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In Prodeus, the late mining colonists used Runes for all sorts of industrial processes, like maintaining their reactor’s massive cooling system. You need those Runes to unlock later stages in the game, however, you’ve got to rip apart what’s left of the colony’s infrastructure after the Prodean invasion. Sometimes, that means you’ve got to disable a reactor while you’re standing inside it.
Here’s where to find all the hidden loot inside the Prodeus stage Meltdown.
Prodeus Secrets & Ore Guides:
Sacrum | Research | Fuel | Wretch | Genesis, Part 1 | Genesis, Part 2 | Excavation | Chaos Generator | Memoriam | Marksman | Descent | Hazard | Meltdown
Finding All the Secrets and Ore on Meltdown
As noted previously under the writeup for Marksman, there used to be a whole gimmick in Prodeus where you unlocked the Bandolier by finding three secret exits on three separate stages. In the release version of the game, the only remaining secret exit is here on Meltdown, as detailed below, and it has no particular benefit besides unlocking a trophy/achievement.
To complete Meltdown, you need to find two separate keys on opposite sides of the level and use them to disable the coolant system. That lets you grab the Rune and exit right ahead of the ensuing explosion.
For ease of reference, this guide will call the two distinct parts of the building the “green wing” and “yellow wing,” referring to the location of each key. The green wing features a tall vertical area with a lake of acid at its bottom, whereas the yellow wing is mostly indoors and focused on ambush tactics.
Secrets: 8
#1: There’s a small building with a busted door on it right inside the entrance to the green wing (circled below). Use the nearby stack of crates to reach the top of the building, then drop a couple of grenades through the hole in the roof before you enter.
Inside, you’ll find a couple of Crawlers (hence the grenades), a rocket launcher with some ammo, and an Ore Fragment in an open box in the corner.
#2: After the elevator ride in the green wing, clean out the Fiends and zombies on the top floor, then use the yellow crate to jump to the shallow ledge on the nearby support column.
From here, you can make a tricky jump to the Ore Fragment in the high compartment on the wall. This is technically possible without any upgrades, but much easier with the air dash.
#3: After you take the green key, go back to the top floor of the facility and activate the green switch. This turns on and opens up the nearby elevator.
There’s a secret compartment about halfway down the elevator shaft that contains an armored vest. You can either drop onto the side of the shaft next to it, or jump down onto one of the elevator platforms right when it comes out of the acid and ride it up to the compartment.
#4: After you get the green key, go back into the green wing’s courtyard and return to the base of the elevator. There’s a secret room underneath it, accessible now that the car’s gone, that contains an Ore Fragment, tons of plasma ammo, and a Lunger.
#5: Also at the base of the elevator in the green wing, check out the area just below the cliff’s edge, in the acid pool.
There’s a secret rocket pack down here, although it can be tricky to reach without taking some damage if you don’t have the air dash.
#6: On the second floor of the yellow wing, hit the dim wall switch (circled, below) to open a hidden room directly opposite it.
It contains a grenade launcher and two large ammo packs.
#7: On the first floor of the yellow wing, shoot the wall switch on the far side of the acid pool.
This activates a bridge that will carry you to the distant Ore Fragment.
#8: Enter the yellow wing from the first floor of the coolant control room and look on the left-hand wall. There’s a dim switch here that opens a secret door.
The courtyard beyond it contains a lot of ammunition, an Ore Fragment, and an enemy ambush.
Secret Exit: This requires both the double-jump and air dash upgrades, and even with them both, isn’t easy. Don’t be surprised if it takes a little practice.
Clear out the canyon at the start of the level, including the minigun/hazmat zombie ambush at the far end of the bridge, but don’t go into the coolant control room.
Instead, use one of the various crates or columns to reach the top of the bridge, then take a careful, sprinting double-jump towards the roof of the gray outbuilding.
This is entirely possible, but requires precise timing on both your second jump and a mid-air dash, in order to gain and keep enough altitude to successfully land on the roof. This is a useful skill to have as you move into Prodeus‘s endgame, so now is as good a time as any to practice it.
If you’re successful, you can jump from the roof to the top of the rocks surrounding the canyon, which lets you reach and open a door in the wall.
Inside, you’ll find an Ore Fragment and a wall switch; interact with the latter to open the door to an exit switch. Use it to bail on Meltdown early and earn the Hidden Exit trophy/achievement.
(Note: using this exit without killing any enemies does not qualify you for the Pacifist trophy/achievement. More’s the pity.)
Ore Fragments: 10
#1: You should spot this without trying. It’s on a tall pillar in an acid pool near the start of the level.
You can either use the nearby ledges to reach it from the ground, or simply double-jump for it from the nearest mesa.
#2: See the Secret Exit writeup, above.
#3: From the roof of the outbuilding that contains the Secret Exit (above), jump to the top of the cliffs nearby and circle around the edge of the area to a shadowed cavern (circled, below). This requires you to do a “triangle jump” around the edge of the cliff, by using the double-jump to change directions in midair.
There’s an Ore Fragment inside. This is the same Ore Fragment that’s visible at the top of the elevator shaft in the green wing. If you’re seeing it from there, however, it’s unreachable on this run due to the coolant control room’s lockdown.
#4: See Secret #1, above.
#5: This level’s Automap is in plain sight in the green wing, on top of a stone column that’s easily accessible from the second-floor entrance. If you drop down into the acid and check behind that pillar (circled below), you’ll find a hidden nook with an Ore Fragment in it.
#6: See Secret #2, above.
#7: See Secret #5, above.
#8: See Secret #6, above.
#9: See Secret #7, above.
#10: When you take the yellow key, two old-school “monster closets” open behind you on either side of the circular walkway. One has this Ore Fragment in it.
