After tracking down Josée in the past in Code Vein 2, you two hit it off, which is exactly the boost you needed. She asks for your help in reclaiming some of her bases, and it all fits perfectly into your plan.
Helping her now will earn her trust and, hopefully, lead you to discover the nature and location of her key so you can use it in her cocoon in the present.
Table of contents
Explore The Seized Substation
The first order you will receive from Josée is that she needs your help reclaiming one of the bases called the Substation, which is located at the far west of the map.
Make your way there and go inside. Follow the path to the left until you come across electrified water. You can run through it to reach the other side, but you will take some damage.
To the left, you will find a chest containing the Umbral Shift Defensive Forma. This is extremely useful, as it swaps your character from rolling to using Quick Step, which is faster.
From here, follow the path and go through the security checkpoint doors. The path is straightforward from here, so keep progressing until you reach a door that leads downstairs.
Explore The Underground
Take the stairs down until you reach a Mistle. Activate it, then continue going down. If you need to level up, make sure to do so before progressing further.
From the Mistle, take the stairs down and go right. You can pick up Tender Light Stone 2. On the other side, you can obtain Tender Crimson Stone 2.
Follow the path ahead, where you will encounter some enemies and electrified walls. Defeat the enemies while avoiding the electrified areas, and continue until a cutscene plays.
You and Josée will sit down for a moment and have a conversation. She will talk about her family, her mother and sister, and reveal some of her past trauma.
She expresses regret over some of her decisions and shares this to urge you to take care of what you hold most precious.
After this emotional conversation, return to your mission. In front of you is an elevator, use it. At the top, you will see another elevator to the right, but before taking it, head to the room in front of you.
Inside, you will find a purple loot and a map jammer that you can destroy. Once that is done, return to the elevator and use it.
This will take you to the upper level of the Substation. Proceed forward and take the stairs up. The path here is mostly straightforward but filled with enemies, so follow it while defeating any foes that attempt to stop you.
Eventually, you will come across a Mistle and a boss fight door. Do not enter yet. Grab the purple loot on the other side, and then activate the Mistle.
Defeat The Darkborn Leader
The boss fight waiting for you is against the Darkborn Leader, a boss that combines electrical attacks with melee pressure.
Depending on the distance between you and the boss, it constantly shifts between ranged electricity and close-range claw attacks. Thankfully, most of its moves are easy to handle once you learn the timing.
One of its more aggressive maneuvers is a front flip that propels it straight at you, ending with a ground slam that releases electric currents. Dodging to the side as it lands avoids damage and gives you room to reposition.
It often follows this with rapid claw attacks, swinging twice in succession. As soon as you see one of its arms pulled to the side, be ready to dodge to avoid getting hit.
At range, the Darkborn Leader relies on electrical attacks, positioning its arms to the sides before firing two slashes of electricity and finishing with a stationary slam.
While this attack can be dodged, it is much safer to retreat to fully avoid the final hit.
The Darkborn Leader can also leap high into the air and crash down on your position, sending lines of electricity outward.
This is another attack where keeping distance works better than dodging at the last second, especially if you want to preserve your regeneration.
Another ranged move occurs when the Darkborn stops moving and begins charging electricity before roaring, causing lightning to strike your position from above multiple times.
As soon as you see it pause in place, move to the side to avoid the strikes since they land almost instantly. Once the attack ends, you can move back in and apply pressure before it begins attacking again.
After you defeat the Darkborn Leader, the substation will be secure and Josée will radio her people about it. Mission successful!
Josée’s Curse
Just as she finishes the radio call and thanks you for your help, Josée’s patched eye starts glowing, causing her intense pain.
Your character tries to help her, and she begins talking about her bloodline curse and how her powers can go rogue and become uncontrollable.
She then mentions the incident that caused her to lose control while fighting the Metagen and what triggered the second Resurgence.
But Josée is not one to give up, and she rises to her feet, reassuring you that everything will be fine.
Return To The Base
With the mission complete, fast travel back to the base and go inside, but a surprise awaits you. You will find Valentin and another older man waiting.
Josée asks you to wait for her as she handles the situation. They greet each other, but it seems there is some spark between them.
It appears Josée filed a complaint against Sir Gobbo for abducting several citizens of the Sunken City, and she now wishes to press charges. Gobbo has come to clarify the matter.
After a heated discussion between them, Valentin uses his official position to state that this will go to trial and both parties should not discuss it further with each other until the trial day.
This seems like a region-based political matter that has nothing to do with you, so simply make your way to Josée’s quarters by taking the elevator up.
At her quarters, Josée will bring up you and some other hunters, and while she informs them again that the substation is secured, there is a far greater danger you need to deal with: the Metagen, located deep within the Sunken Pylon.
Explore The Sunken Pylon
The Pylon is located at the very south of the region, so you need to make your way there. You won’t miss this location as it looks more like the Eiffel Tower than a pylon.
Enter the Pylon and call up the elevator, go inside and take the elevator down to start exploring this location and make your way to Ground Zero where the Metagen is waiting for you.
As soon as you get out of the elevator, another incursion will occur between you and Josée, and you will go to witness some of her memories.
The memory is between Josée and her sister Lise, a very tragic moment of how she sacrificed herself to save her sister.
Returning to the real world, activate the Mistle there, take the stairs down and move to the room on the left where you will encounter an enemy waiting at the entrance.
Deal with him and stay ready for additional enemies inside. Pick up the purple loot here and then head back to the bridge at the center area.
Mall Below The Pylon Mistle
Cross it and then go to the right to find a chest containing the Power Shot Forma. On the other side, you will find a purple loot that is the Classic Comic (Romance) gift.
After picking up these two items, head inside the room on this level and defeat the enemies. Take the stairs down to the lower level where more enemies will be waiting for you.
From here, exit back outside and cross the bridge to the other side. A cutscene will play, showing a ghost of Lise’s sister. This scene causes her to panic because her sister is dead, but she nevertheless wants to investigate.
Before you go through the door in front of you, both the right and left paths contain additional loot you can pick up, but this also means more enemies are waiting, so keep that in mind.
Go through the door and follow the path until you reach the other side, which leads to a library. The main path is by taking the set of stairs down, but go up first and pick up additional loot while being careful of a powerful enemy waiting there.
Unlock The Shortcut
Taking the stairs down will bring you back outside to the center of the building. Follow the way ahead and when you reach an elevator, take it all the way to unlock the shortcut to the Mistle here. This will be useful.
With the shortcut unlocked, it will be easier to return halfway down. Before taking the elevator back, in front of it, there is a golden loot you can pick up, a new javelin called Hound that you can use.
Back at the bottom, take the stairs down and you will see a barrier with a golden heart in the middle. Touch it to enter the memories realm where you will see one of Lise’s memories with her mother.
Lise is worried about her sister and trying to protect her, so she reaches out to her mom for help.
Josée is surprised that you can sense other people’s memories but is slightly happy that you can see her sister’s story, something she did not expect you to experience.
After returning to the real world, keep pressing forward until you reach the bottom where you will find a map jammer to the side of the door. Kill it before entering.
More Of Lise’s Memories
Inside, the Darkborn Leader is waiting for you again, but here he is not a boss, just a mini-boss. Defeat him using the same strategy as before.
After dealing with him, open the door in front of you and call the elevator. While you wait for it to arrive, there is a chest to your right that you can open to get the Bloody Impact Forma.
Take the elevator down and you will find another barrier with a golden heart that you can interact with. Once again, it will take you to the memories realm where you will see more of Lise’s memories.
This time, Lise is trying to find a way to help with the rogue state her sister often enters, showing how much she cares and how she is doing everything in her power to resolve the situation.
Back in the real world, Josée realizes what her sister has been through and had no idea about.
She always tried to push her sister away, but there is no reason to regret her past decisions now. The real problem is still ahead of you.
Take the stairs down and you will find another Mistle here; activate it.
From here, follow the straightforward path and defeat all the enemies along the way until you reach Ground Zero, where you need to defeat the enemy hiding there.
Thank you for reading this Into Indie Games article on Code Vein 2.
More Guides On Into Indie Games
For more guides and walkthroughs, be sure to check out the links below:
Into Indie Games Homepage
Code Vein 2 – Walkthrough Hub
Code Vein 2 – MagWell Walkthrough Part 1
Code Vein 2 – MagWell Walkthrough Part 2
No Rest For The Wicked – Guides And Walkthrough Hub
Avatar Frontiers Of Pandora: From The Ashes – Walkthrough Hub
Former Staff Writer at TheGamer, with over 1,000 published articles covering everything from major AAA titles like Call of Duty, Elden Ring, and Dragon’s Dogma 2 to trending indie games like Blasphemous, Palworld, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and many, many more titles!
