The side quest
There are 8 Pope's Research Balloons, all inside The Unknown zone. Cutting them down and placing their probe relays completes the side quest Pope's Research and unlocks the Budding Analyst trophy/achievement ("Help Pope finish her research").
The quest is added to your log automatically upon finishing the main quest The Hedron Link, and it's mandatory for traveling through The Unknown zone and for the next main quest, Sever the Hedron Links. Note that it has no marked objectives, which can be confusing — this page explains the loop. Note: the per-island walkthrough detail for this page is still being completed.
How the balloons work
On each Unknown "island" there is one weather balloon floating overhead. Jump onto a balloon and cut it down (L1/LB), which drops a crate; break the crate open with an attack to reveal the probe relays (antennas). Carry the relays to the red circles near the balloon — the correct drop spots show as signal icons on the minimap (top-right corner), and the carried relay beeps near the right spot; the antenna light must turn green when placed. Relays must be placed in the correct order, in the correct circles.
Once all relays for an island are placed, a Gravity Well appears in the sky (a flying jump pad, marked on the map); jump onto it and walk off to be carried to the next island. Repeat per island. After solving the first balloon, you reach the central island via the Gravity Well and can unfog the map there; the remaining balloons then get map marks, plus arrows showing how the islands connect. Most balloons hold 2 probe relays, one holds 3, and one holds 4.
The balloon sequence
As labeled in the game:
- Pope Research 1 (Starting Island)
- Pope Research 2 (North-West)
- Pope Research 3 (North-East)
- Pope Research 4 (Central)
- Pope Research 5 (South-West)
- Pope Research 6 (South-East)
- Pope Research 7 (South)
- Pope Research 8 (Central 2)
Finale — Investigate Point 0
After all 8 balloons are solved, a yellow objective marker appears in the middle of the central island. Go to the southern island (the one with "Evac Building" text on the map) and use the Gravity Well to fly through the sphere in the center, then quickly press L3 (left stick) to latch onto the sphere while flying through it. Inside the sphere, press L1/LB until Dylan falls down — this ends the quest and unlocks Budding Analyst.
Reward
Finishing Pope's Research grants 1 x Resonant Token, which unlocks a second combat ability from an earlier Resonant choice without replacing the first — useful for the Combat Rediness trophy (equip a Combat Ability in every slot). For the full completion path, see the 100% Completion Roadmap.
