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After talking with the mystic, Ratchet and Clank now have to go and retrieve 10 crystals from the desert. Walk over the canyon bridge to the desert dune fields. It looks pretty tame, but don't be deceived? There are lots of mutants hiding under the sand. The crystals are above ground and look like shattered tree trunks. 3-4 whacks with your wrench and the crystal will loosen and then release into Ratchet's possession. Once you start collecting, a counter will appear on the screen.
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Every crystal will have some sort of mutant attack nearby. Approach every crystal with caution. Load the Miniturret Glove and fire 2-3 canisters right near the base of the crystal, before any dinosaur crawlers or sandflies appear. The mini-turret will stop any surprize attacks from reaching Ratchet. Dinosaur crawlers go down with 1 well-aimed seeker drone, 7-8 heavy lancer pulses or the mini-nuke, when in a group. You'll need the pulse rifle/vaporizer for the big guys.
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Sandflies are annoying and always come in swarms. In some cases, you'll hear them, before you see them. Watch Ratchet closely as he walks across the desert. Sandflies like to sneak up and bite, when you least expect it. Your trusty wrench is a very good defense at close range. Load the Tesla Claw when approaching a swarm. The plasma tether from the claw works extremely well, has a rapid-fire mode and is ammo efficient. Ammo crates are scattered across the desert dunes.
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Some crystals will have piles of wood next to them. This is not old mining equipment? Buried underneath that pile of wood is a huge mutant desert beetle. This is his nest. Unfortunately, you can't kill the beast ahead of time, while he is under the wood pile. Ratchet has to come dangerously close to get him to come out of the sand. Best defense is to load the Miniturret Glove and toss 2 canisters at the base of the wood-pile just before he comes out of the sand. It does help.
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By the way, did I tell you that this beetle flies?? He looks like a huge baloon with an attitude. He's slow-moving and won't wander too far away from his nest. He does fire a mean tongue energy tazer. Jump over the tazer as it sweeps across the sand. If you're on top of a dune, the tazer does follow the contour of the sand, so be careful. You may not see it coming. Load the Vaporizer. 2 quick, well-aimed shots and he flips onto his belly and vanishes. 4-5 seeker drones works as well. The beetle coughs up a crystal after he dies.
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Once you collect 10 crystals, I strongly suggest you go all the way back to the mystic inside the compound, and fix your spaceship first. It is very unlikely you'll survive the trek to collect all 80 crystals at once. Every additional crystal you return to the mystic is worth 1,000 bolts each. I know, it's tempting!
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Eventhough it is VERY TEMPTING to collect all 80 crystals now, to get lots of bolts to buy new weapons, WAIT til you have at least 30-40 nano-health slots, the Gravity Boots from Planet Joba (for Raritanium mining) and the Charge Boots from Planet Boldan. It will make life easier out in the desert, and will save you about 2-3 hours of gameplay. If you die, out in the remote desert area, it's a good 5-10 minute run (no kidding), to get back to where you were.
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BE FOREWARNED! There are several crystals that are grouped together on remote islands and areas where there are multiple enemy threats. Here for example, you have 2 wood piles close together, and swarms of sandflies AND dinosaur crawlers all at once. This is much easier to clean-out when you have the Megaturret Glove and Synthenoid Robot Sentry. Once the action starts, you can high-tail it out of there with the Charge Boots and watch from a distance.
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Once you've exhausted the desert and returned all the crystals to the mystic, you'll receive the Heal your chi skill point. Skill points are just that and nothing more. There is also a platinum bolt in the far right hand corner of the desert, behind a tall dune.
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The other job out in the desert, is collecting Raritanium with the hover mine driller. There are 50 pieces of Raritanium out in the desert to collect for valuable ship upgrades at Slim Cognito's. The hover mine driller, is parked on top of a tank resevoir, not too far away from the compound. Ratchet needs the Gravity Boots to climb the ramp to access the hover driller. Once on board, the radar detector will locate the drill sites. Do this job AFTER you cleaned-out all the crystals.
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