The Widow's Court

Once the heart of Pan civilization on Yaesha, The Widow's Court now lies in ruins. Root creatures have all but taken over, though a loyal few Imperial Guard still patrol the Empress' inner sanctum. Many secrets lie within this labyrinthine complex, and some are the keys to great rewards.

The Widow's Court is the gateway to The Great Bole, where you'll encounter Yaesha's world boss, Corruptor, in The Abomination story.

Objectives
Reach the gold curtain.
Rewards
Matriarch's Insignia
Ornate Key
Ornate Lockbox
Rotten Thaen Fruit
Simulacrum

As you enter The Widow's Court, you'll walk between two, great statutes of Imperial Guards to find yourself in a large ruin. You can see the gold curtain straight ahead, but the ground has fallen away and a wide chasm blocks the way forward. You can also see a trio of meta mind flyers hovering around the main gate. Take them out if you like, but be aware that a few elites lurk in the area and fighting may attract them.

You'll have to find a way around the chasm. Your path starts in the Outer Complex, which you'll enter through the large building to your left as you face the gold curtain. Head inside through the doorway near the lantern:

Be careful as you explore as some root flyers and a root walker live in this very small area. The entrance is a tiny vestibule with three exits: a door leading to a ledge outside, a ladder up, and a stairway down. The quickest way to the gold curtain is the ladder up, but the way to the most rewards is down the stairs. The ledge is fine, too, but fighting there presents some risk of falling to your death.

Note: If you just want to reach the curtain and don't care about rewards, skip to Just Get Me to the Gold Curtain. Otherwise, read on.

Complete Walkthrough

The Widow's Court is a complex dungeon filled with secrets. It is also a dungeon that is not randomly generated, so a walkthrough is possible. This walkthrough will get you all the items and to the gold curtain, though you won't see every corner of the map. The route followed takes you to every item, but is certainly not the quickest way through the dungeon.

Finding the Tarnished Key

From the tiny vestibule, walk to your right and down the flight of stairs. At the bottom, jump across a chasm and walk down the tunnel on the other side. You'll quickly arrive at a jump point in front of a waterfall. Jump through the waterfall and into the passage beyond:

Follow the passage down a few more stairs into a flooded area. If you head to the left, you'll find a path, but it bypasses several rewards. Head to the right instead and dispatch the root flyer and meta mind flyer in a chamber at the base of the waterfall. The water is waist-deep, so bear in mind that you'll have limited mobility here.

Once it's safe, look behind the waterfall to find the Tarnished Key:

Finding the Ornate Lockbox

With the waterfall at your back, proceed down the passage to your right. It opens into an intersection. Walk down the passage to the left towards a dead end with a treasure chest:

Loot the chest, then listen carefully. Hear that? It's the sound of the illusory wall opposite the chest:

Walk through the illusory wall and to the elevator on the right at the end of the passage. Take the elevator up to enter the empress' private quarters. Look to the table just past her bed to find the Ornate Lockbox:

If you continue to the next chamber, you can look off of the empress' private balcony.

Finding the Matriarch's Insignia

Enjoy the nice view of the palace complex if you like, then head back down the elevator, back through the illusory wall, and back to the flooded intersection.

Take the left passage and jump across the chasm. Walk up the path, climb up a ledge, and arrive at the bottom of some stairs. Take them up to a landing where you can walk into a small room or continue up on another flight of stairs. Walk through the room and into the courtyard. Be careful as there are a variety of elite enemies in the area.

Pass through a small courtyard just outside and into the main courtyard. Be careful of enemies, but also of falling over one of several ledges. As you enter the main courtyard, the gold curtain is to your right, but don't go there yet as there are more rewards to find. Instead, turn left to see the central fountain and a locked door beyond it to the left:

Open the door and walk through, then head up the stairs immediately to your left. Buttonhook around to continue climbing the stairs and access the top of the main gate. Look out for a Slayer Bomber who patrols the walkway. At the top of the stairs, you can see a locked door and, off to the right, an intriguing purple glow:

Use the Tarnished Key to unlock and open the door. Enter and take the stairs up to the right. At the top you'll drop down but be very careful! You have to drop down from the left side of the ledge or you'll miss the jump and be mildly irritated. So drop down, being careful to do so from the left end of the ledge, onto another ledge below.

Look to your right to see a jump point and the intriguing, purple glow. Jump across and walk down the overgrown passage to find the Matriarch's Insignia:

Finding the Ornate Key

Pick it up and jump back across to where you landed after dropping off the ledge above. After you land, look left and jump to the other jump point. Look for a chest at the end of the short passage, then climb up the ladder. At the top, hook around to the left and drop down a ledge onto the floor below.

Directly in front of you is the door you opened with the Tarnished Key, so head through it, across the catwalk on top of the main gate, and back down the stairs. At the foot of the stairs, keep hard right to find the smaller stairway that leads to the courtyard door.

Once back in the main courtyard (the one with the fountain in the middle), search the area for the Ornate Key. You'll find it, along with an interesting note, on the body of a fallen Imperial Guard somewhere in this vicinity:

Here's a map of possible locations:

Take the key. It opens the Ornate Lockbox, but don't do it until you decide which reward you want. Read the Ornate Lockbox page to see what you can get.

Finding the Rotten Thaen Fruit

Once you have the Ornate Key, head back into the building to the right as you look towards the gold curtain:

Walk up the stairs and out the door. Jump across the broken portion of the walkway and, if you haven't already found it, look near the doorway for Simulacrum.

Continue through the door, down the passage to the left, and out another door onto a patio. Hook around to the left to climb up a flight of stairs. A couple of Imperial Guard patrol this area, so be ready to fight.

The stairs continue up and to the left, ending on a patio with a doorway. Before you enter, equip the Red Doe Sigil if you have it. Once the amulet is equipped, enter the room and walk up to the statue of the Ravager and the Doe. As you approach, the statue animates and a secret stairway appears in the floor in front of it:

Walk down the stairs to find the secret chamber and the Rotten Thaen Fruit:

Go back up the stairs, out the door you came in, and follow the stairs all the way down. At the bottom of the stairs, buttonhook around to the right and follow the narrow ledge back into the main courtyard. Turn right to see the gold curtain, which you can now enter to face Corruptor:

Just Get Me to the Gold Curtain

Take the ladder up after entering the left building. Head up a few stairs around to the left and up another ladder. Head right at the top of this ladder to see a jump point. Jump across and down to the floor below:

After you land, look right to see another jump. This doesn't have a jump point on the ground, but you can make it and save yourself a bit of time:

You are at a T-intersection. Walk right and climb down the ladder there. This puts you on a network of floating islands. Work your way across them sticking generally to the right. It doesn't really matter which way you go as they all lead to the same place. If you find this nice view of the Thaen Tree, you're headed the right way:

Eventually, the path opens up into The Widow's Palace inner courtyard:

Walk straight ahead and make sure to keep to the left wall to avoid walking off of a ledge into a bottomless pit. At the far end of the pit, look left and there you are—the gold curtain:

Head through the curtain to face Corruptor.