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Longtime fans of the series will work tirelessly to search every block of the map for upgrades. While these players might make finding things look easy, there are plenty of secrets more casual players haven’t found yet. Metroid Dread’s walls, floors, and ceilings are brimming with items to find, and there are a few secrets that many players haven’t discovered at all.
7 Dairon Lava Pits
After getting the Gravity Suit, players will probably immediately think of all the cold areas they can now explore freely. Large portions of the flooded biome Burenia will also open up, and the possibilities will seem endless. With all of this in mind though, players should also remember that they can now traverse the lava sections scattered across the map. Samus Aran is strong, but even she can’t swim in lava without the Gravity Suit.
While Cataris is the obvious choice for exploring lava-filled rooms, thorough backtrackers might find that the lower sections of the production plant biome called Dairon hold some interesting secrets. Players should navigate to the bottom part of the biome, near the elevator that leads to Artaria. Here, with the Speed Booster and the Gravity Suit, players can sprint through the lava pits to uncover a handy missile tank. This is one of the easier secret areas to complete, but it is hidden in plain sight and can be easy to overlook.
6 The Ghavoran/Elun Connecting Shinespark
New areas are always a treat in Metroid games. When discovering a telltale purple room on the map, most players want to forge ahead and see what new enemies and secrets await in the next zone. This is perhaps the exact reason why the development team hid items in rooms adjacent to transport rooms.
Before taking the shuttle from the forested biome of Ghavoran to Elun, players should take a good hard look around the cavernous room just to the left of the shuttle. This secret is hidden above the beam door leading out of the room into Ghavoran — not the beam door leading to the Elun shuttle room. It can be a tough spot to see, but blasting some well-timed missiles while jumping should reveal a few pesky speed boost blocks.
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There are actually a few different strategies for obtaining this secret item. The player can either use the Space Jump while at full charge with their Speed Boost and fly through the wall from the shuttle room, or figure out the right spot for a diagonal Shinespark. The latter is much more difficult though, and should only be done if the player hasn’t unlocked the Space Jump. With either strategy, it’s important to get rid of all the enemies in the room first, as they will impede all progress towards blasting the wall open. Remember to build up speed in the Elun shuttle room, through the Grapple Beam door. There isn’t enough space to charge up in the room by itself.
5 Burenia’s Green Teleporter Items
After using the Green Teleporter to get to Burenia, carefully explore the room. Bombing the bottom right section of the room will reveal a hidden tunnel filled with fiery Enky plants. These aren’t the average houseplant though; these things are indestructible without Ice Missiles. After using Ice MIssiles to dispose of the Enky plants, players will discover an Energy Tank piece. Collect enough of these, and it will form a full Energy Tank.
Don’t leave this area yet, as there is a secret within a secret. After recovering the Energy Tank Piece, players should Speed Boost down the hall they came from. This will break the floor and eventually lead to a Missile Tank Plus. Many secret areas in Metroid games often have bonus secrets inside of them, just like this.
4 The “Mushroom Room” In Ferenia
Just past the entrance of Ferenia from the Ghavoran shuttle, players can discover an extremely difficult secret. This secret area isn’t hard because the enemies can kill Samus easily; no, the area is hard because it can easily kill the player’s hopes. Like many puzzles in Metroid Dread, this one will involve multiple tools from Samus’s kit, and they will all need to be used perfectly.
Players will need the Speed Booster, Morph Ball, Bombs, and Cross Bombs for this ordeal. After shooting out the blocks that lead to the room, the player will need to Morph Ball through, as sliding will not work here. Next, Cross Bomb across the pitfall blocks and land below a Bomb block. Bomb it out and Shinespark upwards to reach the mushroom-shaped room.
This is all much easier said than done, but don’t give up. This secret is easy to actually find, but it is one of the more difficult puzzles in the game.
3 Ferenia’s Frozen Tunnel Secret
Below the Hanubia elevator in Ferenia, players will come across a series of frozen tunnels. These tunnels are actually pretty easy to navigate through, and the enemies shouldn’t be much of a threat. Its almost inviting exterior covers a difficult secret interior. To the left of the bottommost beam door, players can find a little area in the bottom left wall that they can Bomb through.
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After descending even further, players will come across a Grapple Beam block and a Morph Ball-sized tunnel. The blocks in Samus’s way here are all Speed Boost blocks. Some players might not know that Samus can activate a Shinespark even while in Morph Ball form, which will be critical to getting the goods from this secret area.
2 Artaria Speed Block Tunnel
This room is another example of a secret hidden in plain sight. Once players defeat the boss fight in the frozen Artaria, they will come out to a familiar tunnel from the beginning of the game. There are obvious Speed Boost blocks to bust through, and they lead to a seemingly empty room. However, this room is actually critical for finding a second secret in the area — and this one will have a reward for the player.
Using the leftmost room revealed by Speed Boosting, players can Speed Boost to the right and jump up to reveal a long tunnel, with more Speed Boost walls in the way. Just keep running forward to find a room with a Missile Tank upgrade. This secret isn’t hard to get, but it can be very easy to simply pass by. Secret areas are rarely empty or useless, so always make sure to check them out, even if they seem useless at first sight.
1 Ferenia’s Grapple Beam Room
Ferenia is chock full of difficult secret areas. This time, players will want to explore past the top-leftmost EMMI zone door. A good landmark to find this secret is the purple Chozo statue past the EMMI door. Head past the statue and Screw Attack the ceiling on the farthest side away from the statue. This will reveal another cavern, and with it, a very difficult puzzle.
Players will have to be careful in their Bombing placement in this puzzle, as there are pitfall blocks below that drop Samus to the beginning of the puzzle again. It will take a lot of careful Bombing and Screw Attack work to correctly position Samus to get rid of a Grapple Beam block inside the maze-like puzzle. Players will be on the clock, bombing the wall out, jumping back, and grappling all before the blocks can respawn. This puzzle is very touchy with timing, so give it a few tries to try and learn the timing of respawning blocks.
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