Bye-Bye, Dark Aether

The main quest for Liberty Falls is called Bye-Bye, Dark Aether. Our Project Janus' Response Team aims to free Dr. Pericles Panos from the Dark Aether and two other unknown scientists.

Requirements

This main quest can be done with any number of players. The only requirement is to obtain or build the Jet Gun.

The Jet Gun can be obtained from the Mystery Box if you do not want to build it.

Recommended Loadouts

Start Weapon	Field Upgrade	Tactical
ASG-89	Frenzied Guard Frenzied Guard	Decoy
ASG-89	Aether Shroud Aether Shroud	Decoy
GS45 (Akimbo)	Aether Shroud Aether Shroud	Decoy

The GS45 (Akimbo) while extremely strong does run out of ammo faster than the ASG-89 in the boss fight before completing a phase requiring you to buy ammo for 5k Points.

Recommended GobbleGums

Solo GobbleGums	Co-op Gobblegums
Shields Up Shields Up	Shields Up Shields Up
Wonderbar! Wonderbar!	Wonderbar! Wonderbar!
Anywhere But Here Anywhere But Here	Near Death Experience Near Death Experience
Arsenal Accelerator Arsenal Accelerator	Profit Sharing Profit Sharing
Kill Joy Kill Joy	Kill Joy Kill Joy

This main quest can be done without any GobbleGums so do not feel like these are required in any way to complete the quest, these are only recommended to help quicken the experience and/or help you survive during critical steps.

Step 1: Activate the S.D.G. Generator

Head to the Dark Aether inside the church and interact with the S.D.G. Generator against the wall on the right side of the church to begin the main quest, indicated by a white flash.

Step 2: Build the L.T.G.

Before you can assemble the L.T.G. you must first obtain or build the Jet Gun since it's needed to get the parts for the L.T.G.

Building the Jet Gun

The Jet Gun requires three parts to build, each part having a unique way of being obtained.

Handbrake

The Handbrake can be obtained by killing a unique zombie named Groundskeeper in the Cemetery and dropping a Toolshed Key. You must use it to open the Toolshed in the Groundskeeper's Yard containing the Handbrake you must pick up.

The Groundskeeper can spawn in at any point of the game, even before activating the S.D.G. and will always be in or around the Cemetery.

Water Pressure Gauge

Head to Washington Ave. and interact with the small garden hose Water Valve just outside the flower shop to the right of the bloody door.

Afterward, head to Liberty Lanes and melee the panel on the right wall of the bowling lanes to reveal a pipe where you must place the Water Valve. You will have to hold the interact button continuously to turn this valve until the pressure is restored.

While restoring the pressure zombies will be continously spawning. If you go too far from the valve or take too long to restore the pressure you will fail and will need to try again. This can be troublesome on solo to complete without Monkey Bombs, Decoy Grenades, or

Aether Shroud

Aether Shroud

Once pressure is restored, the Water Pressure Gauge will pop out of the wall and drop on the floor for you to pick up.

Electrical Wires

Head to the Riverside area of the map and you must blow the doors off of the Radio House with a Mangler Cannon blast. Once open, interact with the piles on the ground within the Radio House until the Electrical Wires pop out for you to pick up.

There are three methods you can use to blow the doors off the Radio House, the first is by baiting a Mangler to shoot it's ranged attack at you while you are in front of the door then moving out of the way for it to hit the doors, the second is by using the Mangler Cannon support item, and the final is by using a Mutant Injector support item and shooting the doors yourself.

Assembling the Jet Gun

Once all three parts have been obtained, head to the Motor Lodge's second floor where a door once nearby will be broken down by a small horde of zombies revealing a room containing the workbench for building the Jet Gun.

Assembling the L.T.G.

Using the Jet Gun, you must suck up three parts around the map for the L.T.G. to assemble it. These three parts can be obtained in any order and are found in the same three locations every game:

Once all three parts have been obtained, head to The Alamo and assemble the L.T.G. on the workbench in the corner to complete this step.

Step 3: Charge the S.D.G.

First Aether Canister

Head to the Dark Aether and interact with the Aether Canister sticking out of the S.D.G. You must drop this Aether Canister within one of the Dark Aether Field Generator trap areas of effect in between the Pump & Pay and Motor Lodge.

You just have to drop the canister, there is nothing to place it into so don't worry if it feels a bit awkward currently.

Once dropped, head to Riverside and place the L.T.G. in the holder underneath the Aether Cloud. This will start initializing a stable portal which you must defend from continuously spawning zombies by killing them before they are able to run into the device.

You can do the one in the Cemetery first if you prefer, however we recommend doing Riverside first because it is the farthest one and we prefer to get the more tedious steps out of the way as soon as possible.

Once initialized, the portal will spawn a High-Value Target that you must not kill, but instead, get it very low until you receive a quote about gathering its energy. You must lure the High-Value Target to the Dark Aether Field Generator trap, activate the trap, and kill the High-Value Target within the field where you dropped the Aether Canister to transfer its energy.

You must kill the High-Value Target within the same field that you dropped the Aether Canister otherwise the energy will not be transfered and you will fail the step, forcing you to flip round and try again.

Afterward, you must pick up the Aether Canister which will now be leaking Dark Aether Energy, starting a one-and-a-half minute timer for you to place the canister back into the S.D.G. in the Dark Aether.

Second Aether Canister

After placing the first Aether Canister into the S.D.G., a Strauss Counter can be picked up from the left-hand side of the S.D.G. replacing your current tactical equipment.

Using this Strauss Counter, read the energy levels of three forms of Dark Aether Energy around the map, each with a projector nearby. The locations of these projectors are:

When near a projector, the color on your Strauss Counter will show either Red (High), Yellow (Medium), or Green (Low); you must set the corresponding projector to the opposite of the color/frequency shown by interacting with the projector changing the color of its light as shown below.

For Example, if your Strauss Counter shows Red (High) when near the projector, set that projector to Green. If it's Yellow (Medium) set the projector to yellow, and if it's Green (Low) set the projector to red.

If set correctly, Dark Aether Energy will start flowing towards a device in the Pump & Pay area of the map revealing the final Aether Canister for you to pick up.

Once you have this Aether Canister, you must charge this canister the same way as the first, this time using the Aether Cloud in the Cemetery to initialize the portal and spawn the HVT. Remember to pick up the L.T.G. from East Main Street first otherwise you won't be able to spawn the portal.

You can then drop the Aether Canister on the Dark Aether Field Generator trap on Hill Street and kill the HVT within that trap to gather its energy. Once you have the filled Aether Canister, place it inside the S.D.G. before the timer runs out to complete this step.

Step 4: Free Dr. Panos

Before continuning, you should fully prepare for this final encounter. The Ray Gun or ASG-89 Shotgun are extremely recommended here along with all perks and Tier 3 Armor. Be sure to craft a Self-Revive if you don't already have one, and if you want to be extra safe, you can also craft a Mutant Injector to use during the encounter.

Interact with the S.D.G. to begin the final encounter. All players in the game must vote yes to begin the final encounter.

Phase 1

Throughout all phases, zombies will be running a max speed and will be very aggresive as if you had the Rampage Inducer activated. There is no time limit for this encounter so take your time and prioritize survival.

During this phase, only regular zombies and Manglers will spawn which you must kill while surviving. You will not proceed to the next phase until you have gotten a certain amount of kills to reach the checkpoint. Once you are done with Phase 1, a Max Armor power-up will appear which you can grab.

There is no time limit on this power-up, you can grab it whenever you need it.

Phase 2

During this phase, regular zombies and Manglers will spawn along with a High-Value Target Mangler which will be extremely tanky so you should rain fire on this HVT with your Ray Gun/ASG-89 to kill it. You will not proceed to the next phase until this HVT has been killed. Once you are done with Phase 2, a Max Ammo power-up will appear which you can grab.

There is no time limit on this power-up, you can grab it whenever you need it.

Phase 3

During this phase, regular zombies and Manglers will spawn along with a High-Value Target Abomination which will also be extremely tanky. Once again, rain fire on this HVT with your Ray Gun/ASG-89 to kill it prioritizing surviving, and once this HVT has been killed an explosion will occur downing all players, and triggering the ending cutscene.

Congratulations! You have beaten the Liberty Falls main quest: Bye-Bye, Dark Aether.

Video Guides

Solo Guide by CodeNamePizza

Co-op Guide by MrRoflWaffles