Eidolon bounties, objective caches for Cache Recovery missions in Orb Vallis bounties can also appear in the caves.

Caves that have been discovered by players will be permanently marked on the minimap by a white mountain-cave symbol.

Terraforming Towers

There are several Orokin-made towers scattered throughout Orb Vallis. Some of them, e.g. the one near center of the map close to Fortuna's entrance, have coolant flowing down from the top, hence the name Weeping Tower.

The towers serve no other purpose than aesthetic and lore, though Orb Vallis's logo is fashioned after these towers. However, players need to use them as starting platforms to do the challenge, Stay Frosty, which requires players to ride on the K-Drive and fall into the coolant from 275 meters of height.

Each tower has two golden arches attached to the back, one side of the tower. The arch diagonally goes around the tower, one side each, and having what looks like two-part robotic arm with joint and three claws pointing downward attached at the end. This makes the towers look like some form of robots. The actual purpose of this particular part/design is unknown.

There is, at least, one tower in a completely broken state, showing a hollow cavity with some kind of organic growth inside. This organic growth looks similar to what can be seen inside the bridge near Orokin Tower of the Unum in Cetus. This somewhat grotesque organic matter hiding inside perfectly elegant Orokin architecture seems to signify the concept of deception many characters percieve when they first personally encounter the Orokin.

Craters

There are three (3) craters around the edge of Orb Vallis, namely Harindi Crater, Asta Crater and Ustara Crater.

Asta Crater is located at the near southwest, adjacent to the Enrichment Labs. Harindi Crater is at the most middle east, between Reflector Control and Orokin Dig Site. Lastly, Ustara Crater is at the center north slightly to the east.

These craters share similar characteristics, asides from being large holes in the ground, having some form of golden twisted metallic tendrils with big globes, bearing Orokin design, as cores within the craters. Harindi Crater has only one globe in the crater, while Asta Crater and Ustara Crater has several globes.

• Speculatively, these globes might had fallen from space and created the craters.
• They are probably also parts of Terraforming Towers, as similar tendrils can be seen emerging from around the base of one of the Towers, specifically the one in the middle of Coolant Reservior close to Fortuna entrance.

All of the craters are located quite close to the Terraforming Tower. It is unknown if this is intentional or having any purpose.

Harindi Crater is distinct, from the other two, for having a large bottomless pit at the center of the crater, right under the tendril globe. Coolant from the nearby Terraforming Tower endlessly flows down to the crater and into this pit. Tenno can go into the pit as deep as the coolant surface, otherwise Tenno will get drowned.

Orokin Space Ruins

At the far southeast corner of Orb Vallis, immediate south of Orokin Dig Site, there is a gigantic Orokin Space Ruins.

This Ruins look exactly like one of the planetary defense grid satellites, in Venus orbit, seen during Railjack mission. How this satellite lies in ruins in Orb Vallis is unknown. However, it is unlikely to have fallen from orbit, since that would cause unfathomably large crater upon impact.

The Orokin Dig Site is probably located quite close to this Ruins for the purposes of expedition and research.

Enemies

Corpus

The Corpus, comprised of Terra units, are the primary enemy faction in Orb Vallis. They can be found in either small patrol groups roaming the snowy peaks or stationed at one of several outposts and firebases they have set up in the area. They are armed with powerful weaponry such as the Arca Plasmor and the Opticor. In addition, the Jackal, Raptor, and Hyena, Corpus proxies that served as bosses on various planets, are all present in their numbers.

The Corpus units can spawn at Orb Vallis in different ways, either via Condor Dropships, Coildrives, or descending onto the surface from a beam of light. Both the air and land vehicles used by the Corpus on Orb Vallis are vulnerable to attack and can be destroyed before they deploy the units they transport. If a sufficiently large patrol is engaged in combat, the Corpus units will deploy Reinforcement Beacons that will signal for reinforcements, which then will proceed to spawn via the aforementioned options. Up to four beacons can be planted at a time, with each beacon raising the player's Alert Level which raises the intensity of spawned enemies. The beacon will maintain Alert Level and continue to call in additional enemies until they are destroyed or the player disengages from combat.

The bases owned by the Corpus can be captured. An enemy in a base may drop a datamass, which can be inserted into a terminal. This begins a process where the player must defend the terminal from waves of Corpus. When the defense is complete, the base will be liberated and a Solaris United Agent will appear to offer Bounties without the need to return to Fortuna.

Raknoid/Orbs

These spider-like proxies roam Orb Vallis. They come in various sizes, with those of monstrous size referred to as Orbs.

There is currently no way to combat the Orbs.

Sentients

In rare case, Conculysts can be spawned in the Enrichment Labs. How or why they appear is currently unknown, however it is likely related to the Sentient and Sentient parts found in the deepest part of the Enrichment Labs.

Minor Features

Corpus Cave Expedition

Corpus personnel and machines can be found in several caves throughout Orb Vallis. There are, at least, two (2) interactable Corpus machines in two of the caves. Tenno can use them to reveal secret/hidden paths. One is a pump that will drain the coolant to reveal submerged tunnel that might contain a Toroid pick-up. Another is a winch that will reel in the floating platform with a big crate, unblocking a passage leading to a possible Toroid pick-up.

There is another interactable mechanism. Tenno must avoid electrocuting coolant and find a wheel-like platform dangling from the ceiling. This mechanism is hidden in the lower part of a particular cave. Upon standing on the platform, it will get lowered and raise a live wire off of the coolant, creating a small window for the Tenno to go through a passage blocked by electrical arc.

Trivia

• Vallis is the Latin word for "valley".
• The word "Orb" in Orb Vallis probably refers to the gigantic Raknoids, the Orbs.
• According to Steve Sinclair, the creative director of WARFRAME, the visible change between the day-night cycle of Orb Vallis is caused by an orbiting terraforming reflector.
• It is possible to replay Fortuna's intro (We All Lift Together) by interacting with the Solaris worker who is closest to the player when they spawn in. When the player spawns in, walk straight until you see a worker standing on one of the metal platforms in the middle of the coolant lake. This worker will have a head similar to the Business. Right in front of him, there should be a worker operating a hammer. Interact with that worker and the opening cinematic will play.
• While out in Orb Vallis, Warframes will gather snow all over the bodies.
  • According to Devstream 119, companions will also gather snow on their bodies and regularly shake it off.
• Curiously, the large pond northeast of the Spaceport has a device of Grineer origin partially submerged, making the same bellowing noises as the Orb Raknoids. What the device is doing in the Vallis, let alone its function, is currently unknown.
  • Tenno can go on top and stands on this Grineer Orb. Though Tenno will clip into one of its large protruding domes.

Bugs

• Numbers of PC players have problem with Vallis Spelunker challenge. The number of caves explored would be stuck at below 30, even if the players have unlocked all 30 of them in the map. This makes the challenge and its Steam achievement unobtainable.
• Animal footprints appearing during Conservation Hunt and ore veins are occasionally obscured by other textures. This makes it difficult to track animals or, sometimes, render the ores unable to be mined.
• A pond located to the west of Reflector Control and south of Ustara Crater has area that doesn't act properly. This spot is at the east shoreside of the pond, between two big stones. When player throw lure or dye into this area, it will go pass the coolant surface and sink to the bottom, instead of floating. Sunken lure or dye will not take effect, wasting the item.
• When players complete Bounty Hunter challenge, in-game notification will appear to inform that the challenge is unlocked and associated Steam achievement will pop-up as well. But upon looking in Challenge of in-game profile, Bounty Hunter challenge would still be locked, while its Steam achievement is properly unlocked.

Media

Map of Orb Vallis

See Also

• Fortuna, the primary hub city of Orb Vallis.

Patch History

Hotfix 24.0.10 (2018-11-21) New Elite Terra Corpus Enemies!
In Hotfix 24.0.4 we reduced the difficulty of certain Terra Corpus enemies to improve the balance between Orb Vallis enemies. This change came mainly from low level/newer players finding it difficult to proceed within Orb Vallis. We still want to bring a level of challenge to those that want to take on higher level Terra enemies, thus the Elite Terra Corpus enemies have been added! These level 30+ Elite variants have higher Health/Shields and hit with harder damage.

Update 24.0 (2018-11-08)

• Introduced.