The achievements for Shattered Space is known to focus mainly on Starfield's greatest mystery, the clandestine House Va'ruun. But it's still shrouded in mystery: beyond cryptic teasers that promise to tie back into the origins of House Va'ruun, players are mostly still in the dark about what's actually supposed to happen in the DLC.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Starfield's Shattered Space DLC.]

But with the achievements now available on Steam ahead of Shattered Space's September 30 launch date - just over a year after the base game's release - players can get a look at some of the DLC's mission titles. Achievement graphics also provide a lot of hints. Online speculation is the final ingredient in this predictive stew; player insights and theories founded on their experiences with the base game contribute greatly to expectations for the DLC.

Starfield's Shattered Space DLC Features A Vast, Explorable Va'ruun'kai

Shattered Space's New Locations

Shattered Space's achievement list was posted to Reddit by TERAB1T, provoking near-endless player speculation on what the mysterious titles could mean. One of them, however, is abundantly clear just from its description. The achievement, called "The Great Unknown," requires players to visit 50 different locations on Va'ruun'kai, House Va'ruun's home world. This has long since been suspected to be the main setting of the DLC, but this achievement confirms that theory. Players will not only be able to visit Va'ruun'kai, but also to wander around it as an open world, discovering points of interest as on any other planet.

It's unknown whether Shattered Space will feature any other new planets, but it is believed to feature at least one new space station. Another achievement, however, suggests a new city, alongside what may be a grand final dungeon: "The Scaled Citadel." Per Starfield's base lore, this is known to be the palace of House Va'ruun's sitting leader, located in the hidden city of Dazra. This will probably be the main settlement players visit in the DLC, where they trade their goods and upgrade their ship parts. Voice over in early trailers for Shattered Space instructs the player character to "restore the Citadel," so working to gain access to this fortress may be a major goal of the DLC.

Starfield's Shattered Space DLC Will Feature An Otherworldly Story & Terrifying New Enemies

Vortex Horrors & Va'ruunian Theology

The newly-revealed Shattered Space achievements also seem to reveal that Starfield's DLC will have players ing ghosts from the past. One of these, called "The Other Side," has a blue, ghostly icon. This seems to allude to the use of "the other side" to describe an afterlife - usually one with ghostly connotations. However, considering this in concert with certain other achievements, there may be more to this one than meets the eye.

Other achievements ("Facing Your Fears" and "Five of a Kind," to be exact) mention vortices in one context or another. "Facing Your Fears" references something called a Vortex Horror, requiring players to defeat at least 25. These are probably the ghostly Terrormorph-like enemy seen in the DLC's first trailer. "Five of a Kind" references Vortex Grenades - more on those later. "Savior of the Promised" has a logo that looks something like a vortex. This appears to be the final achievement received for completing the DLC, as its description reads, "Aid the people of Va'ruun'kai."

These details, coupled with a shot from a Shattered Space trailer that shows a character standing in front of what could definitely be described as a vortex, seem to suggest that players will another world through a vortex in Starfield's DLC. What exactly is beyond that vortex remains to be seen. It could be the past, and the founders of Va'ruun; it could be another universe; it could be the Great Serpent itself.

Some players, like No-Barracuda-7071 theorize that the "Conflict in Conviction" achievement suggests a religious schism. Players may have to choose sides in this conflict, which may affect the outcome of certain story missions, or even the DLC as a whole. Either way, something to do with that vortex will likely represent an existential threat to the people of Va'ruun'kai. Players will fight enemies like the Redeemed - quite possibly the ghostly Va'ruun adherents who appear in that same trailer - and delve into its mysterious past in order to save the people of Va'ruun'kai.

Other than that, the achievements reference the titles of four additional story missions, although it's difficult to glean just what they're about from their titles alone. Nevertheless, the missions and achievements alike are called "What Remains," "The Promised, Broken," "Zealous Overreach," and "Exhuming the Past." The first, "What Remains," looks to be an early mission in the DLC - its logo depicts a sattlelite, which could be the source of the distress call that begins the DLC. "Exhuming the Past" probably relates to the ghosts of the vortex, but the true meanings of "Zealous Overreach" and "The Promised, Broken" remain to be seen.

Starfield's Shattered Space DLC Will Feature New Crafting Options & More

What Are Vortex Grenades, Anyway?

Another achievement revealed for Shattered Space, "Five of a Kind," as stated above, references a new item called a Vortex Grenade. It's not clear exactly what this is, but one thing is for sure: players will be able to craft them. Perhaps their name implies they'll be able to draw enemies in, creating a kind of gravitational vortex that can be used to lock multiple foes in a single place. Or maybe they're just regular old grenades that happen to come from beyond a vortex. These may come along with additional new crafting options made available by the abundance of different materials beneath Va'ruun'kai's surface.

The achievement's name and description also imply the existence of five different kinds of Vortex Grenades. Again, the specifics of these different types are unclear: they could refer to different levels of potency, different kinds of elemental damage, or a combination of the two.

But these finer details will have to wait. Shattered Space is due for release on September 30, so players have plenty of time to speculate before the DLC finally reveals its own truth. Until then, much of Starfield's first DLC will remain a mystery.

Sources: TERAB1T/Reddit, No-Barracuda-7071/Reddit