Patch 11.1 Undermine(d) Questline Chapter 1 – Trust Issues Playthrough (Story Spoilers)

WARNING: Patch 11.1 Undermine(d) Story Spoilers in this post!

The Undermine questline starts with When Opportunity Explodes at Foundation Hall in Dornogal. In there, Gazlowe and Renzik “The Shiv” asks you to check the wall we previously explored by Opportunity Point during the Lingering Shadows questline – It has been blasted open! We learned that Venture Co. was responsible for blasting the wall and are allowed entry into the Verdant Gutters after paying the toll in Mixed Messages.

By talking with nearby goblins, we learn about the mysterious Darkfuse Cartel and start clearing the way for Gazlowe, Renzik, and Orweyna (who has been working in tandem with Gazlowe since the Lingering Shadows questline) in Miner Investigations and Hostile Work Environment. During these investigations, we obtain a bounty from none other than Gallywix himself, who’s in control of this new Darkfuse cartel. Gallywix also wants to discover who’s responsible for blasting down the wall in Order of Magnitude.

After meeting with a Venture Co. micromanager named Zirdo, he gives us a tour of the Verdant Gutters in Good Honest Work. During the tour, we learned that the Venture Co. is mining Black Blood in the area, which is just like Orweyna’s vision. During the tour, Orweyna spots an area bursting with channeled Black Blood, and we explore it with her in Bloodletting.

As we clear out the pipes channeling Black Blood in the area, we’re stopped by a Venture Co. goblin named Pamsy – Who warns us that while yes, things are out of hand, making the pipes explode would make the situation even worse, with black blood spewing everywhere. We go into the nearby goblin town, Gutterville, with her in Into the Gutter.

Pamsy says that although Gutterville is supposed to be primarily a Venture Co. town, she suspects Gallywix sent spies to monitor their operations. We remove the spies in Snitches Get Stitches, and Gazlowe (who has reached the town with Renzik) asks us to talk with any familiar Bilgewater faces to learn more about the situation in Paranoia Prevention.

During these quests, we learn that Zirdo is actually one of Gallywix’s cronies – And that Pamsy is the person responsible for blowing up the wall. She did it as a cry for help, as she understood the dangers of the Black Blood (as her engineering crew keeps getting infected with it), but could not call for Undermine’s help, as they’re dealing with their problems.

Pamsy then gues us to the pump station in the area, where she learns another one of her crew has passed away – Zirdo probably got them killed. We check the area to see if anyone else from Pamsy’s team survived in Found Family, while Orweyna asks us to kill black blood creatures in Bloody Business.

While we’re helping Pamsy’s workers, Gazlowe develops a plan to stop the black blood operation – We first kill the Darkfuse leader in the area, Gozzic Cogcrane in Avenge Them, then we collect coolant to help stop the pipes in X-Treme Chill.

After killing Gozzic (and obtaining definitive proof that Zirdo is the snitch), we then go on a rocket ride to freeze up the pipes with the coolant we obtained in Expanding the Plan.

With all pipes frozen, Black Blood can no longer flow, stopping the operation. We then talk with Pamsy’s engineers in Undermine’s Long Shadow to learn more about Undermine. We learn that although they managed to stop the job, they’ve sent a lot of Black Blood to Undermine, Gallywix has assembled a new crew with new guns, and Pamsy’s team came together as an operation trying to escape from all the backstabbing and infighting in Undermine.

With this, we finally make our way Down Undermine. Welcome!