How to Start

Pope's Research is added to the quest log automatically upon completing the Main Quest The Hedron Link — there's no NPC to talk to and no manual trigger. It's a mandatory quest for traveling through the Unknown Zone and for completing the next main quest, Sever the Hedron Links.

One thing that trips players up: the quest has no marked objectives, which can be confusing. The steps below cover exactly what to do.

Walkthrough

The two objectives are Set Up Probe Relays in the Unknown and Investigate Point 0.

Setting Up the Probe Relays

Each island of the Unknown has one weather balloon floating overhead — 8 balloons in total:

  • 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)

Jump onto a balloon and cut it down (L1/LB). It drops a crate — break the crate open with an attack to reveal probe relays (antennas) inside. Most balloons hold 2 probe relays, one holds 3, and another holds 4.

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 when you're near the right spot. The antenna's light must turn green when placed — and the relays have to be placed in the correct order.

Once all the relays on an island are placed, a Gravity Well appears in the sky — a flying jump pad that's marked on the map. Jump onto it and walk off, and it carries you to the next island. Repeat the process on each island. After the first balloon is solved, the central island unfogs: the remaining balloons appear on the map, with arrows showing how the islands connect.

A few things to keep in mind: the relays must go into the correct slots in the right order — the light turning green is your confirmation. The relay's beeping gets faster as you near the proper circle, and the signal icons on the minimap save you a lot of wandering. Cut the balloon down with L1/LB rather than attacking it from the ground, since the crate falls right where the balloon was.

Investigate Point 0

After all 8 balloons are done, 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. While flying through it, quickly press L3 (the left stick) to latch onto the sphere. Inside the sphere, press L1/LB until Dylan falls down. That ends the quest.

Rewards

  • 1 x Resonant Token — this unlocks a second combat ability from an earlier Resonant choice without replacing the first.
  • The Budding Analyst trophy/achievement.