Avant Gardens is the second world in LEGO Universe. It introduces combat, the four Factions of the Nexus Force, and several other game concepts to players. Upon escaping the Venture Explorer, players make a landing in Avant Gardens, but quickly find that conditions there aren't much better than where they came from. The elevated highway that would normally allow for easy travel across the world has been broken in several places, leaving players with only one option, to continue on to the nearby Paradox Research Facility, which is also in ruins. There, the player meets Wisp Lee, the head researcher of the facility, who directs them to Epsilon Starcracker for protection from the Stromlings and Stromling Mechs who are roaming the ruins. Epsilon gives players their first weapon, and are then d