How to get Leyak Essence in Abiotic Factor

Do you like listening to the faint sighing of Leyaks in Abiotic Factor? Yeah, I have nightmares about them too. Fortunately, not only can you get rid of them, but you can actually get some of their Leyak Essences,

Here’s how to get Leyak Essence in Abiotic Factor.

How Leyaks work in Abiotic Factor

I both love and hate Leyaks in Abiotic Factor. While I hate encountering them and listening to their sighs, they are undoubtedly what I’ll remember most about this game. When almost all enemies in any video game ever try to kill you, a Leyak just follows you and stares. Even if you are safe and sound in your base, a Leyak may pop in for a visit. Don’t bother barricading your doors; they don’t work on a Leyak. It doesn’t help that Leyaks are immune to any form of damage and won’t even flinch if you fire a gun at them.

If you don’t provoke a Leyak, they are harmless, but if you get really close to them, they start breathing hysterically and relentlessly attacking you. If you don’t run from an agitated Leyak, you will die—unless you have an X-ray Lamp.

How to get Leyak Essence in Abiotic Factor

You need an X-ray Tower (and later an X-ray Lamp) to get Leyak Essence in Abiotic Factor. To build an X-ray Tower you need: 

• One Projection Matrix (build it from parts in the Adjustments section of the Containment Zone)
• Two Refined Carbon (same as above)
• One Lab Burner (same as above)
• One Keyboard (get it anywhere)

First, find a Leyak, or let it find you (I’m shivering). When you spot one, hopefully in a safe space without other enemies around, quickly look for a power socket nearby. Place the X-ray Tower near the socket (you need a Screwdriver to assemble it) and plug it in. Keep your eyes peeled to the Leyak so it doesn’t move closer to you. Make sure the X-ray Tower is facing the Leyak. 

When the tower is in place, move away from the Leyak so it walks into the X-ray Tower’s field of view. If you do everything correctly, the X-ray Tower will flash a Lamp at the Leyak for a few seconds after which the Leyak will disappear and leave behind a red orb—the Leyak Essence.

Ensure you don’t carry the Leyak Essence too far because it’s radioactive and will make you sick unless you take precautions. You’ll need four Leyak Essences to enter the Containment Zone Control Center and reset the security system.

How to get X-ray Lamp in Abiotic Factor

The X-ray Lamp is a better version of the X-ray Tower. This handheld version runs on chargeable batteries. It’s so good that you can even deal with an agitated Leyak. I accidentally bumped into a few of them and managed to turn them into Essence with the X-ray Lamp. You can get the crafting recipe for the X-ray Lamp by interacting with the wall computer next to the X-ray checkpoint at the Containment Zone Control Center.

To make an X-ray Lamp, you need:

• X-ray Tower
• Leyak Essence (you need to get at least one with the X-ray Tower, but it’s worth it)
• Two Jailbroken CPUs (you can get these from security robots in the Laboratory Area)

Once you have the X-ray Lamp, never remove it from your hot bar. Trust me, even if you don’t need any more Leyak essences, there’s nothing more annoying than a wandering Leyak while you are in the middle of a fight with a Tarasque. (Yes, this happened to me, and the X-ray Lamp saved me.)

Bonus: How to deal with Leyaks

Before you get your hands on an X-ray Tower, you can still run into Leyaks, which can be terrifying. The easiest way to deal with them is to get close and stare back at them. Move close, but not too close. Make sure you are close enough to hear them breathing loud enough. Stare at them for about 15 to 20 seconds. After that, the Leyak disappears (presumably because it lost the staring contest with you). They will come back, so until you get the X-ray Tower and Lamp, make sure to face them.