Icarus: Avalanche Expedition guide — The Vapor Laser and Biofuel Generator

Completing the Incursion Scan mission in Icarus unlocks Avalanche Expedition. In it, you’ll have to get through an impassable area by using a high-tech device. Here’s our Icarus guide to help you with the Avalanche Expedition, Vapor Laser, Biofuel Generator, and the Mammoth enemies.

Note: For more information, check out our Icarus guides and features hub.

Icarus: Avalanche Expedition guide – The Vapor Laser, Biofuel Generator, and Mammoths

The Avalanche Expedition mission in Icarus rewards 600 gold currency upon completion. You can see the objectives and points of interest marked on the map below:

• B4: Dropship – This is where you’ll land.
• G7: Caves – There are several caves in this region, but three are found in G7.
• F7: Laser – You need this device to break through the impassable terrain.
• F8/G8: Avalanche – Technically, reaching this location is the mission’s first objective.
• I7: Last area – We’ll go here once we’re done with most of the tasks.
• D7 and E8: Out of bounds – Try to avoid going to these areas as they’re out of bounds.

Mining in the caves and building the Fabricator

The reason why you’ll want to check out the caves in the Avalanche Expedition mission in Icarus is because we need Tier 4 fixtures. Yes, this is another time-consuming endeavor similar to Payday Extraction.

As mentioned earlier, G7 has three caverns that you can explore, and a few others can be found in other areas. As usual, watch out for Cave Worms and the Pneumonia illness. You can construct a mini-shelter for starters, or hollow out large rocks. Do this while you’re just farming materials (i.e., a lot of gold, steel, and aluminum for the Fabricator).

Here’s what you need:

• Electronics (Tier 3/Machining Bench)
  • 1x Refined Gold – Requires 2x Gold Ore and any type of Furnace.
  • 3x Copper Ingot – Requires 2x Copper Ore and any type of Furnace.
  • 2x Organic Resin – Requires 1x Wood and 1x Oxite; crafted using a Mortar and Pestle.
  • 2x Epoxy – Requires 4x Crushed Bone or 2x Sulfur and 4x Tree Sap; crafted using a Mortar and Pestle.
  • A lot of Electronics are needed for the remaining crafting blueprints.
• Fabricator (Tier 4/Machining Bench)
  • 60x Electronics – Discussed above.
  • 8x Steel Ingot – Requires 1x Steel Bloom; crafted using a Concrete Furnace or Electric Furnace.
  • 30x Steel Screw – Use the Machining Bench to turn 1x Steel Ingot into 100x Steel Screw.
  • 40x Aluminum Ingot – Requires 1x Aluminum Ore; crafted using a Concrete Furnace or Electric Furnace.
  • 30x Concrete Mix – Requires 8x Stone, 4x Silica, and 1x Tree Sap; crafted using a Cement Mixer.
    • Tree Sap – Requires 4x Stick; crafted using a Mortar and Pestle.
    • Cement Mixer – Requires 50x Wood, 40x Stone, 20x Iron Ingot, 8x Rope, and 8x Iron Nail; crafted using a Machinist Bench.
  • 8x Carbon Fiber – Requires 1x Carbon Paste.
    • Carbon Paste – Requires 1x Silica, 1x Aluminum Ingot, 4x Organic Resin, and 2x Epoxy; crafted using a Mortar and Pestle.

The Vapor Laser

In any case, our initial goal is to reach F8/G8. Once you see the mountainside area that collapsed due to the avalanche, you’ll receive an objective to find the Vapor Laser. This is located just above a ridge in F7. You might need to build several ramps just to reach it (seen above).

After picking up the Vapor Laser, return to F8/G8 and “snap” it on the outline on the elevated rock formation. Beware of predators here as they seem to crowd around this area. Anyway, you can’t activate the Vapor Laser yet since you still need power.

The Biofuel Generator

In our Fuel and Grenades guide, we discussed the basics of how you can make Biofuel in Icarus. Here’s the gist:

• Biofuel Can (Tier 3/Machining Bench) – You’ll only need one.
• Biofuel Composter (Tier 3/Machining Bench) – This can be placed outside a shelter. Add the Biofuel Can, as well as loads of tree sap, wood, and sticks, in the device’s slots. It can take several minutes for the Biofuel Can to get filled up.

Likewise, don’t forget that you need a means of providing power:

• Biofuel Generator (Tier 4/Fabricator)
  • 12x Electronics
  • 8x Copper Ingot
  • 20x Steel Ingot
  • 20x Steel Screw
  • 2x Glass – Requires 1x Silica; crafted using a Concrete Furnace or Electric Furnace.
• Electricity Tool (Tier 4/Fabricator)
  • 20x Copper Ingot
  • 8x Refined Gold
  • 4x Carbon Fiber

The Biofuel Generator in Icarus is used to power high-tech devices like the Vapor Laser. As you can see in the image above, I placed it in a mini-shelter next to the Vapor Laser (keep one side open facing the contraption).

Next, assign a hotkey for the Electricity Tool. With the Electricity Tool selected, left-click on the Biofuel Generator to spawn a thin wire. Then, left-click on the Vapor Laser to connect the two objects. You can add a wall with a window opening to trick the game into thinking that the Biofuel Generator is inside a shelter. After this, you can place the filled Biofuel Can in the generator’s slot.

Note 1: You can right-click on the wire to remove it (in case it bugs out). However, it can be a little tricky even if your cursor is on the wire itself.

Note 2: You can build wooden ramps that allow you to climb on the rocks along the side of the hill. Doing this might be helpful, as you’ll find out soon enough.

Eliminating the Mammoths and completing the Avalanche Expedition mission in Icarus

When you’re ready, activate the Biofuel Generator and the Vapor Laser. Then, quickly run to the top of the crags by using the ramps that I mentioned. The Vapor Laser will fire three bursts, destroying the rockslide.

However, this also causes three Mammoths to spawn. These gargantuan beasts will aggro you and they pack a punch. Thankfully, they won’t be able to reach you if you’re at a higher position, and you can easily snipe them with your bows or firearms.

After killing the Mammoths, go through the opening. You’re then told to check an area to the northeast (I7). Make your way to the marked location (you might encounter a few wolves here and there).

Once you reach it, the objective will be finished. Run all the way back to the dropship in B4 to complete the Avalanche Expedition mission in Icarus.

Icarus is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.