Relic Excavations
The galaxy is old. Before the Fracture, before the Synthetic Age, before humanity reached the stars - something was here. Relic Excavation sites are what they left behind. Each site unfolds across multiple chapters of discovery, yielding resources, exotic materials, blueprint fragments, and in rare cases, technologies that can't be found anywhere else.
Discovery
Excavation sites are generated when a galaxy is created. Each system has a 3% chance of containing a site. Your fleets discover sites as they explore - scanning a system with a site triggers the discovery event.
Legendary sites only appear 8+ systems from your starting position. You need to expand before you can find the most valuable relics.
You can have at most 3 active excavations simultaneously.
Site Tiers
| Tier | Quantity | Chapters | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor | 7 | 3 | Normal |
| Major | 5 | 4–5 | Hard |
| Legendary | 3 | 6 | Very Hard |
Duration multipliers: Minor ×1.0 · Major ×1.5 · Legendary ×2.0
Chapter Progress
Each chapter is a discrete excavation phase. Completing it advances the site. Failing a chapter resets that chapter's progress (not the entire site). Your Scientist officer's level adds +2% success chance per level on top of the 80% base.
| Factor | Effect |
|---|---|
| Base success | 80% |
| Scientist level | +2% per level |
| Failure | Chapter resets; site preserved |
| Abandoning | Site preserved; can return later |
Minor Sites (7)
| Site | Setting | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient Beacon | Navigation probe signals | Research XP + resources |
| Derelict Outpost | Abandoned mining facility | Refined Alloy + resources |
| Subspace Anomaly | Exotic particle fold | Exotic Gas + research XP |
| Fossilized Colony | Ancient alien settlement | Blueprint fragment + research XP |
| Stellar Fragment | Crystallized stellar core | Rare Crystal + research XP |
| Ghost Signal | Precursor tactical records | Officer XP + research XP |
| Drift Wreckage | Ancient warship debris | Alloy + resources |
Major Sites (5)
| Site | Setting | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| Precursor Archive | Vault with mathematical sequences | 500 Research XP |
| Living Ruins | Bio-metallic structure | 8× Living Metal + blueprint |
| Void Nexus | Dark matter gateway network | 10× Dark Matter + 5× Exotic Gas |
| Temporal Echo | Replay of ancient empire's fall | 400 Officer XP |
| Crystalline Formation | Immense lattice structure | 10× Rare Crystal |
Legendary Sites (3)
These three sites are the rarest objects in the galaxy. Completing one grants unique rewards that cannot be obtained any other way.
| Site | Reward |
|---|---|
| Origin Monolith | Origin Insight (unique research tech) + 1,000 Research XP |
| Progenitor Ship | 10× Dark Matter + 8× Living Metal + 2 blueprint fragments |
| Singularity Core | Singularity Mastery (unique research tech) + 15× Dark Matter + 8× Zro |
Origin Insight and Singularity Mastery are era-5 technologies unavailable from the normal research draw. They can only be acquired through Legendary excavation.
Strategy
- Assign your highest-level Scientist to active excavations for the success bonus.
- Major sites are significantly more rewarding than minors per chapter. Prioritize them once discovered.
- Legendary sites require the rare Dark Matter and Zro exotic materials as indirect dependencies (for the grand projects and ship components they enable). Completing a Legendary site often provides those materials.
- Never abandon a Legendary site - the chapter progress is preserved even if you pause. You can return after reinforcing.