Sizing Thing Up is a Pendola Pass mission from Celeste that centers on the fallen Emperor. You photograph one part of the Emperor’s body near Old Town, optionally find a probe, analyze an exposed area near Railroad Junction, search a buried payload at the Emperor’s base, and return the ARC Conductive Coupler to Celeste. The order matters, because one optional objective can be closed by the step that comes before the payload.
What you need before you deploy
Bring an in-game camera into the run. The first objective is a photo, and you cannot start the quest chain without it. The walkthrough this guide follows is GamesRadar+’s Sizing Thing Up guide by Leon Hurley, published October 8, 2026. Its annotated screenshots show the photo angle and map markers, but those marker positions appear only in the images, so check the images in the original guide before you head out.
Step-by-step route
- Photograph the Emperor’s leg near Old Town. Use the camera on the leg from the angle shown in the guide’s screenshots. This is the first objective.
- Decide about the probe before you analyze. After the photo there are two follow-up paths. Taking the analysis step is what closes the optional probe objective, so make this choice before you reach the analysis point. See the probe section below.
- Analyze the exposed area at Railroad Junction. Go to the spot where the Emperor’s leg touches down. Climb to the indicated point on the leg and interact when the analysis prompt appears. The guide notes the prompt is not obvious, so look along the leg rather than at the ground.
- Reach the marked base. Arriving at the Emperor’s base area unlocks the “Search the Buried Payload” objective.
- Search the payload. The payload is a half-buried, elongated box sticking out of snow and wreckage. Search it to obtain the ARC Conductive Coupler.
- Extract and turn in. Get the Coupler out of the map safely, then deliver it to Celeste to complete the quest.
The optional probe objective
The probe is the only real decision point in this quest. If you want it, search for it before you reach the analysis point, because finishing the exposed-area analysis closes the probe objective.
Why it is easy to lose
The guide’s author missed the probe on his own run. He described the experience this way: “I learned this the hard way because, despite searching for ages for the probe, I never found it and instead accidently found the next objective without realising what would happen.” This is one player’s reported experience, not an official statement from Embark Studios, and it does not establish how the game handles every run.
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Deciding whether to chase it
Weigh the value of the optional objective against the extra time and risk of staying on the map to look for it. The guide does not give a time estimate or describe the risk, so the trade-off is yours to judge. If you skip the probe, you lose nothing in the main route: the analysis, payload, extraction and turn-in steps are the same.
Where the probe is
The probe’s location is not established by the guide. No coordinates are given for it, so do not rely on a specific position. If you cannot find it, proceed to the analysis step; that is the outcome the guide’s author experienced.
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Reported quest rewards
The GamesRadar+ guide lists these turn-in rewards for Sizing Thing Up:
- Three adrenaline shots
- An Exodus Technical Handbook
- A Bettina assault rifle
- 60 heavy ammo
- 5,000 XP
These are the rewards as reported in that guide. They have not been checked against official quest data, and the guide does not state whether any rewards depend on the optional probe objective.
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What this guide does not cover
- Unlock prerequisites. The guide does not say what must be completed before Sizing Thing Up becomes available.
- Exact coordinates. Landmark positions for the photo, analysis and base are described in relation to Old Town, Railroad Junction and the base, but precise markers are only in the guide’s screenshots.
- Probe location and timing. As noted above, the probe’s position and how long it takes to find are not established.
The steps above follow the GamesRadar+ guide as published on October 8, 2026. They are not drawn from official developer documentation, and if a later patch changes a landmark or objective, the guide’s screenshots and text may no longer match what you see in game.
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