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The original campaign has 16 Stainless Relics, and you need 15 of them to upgrade Kril’s fork to its full level. The sixteenth is not on most standard location lists, so a guide that stops at 15 will leave you one short if you want every relic. The campaign’s relics are split across six regions, and a few are guaranteed boss rewards while the rest sit in pickups, chests, and hidden spots. New Game+ is a separate campaign with its own layouts, so the original campaign route does not carry over.
How many relics exist and what they do
Stainless Relics are upgrade materials for Kril’s fork. You hand them to Hammerhead in the Lower Crust of New Carcinia. The Escapist’s walkthrough lists the base-game costs as one, two, three, four, and five relics for successive upgrades, which adds up to 15. Brachragon’s Steam Community guide, updated October 9, 2025, says the original campaign has 16 relics available and identifies 15 as the number needed for the full-upgrade achievement. TrueAchievements’ guide entry, dated April to May 2024, adds that sixteenth relic at Hermit’s Plateau.
Two points keep the counts straight. First, you do not need all 16 to finish the upgrade chain. Second, the walkthroughs do not agree on how to number their locations, so match spots by their names and nearby landmarks rather than by guide numbering.
Where the relics come from
- Guaranteed boss rewards: Heikea, the Intimidation Crab, in Expired Grove, and Inkerton in The Unfathom. Both are reported by The Escapist and PlatGet.
- Purchase: Prawnathan’s P(r)awn Shop in the Lower Crust sells one relic for 5,000 Microplastics. This is the only purchasable relic in the base-game walkthroughs.
- Pickups, chests, and hidden spots: Everything else. These are usually found by following a Moon Snail Shell route, using a grapple hook, or defeating a guarding enemy.
Original campaign: relics by region
The route notes below combine The Escapist’s and PlatGet’s walkthroughs with the region list in Brachragon’s Steam guide. Progression gates depend on what you have unlocked, so if a location seems out of reach, check the game’s current objectives before backtracking.
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New Carcinia
- Reef’s Edge: Return to the grappling-hook platform above the route toward the city. The relic sits on the coral platform.
- Lower Crust: Buy one relic from Prawnathan’s P(r)awn Shop for 5,000 Microplastics. Hammerhead, who receives the relics for the fork upgrades, is also here.
Expired Grove
- Heikea’s arena: Defeating Heikea, the Intimidation Crab, awards a relic.
- Cave near Curdled Village: Reach it from the shortcut near the Heikea arena, or from Topoda’s Garden’s Moon Snail Shell. Follow the northbound route and drop through the large hole into the cave. The relic is in a clamshell chest. PlatGet reports that powerful hammer-wielding enemies guard the chest, so expect a fight before you open it. The two guides describe the approach from different starting points, so either entry point should work.
The Sands Between
Several relics here need adaptations. Multiple guides recommend having Topoda’s Mantis Punch, and the electric-device route needs Voltai’s Electrocute.
- Upper eastern region: Break an Umami Cube and reach the upper level. Brachragon’s guide places a relic northwest of a broom.
- Upper northwestern region: Break a second Umami Cube, use the wind shaft, and find two crabs fighting with miniature ships and bottles. One of them drops a relic.
- Battery-crab route: From the previous area, activate the battery-crab and follow the route to another relic.
- Flotsam Runoff: Activate the metal crab device with Electrocute to lower or move the bridge or platform that holds the relic.
- Secluded Ridge: Reach the Ridge Overlook Moon Snail Shell. The relic is on a food plate nearby.
- Expired Knoll: Open the route with the required adaptations and defeat the miniboss that resembles the Scuttling Sludge Steamroller. The relic is a reward for that fight.
Flotsam Vale
- Locker Room: Ride the magnet, then follow the northern platforming route through the nets to a clamshell chest in the structure.
- Mag-Rail Platform route: Follow the platforming path near the Moon Snail Shell. One relic lies along the way, guarded by an enemy.
- Factory rooftops and catwalks: Cross the catwalks, gas-canister rooms, sponges, and nets to reach the roof route. Another relic sits on metal platforms beside hazard vests.
The Unfathom
- Luminous Respite: Cross north using grapple hooks to the large island. PlatGet places the relic on a small moss-coated rock slightly west of the central rocks and the clamshell chest.
- Inkerton: Defeating Inkerton awards a relic.
The Old Ocean
- City Gates: After passing the City Gates Moon Snail Shell, take the side passage past the Royal Lobster Guard. Use the blue sponge to reach a clamshell chest.
- Lookout Tower: Follow the sponge route from the tower and cross to the nearby rooftops. The relic is in a clamshell chest on a small roof steeple.
Hermit’s Plateau: the sixteenth relic
TrueAchievements is the only source cited here for a relic at Hermit’s Plateau, reached from its Moon Snail Shell. None of the sources I could reference gives a step-by-step route to it, so the exact turns and landmarks are not documented. Reach the Moon Snail Shell and search the plateau’s edges and platforms. If you are chasing all 16, budget time for this search, because it is the one relic in the original campaign that lacks a written route.
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New Game+: what is and is not established
The developer’s Year of the Crab patch notes describe New Game+ this way: “After beating the base game, players can make a New Game+ file that unlocks a second campaign with increased challenge to overcome.” The developer confirms new level layouts, encounters, and boss variations. Brachragon’s Steam guide also says routes and item placement change, so the original campaign route should not be used as an NG+ route.
Brachragon reports 14 relics in New Carcinia-to-end NG+ play, qualified by the author as the number “that I could find.” That is one player’s count, not an official total, and no complete NG+ location list is published in the sources I could verify. The same guide says NG+ has additional upgrade stages, but the totals for those stages vary between sources. If you are working through NG+, treat the original campaign list above as a reference for the layout of each region only, then confirm every relic location in your own file.
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Some NG+ relic positions differ from the base game, but the guides do not agree on exactly which ones. Expect to search each area yourself rather than matching the base-game spot for spot.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Quick reference: key facts
- Original campaign: 16 relics available, 15 needed for full upgrade (Brachragon’s Steam guide, October 9, 2025 update).
- Sixteenth relic: Hermit’s Plateau (TrueAchievements guide entry, April–May 2024).
- Shop relic: 5,000 Microplastics at Prawnathan’s P(r)awn Shop (The Escapist, 2024; PlatGet).
- Boss relics: Heikea and Inkerton (The Escapist; PlatGet).
- New Game+: separate layouts and item placement; 14 relics counted by Brachragon, not an official total.
In practice, collect the boss and shop relics first, work through the Sands Between once you have the needed adaptations, and leave Hermit’s Plateau for last, since it is the least documented.
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