We’re almost out of the Vavilov Complex in Atomic Heart. The gargantuan starting area takes hours to complete — and there’s one last hurdle in our way. There are two labs to clear: the Cold Workshop and the Pesticide Workshop. You’ll have to solve a strange animal puzzle, then navigate a vat of poison through a complicated web of tracks. Both of these areas can take time to solve, so we’re going to explain what to do in step-by-step instructions. Learn how to complete the second half of the Vavilov Complex and get the last two canisters in the full puzzle guide below.
More Atomic Heart guides:
How To Disable All Robots In A Region | All Vavilov Complex Blueprint Locations | Testing Ground 1 Puzzle Solutions | How To Use Cartridge Modules | How To Increase Inventory | Testing Ground 1 Guide | Testing Ground 2 Guide | Testing Ground 6 Guide | Testing Ground 8 Guide | Testing Ground 9 Guide | Testing Ground 10 Guide | Testing Ground 11 Guide | Testing Ground 12 Guide
How To Get The Cold Workshop Canister | Animal Puzzle & Growing Room Survival
Plugging in the first two canisters unlocks the second wing of the complex. Enter the new door that has unlocked to access both workshops. The first is the Cold Workshop. After fighting through a room packed with mutants and enemies, you’ll reach a strange room with livestock in aquariums.
- How To Solve The Livestock Puzzle: In the large room with livestock in pods filled with polymer liquid, find the console in the center. On this console, you’ll see images of all the animals in the room. Each image is green or orange. We want all the images to be green.
- Turn the valves connected to the livestock pod. Turn each valve so all the livestock pods appear green on the center console.
- Very simple. Just turn the valve so the glass dome on the top of each pod is closed. If it is open, the animal will appear red. Turn all the valves so each animal image appears green and all the pods are sealed.
Once you’re done, all the creatures will be ground up — and the door to the growing room will unlock. In the control room, you’ll find another laser grid puzzle.
- How To Solve The Control Room Laser Puzzle: To restore power to the workshop, you’ll need to solve a laser grid puzzle.
- Turn the bottom-left dial. The blue laser is now in the center.
- Turn the upper-center dial. The splitter is now in the center, splitting the blue laser and completing the puzzle.
How To Get The Cold Workshop Canister: After restoring power by pressing the red button, simply wait. Enemies will spawn — fight them and restore the deactivated fans with [Shok]. After restarting power again, you’ll need to fight plant creatures, shooting the flying sprouts and reactivating fans with [Shok] until the canister is filled.
Electro is very good for taking out sprouts, and the PM handgun with a Fire Cartridge is very effective against the corpses. Fight back the horde and don’t even try fighting them all. Keep moving and grab the canister once it is filled. After that, sprint for the exit.
How To Get Pesticide Workshop Canister | Solving The Train Tracks Puzzle
Inside the Pesticide Workshop, you’ll encounter an NPC that needs your help. He’ll send you into the main work area. Take note of the tracks on the ground. Weave through the area until you encounter a large car with a yellow vat on the back. That’s the poison we need to transport.
- How To Transport The Poison: Find the yellow train car. To move it, we need to use the control panels spread throughout the room.
- Panel #1: Start by finding the control panel above the poison vat. It only has two buttons — move it UP.
- Panel #2: To reach the second panel, use your telekinesis power to grab the platform floating above the vat. We can move it further down the line toward the large opening. Once it is moved, you can jump onto it. Look to the right for a lower platform with another panel. TURN the dial, then move UP.
- Panel #3: Jump back onto the movable platform we just used and across the open upper wall to reach the third panel. Move UP.
- Panel #4: There’s no panel reachable right now. Jump onto the wrecked platform and look near the corner catwalk for another movable platform. Move it so you can jump to the catwalk, enter the hallway, then exit to reach a small platform with the third control panel. TURN the dial, press UP, turn again, and press UP again to move the yellow vat into the next room.
- Panel #5: Enter the next room. When moving the vat, it pushed a different cart forward — use that cart to climb up onto the catwalk and reach this panel. TURN the dial and press UP.
- Panel #6: From the previous panel, jump onto the movable platform by jumping and mid-air dashing. Do the same to reach the platform with this panel. Again, TURN, UP and UP.
- Panel #7: Again, this one is easy. Drop down and cross into the next room. Use the cart to jump onto a cart and to the catwalk stairs. Use TURN — but UP may not work. If the next turnstile isn’t in the right position, we’ll need to go back and fix that.
- Panel #8: Go back to the control panel right outside the safe room. TURN the dial to properly align it so the poison car can slide into position. Go back to Panel #7 to move it UP. If the turnstile is already in the correct position, just move the poison cart onto the last junction, TURN and press UP.
That’ll send the poison into the main chamber — eventually destroying the giant plant. You’ll automatically collect the Pesticide Canister during the cutscene.
To leave the area, you’ll need to fight your way through large groups of enemies. The fights get a lot tougher here — the area is swarming with mutants and flying sprouts. You’ll be locked in a room with a special Large Mutant that can spawn more sprouts. Kill him quickly with the Shotgun or any other weapon you can get your hands on.
Leave through the hallway above the original poison vat position. There’s a safe room on the way. Don’t bother fighting all the enemies. This area is swarming. Return to the lobby, socket both canisters, and unlock the exit door. You’re just one hallway away from freedom. At the exit door, you can choose to leave. This leads directly into the main section of the game — yes, there’s a massive open-world map to explore. This is just the beginning.
