Elite Dangerous Lore, Raxxla and the Dark Wheel

#elitedangerous #lore #raxxla #darkwheel
If you're a new player, or just want a handy reference to the greatest mysteries of the Elite Dangerous universe, this video will lay out all the story behind the myth of Raxxla and the legend of the Dark Wheel.
Join Drew's Discord here - / discord
** There is a small error in the video. One date for Raxxla is mentioned as 2286, it should be 2296. My apologies! **
Drew Wagar is an official author for Elite Dangerous, having written many missions, lore entries, in-game narrative and two official books - Reclamation and Premonition. Find out more from his website - www.drewwagar.com

[@daeldo1]

Imagine that when you think the server took a crap because your stuck in witch space for a minute and don't arrive at your destination and alt+f4 your game, it's intentional and really on a multi hour jump to Raxxla but you are just impatient. It's not a bug, not a server issue, but a journey.

[@darthhunter69]

Interesting theory, I might test it someday

[@Supermunch2000]

Raxxla confirmed as the friends we made along the way!

[@siRrk1337]

friendship drive charging... 3, 2, 1, engaged!

[@garyharrison4915]

But I have no friends.....

[@user-es8ud4lh9s]

Played Elite for two years straight in my late teens. Zero. Friends. Made. How sad is the life of a lone slave trader, huh?

[@gliixo]

@Hyacinth Moczygemba yo we all know this is shitty spam get out of here

[@thecargohold3601]

@@siRrk1337 literally what my friend and I say as it charges lolol

[@BlackStar250874]

Now this is just golden. There are many guides for Raxxla and Dark Wheel, but this must be the best I have seen. o7

[@higgsbonbon]

Well, he DOES write the books...

[@jmerrick2012]

If the devs do it right, finding Raxxla won't be a finality, but will raise new questions, start new quests, and present more mysteries.

[@gorfic__starshadow9801]

"during a gold rush, you can be the man buying a shovel or the man selling one." Im sure RAXXLA didnt hurt sales.

[@drewwagar]

Experience teaches it's best to be the guy selling the shovels. :)

[@sopi2]

These lore bits are so important, it elevates the game to a whole new level. Thank you for making them!

[@cmdrablearry3815]

Nice work Drew, as always. As a member of the Black Sky Legion who is working hard to assist the The dark Wheel faction in its galactic expansion I loved the way this video was presented. Thank you.

[@andyc664]

Can’t find your group

[@cmdrablearry3815]

Hi Len. Our contact details are all in the Elite Week youtube channel videos. Drop into our discord and meet up with the guys, they are a friendly bunch.

[@snikrepak]

Be wary of groups that claim to be working for the wheel. Quae is working diligently to remove these types of groups.

[@IronHead42]

Found some Raxxla in my kitchen drawer but they must have got damp and stuck together, so I had to go down the shop for another packet.

[@TheBerteh]

Thanks Drew :) Been playing since 84, but have never really delved in the mythos of the Elite universe. I really enjoyed the video :)

[@ChrisFowlerNH]

Excellent as usual Cmdr. Wagar. Raxxla haunts us all in some way. Whenever I travel, whether it be in the bubble or deep into the black, its ringing tone somewhere in my psyche is inescapable! 07

[@asmrgamingOz]

yup the hunt and the haunting continue, motivation enough for me to continue the search

[@ChrisFowlerNH]

@@asmrgamingOz ❤️

[@alz722]

Thank you so much for making these videos. I have them running whilst playing Elite, adding some much appreciated flavour to the game.

[@seanlewis34]

The Myth that is Raxxla? Oh Raxxla is there somewhere believe me. It's not so much that you will find it if you go looking, more that Raxxla will find you when they think you are ready for the truth. Don't let that stop Cmdr's looking mind you as that is how you become ready. O7 Drew, Keep writing

[@heebldorf5333]

are you telling me Drew, That raxxla is hidden unless you hit a goal only the planet itself knows about

[@Doile911]

Drew, i just found this, and this is much better to listen to while laser mining, than the galnet news. Cheers, for making my gameplay more enhanced and enjoyable. o7

[@carlharrison3637]

Very well read there Drew - loved your books fella and love this mystery. When it will be revealed by Fdev god knows - it would be nice if FDev said - Raxxla is out there and it can be reached i.e. not a blocked system. It would surely start a gold rush for us explorers!

[@Silky_Smooth91]

They actually said that Raxxla is in the game. They also said (if I remember correctly) that a commander reached the system where Raxxla is in, but jumped away without scanning it.

[@Wither_Strike]

@@Silky_Smooth91 I’m late but what I’ve seen is that the person scanned it, and saw that it was Raxxla and got a different notification or something when they did, but didn’t know about Raxxlas importance in the lore at that time and have since been unable to find out where the path they took was. Presumably it is close to the bubble though because they said they were pretty new to the game, I can’t imagine them having more than a 30LY jump range at that point personally unless they were using guides, unsure, but I doubt they would have the patience to make it more than a few hours away from the bubble if I had to guess. This information was gathered from the person claiming to be the subject of the story in a reply to a youtube comment though so take it with a grain of salt, or 2, or 2 hundred

[@siRrk1337]

these naration-style videos are amazing! you deserve a bigger audience, and im sure itll happen if u keep this up!

[@its_deer]

Fantastic stuff Drew, I could listen to your voice for hours, especially about something as well written as this!

[@drewwagar]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@gunbladelad7772]

I definitely enjoyed your take on Raxxla in the Oolite Saga, Drew.

[@abexuro]

Keep turning the wheel CMDRs! o7

[@Deantwo]

Thinking of Raxxla as a gateway makes me think of the Dark Planet from Battlezone2.

[@georgiosnanos6186]

Greetings CMDRs, i think its time to go back to checking the systems and planets around SOL

[@highrider9168]

The great raxxla potato hunt is doing that. Should check them out

[@gorfic__starshadow9801]

I approve this message. The great potato hunt is humanities best bet at finding raxxla.

[@Salivagant]

How far from Sol should we say?

[@MATTIUS]

Excellent video Drew. Well done mate.

[@bravepart]

Fantastic video - really well put together footage! I've stumbled across 1 thread that I feel could very well lead to..another thread, such is the journey regarding such mysteries. As with a lot of mysteries in Elite, people let their ego get in the way of discovery. Just as I don't want to share what I know, on the off chance that I'm on the cusp of a great discovery - secrets are kept closely guarded, and the ones that are shared, get shrouded in Chinese whispers and the wisps of truth within them lost forever..

[@ProtoNoah]

I joined the Children of Raxxla because of the story of Raxxla. Because I had hoped that at one point we would see it in game via story progression. Unfortunately we have gotten nothing on it and frontier has done nothing with it

[@MoonlitRose101]

I know I'll never find Raxxla. I'm keen to stick in the bubble amd just do simple transport and salvage missions. That won't stop me from constantly wondering about it. Thinking about where it is, and what it holds. I can't wait for someone to find it, even if we never do.

[@shinobusmods8682]

"If ya wanna get to Rax... Go to "******" and then set your drive to the "******" system... Before the drive countdown reaches zero, pull back on the stick... You'll be in Witchspace between systems.... It's not marked, but you can't miss it"

[@dclark142002]

So, basically Raxxla is the FDev sandbox for testing new features in the game?

[@ThatEnglishGent]

Turning the wheel 😏

[@Gunbudder]

the story fory ED is so good. you can take as much or as little as you want. i spent SO MANY HOURS killing pirates with my friends, flying around in my ship using my VR headset. its one of the best VR games i've ever played, and one of the few that never makes me sick. being a writer for this game has to be creatively satisfying, especially getting to know about the easter eggs

[@llencoram]

You gave us a very good luck into how the current FTL drives came about, but is there any chance you could touch on how the supercruise drives happened as well?

[@luke5g230]

Great video everyone involved

[@DpsGame]

Raxxla is like One Piece ! It's The Journey to become the King of all Pirates...Uhm, I mean of all Elites ! It's all of the connections made along the way between civilizations, people and other species. Raxxla is the ultimate adventure of hardship and glory !

[@evilways961]

Thanks for the Video..

[@dylanosborne2575]

Drew you can't stop making elite videos

[@drewwagar]

I'm afraid I have. 2021 was the end of Elite for me.

[@dylanosborne2575]

@@drewwagar I'll miss your videos and tours your a legend in elite I just started about 1 year ago and you've helped me so much so thanks and good luck commander

[@drewwagar]

@@dylanosborne2575 Fly safe in the void, CMDR... and right on! :)

[@nomadtheskeleton2324]

Long live the Black Sky Legion, we will turn the wheel until our hands fall off and then turn it some more! o7

[@snikrepak]

Stop turning the wheel! You all have no idea what wheel your turning, if at all.

[@gorfic__starshadow9801]

To quote one of my favorite parts of a favorite book... "War?' Raan asked. 'What war?' Bill chuckled. 'The war against the Thargoids. Yeah, I know, it's not in the history recs. That's because they don't want folks to know ..." I dont like being in the dark. A shadow needs light to exist.

[@drewwagar]

Sounds like a great book. :)

[@gorfic__starshadow9801]

@@drewwagar oh it is. it makes me wish I could try my hand at something more than peddling cargo or chasing undesirables to the outer edges of ... oblivion. But we play the hand we're dealt...right? just know that my ironass is always available should the need arise. and thank you...Commander.

[@draugh1r219]

name of the book?

[@gorfic__starshadow9801]

@@draugh1r219 www.drewwagar.com/elitedangerous/

[@gorfic__starshadow9801]

@@draugh1r219 paperback are the best. Nothing beats fresh book smell.

[@mark3bs]

never missed one of you vids yet ,truly thought provoking

[@pixierenewed4994]

Thank you

[@drewwagar]

You're welcome. :)

[@ghostdog4330]

Raxxla is David Braben's retirement policy. Keep em playing and they'll keep paying...

[@MacVerick]

Excellent CMDR o7!

[@JaymeSplendid]

To speak outside of the lore here, I really believe that both these areas aren't even in the game yet. They have been bread crumbs and drip clues here and there but knowing FDev, its an idea on paper or they have been testing different ideas and versions and ideas of WHAT they want it to be. I think they don't even know 100% on what to do with it. It's better for them to NOT put it in then to actually have it in as this would ruin so much of its lore. I am willing to bet one or both of these things are either never going be to in the game or have yet to be implemented

[@danlavirre]

Thanks for the video cmdr o7

[@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102]

My headcanon is, that the Pilot's Federation created a myth of Raxxla. Part as marketing effort and to make their own organisation distinct from others. A bit like the pseudo mysticism of Comstar in the Battletech universe.

[@MediaevalJames]

Always did feel like the Pilot's Federation had to have less than altruistic intentions like Comstar, flying the flag of neutrality to suit it's own goals *cough cough* 2nd Thargoid War *cough cough*

[@EeveeAsPie]

you sound like the codex narrator is this a coincidence?

[@drewwagar]

Is a coincidence, I was not involved with the codex. :)

[@EeveeAsPie]

thanks for reply! i just listened to the codex during a mining session and found it interesting

[@baradircardh9098]

Will there be a german translation of your books? I can only speak a little bit of english and need help from a online translater.

[@Fresh_Baklava]

Yet another video that makes me boot up the game. Your videos are so well done!! Would there be enough info/lore to do a Raxxla/Dark Wheel Tour when the Astro Tour ends? I pretty much know the answer to that....sadly. lol! Thx for sharing Drew o7

[@drewwagar]

We already did that earlier this year :) > kzbin.info/www/bejne/e37ZqZVvjp2gjtE

[@patrickwillumsen9575]

I've always wondered if Drew Wagar knows the truth about Raxxla, or at least to some extend

[@Zarkaithnia]

IT's interesting the devs made a faction, The Dark Wheel, who are essentially a copy of the real Illuminati/Kahzarian Mafia. I sure would love access to their archives...I do wonder though...what are the odds the devs did a typical thing and put in ZERO clues in game to find Raxxla? IF they did that the chances of someone finding it are less than 1%. Unless it's a dev system and The Dark Wheel is the dev faction. Otherwise if they intend for players to find Raxxla they'd need to add in clues slowly over time with the updates. I wouldn't be surprised if Odyessy is the start...

[@4geraX]

Noice, just had a nightmare about raxxla lol woke up and saw this but I had to click.

[@pluxauag7555]

I've been looking, checked 100+ (While exploring) 8th moon around Gas giants so far around the Orion Nebula, nothing so far. My suspicion is a very long in space frameshift ride to a permit locked system. Need to get as close as possible and do the long journey to the most likely one. I have 5 candidate systems to look at that are permit locked from "Jumping into" but not slow frameshift riding too.

[@grasher21]

There's a group of players working for The Dark Wheel faction. I'm also in that group. We're expanding the faction The Dark Wheel into several systems to see if it triggers something, some event, or unlocking some other things in the milky way. Main goals is to reach Lave, Sol and my personal and most suspicious one, LFT 509. The Dark Wheel has reached Lave by now. Nothing happened. We're on the way to Sol and LFT 509. Sol is because, well, it's where human species started. LFT 509 is because it has a 8th moon orbiting a gas giant that has permit lock and it's right in the bubble. My bet is this system. No idea how to make The Dark Wheel go into LFT 509, but everyone is working to try and force the faction into that system.

[@seanlewis34]

Interesting theory, don't run out of fuel

[@grasher21]

@@seanlewis34 Everyone is welcome to help. The more the merrier. We are using the Discord Elite Week for this community goal. Hop in if you want o7

[@seanlewis34]

@@grasher21 Might just do that at some point. Have the annoying thing called work blunting my downtime right now with a deadline looming, but I will catch you all soon.

[@AgentWaltonSimons]

You can't supercruise into other systems that way. It has been tried before, and you can fly the full distance to the other system and there won't be anything there when you get there - it doesn't load it. Each system is a separate instance in the game, and the only way to switch between them is via hyperspace jumps.

[@grasher21]

Damn! Been waiting for this o7

[@master5string1]

So I had a bounty to claim from the dark wheel for a while this was before I knew a whole lot about the game maybe been playing for a month. I wish I knew where I picked it up at. I'm pretty sure I got it killing some ganker.

[@westnerrs2084]

Seen most of your video’s mate.

[@ottolehikoinen6193]

NPC Pirates get their ships from Raxxla. But even they do not know which of the permit-locked places leads to it.

[@NecroUnit]

I wanna to find this planet!

[@platypusrex2287]

Turn the wheel.

[@MrMoorkey]

After following leads, lots of research, rambling and scribbling, I came up with a map pointing to empty space in the bubble. One time, I thought RAXXLA was the map itself: Right Ascension 20, LA (Which I took as 'LAve'. So, with a specially bought cheapo starship, I set out to Lave, mapped out 20 degrees right ascension, which made little sense, and low waked until I ran out of fuel and... nothing. For the longest time I stationed myself in ShinDez, allying myself with the supposed Dark Wheel faction. And...interestingly enough, for a supposed name only faction...nothing. Raxxla is the lure of that horizon, and a reason to carry on in the knowledge I won't be the one to find it. Even my nine year old son has a book of theories he's made up, and is actively pursuing. Raxxla has been the source of many heated debates, discussions and note comparisons between the two of us down the two years he's been a commander, and therefore some of the best fun we've ever had being wrong.

[@Zm4rc0]

What is that background? What are those golden shields? What are those decals? What..? & what about generations ships that went back [REDACTED] ?

[@drewwagar]

From the olden days of ED. :)

[@ilikemorestuff]

Raxxla export spicy chilli

[@egnappahz]

OMG that cobra totally took down that connie did anyone see???

[@BSE1320]

Raxxla? Yeah okay. You look for Raxxla, I'll be over here mining Void Opals and lighting cigars with burning paper currency. xD

[@ben2741]

Who here is listening to this series while traveling to Hutton Orbital?

[@GlorpusGlupus]

What if raxxla isn’t a set place but an area within our galaxy holding these secrets.

[@dylanosborne2575]

Dude is anyone else emotionally connected to elite in a way you can't explain I'm so sad they've abandoned console players

[@zamirroa]

At this point fdep would really drop raxxla in some system that they know people have not discover yet.

[@robertfilip]

Why make the assumption that commercially availablability of hyperdrive tech should be correlated with the discovery of Raxxla? Since when did govt and military orgs immediately release the leatest and greatest techs to the public?

[@drewwagar]

It's more an observation that the stories have had to have come from somewhere. If the Raxxla myth did truely originate prior to 2286, it's potential location couldn't be very far from Sol, certainly no further than Achenar, around 150 lightyears away, which was the furthest anyone had gone at the time.

[@robertfilip]

@@drewwagar Indeed, that would be the most sensible reasoning and normally we would only piece together factual info that's in the game. However, we still have 2 landfall bodies in the Sol system which are primit locked. Who knows what's hidden there? We also know that the Martian relic was found in the orbit of Mars. Surely, terraforming Mars was not required to find it, so I hypothesize that there's a high chance that it was found before WW3. Dare I say that it might have even caused the conflict (as the apple of discord)? Anyway, perhaps it would be a nice exercise to revise the lore, and replace all instances of "invented" with "made public". Thank you for the awesome content! Wish you the best!

[@skyrocky7214]

@@drewwagar 2289 or 2296?

[@drewwagar]

@@skyrocky7214 An error. Its 2296.

[@aresaurelian]

I wouldn't want to be hyperdicted by Raxxla on my way to Andromeda.

[@andyc664]

Is there a faction following this?

[@ShystemShock]

Release of this "official video" adds weight to my theory that raxxla isn't actually in the game yet, but will be introduced in oddessey

[@beardedzeus1337]

FDev have confirmed Raxxla is indeed in the game currently but they will not be providing any hints as to its location.

[@ShystemShock]

@@beardedzeus1337 yeah okay mate keep believing that

[@cmdrdyland]

@@ShystemShock Literally Drew's own words

[@ZorroComputers]

Could someone put the story together in one place in ED itself for a new players to get familiar. Now is not clear what is what and what is where. Its such a mess ..... Also imagine If they made Raxxla an entrance to Odyssey. Imagine the joy people will get finding it. Eventually it will be widely known but first it would be discovered by someone.

[@drewwagar]

My playlist on lore is pretty easy to follow > kzbin.info/aero/PLlDouuF9NmkeNDgrkh3h9lNlMoo5Lf6DC

[@thetruegoldenknight]

That's a good voice. That aside, yeah, nobody knows Raxxla.

[@Federation_Crystal_Kingdom]

I have a theory on how to get to raxxla (Its probably bad flame me if you want) Ok so.. What if raxxla is a damocloid floating around in a random system that meaning it would be unscanable and undetectable on sensors unless really close. Or in later updates we could commit a halo 4 on one of the thargoids and attach to them when they are entering WS. Just my theory lol Glowing Regards - CMDR DarkPrimeOof.

[@amadeusasimov1364]

Maybe...Raxxla was the journey all along.

[@TonySpike]

I am just going to say that i think raxxla will turn out to be somewhere already known .....maybe its the mysterious planet 10 in our own solar system Just because its the most boring explaination, and that is often the simplest Its like robin hood, hes either real or a forest pixie, or maybe hes a sequence of real bandits that took on the name of the legend I would love it if it turned out to just be earth

[@15Akel]

would be interesting if raxxla is a hole new galaxy xD

[@mossaic13]

Hidden in the language. Dark = The Door / The Tear Wheel = Circle? Ezekiel's Wheel?

[@Kryze1]

?

[@mossaic13]

@@Kryze1 There's actually a lot hidden in the language. Ex. Caine Messer & Aster's Hope However, I'm sure I'm not right above.

[@mossaic13]

@@Kryze1 So you just happen to be named Kryz?

[@n00g75]

"humans did not spread far out into the universer" well .. we went to the moon in 1969 and by 2022 we wasnt back up there. that means 50 years later .. and we arent even on the moon yet! this game is a bit over optimistic saying that human had an technology that could make space travel possible. by that speed .. we will be there in 5000A.D

[@RebirthOfTheGods]

Where's raxxla

[@drewwagar]

Who knows?

[@RebirthOfTheGods]

@@drewwagar you know, that we all know, that you know where Raxxla is , we can see right through everybody. And it don't exist!!!!!! Their for all of elite and fdevs lied to everybody! If Raxxla really does exist WE WANT PROOF OF WHEN,HOW, WHO, AND WHAT TO DO, TO GET THEIR, if it's a place or thing , and don't tell me it's my imagination or the friends I bring along the way I don't got time for fairytailes..

[@xRLxPULSAR]

Could Raxxla be Frontier's version of the One Piece? Haha

[@mrmalcolm]

Raxxla is Fdevs will to fix the game. Its lost.

[@weediestbroom]

Raxxla is a macguffin, nothing more. Thousands of people have searched for years. It's a lie! If it existed in the game it would have been data mined by now. It's a lie

[@johnpooky84]

Not even 1% of the galaxy has been explored, so we can't really say for sure that it's not there.

[@chefmarcg]

"guide" in the loosest sense of the term. its not actually a guide at all its just a history lesson