Hello Bastards,
A new major progression system has arrived in Ore Bastards: Artifacts.
Artifacts are extremely rare and unusual objects that can be discovered while exploring the galaxy. They are not ordinary equipment, and they do not use the usual rarity tiers. Finding one should feel like discovering something genuinely special.
Each Artifact provides its own combination of bonuses and a unique special ability.
Depending on what you discover, Artifacts can improve things such as:
Mining and combat performance
Scanner range and exploration capabilities
Shields and survivability
Cargo capacity
Acceleration and maneuverability
Maximum ship speed and Cruise speed
This means Artifacts can significantly change how a ship feels.
For example, a large and normally slow ship can become considerably faster with the right Navigation-focused Artifacts. Combined with Engines, Skills, crew bonuses and active abilities such as Turbo Thrusters, it is now possible to build ships that perform very differently from their original specifications.
Artifacts can also contain special abilities that go beyond simple stat bonuses.
There are many different Artifact abilities related to Mining, Combat, Navigation, Survey, Defence and Salvage.
Some may help you discover new signals, improve mining under certain conditions, provide temporary combat bonuses, strengthen your shields, improve movement or make valuable salvage easier to recover. Ship Info panel (I) -> Artifacts Tab
Artifacts are deliberately rare.
Exploration may occasionally lead you toward unusual signals, mysterious structures, pirate intelligence or strange asteroid formations.
One of the most obvious signs is the new Anomalous Asteroid.
These enormous and unusual asteroids take considerably longer to mine than normal rocks, and prolonged mining may attract pirates.
Destroying one does not guarantee an Artifact.
Sometimes you will simply find valuable ore.
Sometimes you may find something much stranger.
So if you encounter an asteroid that looks like it probably shouldn't exist...
You may want to start mining.
You do not begin the game with active Artifact slots.
Artifact Capacity is something that can gradually be unlocked as you progress, including through progression systems and certain rescued crew members.
You can eventually equip up to 5 Artifacts at the same time, allowing you to create combinations suited to the kind of ship you want to fly.
Stored Artifacts remain safe, but equipped Artifacts travel aboard your ship.
If your ship is destroyed, some may need to be recovered from the wreck—and in rare cases, an Artifact may be lost permanently.
Station Panel -> Artifacts Tab
Stations now include an Artifacts section where you can manage your collection, equip Artifacts and inspect their effects.
Artifacts you do not want can also be sold to collectors, research organizations and other interested buyers.
Their values can vary enormously. Some may be worth relatively modest amounts, while especially valuable discoveries can be worth hundreds of thousands of credits.
But choose carefully:
Artifact sales are permanent.
Once sold, they cannot be bought back.
We also addressed a common piece of player feedback:
A mining game should offer more mining jobs.
Ore delivery contracts should now appear more frequently, especially at the starting station, Mining Outposts and Refineries.
Mining jobs should also return more quickly after existing contracts are accepted, without filling the entire Mission Board with the same type of mission.
Mission Boards are now more dynamic as well.
Procedurally generated jobs that nobody accepts will eventually be replaced with fresh missions, so returning to a station later should provide a changing selection of work instead of showing the same contracts indefinitely.
Tutorial missions and important progression missions are unaffected and will continue waiting for you.
The goal is simple:
If you want to spend your evening mining, it should be much easier to find actual mining work.
Happy hunting, Bastards.