Can somebody enlighten me on the hidden areas in each planet?

[Bastion]

I've read a handful of guides and I get the gist of it, look for the syndicate/warmonger/eternalist unit on the map and kill them. Is that ALL you need to do? I just killed an eternalist and immediately after a battleship teleported down to the zone I was in and allowed me to board. Great. Other times I kill the unit and nothing. Some times I've found the location of the hidden area first and then had to track down the special unit to unlock it. Which I've done. But multiple times now I've killed the unit and never found where the hidden area is, if it even existed in my run.

I understand the game has a lot of RNG systems, I'd just like some clarification on the intricacies of these hidden areas because they are a huge boost to a run if you can get them.

1. Do they spawn on every planet, every run?
2. Are the locations where they spawn truly random or are there a few spots that they will only be able to be in, aka, if I load into a tile I recognize as having had a hidden area in the left corner, will it always be in that left corner the next time I'm in that exact configuration of the tile?

Without knowing how the spawning of these areas works is making runs more annoying than anything because I feel like I'm purposefully handicapping myself by not recognizing their spawn rules.

Side question, what is the training grounds at the home base and how do I unlock it? Even just googling "star renegades training grounds" brings up nothing. Is it an incomplete feature or have I just not progressed far enough?

[Zaibach]

First of all you have to know that new patch is a bit bugged, so you need to "abandon mission" two times in a row (or complete entire runs) in order to allow the new patch rules to be activated.

When you do that, you have to know that the secret faction dungeon of each level is always present in each level. First, you have to kill the enemy faction on the surface map. Once you do that, you have to check where a "!" appeared in the map. This is the entrance of the dungeon. The faction will be always (100%) on the map and the "!" always (100%) apprear once you have killed the surface faction enemy. You can enter the dungeon entrance only at night.

Other than that, in each level, there is also a small chance (X%) that a spaceship appear after you have killed a AT/AA turret. You have to enter this during day and before night.

Finally, in order to unlock "training grounds" you have to unlock the new Hero "Dragoon". You can find him in the faction dungeon of 3rd planet, but beware, you have to choose the right path in the dungeon (check for the "!" symbol inside the dungeon that will indicate the dragoon). Also, you have to complete that run (or maybe only 3rd plane?) in order to really unlock him. Unlocking him also unlock training grounds.

[Setokaiva]

Training Grounds lets you spend Intel to unlock perks for some heroes, which offer stat bonuses or special camping cards. I'm guessing these perks do not unlock normally just by gaining Intel for the tier unlock rewards, or that would be silly.

[Bastion]

Perfect, thanks for the detailed response! Knowing what to look for will be a huge help now.

[Bastion]

Originally posted by Zaibach:

and the "!" always (100%) apprear once you have killed the surface faction enemy.

So....just got to the 3rd planet with the intent of unlocking dragoon. I had already done 2 runs yesterday and have abandoned several runs over the course of yesterday and today so I assume I am "safe" from the bug that was making the game not recognize the dragoon update. Anyway, at the 3rd planet, killed the faction enemy and...nothing. No "!" anywhere on the map. Second world had one pop up without issue, but here I am, an hour or so into this run and no "!". Is this a bug? If the area with the entrance is in an already locked zone will the "!" still show up or no? I'm aware of unlocking zones via the console at the objective, but thats the ONLY thing I can think of why it wouldn't pop up outside of this game being horribly bugged.

[Zaibach]

Seems this patch is bugged, I don't know why does not appear to you. I've tried now and I found the "!". It's on a door on a big factory building. Try again with "normal" difficulty to just rush with a strong team. Remember you have also to complete 3rd planet to unlock dragoon, so save medikit/armor on the map for the 3rd behemoth.

[Delphi]

This is so frustrating. I have done 10 runs to planet 3, and there never is a dungeon entrance that is supposed to spawn after killing the faction group. I think I will stop playing until this gets fixed. I just wanted to unlock the dragoon :(

[Bastion]

Just chiming in again to say that I'm on the second planet at the moment, killed the eternalist, no "!" anywhere on the map. Killed the eternalist on the first day, explored as much of the planet as I could, nothing. So unless the game is bugged there is definitely not a 100% chance for the area to spawn, regardless of killing the faction enemy.

[Zaibach]

We have some official new from developers:

"Grendel [developer]
We're working on a patch where faction dungeons will ALWAYS spawn after killing the faction scout."

So it seems that right now it's not 100%, (mb 70%? or so) but in a few days we'll have a new patch with a 100% chance for the dungeon to spawn. If I were in you guys I would wait for this patch before trying again (or just play to beat entropy levels / unlock progenis meanwhile)