Basic Idea

As mentioned in the description, the main idea is jump to Distance 2, heal, jump to Distance 3, heal, Jump to Distance 4, heal, jump to Distance 5, let companion beat boss. Profit. A lot of this guide covers how I got distracted, but whatever playstyle you prefer the idea is the same. Don't get caught up in fights, don't waste your heals, and always be prepared to jump.

You will quickly poke around each floor, scavenge what you can, but you will avoid combat as much as possible. Any enemies can be killed by your companion, just preserve your health. If you find the teleporter, obviously use it. The main objective here is to jump from floor to floor, healing along the way until you get to the boss. Then let your companion fight the boss for you. This rewards you with a chunk of scrap and the random reward chest (which is worth 50 scrap if purchased) then rinse, lather, repeat.

What you will need:

• To have already unlocked the "Exile" character and levelled him. His 50% bonus to companion health and the heal ability are what this method relies upon.
  
• To have already completed the mission, and captured the Crystaline Companion.

Here's what I did this guide run through with:



Also note I start out with 109 scrap, 276 crystal, and an active Crystaline Companion.

My health is an important stat. It doesn't need to be this high, but having 155 means I can jump to the floor below twice and still leave myself with 5 health. The next important stat is the heal power which has 4 charges and provides 80 health a go. This gives me another 4 levels I can jump down. So, I'm more than ready for this, if you're a few levels below this is still viable.

You do not need any equipment, but as you won't be dying (if this is done correctly) you can couple this with miner gear to remove rocks or a machete to remove weeds for additional scrap. If you take a DNA Extractor you can collect Crystaline Companions in your inventory to store for later, saving you the 75 crystal required to spawn them.

Distance 1

In my case, there weren't many enemies, I explored a bit, found some loot, and found the teleporter. I also got a companion from a random event. No jump needed.



Loot from this Distance: 13 scrap, 14 crystal

Distance 2

I poked around a bit, didn't find much other than enemies, got cornered, so took the plunge.



Loot from this Distance: 4 scrap, 0 crystal

Distance 3

First thing I did was use my heal power. Scavenged, and I found the teleporter again.



Loot from this Distance: 49 scrap, 0 crystal

Distance 4

Same as above but I took a bit of a battering losing 60 health. Marginally better than having jumped.



Loot from this Distance: 47 scrap, 0 crystal

I used my health power right at the start. My health is lower than you'd expect because I explored a little more after the previous screenshot. I didn't get any extra loot, but I took extra damage.

Once on Distance 5 I went and picked up the little scrap chest (no point exploring, there's nothing else here) which awoke the boss.



It now becomes a case of my blue Crystaline Companion versus the enemy red one.



My Exile's 50% bonus to companion health is key here, and as you can see, my companion wins out easy, even with my ineffectual flailing at the boss. The boss has also decided that my companion is the biggest threat and so doesn't attack me. If I had a DNA Extractor with me, I could have it and captured it for later.

In my inventory you see a little one star gun, it fires crabs and the boss dropped it. I open the scrap box which previously awoke the boss, and it gave me 170 scrap. I also had this little crate to open.



Opening it gave me a four star Keffiyeh:



So, I started with 109 scrap and 276 crystal. I finished with 392 scrap, 295 crystral.

Net gain of 283 scrap, 19 crystal, an interesting gun, a Keffiyeh, another low levelled companion for my storage (might come in handy). I don't consider this a bad haul as I also got some new DNA entries.

Depending on your style, you can increase your loot by taking a DNA Extractor, mining gear, machete and so on, or you can increase your speed by immediately jumping and healing on every level. This method can be very quick if you simply jump from Distance 1 to 5, and collect the rewards as your companion beats the boss. Really what should make your mind up is whether there's anything you need to unlock in your DNA log via exploring, if the answer is no, I'd highly recommend jumping 4 times, which still would have awarded 170 scrap and the reward crate, and also the opportunity to capture the Crystaline Companion.