How to investigate the source of the anomaly and solve the light puzzle in Starfield

Starfield presents players with a galaxy full of possibilities. There will be many challenges along your journey, but some of the more perplexing ones appear in places you might least expect them. That’s true of one mission, early in the game, which has you exploring a temple on a mostly frozen planet. You’re trying to figure out the cause of an anomaly, and the answers you seek may seem out of reach. Here’s our guide explaining how to investigate the source of the anomaly and solve the light puzzle in Starfield.

Starfield: How to investigate the source of the anomaly and solve the light puzzle

One of the early Constellation missions, Into the Unknown, features a series of objectives you must satisfy as you look for additional Artifacts. Near the very end of that mission, you’ll need to follow distortions on your scanner. When you finally find where those distortions lead, you’ll reach a remote structure called Temple Eta. When you enter the building, you must figure out what step to take next. To investigate the source of the anomaly and solve the light puzzle, float around the spinning rings and follow patches of light in the air.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Enter Temple Eta from either of two directions along a narrow ravine. When you arrive inside, rings rise from the floor and begin whirling wildly. The game provides instructions regarding the keys or buttons you must use to float or descend around the cramped chamber.

Related: How to get Powers in Starfield

How to solve the light puzzle in Temple Eta

If you look at the air overhead, you should see shadowy orbs surrounded by glowing sparkles of light. This is the light puzzle. You should float up to one of the light patches and pass through it. Once you make contact (or if you take too long to reach it), that point of light winks out of sight.

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Then it reappears elsewhere in the air over the whirling rings. Your goal is to float from one point of light to the next, and to repeat this process as often as you must. Finally, after you investigate five such points consecutively, you accrue enough mystical energy to trigger a new scene.

For me, the hardest part about completing the objective was figuring out what I was even supposed to do to solve the light puzzle. The game wasn’t entirely clear on that point. I also didn’t notice the lights at first. They blend in a bit, since there is a lot of sparkling activity. Look for the concentrated light masses.

It can also become difficult to reach the lights before they disappear, which can impede your puzzle progress. You can boost to make the process simpler. Keep touching as many lights as you can, as fast as you can, until you succeed. Interesting events immediately follow a satisfactory performance.

Starfield is available on Steam and the Microsoft Store.