Junction

Spoilers ahead
This page may contain story spoilers! Proceed at your own risk...

A Junction is one of the destinations the player can either scan using one of the Antenna's Scanner Charges while looking at the Route Planner, or drive through on their way to their desired destination.

When entering a Junction, the game will be saved. While in a Junction, leaving the game and rejoining will put you at the point where you entered said Junction.

The playable area of a Junction is surrounded by a multi-colored shimmering field. Attempting to leave the playable area, whether by car or on foot, will lead to the shimmer quickly intensifying until you're warped back within the boundaries. The warp is harmless, apart from minor damage to the car if you're driving at the time.

Junction Summary

The image below shows a summary of the Junction, its conditions, potential hazards and their expected frequency, as well as buildings or vehicles and their loot density.

All properties below the two horizontal lines in the Summary view are procedurally generated.

Junction Identifier

Every Junction has an identifier given to it, that is one letter and one number, such as E5, with letters ranging from A to G and R. These are similar, but not the same, to grid coordinates on maps, as the Letter is based off of the junctions position on the map in "sectors" and the number is simply used to uniquely identify the junction in that sector. For example, the player starts in The Auto Shop at E8, can move northwest to G1 then northwest again to G3, or northeast to F1 and northeast again to F3.

Biome

Every Junction has a biome that determines what the area looks like, the Anomalies that appear, and the possible resources the player might find. The biome for a Junction can be determined by the Junction's map icon, as well as the biome icon that appears next to the Junction Identifier in the Summary view. The biome is also spelled out in the label just below the Junction Identifier in the Summary view.

Junction Name

In the Upper Right corner of the Summary view is the Junction's Name. Some of these are notable and story-related, such as Sierram, others are flavor but provide a hint to the type of map the player may encounter. These names can be shared with other Junctions, as they have similar (or the same) map layout.

Conditions

Each Junction has up to four conditions that are randomly generated. These modifiers affect how difficult a Junction is, though some may make them easier (ex. Perpetual Stability).

Route Analysis

Every Junction has randomly generated tiers of certain elements that appear in the Route Analysis of the Junction Summary. These tiers can vary from "NONE" or "MAX". The analyzed elements are:

Atmospheric Shifts
Anomaly Density
Radiation Density
Zone Storm
Fuel Density
Vehicle Density
Building Density
Resource Density

The desirable elements are Fuel, Vehicle, Building, and Resource Density as these control the amount of vehicles and buildings you'll find, as well as the amount of resources. Note, even if Resource Density is NONE, this doesn't mean there are no resources anywhere in the Junction.

Hazards and Lootables

The final section of the Summary view shows the Anchors, Anomalies, and Lootables that The Driver may find in the Junction.

Exit Junctions

These Junctions have Stable Exits and can be used to complete a Run. The amount of kLIM's necessary to open a Gateway is shown in one of several places:

their tooltip on the Route Planner's map
in the Junction Summary, viewable in the Route Planner when hovering over the Junction
on the Traveling screen when choosing the next Junctiono
upon entering a Junction
when viewing the ARC Device in the car

Typically, Exit Junctions are those that appear at the outer edge of how far you've explored and unlock new Junctions after exiting through a gateway. They can appear as Intermediate Junctions as well.

Intermediate Junctions

Early in the game, the player will start to unlock Junctions that require driving through other Junctions to reach them. These Intermediate Junctions are chained together to make a Run. Intermediate Junctions can also be Exit Junctions that the player can choose to open a Gateway in and end their run there, or they can choose to continue through a toward their destination.

Non-Exit Junctions

Some Junctions do not have any Stable Exits and cannot be used to complete a Run. These are "Intermediate Junctions" and show "NO STABLE EXITS" in the space where an Exit Junction shows the kLIMs required to open a Gateway.

Junction Summary, viewed in the Route Planner, for a simple, early game, Non-Exit Junction the player is likely to encounter. The Anomalies have been redacted to prevent spoilers.

Dead Ends

If a Non-Exit Junction generates with no outgoing connections to viable Exit Junctions, it becomes a Dead End. Entering such a junction is tantamount to failure, as the only ways to return to the Auto Shop at that point are either abandoning the run, or dying. The current active save will have been overwritten at the moment of entering the junction, removing the ability to reload into the previous junction.

Since these effects are quite devastating, the game takes multiple steps to warn against entering a Dead End. In the Route Planner, they are marked as such in the kLIM readout and it's impossible to select one as a route destination. When travelling between junctions, hovering over a Dead End will display a more prominent warning around the map border, and attempting to travel to one will sound a warning chime, allowing some time to react and release the button before the animation completes. Finally, as a statement more than a warning, the ARC Device status becomes "DEAD END: ABANDON TRIP" once inside a Dead End junction.

There are no Achievements or User Manual entries unlocked by visiting a Dead End. Don't do it (unless you really want to).

A Dead End junction in the Route Planner. Note that C1 is considered a Dead End even though it's connected to B1; this is because B1 itself is a Dead End.
A Dead End junction in the travel interface. This is your final warning.
The ARC Device informs you that you cannot return by convencional means.