Icarus: El Camino Expedition guide — Sand Worm boss fight and bugs

One of the most infamous missions in Icarus is called El Camino Expedition (unlocked after finishing Incursion Scan). It requires you to battle a gigantic foe to progress. However, as cited in our official review, the game is plagued by numerous bugs and technical issues. The problems that you can encounter here might lead to headaches. In any case, here’s our Icarus guide to help you with the El Camino Expedition and the giant Sand Worm boss fight.

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

Icarus: El Camino Expedition guide – The Crash Sites and the giant Sand Worm boss fight

The El Camino Expedition in Icarus takes you from the forest biome in the north (B3) to the desert that’s further south. You can see the map and points of interest below:

The Crash Sites

Our objective is to visit the three crash sites in order. You can examine the boxes at each site to pick up some gear. Here are the locations:

• Crash Site #1 – The southeast corner of B4 at the grassy area between the rivers. You’ll find a damaged Longbow and 20x Flint Arrows.
• Crash Site #2 – Southern portion of D7 in the middle of the forest. You’ll find 2x Anti-Poison Paste.
• Crash Site #3 – There are debris in front of a large rock wall at the southeastern section of C10. You’ll find a box that contains 10x Fire Arrow and 5x Health Restoration Paste.

Note: Before you approach Crash Site #3, make sure you’re well prepared. You can repair the Longbow or craft an extra one, as well as additional arrows just in case. You should also construct a mini-shelter nearby, and it should have a bedroll spawn point.

Battling the Sand Worm and possible bugs

As soon as you approach the debris in C10, the giant Sand Worm boss in Icarus will appear. It has a few notable attacks:

• Poison Spit – The creature will spit green globules that will poison you. You can use the Anti-Poison Paste, which has a 50% chance to negate the effect. Likewise, it will slightly boost your health regeneration.
• Ground Strike – When the Sand Worm rears its head, it will rush toward your position and cause tremendous damage. This will likely kill you if you’re low on health, so try to avoid it.
• Burrow – The boss will periodically burrow underground and reemerge. This is denoted by slight tremors seen on the sand dunes.

You can snipe the Sand Worm with your bow. Shooting it whenever its mouth is open will cause critical damage. Moreover, if you can manage to avoid its Ground Strike, then it will be temporarily immobilized, allowing you to stab and slash it with melee weapons.

You won’t be able to kill the Sand Worm during the El Camino Expedition in Icarus. Instead, it will attempt to escape after taking a lot of damage. Then, it will emerge and crash into the large rock wall. This completes the tally that requires you to “dispatch the creature.”

Sadly, you might encounter bugs, too. Here are a couple of examples:

• It’s possible for the Sand Worm to burrow and no longer reappear. If this occurs, it means that the script is broken. Running around won’t do anything and you’ll have to restart the mission.
• If the Sand Worm has taken enough damage, it could escape without destroying the rock wall. Assuming the “dispatch the creature” objective is done, you can go near the rock wall. Next, press the Escape key and choose Unstuck. This teleports you behind the obstacle. However, if this bug happens and the “dispatch the creature” objective isn’t done yet, then you might be out of luck.

In any case, let’s say you did finish the objective and you’re behind the rock wall. Look in front of you and you should see the last crash site. Examine it to get this part done.

Make your way back to the dropship to complete the El Camino Expedition in Icarus. You’ll receive 250 gold currency for your efforts.

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