foreword
the watcher is so close to being my favorite bit of rain world. it's full of stuff i love, and playing through it felt a lot like playing through the original rain world for the first time. but it's also full of needless frustrations that take away from the experience and make it impossible to recommend to anyone. with this guide i'm hoping to help first time watcher players avoid a lot of the unnecessarily frustrating bits that kept me from having fun.
before you start
this guide expects you to have completed rain world's survivor campaign, and ideally all non-watcher campaigns (you're good if you skipped monk and/or hunter) - it also just adds a lot to the watcher experience if you do that first
throughout your watcher playthrough, you'll run into all kinds of events, encounters and phenomena. after each of these events, come back here and check in with the guide. reveal the first spoilered point under whatever event you encounter - it'll only provide the most important information, to make sure you're on the right path and not missing out on stuff, while avoiding as many spoilers as possible. only reveal more if you're feeling lost!
the prologue
where do i go?
- this section is specifically for if you're lost in the prologue and don't know where to go
- visit key areas you've visited during other campaigns
- you'll notice that a lot of the world is blocked off by rot, only a few regions are available to you - explore them thoroughly!
- visit echo locations available to you
- you need to visit the echos in chimney canopy, shaded citadel, and farm arrays
first encounter, OAOAO!
- you're on the right path! keep going.
- there are two more of these encounters ahead
- look at the last point in "where do i go"
post-prologue / spinning top's story
a new land
- you've made it through the prologue! with a whole new world open to you, you should look around and explore
a rift
- these rifts are your main way of traversing between regions. except for special cases, they remain in place, don't close, and let you traverse both ways within a cycle. after you travel through a rift, there's a brief cooldown before you're able to use it again.
what am i looking for?
- this section is specifically for if you're lost in the vast world, not knowing what you're looking for!
- there are encounters hidden throughout the world. not every region has one. if you haven't run into one, i'd recommend exploring each region thoroughly before you move onto the next.
- you're looking for the same echo you met before. you'll know you're getting close when you hear a strange, distorted laughter. the regions where she's located have specific markings on the region map.
i can't progress within a region / the area i'm in is too difficult
- some regions are meant to be explored during later stages of the campaigns, when you have better means of getting around and avoiding predators. if you're stuck, use the rift that got you into this area to get out, and come back later.
- if you're stuck in a rotted region from the base game, you have two options. each of these regions has a portal hidden somewhere that allows you to get out, so you can do your best to explore and find it. or you can die and just, not do what got you here.
- if you're stuck in outer rim, go to the "outer rim (region)" section
the screen keeps warping and going purple and then i die!
- the larger of the strange purple void creatures can harm you - watch out!
new ability
- after encountering spinning top two times in the new regions, she'll grant you a new ability. you can either either use this ability with karma flower protection, which will take you to a random region, or without, which will take you to one of a few regions overtaken by decay. the latter is generally the most reliable way of getting to outer rim, you should go there at least once. these rifts created by you last for around 3 cycles. i wouldn't recommend using it without karma flower protection too much, as you'll keep ending up in the same area, and it can get boring / repetitive.
outer rim (region)
- outer rim is a unique region that you'll find yourself in a lot. it's vast, and there's a bunch of stuff to find here. go out and explore! there is an easily missable "side quest" here, if you want to learn what it involves look at the third bullet point under outer rim, i'd recommend it!
- unless you somehow got here early, there's only one exit, to the far west (left) of the region. if your max karma / ripple level is lower than 3, there's an exit located at a lower level. don't go through the desert and you'll find it eventually.
- there is a special room in this region that shows a spiral made up of blocks. you can fill this spiral by freeing all the ripple spawn (small purple floaty creatures) found trapped around this region - there are 50 of them. once you've done this, something will appear and guide you to where you need to go. this entity doesn't disappear if you sleep
shattered terrace (region)
- if you find yourself here before you've reached karma / ripple level 9 (the one that plays silly music when you use your stealth ability), just keep playing as normal. if you are at karma level 9, go to the point below
- to the west of this region, in the most shattered part of it, you'll find spinning top in a strange state. you need to enter the ripplespace to be able to see her (use your stealth ability)
ancient urban (region)
- just explore around, you'll find what you need eventually. there's a machine that allows you to read pearls hidden above the "workshop", i strongly recommend bringing at least one pearl to it.
after the first ending
what do i do next?
- this is the part where i really got lost. i recommend doing the "side quest" in outer rim before you proceed if you haven't already, it'll grant you an ability that helps a lot with the next part of the game. you'll also need to have visited the upper part of "the throne" in outer rim at least 3-4 times, enough to trigger a new encounter in the uppermost room. if you've done both of these things, go to the next point.
- if you check your world map, you'll notice some of the regions have golden falling feathers over their icon. you'll need to visit one of these regions, and explore around until you find a "sealed" warp point. you'll know you found it when you see golden effects around the room centering around a single point with strange ominous music starting to play as soon as you entered this room. once here, you'll want to enter ripplespace (you need to be at max karma for this, use your stealth ability). in ripplespace, somewhere in this room will be strange webbing / strings concentrating around a pipe entrance. enter this pipe, then find the same ripplespace webbing in the next room, and go through the pipe it's concentrated around. keep doing this until you reach the final room. here you'll need to exit ripplespace, and there will be a new encounter. after this encounter, proceed to "the weaver"
the weaver
- if you have not awakened the prince in outer rim and gotten the special outer rim ability by this point, please do so now as outer rim will become very difficult (or outright impossible) to access after the next step. if you've done this, proceed to the next point. note that the entirely rotted regions from the vanilla game accessible by using your personal warp without karma protection will become INACCESSIBLE after the next step.
- you'll need to meet the weaver a total of 4 times, using the steps outlined in "what do i do next". after you've done this, proceed to the next point. NOTE: after the 4th encounter, the "prince" ending will become near impossible to achieve - this ending is optional, extremely tedious, unrewarding, and not canon (or even acknowledged) in the final ending. i would strongly discourage doing it as it was the main contributing factor to my frustration with the watcher expansion as a whole. it will not be covered in this guide, if you really want to do it please look it up elsewhere.
- after the fourth meeting, along with your transformed appearance, you've now unlocked the ability "purify" rooms of rot if you stand in them long enough. you can purify entire regions like this if you'd like, but it's not required. you will now also seal rifts after traveling through them. your task is to seal every warp point present around the world, including ones created by you (though those disappear after around 4 cycles). rifts to outer rim and inside ripplespace are exempted. this is very tedious, but it won't take as long as you think. after you've sealed the final rift, a cutscene will trigger
the final ending
- in order to trigger the final ending, you'll need to have finished spinning top's story, encountered the prince, as well as sealed every rift and consequently seen the weaver ending. if you've done all this, make your way to daemon. from daemon's central room, take the top right pipe, then make your way to the room with three obelisks. in the center of that room, create a rift. have tissues ready. gl;hf
closing notes
i hope this guide is helpful! if you can think of anything that feels like it's missing from here, or you have any other suggestions, please let me know!
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