Climbing a giant mountain isn’t an easy task. Not only do you need to be in good shape and very determined, but you also need to have the best equipment. In Cairn, you can get a bunch of upgrades to your equipment as you progress up the mountain.
There isn’t a deep upgrade system in place. You don’t need to equip and unequip things, for instance. Instead, you just need to find the upgrades, and they will automatically improve you. These are all the upgrades in the game, and information on how to find them.
Thermos
What It Does: Keeps your drinks hotter for longer.
To get the Thermos, you first need to find a letter from Rody. It is in The Village Area. To locate it, enter the lowest doorway in the main Village section.
After that, head through the halls, into the bedroom. You can find the letter on a bed.
If you want to get all the upgrades, then it’s better to grab the next few before doing the second part of this one, since you will pass them anyway.
You must give the letter to the Shepherdess in the Vault area. That area is near The Terrace, on the left side. She’s in a bit of a hidden section that you must rappel all the way down to. It’s almost at the bottom.
Once you’re in the general area, look for a large hole to rappel into.
Down there, you can find the Shepherdess and hand over the letter.
Cairn: How Long Does It Take To Beat?
It takes a while to climb a mountain.
Glowing Gloves
What It Does: Lets you use gloves that glow in the dark.
While in The Village area, go through the doorway just above the red and blue lines.
Then, go past the big statue in there to the cave filled with crystals on the other side.
The gloves are in the area above, meaning you need to climb through the hole in the ceiling. To do so, look for the path with the least amount of crystals in your way.
Once you’re up there, follow the path forward to eventually find the gloves.
Troglodyte Piton One
What It Does: Unbreakable Piton
In The Child area, there is a large statue of a child.
Enter its mouth and make your way all the way to the back of it. Here you can find the first Troglodyte Piton in the hands of a statue.
Troglodyte Doll
What It Does: Clears bad weather.
Getting the Troglodyte Doll is a bit more work than the other upgrades because it requires collecting three parts in different locations. Here is how to acquire each one:
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Doll Part |
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Descriptions |
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Doll Part One |
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The first doll part is in The Vault area, which is to the left side of The Terraces area. To reach the doll part, you need to rappel quite far down and shimmy around the mountain to find the doll sitting on a rock. |
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Doll Part Two |
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Doll Part Two is in The Terraces area. It’s directly below the large triangle cave. If you’re already at the cave, you need to rappel down to it. It’s sat on a small stone. |
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Doll Part Three |
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The final doll part is directly above the large child statue in The Child Area. Like the rest, it’s sitting on a stone. |
Once you’ve picked up all three doll parts, they immediately fuse together to make the Troglodyte Doll.
Big Chalk Bag
What It Does: Enables you to carry more chalk.
The Big Chalk Bag is in The Terraces area.
It’s within a large triangle-shaped cave, next to a save point. Head inside to find it on one of the benches.
Survival Blanket
What It Does: Keeps you warm when you’re resting outside.
There is a spacious cave you can enter in the Two Hundred Steps area.
The entrance is surrounded by trees.
Deep into it, you can find a body with scratches around it. Loot the corpse to acquire the Survival Blanket. Watch out, though, because this act spawns a bear.
Troglodyte Piton Two
What It Does: Unbreakable Piton.
To reach the Troglodyte Piton Two, you need to be at the wooden bridge at the start of the Palace of Wind area. Rappel down next to the bridge to reach the area underneath.
Then, head left, and shimmy across the wall for a bit before climbing down to the spike-shaped rock beneath.
After that, shimmy around the spike before attaching yourself to the wall and rappelling down on the rope.
From here, rock the rope back and forth enough that you can swing yourself to the area on the other side.
Head inside this cave until you reach an open area.
Following this, go through the crevice in the left wall where all the crystals are. On the other side of the crevice, you can find a big tree and a little statue.
That statue is holding the Piton.
Small Windmill
What It Does: Alerts you to incoming wind.
To get the Small Windmill, you must gather some Crystals for the Crystal Cutter. This strange individual is in a cave in the Palace of Wind area. You will find it quite high up in the Palace.
You will know you’re in the right place because you’ll go down some stairs that are surrounded by yellow crystals. The room at the bottom of that slope is where you will find the Crystal Cutter.
After your first interaction with him, you will need to find four crystal shards to give him. Thankfully, they’re all in the immediate area:
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Image |
Location |
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On the large set of stairs you walked down to reach the Cutter, there are two openings. Head inside the second one to find a crystal shard. |
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On the other side of the room from where the guy is cutting, you can find a shard on one of the sarcophagi. |
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There is an easy-to-find one right behind the cutter, on the floor. |
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You can find one to the right of the cutter, on a small ledge. You just need to climb the wall a little to reach it. |
When you have the crystals, head back to him and give them to him one by one. In response, he will hand you the Small Windmill.
Big Flask
What It Does: Allows you to store more fluids.
The Big Flask is in a similar area to the Small Windmill. Therefore, it is in the Palace of Wind region. Like when you’re looking for the Small Windmall, you need to enter the Palace high up. Then, head down some stairs that are surrounded by yellow crystals.
However, for this one, you don’t enter the doorway at the bottom. Instead, you climb up on top of that doorway.
Once you get up there, walk through the little gap.
This takes you to an area containing a large well. You need to rappel down to the bottom of the well.
At the bottom, you will find a few bodies. One of them has the Big Flask on them.
Pearly Edelweiss
What It Does: Revives you after death (One use only)
When you first enter The Needle area, you need to climb a pillar.
Partway up, you can find a small opening that contains a dead body. On that body is the Pearly Edelweiss.
Troglodyte Piton Three
What It Does: Unbreakable Piton.
After you make Marco some food, you enter The Secret area that is covered in ice. Climb up the first bit until you get to a doorway on the left side. Go through it and turn right.
This will put you in an area with a large, frozen waterfall. At the top of that waterfall is another doorway. So, climb up and go through it.
In the next area, you will find a little statue holding the piton.
Cairn: Achievement/Trophy Guide
Earn Trophies or Achievements as you advance up the mountain.
