The Rod Warrior is the second Dustlander mission in Saints Row (2022) after the concept was introduced in The Dustmoot. Moving away from the insane amounts of killing, the Dustlander missions turn the entire city into a giant Live Action Roleplay (LARP) game, where nobody dies - they just pretend to.

How To Complete The Rod Warrior Mission In Saints Row¶

The Dustmoot was one of our favorite missions so far in the game, so it is good to be getting back to House Sandy Kraken and cosplaying our way across the map. This time, Neenah is involved too so Eli is going to need some more cardboard and duct tape.

Before you can begin The Rod Warrior properly, there are a couple of objectives that need to be completed. This is the first time we have encountered this so don’t be caught off guard.

Firstly, before you can play The Rod Warrior mission you need to visit your Empire Table and construct Castle Kraken as a new venture. It will cost you $30,000 so make sure you have enough. After that, it doesn’t really matter where you place it. It won’t overly affect your future plans for city-wide domination.

Once you have placed Castle Kraken you will be warped to its location. Now, secondary objectives will appear before you can start The Rod Warrior. Similar to how you set the House Tapeworm beacon alight in The Dustmoot, you must now do the same to the beacons of House Phoenix and House Dust Storm so you will need to find them on the map and torch them.

Both beacons will appear on your map to the west in the South Badlands area. Look for them in the area highlighted in the map above.

They are potentially a sizeable drive from Castle Kraken depending on where you placed it on your Empire Table so you might want to bear that in mind when you are positioning your venture.

Drive to each (it doesn’t matter in which order) and set alight to the beacon by approaching it and activating it. You will soon be attacked by members of each house and will have to LARP kill them all before you can progress.

Once you have set both alight and cleared both areas The Rod Warrior will be open to you from the Missions app on your phone.

Objective 1 - Meeteth With Elijah The Wise¶

Set The Rod Warrior active and you will get a call from Eli. Head across from the Badlands to The Lookout where you will find him waiting with Neenah who is about to get roped into LARP for the first time. You will get some background information on a fabled weapon known as The Bowelrod - a giant worm that can take down enemies by the dozen - it’s actually a car, but it’s LARP so use your imagination.

Objective 2 - Travel To The Bowelrod’s Lair / Commune With The Keeper¶

Without spoiling the plot too much you need to now drive to the Keeper’s Lair which is her house. She will trade The Bowelrod for all the duct tape you stole in The Dustmoot. It turns out however The Bowelrod has been dismantled and is now, just literally a van. You are going to need to get all the parts of the Bowelrod and assemble it. Sounds like there is a lot of driving coming up.

Objective 3 - Travel To Fort Phoenix / Stealth Into The Camp¶

It’s going to get a bit weird now, so bear with us. The first part of the Bowelrod is at Fort Phoenix, back out in the desert. While you are traveling Eli will explain that he has an invisibility potion that will allow you to sneak in and get the part back. However, as this is LARP, there is no actual potion, you need to cross your arms to signify you have taken an invisibility potion. Still with us?

As long as your arms are crossed your enemies ‘can’t’ see you so you can stealth up on them and kill them. If however you use a weapon or melee attack and are spotted your spell is broken and you get kicked back to restart from the last checkpoint. There are around seven enemies and you need to ‘kill’ them all.

Enter the camp and your arms will cross. Walk up to the first enemy - he can’t see you so perform a takedown. The Boss will ‘kill’ them in a humorous manner. Head left and stealth kill the next two guys, who are both facing away so it is easy.

Now loop back to the right and move around the building, Stealth kill the enemy there, and progress. Now you will see another enemy there but don’t kill him as there is a guard looking right at you behind the barrier and you will die. Stealth past this guard and the one behind the barrier. If you kill this one yet you will also die as there is a guard you may not have spotted on the watch platform. Make your way to the platform and kill that guard first, then come back down and kill the guard waiting behind the barrier before finishing off the final guard that you initially walked past. That is all of them so you can now go and open the chest under the platform and retrieve the first part of The Bowelrod.

Objective 4 - Journey To The Warehouse / Grabbeth The Part¶

Climb into the platform and look for the mission marker. The warehouse is a short distance away and Eli and Neenah are waiting there. Jump down and make your way there. There is a second part in a crate there, although you will be attacked by a few guards when you arrive. Now you just need The Bowelrod’s head.

Objective 5 - Journey To The Peak Of Fort Phoenix¶

Follow the mission marker up the hill until you come to the top of Fort Phoenix. You will come under attack again, but nothing too dramatic. The final Bowelrod part is in a chest outside. Now you need to get it back to Neenah via a wingsuit jump off the top and back down. Eli doesn’t have a wingsuit so he is staying behind to cover you.

Objective 6 - Bring The Part To Neenifer / Protect Neenifer¶

Once you give Neenah the part she will construct The Bowelrod and start the incantation that will raise it back to ‘life’ During this time you will come under intense, sustained attacks from both sides and must protect Neenah while she performs the ritual which is in three parts. This equals three waves of attackers you have to survive and they will come from both sides of the warehouse so you need to be on your toes and remain close to Neenah at all times.

How far along the ritual is highlighted by the new usual yellow ba and this needs to be full before the attacks will cease.

Objective 7 - Mount Thine Bowelrod / Rescue Elijah The Wise¶

Now it is time to go and rescue Eli who has been captured, so get in The Bowelrod and drive to where he is being held by a large number of guards,. You now have a special trick up your sleeve in terms of the Bowelrod’s mega-weapon that can take out large numbers with the press of a button.

Press the control highlighted on the screen and The Bowelrod will emanate a pulse wave outwards that will take down any enemy in the way. Drive around the camp killing all the guards this way and go and collect Eli to complete the mission.

Unlocked During The Rod Warrior¶

The following items are unlocked for future missions upon completion of the The Rod Warrior
.