The teleport ability in An Automaton's Journey, known in-game as the Phase Drive, is an essential upgrade unlocked by completing a multi-part quest for an NPC named The Archivist. You cannot find it as a simple pickup. The quest requires you to gather three disparate components from across the city of Aethelburg: the Unstable Geode, the Quantum Resonator, and the Clockwork Heart Schematics. Acquiring this ability is a turning point in the game, opening up vast new areas for exploration and fundamentally changing your approach to combat and puzzle-solving.
This guide provides the exact steps to initiate the quest, locate all three components, and, most importantly, master the Phase Drive’s notoriously tricky mechanics to turn you from a clumsy jumper into a precise temporal navigator.
Where Do You Find The Archivist to Start the Quest?
The quest for the Phase Drive, titled "A Rift in Time," begins in the Grand Archives, a mid-game area you'll likely access after clearing the Smelting District. To even reach The Archivist, you must first have acquired the Kinetic Grapple upgrade from the final boss of the Foundry, the Assembly-Line Tyrant. The grapple is required to cross the collapsed chasm leading to the Archives' upper Sanctum.
Once inside the Grand Archives, navigate past the silent, patrolling Librarian Sentinels to the central atrium. Look for a towering pile of discarded data-slates and books. Tucked away in a small alcove behind this pile is a flickering terminal. Interact with it to awaken The Archivist, a dormant maintenance AI who laments the city’s temporal instability. He will offer you the schematics for the Phase Drive chassis but explains that its core components were lost and scattered long ago, tasking you with their retrieval.
The Three Components: A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
After speaking with The Archivist, three new objective markers will appear on your map, corresponding to the locations of the necessary parts. They can be tackled in any order, but the following route is generally considered the most efficient in terms of difficulty and travel time.
Component 1: The Unstable Geode from the Crystal Mines
The Unstable Geode is located deep within the Crystal Mines of Sector Gamma, a dangerous sub-region of the Undercity. The mines are filled with crystalline arachnids that explode on death and hazardous energy fissures that pulse with raw power.
The geode itself is the prize for defeating the area's boss: the Crystalline Guardian. This massive, quadrupedal construct is immune to damage from the front due to its heavy crystal plating.
To defeat the Crystalline Guardian:
- Its primary attack is a sustained energy beam fired from its central eye. When it charges this attack, its rear heat vents open up, exposing a glowing orange weak point.
- Focus on dodging its frontal assaults and crystal shard projectiles. Use the cavern's large pillars as cover from the beam.
- When the vents open, use your Kinetic Grapple to quickly pull yourself behind the Guardian and unload your primary weapon into the weak point.
- Repeat this process three times. After the third damage cycle, the Guardian will shatter, leaving behind the Unstable Geode. Pick it up to secure the first component.
Comic grid showing the strategy to defeat the Crystalline Guardian boss.
Component 2: The Quantum Resonator in the Rusting Spires
Your next destination is the Rusting Spires, the highest vertical point in Aethelburg. The objective marker will lead you to the wreckage of a crashed sky-ship, dangling precariously from the central spire. The Quantum Resonator is inside the cockpit, but the door is without power.
To restore power, you must solve an environmental puzzle involving three power conduits in the immediate vicinity. You need to activate them in the correct sequence, which is hinted at by the number of flickering lights on each conduit's control panel. The correct order is 2-4-1.
- Conduit 2: Located on a platform below the wreckage, guarded by two aerial drones.
- Conduit 4: Found inside a small maintenance shed to the left of the cockpit. Requires you to short-circuit a door panel to enter.
- Conduit 1: Positioned on the opposite side of the spire, requiring a long grapple-swing to reach.
Activating them in the right order will illuminate a green light on the cockpit door, granting you access. The Quantum Resonator is on a console inside.
Component 3: The Clockwork Heart Schematics in the Inventor's Guildhall
The final component isn't a physical object but a data schematic, hidden within the now-abandoned Inventor's Guildhall. The Guildhall is a labyrinth of locked doors and deactivated machinery. Your target is a secret vault in the main research chamber.
To open the vault, you must solve a logic puzzle on a large console. The puzzle is a classic grid-based challenge where you must route power from a starting point to an endpoint without crossing circuits. The key is to notice that the solution forms the shape of a gear, a recurring symbol of the Guild. Once solved, a hidden wall will retract, revealing a dusty workshop. The Clockwork Heart Schematics are on a drafting table within.
With all three components in hand, return to The Archivist in the Grand Archives. He will fabricate the Phase Drive and integrate it into your chassis, finally granting you the teleport ability.
Understanding the Phase Drive's Awkward Controls
The Phase Drive is powerful but deliberately unwieldy at first. Unlike a simple blink, its use involves a nuanced charge-and-release mechanic that can be punishing if mistimed. Mastering its quirks is crucial.
Annotated diagram of the Phase Drive's controls, explaining charge time and the Damage Echo.
Here are the core mechanics you need to understand:
- Charge & Distance: Tapping the ability button results in a very short-range hop, almost a dodge. Holding the button down charges the drive, increasing the maximum teleport distance. A faint targeting reticle shows your destination.
- Cooldown: The longer you charge the teleport, the longer the ability's cooldown period will be. A short hop might have a 1-second cooldown, while a maximum-range jump could leave you waiting for 5 seconds, a lifetime in a heated battle.
- The Damage Echo: For a brief 0.5-second window after you teleport, a faint, shimmering echo of your automaton is left at your point of origin. This echo can still take damage. This means a poorly timed teleport can see you getting hit even after you've already moved, which is the source of most player frustration.
| Charge Time | Max Distance | Cooldown | Echo Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tap (0.1s) | 3 meters | 1.0 seconds | 0.5 seconds |
| Half (0.75s) | 15 meters | 3.0 seconds | 0.5 seconds |
| Full (1.5s) | 30 meters | 5.0 seconds | 0.5 seconds |
From Clumsy to Masterful: Advanced Teleport Techniques
Once you internalize the basic mechanics, you can begin to exploit them. The high skill ceiling of the Phase Drive is what makes it one of the most rewarding tools in the game.
Combat: Echo-Baiting and Shift-Dodging
The two most important combat applications are polar opposites in execution. Shift-Dodging involves using quick, uncharged taps of the Phase Drive to evade attacks with minimal cooldown. This is far more efficient than your standard dash for avoiding rapid-fire projectiles or sweeping melee attacks, like those from the Inquisitor Sentinels.
Echo-Baiting is a more advanced technique that weaponizes the Damage Echo. When a boss, like the Grand Inquisitor, begins a powerful, telegraphed attack, intentionally teleport away at the last second. The enemy will often complete its attack on the echo at your origin point, leaving it wide open for a counter-attack from your new position. This is essential for no-damage boss runs.
Exploration: Reaching Aethelburg's Secrets
The Phase Drive is the key to unlocking Aethelburg's verticality. Many of the game's hidden Memory Fragments and upgrade schematics are tucked away on high ledges, across wide gaps, or behind impassable barriers that are now trivial to bypass.
Always look for shimmering temporal distortions in the air. These indicate a location you can teleport to, even if it looks too far. A fully charged Phase Drive can cross entire city blocks, opening up shortcuts and revealing entirely new, optional areas like the Hanging Gardens of Sector Beta.
Infographic of advanced techniques for the teleport ability An Automaton's Journey.
Sequence Breaking for Expert Players
For speedrunners and veteran players, the Phase Drive is the ultimate tool for breaking the game's intended progression. By combining a fully charged teleport with a jump at the apex of a grapple-swing, you can achieve massive airtime and distance. This allows you to bypass entire sections of the game. For example, it's possible to teleport directly to the entrance of the final area, the Clockwork Core, right after getting the ability, though you will be severely under-leveled for the enemies within.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you miss the teleport ability in An Automaton's Journey? No, the Phase Drive is a mandatory upgrade required to progress the main story. You will eventually be forced to complete the "A Rift in Time" quest to access the game's final act, which takes place in the Clockwork Core.
Is there an upgrade for the Phase Drive? Yes. By finding five hidden Memory Fragments, you can unlock a passive upgrade at any workbench called "Temporal Efficiency." This upgrade reduces the maximum cooldown of a fully charged teleport from 5 seconds to 3.5 seconds, a significant improvement.
Does the teleport work on all bosses? It works against most bosses, but some late-game enemies have mechanics to counter it. The final boss, the Rogue Chronos, can create temporal disruption fields that disable the Phase Drive entirely, forcing you to rely on core combat skills.
The True Key to Aethelburg
The Phase Drive is more than just a movement tool; it's the mechanical and narrative heart of An Automaton's Journey. It represents your automaton's growing defiance of the city's rigid, clockwork design. Learning its rhythms—the charge, the release, the echo—is synonymous with mastering the game itself. It transforms you from a cog in the machine to the ghost that haunts it.