Welcome to rumour control, ladies and gentlemen. Here are the facts.
As of 04/07/4610, mercenary pilots have reported sighting alien artifacts of unknown origin, speculated to be Precursor in nature. These artifacts may be linked to the rare ore ‘iridium’ in some way, and in the future we will no-doubt know for sure.
What we know thus far, however, is very little. As such, here are my findings, and I invite others to post their own. Please do not post idle speculation. We are not here for theories or guesswork. This is about hard, established fact. Extrapolation or theory work is invited, on the condition that it is something testable and, thus, can be proven or dis-proven by observation.
Artifacts - The Facts:
Artifacts are acquired as PvP rewards in tiers 2 and 3. Thus far, it appears that T2 ‘Artifact loot’ gives a single artifact, whilst the T3 version gives two. I have no figures on T1 or T4 as of yet. For clarity, the T2 drop was obtained whilst flying Rank 6 ships (which spawn tier 3 military loot, tier 2 experimentals) and Rank 9 ships (which spawn tier 4 military loot, tier 3 experimentals). This might be a factor.
Confirmed that Artifacts drop in Tier 4 PvE. No other tiers of PvE have confirmed drops yet.
Artifacts appear to be very rare; if I had to guess, I would say they are about as uncommon as intel drops.
The drops “inactive generator” and “signal transmitter” are converted into 2 Artifacts when claimed from the mailbox.
The drop “signalling unit” is converted into 1 Artifact when claimed from the mailbox.
Single Artifact drops and Double Artifact drops can occur when flying a mix of Rank 5 and Rank 6.
The Speculation:
Here is what I would like to discover and test…
Tier 1 and 4 - do they produce artifacts and in what quantities?
Ranks 4 & 5 - can you obtain artifacts flying these ships, or do you require rank 6 and higher to spawn an artifact?
Corporation - does it matter? I am in a corporation, so I would like non-corp pilots to fly T2 and T3 (where we know artifact drops happen) and see if you can grab them. Edit: Error states non-corp players should receive them as well.
Rarity - I’d like people to try and make a note of how often certain types of loot appear, and how artifacts relate to this. Are they rarer than Experimentals / intel?
This is all we know, and it isn’t much. Knowledge is power, people; let’s find out more and use that knowledge to our advantage.
Information obtained from interviewing fellow pilots:
Here’s the rundown.
In Corp: Yes.
Mode: PvE (T4).
Ships Used: Rank 11.
Artifact Payout: 2.
Notes: Not a purple drop.
Revised Speculation:
Both of my “double” artifact drops were in Rank 9 ships - ships that spawn T4 loot. T4 PvE spawns T4 loot, suggesting the double loot drop is a tier 4 reward, not a tier 3.
Further to this, my working theory is now as follows:
You will have to fly a rank 6 or higher to get Artifacts in PvP.
You will not receive artifacts in T1/T2 PvE.
This isn’t proven, so let’s get out there and prove it!
I have won around 60+ Games so far, with a Premium license therefore i have 5 loots/Win, a Mixture of T2/T3 Games and have received no ‘Artefacts’ Yet, I believe they are rare then?
I have won around 60+ Games so far, with a Premium license therefore i have 5 loots/Win, a Mixture of T2/T3 Games and have received no ‘Artefacts’ Yet, I believe they are rare then?
-Skadoodle
I’ve acquired seven across four drops - I’d say they are as rare or rarer than intel drops.
Corporation - does it matter? I am in a corporation, so I would like non-corp pilots to fly T2 and T3 (where we know artifact drops happen) and see if you can grab them.
The artifacts should also drop to non corporation players.
I’d say they’re rarer than intel drops. I’ve gotten intel drops pretty frequently funnily enough but no purple loot or artefacts (yes, it’s actually spelt with an ‘e’ in the game). This is with me flying my Rank 6, T2, Hydra 2 frigate. But then, I don’t think I’ve played enough games yet to be statistically valid (I’ve gotten one 2500 intel drop for the last 3 wins though).
yes it was confirmed by devs multiple times, there is no T3 variant, only T1-2-4 for some patches they were playing with difficulties in those 3. I remember T4 being nigh impossible for me in any of my ships without structure hugging and extensive dodging, last night i did T4 PvE and i just stood there tanking stuff for about 80% of the game in my cerberus 2
yes it was confirmed by devs multiple times, there is no T3 variant, only T1-2-4 for some patches they were playing with difficulties in those 3. I remember T4 being nigh impossible for me in any of my ships without structure hugging and extensive dodging, last night i did T4 PvE and i just stood there tanking stuff for about 80% of the game in my cerberus 2
Well, I tried a PvE round in my Cerberus 2 (I’m T3/Rank 9) and while I can tank the smaller fighters, I got mauled by the captains/commanders in the ‘Hidden Maintenance’ mission.
Back on topic, I picked up two artefacts but I don’t remember picking them up anywhere…
