The map in Aloft is large, so large that it’s been broken into three distinct areas: Emerald Isles, Fallen Heights, and Red Cliffs. Each biome has its own area on the map where you’ll find archipelagoes full of different scenic islands, each with their own resources to farm.
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Getting between biomes in Aloft is no small task, what with the constant barrage of meteors and bombs in the wind streams separating each biome, but with unique resources, crops, and progressively better lost sailing knowledge to find and learn, exploring every biome in Aloft is well worth the time you’ll spend.
What Are Biomes?
Aloft’s map is absolutely colossal, and as you explore more of it, you’ll find that there are three distinct ecosystem types according to the geography of the map. Some islands you’ll find are rife with springtime greens and flowers, others are more autumnal, and there are even some pretty hot islands to explore as well.
Biomes seem to be distinctly separate on the map, with each section belonging mostly to one biome type. It’s worth noting, though, that moving between them is no small task – you’ll need to brave meteors and mines to cross the barrier between biomes in Aloft, so be prepared to fix your sails as they break, because trust us, they will! For the moment, it appears that only your sails take damage when crossing between biomes; your house and any other structures you built are safe.
Mines, the black and red rocks, explode on impact with your island, doing vastly more damage to your sails than the standard gray rock meteors, but both will damage your sails as you traverse the storms separating each biome.
You can see the barriers between the biomes on your map table, since they appear as colored areas between sectors when you move between biomes. Once you’re clear of the colored area, you can move freely between sectors within a biome. You may want to explore a biome sectors at a time to save yourself the headache and resources required to consistently weave between biomes.
Not only are the visual appearances of each biome different, but outside the standard resources such as rocks, windstones, wood, and leaves (which can be found across every biome), each area also has unique resources that you may not be able to find elsewhere. These include things like
Even if a biome does share a resource or an animal with another biome, you’ll often find more of said resource in one biome over the other. For example, we found our first pheasant and plenty of sheep in the Emerald Isles, but we found dozens of pheasants and fewer sheep while exploring across Fallen Heights.
Finally, while maps aren’t the same across world seeds, you’ll find the same lost sailing knowledge within each biome, so we’ve included them in our list of things you’ll find as you explore islands across every biome in Aloft.
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Emerald Isles
When you first start playing Aloft, you’ll leave your starting cave and find yourself on the very first of many islands you’ll find and explore in the Emerald Isles, the starting biome that you’ll find spread across the bottom portion of the map when you’re viewing the map table. Lush with greenery, trees, assorted rocks, and even your very first animals to boot, this is where you’ll find the majority of your resources in the beginning. If you’re just starting out, grab whatever you can – you’ll need it all later!
This is where you’ll learn the ins and outs of sailing islands in Aloft, because while the Forgotten Legacy quest does introduce you to your very first leaf sail, you’ll find new recipes for leaf sails as you explore and find more lost anchors. Begin to check out the knowledge stones for new recipes that help you build back on your home island, too, and keep your sketchbook handy to start drawing furniture, too! You’ll also begin finding your first crop seeds here.
Islands within archipelagoes in the Emerald Isles are relatively even in terms of altitude, and they’re also relatively close together to help you get the hang of using your glider. You’ll also find the most new knowledge and recipes here, since you’re just starting out and will need these recipes for storage or machinery as you progress further into the game.
Resources And Recipes In The Emerald Isles In Aloft
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Animals |
Available Crops |
New Resources |
Available Sailing Knowledge |
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This is likely the biome you’ll spend the most time in as you familiarize yourself with the game, so you’ll have plenty of time to collect resources in the Emerald Isles!
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The Research Lab allows you to research the mysterious Mykter on a hunt for the cure in Aloft.
Fallen Heights
The second area you’ll enter is Fallen Heights, which you’ll find in the accessible middle sectors, forming a sort of ring around the center of your map, which is the storm we’re not currently able to enter. Once you brave the meteor storm between here and Emerald Isles, you’ll find a gorgeous autumnal theme here, with plenty of red and yellow trees, warm-colored plants in the Fallen Heights seed bag, and not to mention all the harvest vegetables you enjoy in heartier meals like pumpkin and far more tomatoes.
Pheasants have become more common here, so if you haven’t found one already for a consistent source of eggs and feathers, you’ll want to bring some feathered friends home. Only female pheasants lay eggs, though, and only when a male pheasant is on the island with her. You’ll also begin to find beehives on trees, thick orange clusters that you can gather to receive a bee, one honey, and one wax, which is a critical resource in improving your sails later on.
Presuming you’ve been tending to the sheep in Emerald Isles, you’ll find the recipes for wool sails within the Fallen Heights lost anchors, so be sure to stop by and read as many as you can, since wool sails stand up far better to storms between biomes than leaf sails do! Here, your knowledge stones will contain the recipes for plenty more machines, allowing you to break down and process the materials you’ll find here in Fallen Heights.
The name “Falling” Heights isn’t just a name, either – here, islands appear close together on the map, but you’ll often find archipelagoes have islands in the shape of a circle that ascend and descend in height, almost like a spiral. We’ve found it most effective to aim for the highest island in the archipelago and then drop down through the other islands as we finish exploring.
Resources And Recipes In Fallen Heights In Aloft
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Animals |
New Crops |
New Resources |
Available Sailing Knowledge |
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Be sure to upgrade to linen sails before heading into the final biome in Aloft – wool and leaf sails can’t take the heat you’ll experience there, so it’s a wise idea to plant and process as much flax as you can while you’re exploring, since upgrading all your sails to linen requires quite a lot of fabric, depending on how many sails you have.
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Light the flame and follow the smoke to the nearest important landmark, like knowledge stones or corrupted islands in need of healing.
Red Cliffs
The final biome you’ll reach is the Red Cliffs, which require linen sails to enter, since wool and leaf sails cannot hold up to the extreme heat you’ll experience in the biome. Even once you get into the Red Cliffs, you’ll need to mitigate your character’s heat with heat resistant clothing, which you can make at a sewing table ahead of going out to explore. Additionally, be sure to collect some Bones here, since your stone tools won’t be strong enough for a lot of the resources listed in the table below.
Here, you’ll find a desert climate, where trees are fairly sparce but you’ll find plenty of cacti, which typically require a sword to deal with when they block your path. You’re introduced to your final new crops in Aloft, and you’ll faithfully find goats here if you haven’t already. While out exploring, islands are incredibly far apart within the archipelago, and you’ll often encounter dust storms and fog that obscure your vision – your map table and waypoints will come in handy while exploring here!
You may even experience extreme heat while flying between islands when you’re out exploring. Flying seems to cool you off a bit, but you’ll need to be mindful of the meter that might appear. Getting this meter too high toward the flame icon on the right spells disaster for your character. You might also overheat while on your own home island here, which you can avoid by going into your house if you’ve built one by now.
Resources And Recipes In Red Cliffs In Aloft
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Animals |
Available Crops |
New Resources |
AvailableSailing Knowledge |
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Provided you can withstand the heat, you’ll find the Leviathan within the Red Cliffs biome, so prepare to investigate this legendary boss.
