The Nomad Highlands Beacon Dungeon in Enshrouded is one of six dungeons in the Ancient Researcher’s quest Activating The Gate To The Stars. Each one lights a beacon that powers the teleport platform at Cinder’s Ascent. Its entrance is a stone facility hidden in a mountain crevice. Inside, it is a lava-flooded machine hall called the Engine Chambers, guarded by Ancient Constructs and ending in a fight with the Ancient S.P.D.R. Construct.
Quick answer: The entrance is in a cliffside fissure in Cinder’s Cradle, near the Albaneve Summits dungeon entrance. Clearing it awards the Astral Daggers and moves the beacon quest up by one.
Nomad Highlands Dungeon Entrance location
All six beacon dungeon entrances stand in Cinder’s Cradle, and that region sits at level 48. Each entrance teleports you into a dungeon built in the land of its own biome. That is why the Nomad Highlands one plays at level 18, even though you reach it from a level 48 area. The quest makes you clear the Springlands museum first. After that, you can run the other five in any order.
On the world map, the spot shows as “Undiscovered: Nomad Highlands Dungeon Entrance.” It lies northeast of the Albaneve Summits Dungeon Entrance waypoint. From that high platform, you can glide across the ridges and drop into a narrow chasm in the mountain face. The entrance building and its stone bridge are tucked inside that gap, so they are hard to see from the peaks above.
Reaching the bridge triggers the “NEW LOCATION CHARTED!” banner for the Nomad Highlands Dungeon Entrance. A pink teleporter pad in the doorway takes you inside after a loading screen.
What to carry into the Beacon Dungeon
Two consumables decide how much of the dungeon you can open. Neither one is hard to get by the time you reach Cinder’s Cradle, but forgetting them means a trip back to base.
- Archaic Lockpicks open the locked silver chest that holds the Nomad Highlands Miniature Piece.
- 5 Spark covers the altar mechanism that shuts off a security alarm near the boss route.
- Archaic Shards drop from the Constructs inside, so you can craft extra lockpicks during the run.
| Item | Rarity | Crafted at | Unlocked by |
|---|---|---|---|
 Archaic Lockpick | Rare | Ancient Researcher | Flame level 9+, picking up Archaic Shards |
 Lockpick | Common | Blacksmith | Picking up Metal Scraps |
 Archaic Shards | Common | Dropped, not crafted | Cinder’s Cradle, Ancient Constructs |
Both lockpick types stack to 50, and Archaic Shards stack to 250. Archaic Shards are an item level 45 material. The Ancients used Archaic Lockpicks for their own buildings and dungeons, which is why the regular Lockpick does not work on the silver chest here.
Inside the Engine Chambers
The teleporter drops you into a small foyer. A round hatch leads to the Vukah Cave Pillar, a room above fire pits where crawler and spider automatons attack first. They drop Gold Ore and Archaic Shards. A spike-trapped corridor then leads to a second teleporter, and that one opens onto the Engine Chambers proper.
The Ancient S.P.D.R. Construct’s health bar appears as soon as the bulkhead door opens on the main hall. The boss is not reachable yet, though. The hall is a tall, red-lit factory with stacked metal catwalks, vertical pipes and a lava lake for a floor.
Levers, doors and lava
Progress depends on wall levers set in small side cages. Each one shows a “DOOR OPENED” notice and unseals a circular bulkhead to a higher level. One pair of levers sits on the left and right platforms at the top of a central staircase. A later lever, reached by gliding from a rising mechanical platform, unseals the boss chamber.
Getting between levers means a lot of gliding. Gaps between catwalks open straight onto molten floor, and updrafts carry you across the wider stretches. Near the end, an upper hallway has a glowing red laser floor. A room off to the right holds the altar where Spark disables the alarm before the path to the boss opens.
Nomad Highlands Beacon Dungeon chests
Two chests are worth the detour. Both sit off the main lever route.
| Chest | Where | Requirement | Contents |
|---|---|---|---|
 Silver chest | Viewing room up a curved staircase | 1 Archaic Lockpick | Nomad Highlands Miniature Piece |
| Pipe shaft chest | Bottom of a large circular pipe | None | Gold Coins, Spiked Greatsword, Ring of the Mother Flame |
The Miniature Piece matters beyond this run. Every beacon dungeon keeps one piece of a model of Embervale, and the model only comes together once all six pieces sit in its frame.
Ring of the Mother Flame stats
Found in the pipe shaft, this Uncommon Mage ring has an item level of 45 and takes its design cues from the Mother Flame’s great altar.
| Perks | Stats |
|---|---|
| Mana 40 | Fire Resistance 5% |
| Arsonist 1 | Frost Resistance 2 |
| Health Leech 2% | Mana Regeneration 16 |
| Radiant Aura 1 | All Magic Fire Damage 5% |
| Mage Apprentice 1 | Wet Duration Reduction 60 s |
Ancient S.P.D.R. Construct boss fight
The Ancient S.P.D.R. Construct wakes up on a raised dais as soon as you walk through the last circular door. The same boss also guards the Albaneve Summits Beacon Dungeon. Its attacks are all about zoning, so the arena stairs become the main place to move around while you deal damage.
- Wide sweeping pink laser beams that cross the whole room
- Vertical lasers that track your position
- Short-range flamethrower bursts aimed straight ahead
- Small spider constructs summoned into the arena
Below roughly a fifth of its health, it swaps between laser sweeps and flame blasts much faster. Ranged magic works well throughout. Steady wand fire from the stairs and fireballs behind a protective ward both bring it down.
Boss rewards and the Astral Daggers
Killing the Construct grants 6,000 XP. Its remains drop an Ancient S.P.D.R. Construct Eye and Archaic Essence VII, and a Skill Point pickup sits nearby. The Astral Daggers rest on the central altar.
The Astral Daggers are a Legendary Ranger melee weapon that scales from item level 1 to 55. They split their damage evenly between Piercing and Poison. They carry Venomous Blades 10% and Critical Strike Chance 9%, with Parry Power 1 and a 0.4 s attack speed. Like other Daggers, they include the Riposte Kick, which lets you kick shortly after a parry and deals Stamina Damage toward the enemy’s Stun Bar.
| Level | Astral Daggers damage | Level | Astral Daggers damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 30 | 35 |
| 5 | 11 | 35 | 40 |
| 10 | 16 | 40 | 45 |
| 15 | 20 | 45 | 50 |
| 20 | 26 | 50 | 55 |
| 25 | 30 | 55 | 59 |
A “SPECIAL ITEM ACQUIRED!” banner names the Astral Daggers when you pick them up. The Activating The Gate To The Stars tracker then moves up one step. For example, a run from 3 / 6 ends at 4 / 6 under “Complete All Beacon Dungeons.” The exit teleport pad returns you to the mountain beacon platform outside, which confirms that the Nomad Highlands beacon is done.
