Mycologist is the fifth playable employee added with Mycopunk's 1.0 release, but she does not simply appear in the HUB alongside the rest of the Hazard Crew. Her unlock is built into Expedition Alpha, where the rescue eventually turns into a boss fight against the creature that has been holding her inside its core.

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Mycologist Unlock Walkthrough
How to Start Expedition Alpha
How to Beat the Expedition Alpha Boss
How to Finish the Unlock
Mycologist Abilities

Mycopunk Mycologist Unlock Walkthrough

To unlock Mycologist in Mycopunk, select Expedition Alpha from the New Atlas mission map and continue through the mission until you reach its large floating boss. Focus your damage on one side of the creature until its shell breaks, destroy the exposed pink core, then approach Mycologist after she emerges and use the Switch Employee interaction.

Mycologist Unlock Steps:

Start Expedition Alpha from the New Atlas map.
Follow the mission until you reach the floating boss.
Concentrate your damage on one side of its shell.
Destroy that side to expose the bright pink core.
Destroy the core to defeat the boss.
Approach Mycologist after she lands in the arena.
Use the Switch Employee interaction to unlock her.

You do not need to travel to X11-B or hunt for a hidden character objective elsewhere on New Atlas. Expedition Alpha is the mission tied directly to Mycologist's rescue.

How to Start Expedition Alpha

Open the main New Atlas mission map and select Expedition Alpha. The mission becomes the path to Mycologist itself, so there is no separate quest to accept once you deploy.

It is worth preparing before starting, however, because the actual unlock is gated behind the boss at the end of the rescue. Bringing several revives gives you more room for mistakes, especially if you are still learning the fight.

Follow the objective marker through Expedition Alpha until you reach an enormous pink creature suspended above the arena. Its body resembles a large bipyramid surrounded by a darker outer shell, with multiple sides that can be damaged.

The important part is to choose one of those sides and commit to it rather than spreading your fire around the entire body.

How to Beat the Expedition Alpha Boss

The quickest route to the vulnerable core is to keep attacking the same side until the outer shell breaks. Damaging several sides at once only delays the point where you can start hitting the part of the boss that actually finishes the fight.

You still need to keep moving while doing this. The boss fires tracking pink projectiles, sends spikes through the ground, and drops explosive barrels into the arena, while smaller enemies can pile additional pressure on you if they are ignored for too long.

The homing projectiles are the attack worth respecting most. Keep sprinting and dashing laterally while maintaining sight of the side you are trying to break. The spike attack is easier to avoid once its path begins forming across the ground, while the falling barrels give you enough warning to move clear of their landing area or use nearby cover.

Crawlers can become a problem when several reach you at once, particularly while your attention is fixed upward. Pixies are even more disruptive because they can interfere with your damage against the boss or surrounding enemies. Clear them when they begin compromising the fight instead of allowing the arena to become increasingly crowded.

Boss Strategy:

Choose one side of the shell and focus your damage there.
Dash laterally to avoid the tracking pink projectiles.
Move out of the ground-spike path as soon as it begins forming.
Stay clear of the falling barrel impact zones.
Kill Crawlers and Pixies when they start interfering with the fight.
Switch all of your damage to the exposed core once the shell breaks.

When the damaged side finally gives way, a bright pink core is exposed inside the creature. That is your new target. Keep firing into the core until its health is depleted and the boss is destroyed.

How to Finish Unlocking Mycologist

Do not immediately leave the arena once the boss dies. Mycologist descends from the destroyed core and lands nearby.

Walk over to her until the Switch Employee prompt appears, then interact with her. This is the final step that completes the unlock and lets you play as Mycologist.

The boss fight gets you to the rescue, but the character interaction finishes it. If you defeated the boss and Mycologist does not appear available later, return to where she landed and make sure you completed that interaction before moving on.

Mycologist Abilities

Mycologist's kit revolves around Infection, a passive mechanic that can strengthen her offense while also becoming dangerous if you let it build too far.

Sporelift is her movement ability. Holding the jump gives her a strong upward launch that can take her onto elevated positions or quickly pull her away from enemies, although her horizontal control is more limited once she is airborne.

Fungal Skewer is her main offensive ability. It erupts from the ground at the targeted location, piercing and immobilizing enemies so they can be attacked while trapped. The ability can also consume Infection for additional damage, giving you an offensive reason to build some Infection instead of treating the meter entirely as a penalty.

Taking damage and using Sporelift can increase Infection, but letting it rise too far reduces Mycologist's maximum health. Her playstyle therefore revolves around balancing that buildup rather than simply trying to maximize it. Build enough Infection to strengthen Fungal Skewer, spend it when an opening appears, and avoid letting the health penalty become more dangerous than the enemies you are fighting.

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