Highlights
- A secret Archetype in Remnant 2 can only be unlocked through datamining the game, making it nearly impossible for regular players to discover on their own.
- The Archon is an elusive class that players believed existed but couldn't figure out how to unlock. It required penetrating the game's code, according to developer Ben Cureton.
- The developers intentionally created the Archon to be unlocked through datamining, understanding that players would inevitably uncover the game's secrets and share them with the community. This contributes to online engagement and benefits Gunfire Games.
A secret Archetype for Remnant 2 can only be discovered and unlocked through datamining the game. Remnant 2 has now been available for a week and many players may have thought they'd already discovered all the game's class Archetypes. Yet, to many's surprise, a secret Archetype has since been discovered. Unlocking this Archetype would be near impossible for any normal Remnant 2 player, however, without the help of a dataminer uncovering its secrets first.
Remnant 2 has eleven Archetypes in total. These classes each have their own unique abilities and playstyles. Four Archetypes are available to unlock for all players from the start of the game, the Medic, Hunter, Challenger, and Handler. It costs a bit of Scrap to unlock each class, but it's straightforward. Six more classes require additional work. The Gunslinger, Explorer, Summoner, Alchemist, Engineer, and Invader task players with completing the Remnant 2 campaign, finding hidden locations, or going through other tribulations. That leaves the Archon.
The Archon is an Archetype that players believed to be in Remnant 2 since launch, but were baffled as to how it was unlocked. That's because there was no intuitive way to unlock the Archon. Developer Gunfire Games made it impossible to do without more information. Principal designer Ben Cureton made clear on Twitter that unlocking the Archon required players to "penetrate the code itself."
Cureton elaborated, saying that the team at Gunfire knew it couldn't stop Remnant 2 players from datamining all the game's secrets. To capitalize on that, Gunfire made the Archon so that it could only be unlocked through discovering its secrets through datamining. Dataminers would be able to uncover those secrets and then share the way to unlock the Archon with the Remnant 2 community as they pleased.
The secret of unlocking the Archon has now been uncovered and shared, so Remnant 2 players don't have to datamine the game themselves. But the requirements to unlock it should make clear it would have never been uncovered otherwise. Players need specific skills from both the Invader and Explorer Archetypes, specific equipment including accessories, armor, and weapons, and then they must go to a specific secret door within the challenging Labyrinth. And that's just to get in the door.
Modern game developers are increasingly going to great lengths to create "engagement" online. Remnant 2 locking an entire class away so that it requires players to search for it online is certainly one way of doing that. Players will still have to do the work, of course. But if in the process those players help Remnant 2 trend on Google and other platforms, then that's all to Gunfire's benefit.
Remnant 2 is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
