Getting Started in The Alters

## Before You Start
Last Variable requires the base game and specifically continues from the ending where Jan Scientist stays on the planet -- if you haven't reached that ending yet, finish the base campaign first rather than jumping into the DLC expecting it to work from any save state.
This is a genuinely story-heavy, choice-driven survival game -- go in expecting your decisions about resource rationing, time allocation, and resolving disputes between Alters to meaningfully shape the narrative, not just your resource totals.
## Managing Multiple Specialized Alters in Last Variable
Since your team of scientist Alters is confirmed to have genuinely differing philosophies about the correct scientific approach, pay attention to interpersonal tension as a real gameplay factor -- letting disputes go unaddressed is confirmed to risk the team fracturing under pressure.
## Preparing for Escalating Danger
Since planetary threats (earthquakes, radiation waves) are confirmed to become more common as you progress through Last Variable, don't treat early expeditions as representative of the difficulty curve -- budget real preparation time for later, more dangerous phases.
## Common Mistakes
* Starting Last Variable without having reached the specific "Jan Scientist stays" ending in the base game.
* Neglecting Field Lab-based research in favor of pure survival tasks -- the new research systems are confirmed as central to unraveling the Oasis mystery, not optional side content.