Archaeology

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Revision as of 22:06, 14 September 2023 by Falterfire (talk | contribs) (Added lots of words about artefact chance)
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Archaeology

Archaeology is a skill where dig sites located in Cartography can be excavated to discover an assortment of rare and unique items, which provide assistance for progression of many other skills.

Dig Sites

Undisc dig site.png

Dig sites are found all over the map of Melvor in Cartography. Dig site hexes (tiles) must be surveyed up to Level 5 before they unlock in the Archaeology skill. Some dig sites also require certain map items to be obtained before they can be surveyed. Obtaining a map item will mark the respective dig site on the map with a "" icon.

Dig Site Map Items

Dig Site Size Rarity Item Description
Old Village Large Uncommon Torn Chart Details the location of the Ancient Market Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
Old Village Medium Rare Cult Flyer A flyer detailing the location of the Sacrificial Site (Dig Site) in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
Ancient Market Large Very Rare City Chart A map detailing the location of the Bazaar Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
Monuments Small Very Rare Melantis Clue 1
Monuments Large Uncommon Island Chart A chart detailing the location of the Watchtower Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
Monuments Large Rare Navigation Chart A chart detailing the location of the Castle Ruins Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
Secret Mines Medium Very Rare Shipment Chart A chart detailing the location of the Ancient Forge Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.
Cathedral Large Very Rare Ancient Wall Chart A chart detailing the location of the Shipwreck Cove Dig Site in Cartography. An icon has now appeared displaying its location. You can sell this item.

All Dig Site Items

Excavating Artefacts

The primary action for Archaeology is Excavating. The default interval per Excavation action is 5 seconds.

In order to begin Excavating a Dig Site, the player must select a Dig Site Map. Dig Site Maps are created using Cartography. Players receive an Excellent quality map when they first discover a Dig Site, although future maps will start at Poor quality. Please see the Cartography page for more information on creating maps.

In addition to selecting a map, players will also have to select which tools they wish to use. The tools selected determine which sizes of Artefacts can be found. Multiple tools can be selected, but doing so will divide the chance to find a given size of artefact by the total number of tools selected. (For example, if you had a 12% chance to find a Tiny artefact with only the Sieve selected, selecting another tool will reduce the chance of finding a Tiny artefact to 6%)

Artefact Values

Each map has four Artefact values, one for each size. The lower the value is, the higher the chance of finding an Artefact of a given size. Created maps will start at Poor quality with an Artefact value of 69 for each of the four sizes. Maps found from Discovering a Dig Site start at Excellent quality with an Artefact value of 33 for each of the four sizes.

When a map is upgraded to the next tier using Map Creation in Cartography, each of the four Artefact values will be reduced by a random number from 13-23. This means a map created at Poor quality and then fully upgraded will be reduced by 39-69, although the minimum value that can be reached through the Map Creation process is 2.

Two of the Refinements that can be added to maps further reduce Artefact values for a chosen size by 5. The player can choose whether to apply both of these to the same size or to split them between two different sizes.

Tool Level

Each of the Archaeology tools starts at level 0. This level can be increased in several ways:

  • Each Tool can be upgraded in the Shop, receiving +1 Tool level per upgrade purchased, up to a maximum of +11.
  • The 50% Mastery Pool checkpoint for Archaeology provides +3 Tool level for all tools
  • The Archaeology Skillcape provides +1 Tool level for all tools
  • The Superior Archaeology Skillcape provides +3 Tool level for all tools

This makes the maximum Tool level that can be reached 18 (since the Skillcape and Superior Skillcape can't be equipped simultaneously).

Artefact Chance

The base chance to discover an Artefact of a given size is as follows:

[math]\displaystyle{ \text{% Chance} = \frac{5 \times (1 + (\text{Tool Level} + 1) \times 0.25)}{\text{Artefact Value} + 31} }[/math]

This chance is divided by the number of tools selected to determine the actual chance to disvoer an artefact of a given size.

Tools

Sieve

Trowels

Brushes

Shovels

Skillcape

The Archaeology Skillcape can be purchased from the store for 1,000,000GP after the player reaches Archaeology Level 99.

The Superior Archaeology Skillcape can be purchased from the store for 10,000,000GP after the player reaches Archaeology Level 120.

Skillcape Name Requirements Effect
Archaeology Skillcape Archaeology Skillcape Archaeology Level 99 +1 level of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Brush Tool in Archaeology
+10% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions
+1 level of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology
+1 level of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology
Superior Archaeology Skillcape Superior Archaeology Skillcape Archaeology Level 120 +3 levels of the Sieve Tool in Archaeology
+3 levels of the Brush Tool in Archaeology
+3 levels of the Trowel Tool in Archaeology
+15% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions
+3 levels of the Shovel Tool in Archaeology
+1 minimum Items found in Archaeology

Pet

Pet Name Effect
Warren Warren +5% chance to preserve dig site map excavation actions

Skill Boosts

This table lists most sources of Archaeology-specific modifier boosts. For a list of boosts that apply to all skills, see the Skill Boosts page. This list does not contain boosts provided from Mastery rewards.