The Outer Worlds 2: Advanced Decryption Key Locations for Valerie Lockbox

During the A Healthy Improvement quest in The Outer Worlds 2, you will be sent to Incognito. Valerie will speak about the lockbox.

This will start the quest, which involves you helping her unlock the Lockbox by finding 4 unique Advanced Decryption Keys. If you don’t know where to look, then this guide has got you covered.

Valerie is a companion who appears early in the game aboard your ship, the Incognito. Near her, in the ship’s cargo bay is a lockbox that can initially be opened with a single Advanced Decryption Key she provides to you. Opening this first lockbox grants you the “Auntie’s Acidic Dematerializer” gadget.

Attention: The box requires keys every time there is a new VAL upgrade available to unlock. The first time you unlock the box you’ll need four keys and then additional keys to access it when Val’s upgrades cycle in.

How to Start Valerie’s Companion Quest

Valarie’s companion storyline starts after you wake up on the ship very early in The Outer Worlds 2 campaign. After she is part of your crew go down to the cargo bay to talk to her.

During this conversation she will mention a locked case aka The Lockbox, that has some experimental mod kit she is working on. You get the Advanced Decryption Keys by looting around the Paradise Island and Arcadia. They are also given as quest rewards in the game or bought from shop containers.

All Advanced Decryption Keys for the Lockbox in The Outer Worlds 2

Talk to Valerie, and she will give you a key to unlock the first lockbox, which is really close. Unlocking it will give you Auntie’s Acidic Dematerializer. After unlocking the first lockbox, talk to her again to get the instructions for the second lockbox. Unlocking this one is not as easy as the first lockbox, as you need to gather 4 Advanced Decryption Keys. Let’s take a look at where you can get them:

Advanced Decryption Key Location #1:

Head far west of Paradise Island and head into the Ministry of Accuracy. The area will seem familiar, as you might have come here during the Refreshing Bit of News quest.

The door will be jammed, so you wll need either the Brawny Trait, Engineering 1, or Hack 3 to enter it. Keep exploring, and you will eventually find the High Security Lockbox and the first key under the Infantry Cap.

Advanced Decryption Key Location #2:

At the More Perfect Goods Store in Fairfield, you will see that Arthur Cromby is selling the second key for 1000 Bits. Buy it to move on to the third key.

Advanced Decryption Key Location #3

To get the third key, collect the Diabolical Drones of Doom bounty from the Fairfield Bounty Terminal and complete the quest objective. You will need to destroy several Protectorate Wasps in the hills around the Ministry of Accuracy. Once done, the key will be yours.

Advanced Decryption Key Location #4

From the Fairfield office, take the Schemes of the Secret Smugglers side quest by entering the Fairfield clinic and using the computer terminal. It will contain three files: Compliance Investigations Notations, Nothing Hurts Like Stupid Does, and A Profitable Resolution. Read them all to get the last key.

Now that you have all the keys required to unlock the Lockbox, head back to Incognito and use them. Inside, you will get Val’s Mod Kit. You may be wondering what this item even does. Here’s what to do with the Val’s Mod Kit:

Go to any nearby workbench and interact with it.
Select the Party Upgrades option and choose any of Val’s upgrades.
You can switch between different upgrades, allowing you to customize Val’s build.

After completing this companion quest, you will get the following rewards: