How to solve the Ancient Riddle in Palia

One of the first story quests in Palia has you find an Ancient Battery and end up needing to solve a puzzle in the Ruins to figure out a little more about how you materialized into this world. Lore is usually exciting in a game like this, but it’s locked behind a riddle. If the answer wasn’t immediately obvious to you either, here’s how to solve the Ancient Riddle in Palia.

The Ancient Riddle in Palia: ‘Ancient Battery’ puzzle solution

To get to this point, you’ve already interacted with the Phoenix Statue you materialized out of back in Phoenix Falls and then gone next door in the same mountain path to the Ruins.

Related: Palia early impressions review: Beautiful and heartfelt, but bareboned

When you come inside, you’re greeted with this room.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

The puzzle tells you that water is needed to solve it, but nothing more than that. Jina’s only advice is to maybe ask Badruu about a solution, since he works with water a lot as a farmer. He won’t actually tell you anything if you try, as there’s no dialogue prompt to ask. No, instead the reason Jina is bringing him up is because of what he gave you earlier. The solution is in your watering can. We’re not going to talk about how long it took that to dawn on me.

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So pull out your watering can, make sure it’s filled up, of course, and pour water into the bowl. This will trigger a short cutscene, unlock the door, and allow you to complete the quest by interacting with a statue on the other side.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

Now you know how to solve the ancient riddle in Palia far faster than I did. What do you get for your efforts? Nothing immediately, but it unlocks the quest for gliding!