Ratchet & Clank Wiki
Ratchet & Clank Wiki
Advertisement

Orxon is a planet featured in Ratchet & Clank and Deadlocked. It is located in the Shadow Sector of the Solana Galaxy, and is the heavily industrialized homeworld of the blarg, filled with factories and Raritanium mines, which had become too heavily polluted to be populated. When the planet became uninhabitable, Chairman Drek planned to instead construct a new planet to serve as a new home for the blarg. Following Drek's defeat, Orxon became featured in the illegal Holovision reality show DreadZone.

While Ratchet and Clank had previously seen Orxon in infobots, they first visited the Kogor Refinery in order to search for equipment. As Ratchet was unable to breathe without the O2 Mask, only Clank could explore at first, commanding Gadge-Bots, though Ratchet was later able to explore once he had acquired a mask. In Deadlocked, Ratchet returned to the planet, competing in DreadZone challenges that took place in the mining facility.

Orxon does not appear in the 2016 re-imagined game or movie, in which Quartu is instead the polluted blarg homeworld.

History[]

Before Ratchet & Clank[]

Orxon was a highly industrialized planet that, as evident by the abandoned factories and laboratories, was apparently where the blarg developed a number of their inventions. By his own admission, Drek polluted Orxon to the point where its atmosphere was no longer breathable and its environment was uninhabitable. This forced the blarg to look for a home elsewhere, which Chairman Drek saw as an opportunity to profit from the creation of a new planet.[1]

Ratchet & Clank[]

Jowai Resort, Pokitaru!

Ratchet and Clank arguing.

Ratchet and Clank received coordinates for Orxon from an infobot given to them by the Commando on Batalia. Due to its toxic atmosphere, only Clank was able to explore the planet. In "Search the laboratories", Clank amassed a group of Gadge-Bots to help him venture through the facility and find the Magneboots, and then in "Traverse the wilderness", he found an infobot containing a commercial and coordinates for Pokitaru. Clank brought both items back to Ratchet, and after a brief argument, they agreed to travel to Pokitaru to obtain an O2 Mask that was being advertised.

Buy the Premium Nanotech cutscene

Ratchet with Premium Nanotech.

After obtaining the mask, Ratchet returned to explore the planet. He was able to find another infobot, and after catching it, he learned that Drek was constructing a weapon called the PlanetBuster Maximus, a large bomb capable of destroying an entire planet. Doing so would free up an orbital position for his new world. The two were also able to find a nanotech dispenser that sold Premium and Ultra Nanotech.

Deadlocked[]

Sometime after Drek's defeat, Gleeman Vox featured Orxon in DreadZone. The contestants' goal was to destroy a blargian raritanium mining facility; a new one had been constructed weekly for the purposes of DreadZone.[2] When Ratchet competed, in his final challenge, he had to use the Landstalker to help the planetside audience escape the surface, to stop the toxic fumes from killing them.[3]

During these events, the planet had become slightly more hospitable, and its factories were in use rather than simply abandoned, but the planet is still heavily polluted. Around the time, Orxon's crust was being mined for valuable minerals.[4]

Geography[]

Overview[]

Kogor Refinery 1

Chairman Drek's factories.

Orxon is a planet riddled with pollution, a thick cover of green clouds or smog blocks any sight at the sky, and the Refinery stands amidst a veritable sea of toxic, bright green sludge. The visible blarg factories in the refinery are constantly spewing forth sallow smoke into the air, and large pipes that emerge from the cliff walls continuously dump more toxic waste into the depths. The air lays down a sickly green tint over the area, and is essentially unbreathable for most conventional species, as even the blarg wear protective suits. Despite the environmental contamination, plant life seems to be surviving, even if somewhat mutated, as the variously visible vegetation looks oddly alien.

Kogor Refinery[]

Kogor Refinery map

Map layout of the Kogor Refinery.

The area itself consists primarily of the Refinery, a group of mostly inaccessible structures, and a small collection of blarg laboratories, all placed amidst a range of tall rocky mountains that surround the entire location. Notably many of the rocks and rock walls appear to have strange, tall, dark markings that look to be carved out. Various rock plateaus and metal platforms allow one to traverse the terrain, high above the sludge sea below. The landing pad is found at one of the taller plateaus in the region, effectively overlooking most of the Refinery. From here, one can explore the central area, take a side route and enter the laboratories, or take a platform and trek through the wilderness, the latter of which is located atop a large wall behind the landing area.

Laboratories[]

Kogor Refinery 2

The interior of the tunnel.

The laboratories span from the west end of the landing pad region, to the south end, connected by a long and winding underground tunnel, partially constructed and partially making use of a natural cave network. Said tunnel is entered through a small passage, also on the west end of the landing pad. Rubble litters the entrance passage, originating from the large hole on the left side. The aforementioned gap in the wall allows further exploration of this tunnel system.

Kogor Refinery 6

The factory interior.

This section of the laboratories appears to have been used as a Gadge-Bot testing area, as many of the robots, Bot-Ports, and miniature teleporters are located in this linear path. At the end, past some simple puzzles involving gates and pressure pads, is the real laboratory. It is a large circular room, with devices and screens lining the walls. The screens show either stills of a blarg destroyer or the exterior of the Blarg Tactical Research Station. In the center of the room is a large device, with a sort of globe-shaped monitor on top. A doorway at the opposite end of the room leads to the top of the wall to the rear of the landing area. From here, one can either go to the ship, or turn around and enter the so-called wilderness.

Although this entire route is initially accessible only by Clank, it is locked off when Ratchet explores the Refinery. However, finishing the "Explore as Ratchet" or "Catch the Infobot" missions will re-open up the path, allowing both exit and entry.

Wilderness[]

Kogor Refinery 3

The Orxon wilderness.

The "wilderness" is not as wild as made apparent by the name for this section of the Refinery. The first visited area is a bombing range, accessible through either a square platform behind the landed ship, or by exiting through the laboratories. Dozens of scorch marks litter the center of this area, with more bombs continuously raining down from the towers that stand on the hilltops surrounding the place. Also notable is the "maw" located on top of a cliff wall at the south-eastern end of the range.

Kogor Refinery 7

The containment pen.

The northern facility, which is a large chamber with many small platforms and ramps, creatiny a tiny maze, filled with strange floating motes of energy that follow fixed paths through the room. At the far end is a twisting path that leads through a toxic sludge-filled room, which connects to some kind of containment pen. This pen contains a dozen Gadge-Bots and a large number of alien swarmers and toxic crabs. Past the pen is another room where a turret will blow open part of the wall, leading back to the ship area.

Prior to the paths[]

The landing area features a tall cliff that peers over the center of the region. Directly in front of it is an equally tall metal pillar, with a large drop down to an island with a barrier. The path reaches around a large rock on the left, but will end abruptly, forcing anything that wants to cross to use two pillars. The pillars will sink quite quickly into the hazardous waste below if anyone stands on top, however. This rock plateau has another barrier to the north side, wedged between two tall towers. Behind it stands a tall smoke-producing factory, as well as a second Gadgetron vendor. The path also splits, leading north-west and north-east.

Left path[]

Kogor Refinery 4

The factory.

The west path leads alongside the factory, and at the end, one must enter it to progress further. The first room connects to a larger one, which then connects to two more on the north-west and south-east sides, with the top-most room being connected to the outside, though a barrier blocks access. The interior of the factory is rather empty, with none of the polluting machinery being visible. Once exited, a series of platforms on tall metal pipes become apparent, which must be used to reach the other side. A small ledge on the right side, with a tower, can be used for cover from the saucer that appears here.

Kogor Refinery 5

The tanker ship.

The other side is a simple rock plateau, with a tower on the left and a rock wall on the right. A hollow pipe is embedded into the rock wall, allowing someone to look through at the other side. Two platforms must be used to get around the rock wall (bypassing an earlier tower right before the path splits), which leads to another plateau, infested with a horde of sleeping toxic crabs. Behind them stands another barrier, where after a smaller ledge and two more platforms will lead to a docked tanker ship. One would have to circumvent the cargo and blarg space commandos protecting it to reach a platform, which then leads to part of the blarg laboratories.

Nanotech dispenser

The nanotech dispenser.

This chamber is similar to the one encountered earlier, with terminals and screens (with the same imagery) lining the walls. This time, the centerpiece is a blargian nanotech dispenser. In the left corner of the room is a gap in the wall and floor, from where the west end of the earlier-accessed laboratories can be entered. A small platform will let anyone then return to the dispenser.

Right path[]

The right-hand path will also trail alongside the factory, though at the end, a rather long gap must be jumped to continue. Past the gap is a ledge that connects to a Magne-Strip. The strip leads along a cliff wall, and halfway through features a trio of jets that emit a burst of fire, and will eventually end at another half-island, with a barrier intersecting it. The barrier cannot be de-activated, as instead a versa-target must be used to get across, where after a pair of them are required to get to the other side.

At this point, a series of platforms will lead around one of the larger buildings in the region, followed by a grassy and winding path along a pair of rock walls. There is a barrier partway through here, after the second bend, which requires three power generators before it will be disabled. Opposite the barrier, at the east end of the area, is a big metal wall embedded in the cliff face, this wall is the other end of the "maw", a long acid-filled tunnel that snakes through the mountains on the east side of the Refinery.

The remainder of the original path features only one more bend past the barrier, after which it ends at a doorway into a large chamber. This place is an egg-shaped room covered entirely in Magne-Strips. A second doorway at the south side, near the top, leads to an exit placed in the tunnel in the also earlier-accessed wilderness path.

Mining facility[]

Mining facility map

The mining facility map.

The mining facility appears in Deadlocked, in which it is the basis for a DreadZone battlecourse. The facility around which the battlecourse is centered is an immense factory with an extremely large drill used for mining. The refinery, like other buildings on Orxon, has several exhaust fumes pumping out toxic gas, some of which spit flames into the air. Inside the refinery, it has a metallic look with an orange tint, and is filled with toxic fuel. The facility is replaced every week for the purpose of the battlecourse.[2]

In front of the central refinery are several smaller buildings with pipes connecting to the main building by pipes. Toxic drill fuel also connects to the refinery.[5] The pipes from the buildings connect through a patch of land in front of the central refinery on its upper tier; the lower tier of this land is a maze with DreadZone forcefields blocking certain paths forward to and around the central refinery.

Behind the refinery is a path through several rock plateaus. Much like the area around the Kogor Refinery, toxic rivers run through it, creating a few passable islands across. Across these are several floating pods with podiums for audience members.

Multiplayer[]

Part of the mining facility is featured in the Deadlocked multiplayer as the Mining Facility map. The accessible terrain includes the entire terrain in front of the main structure, both the topside area as well as the trenches below. The surface space is large and almost entirely wide open, with only a few pipes jutting out from the ground that provide any semblance of cover. This is in contrast with the confines of the trenches, which consist of small rooms connected by narrow corridors. The rooms all have jump pads to reach the ground area, while there are also versa-targets that let players jump across the gaps in one go.

The trenches offer many ambush and trap options to players, but are also vulnerable to anyone looking down on them from above. This map does not include any vehicles.

Notes[]

Annotations[]

There is paint for the Star Explorer named after Orxon, known as Orxon Green.

Citations[]

References[]

Advertisement