The Shattered Fringe is one of the trickiest subareas to reach in Arknights: Endfield. Tucked inside the Power Plateau — the sixth explorable zone in Valley IV — it sits behind layers of Blight contamination and blocked pathways that have confused a significant number of players since launch. The intended route involves completing a specific side quest, but there are also workarounds for the impatient.
Quick answer: Complete Gilberta's side quest chain in the Power Plateau to unlock proper access to the Shattered Fringe. If you haven't reached that quest yet, finish the main quest Mysterious Signal first, which grants you the ability to scan and detect Blight Cores in the area.
Shattered Fringe prerequisites
The Shattered Fringe is one of ten subareas within the Power Plateau, alongside locations like the Originium Power Plant, Bonekrusher Warcamp, and Evacuation Zone. Unlike most of those zones, the Shattered Fringe doesn't open up through normal exploration. Its entrance is blocked by scrap metal, broken pipes, and a massive pool of red Blight sludge that covers much of the valley floor.
To access it through the intended path, you need to progress through Gilberta's side quest in the Power Plateau. This quest chain is time-gated — each part unlocks roughly a day after completing the previous one, so don't expect to rush through it in a single session. There has been widespread confusion about whether this is a blue (side) quest or a green (outpost) quest. It is tied to Gilberta's mission line specifically, and simply leveling your outpost or completing unrelated green quests will not open the area.
Before Gilberta's quest becomes available, you should also complete the main quest Mysterious Signal. Finishing it enables your Scan ability to detect the Blight Cores that block entry into the Shattered Fringe. Without this, you won't be able to locate or destroy the cores even if you physically reach the area.
Clearing the Blight sludge
The large red lake of Blight contamination beneath the Shattered Fringe is the primary obstacle. To remove it, you need to find and destroy the Blight Core powering it. After completing Mysterious Signal, use your Scan ability while near the contaminated zone. The scan lines will converge on the core's location, even if you can't see it directly.
Once you've identified where the core is, throw explosives at the convergence point. Precision matters here — the core can be hidden behind terrain or partially obscured by the sludge itself. If your bombs aren't landing, try standing on the thin black bridge protrusions that extend over the contaminated area and aim for the gap between the scan lines. It may take several attempts.
After the Blight Core is destroyed, the sludge clears, and you can proceed into the Shattered Fringe proper. From there, you'll encounter additional Blight Cores that can be destroyed with melee attacks as you push deeper into the area.
Reaching the Shattered Fringe without the quest (workaround)
Players who haven't yet unlocked Gilberta's quest have found an unintended way into the area, though it's tricky and not officially supported.
Step 1: Head to the mining node closest to the Origin Lodespring–Power Plateau entrance, near the comm station area with the damaged robots. The cave ahead is blocked by scrap metal and a broken pipe.
Step 2: Use a nearby rock as a height boost. Hug the right wall, then run and jump around the metal scaffold to slip through a hole in the wire fence.
Step 3: Once inside, you'll find a series of Blight Cores that can be destroyed one after another with melee attacks. There's also a small opening at the top of the restricted area where you can jump across to reach the deeper Blight-covered section.
An alternative approach involves jumping the fence north of the valley, then using Scan as you drop into the sludge to reveal the Blight Core mid-fall. This is risky and inconsistent, but it works.
What's inside the Shattered Fringe
The Shattered Fringe contains two Aurylene collectibles as part of the Power Plateau's total of 23. The first Aurylene is located under a building — you'll need to destroy the Blight Core blocking the area to reach it. The second requires jumping up a series of floating rock platforms.
There are also Ferrium ore nodes in and around the Shattered Fringe, which is what draws many players to the area in the first place. The nodes near the Plateau Trunkway border are accessible earlier, but the ones deeper inside require clearing the Blight.
Beyond resources, the area connects to Gilberta's quest narrative. The barricade visible from the outside — the one blocking the "other side" entrance — opens as part of that quest progression, confirming that the intended design always required the quest chain rather than brute-force exploration.
Related quests and common confusion
Several quest names have been floated by players as the key to unlocking the Shattered Fringe. A Robot's Dream is a separate quest that unlocks the Power Plant Comm Station subarea and its Aurylene, but it does not open the Shattered Fringe. Insider Threat is another time-gated green quest in the Power Plateau, but completing it also does not grant access.
The quest that matters is Gilberta's mission chain. If it hasn't appeared for you yet, make sure you've completed Mysterious Signal in the main story and have progressed your Power Plateau outpost sufficiently. Some quest steps are day-gated, meaning you complete one part and the next becomes available roughly 12 to 24 hours later. Patience is required.
Don't skip side quests in general while exploring Valley IV. Many locked areas, blocked paths, and inaccessible resource nodes throughout the Power Plateau and other zones are gated behind quest progression rather than puzzle-solving or platforming. If you're stuck trying to reach a location, checking your quest log is almost always the answer before attempting any creative parkour.
The Shattered Fringe is a small but stubborn piece of the Power Plateau that rewards persistence — or at least quest completion. Once Gilberta's mission opens the way, grabbing the two Aurylene and clearing the remaining Blight Cores takes only a few minutes. Getting there is the hard part.