The Gold Road Chapter – which includes the Scribing system – and Update 42 is now available to test on the PTS! You can read the latest patch notes here: https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/656454/
SAUCY JACK'S GUIDE TO ANTIQUITIES: HOW TO SCRY AND EXCAVATE
Saucy_Jack
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Rather than some big to-do of an intro, let's get into it! (NOTE: the actual opening quest for this seems buggy at the moment; if a step doesn't seem to be working, some people (including myself) found it fixed itself if we exited the game completely and restarted fresh. YMMV.)
1. Start by getting the "Antiquarian's Eye" tool from the Antiquarian's Circle, located between the Bard's College and the Blue Palace in Solitude:
2. Once you've got the Eye, in order to scry something, go to your journal, to the Antiquities tab, highlight what you want to scry, and press E to scry. NOTE: if your scrying skill level is too low for an item, it won't let you scry it. If you're not in the same zone as an item, it also won't let you scry it.
3. In the scrying screen, you have (at the lowest skill level, anyway) TEN CLICKS (the meter of which is shown by the arrow) to highlight all of the shining hexes.
4. You start from the bottom center; with each click, you highlight the "patch" of connected tiles all with the same symbol. Every subsequent click must be on a "patch" of similar tiles that border the tiles you've already highlighted.
5. The more shining hexes you can highlight, the more the false digsite areas will be whittled away. If you manage to highlight them all, only one digsite area (the true one) will show up on your zone map. If you don't like how you did, you can choose to re-scry the item (step 2) and attempt it again, with (currently) no penalty. ***NOTE: WHEN YOU SUCCESSFULLY SCRY AND IT SHOWS YOU THE DIGSITE ON THE MAP, PRESS E! OTHERWISE YOUR MAP WILL BE BUGGED OUT WHEN YOU TRY TO PORT OR USE A WAYSHRINE.***
6. You can hotkey the Eye by going to inventory to set your quickslots; one of the subcategories will be "Tools" and the Eye is there.
7. Once you're actually within the digsite area blue boundary, use the the quickslotted Eye and a blue orb will appear above your head. It sort of has a comet-tail-looking thing, and that indicates the direction to go to find the actual digsite. The digsite will look like a treasure map mound, except that it's glowing. (NOTE: sometimes no orb will appear; use the "exit completely and restart" method to fix this - again, YMMV.)
8. Once you start excavating, you have X amount of clicks (shown by that beige bar at the top - it's 40 clicks at the lowest skill level; you get more with passives) to find AND dig up the artifact. Using the augur on the right, you're essentially playing a one-boat game of Battleship to find WHERE the artifact is. Red means cold; orange means warmer, yellow = hot, green = a square containing part of the artifact itself.
9. The brush tool on the left (press W or click on it to use) is for actually digging up the artifact. Keep in mind that the more clicks you used to find it, the less clicks you'll have to dig it up. Each square contains multiple layers of dirt, so digging up a single square could take up to four clicks (from what I've found so far, anyways.) As you grow in skill level, you'll get other tools that dig up more ground per click. Once you've dug up the artifact, the rest of your clicks can be used to dig up random squares to find bonus items. It seems that even if you still have clicks left, if you dig up all bonus items, the minigame ends. In this case, I found all three bonus items, because Snugglorr the Magnificent, King of the RNG and Nirn's one TRUE god, smiled upon me this day.
10. Hooray! You did it, you antiquarian, you!
Edited by Saucy_Jack on May 28, 2020 6:19PM 1. Start by getting the "Antiquarian's Eye" tool from the Antiquarian's Circle, located between the Bard's College and the Blue Palace in Solitude:
2. Once you've got the Eye, in order to scry something, go to your journal, to the Antiquities tab, highlight what you want to scry, and press E to scry. NOTE: if your scrying skill level is too low for an item, it won't let you scry it. If you're not in the same zone as an item, it also won't let you scry it.
3. In the scrying screen, you have (at the lowest skill level, anyway) TEN CLICKS (the meter of which is shown by the arrow) to highlight all of the shining hexes.
4. You start from the bottom center; with each click, you highlight the "patch" of connected tiles all with the same symbol. Every subsequent click must be on a "patch" of similar tiles that border the tiles you've already highlighted.
5. The more shining hexes you can highlight, the more the false digsite areas will be whittled away. If you manage to highlight them all, only one digsite area (the true one) will show up on your zone map. If you don't like how you did, you can choose to re-scry the item (step 2) and attempt it again, with (currently) no penalty. ***NOTE: WHEN YOU SUCCESSFULLY SCRY AND IT SHOWS YOU THE DIGSITE ON THE MAP, PRESS E! OTHERWISE YOUR MAP WILL BE BUGGED OUT WHEN YOU TRY TO PORT OR USE A WAYSHRINE.***
6. You can hotkey the Eye by going to inventory to set your quickslots; one of the subcategories will be "Tools" and the Eye is there.
7. Once you're actually within the digsite area blue boundary, use the the quickslotted Eye and a blue orb will appear above your head. It sort of has a comet-tail-looking thing, and that indicates the direction to go to find the actual digsite. The digsite will look like a treasure map mound, except that it's glowing. (NOTE: sometimes no orb will appear; use the "exit completely and restart" method to fix this - again, YMMV.)
8. Once you start excavating, you have X amount of clicks (shown by that beige bar at the top - it's 40 clicks at the lowest skill level; you get more with passives) to find AND dig up the artifact. Using the augur on the right, you're essentially playing a one-boat game of Battleship to find WHERE the artifact is. Red means cold; orange means warmer, yellow = hot, green = a square containing part of the artifact itself.
9. The brush tool on the left (press W or click on it to use) is for actually digging up the artifact. Keep in mind that the more clicks you used to find it, the less clicks you'll have to dig it up. Each square contains multiple layers of dirt, so digging up a single square could take up to four clicks (from what I've found so far, anyways.) As you grow in skill level, you'll get other tools that dig up more ground per click. Once you've dug up the artifact, the rest of your clicks can be used to dig up random squares to find bonus items. It seems that even if you still have clicks left, if you dig up all bonus items, the minigame ends. In this case, I found all three bonus items, because Snugglorr the Magnificent, King of the RNG and Nirn's one TRUE god, smiled upon me this day.
10. Hooray! You did it, you antiquarian, you!
ALL HAIL SNUGGLORR THE MAGNIFICENT, KING OF THE RNG AND NIRN'S ONE TRUE GOD! Also, become a Scrub-scriber! SJ Scrubs: Playing games badly to make you feel better about yourself.
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GrumpyDuckling✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭How fun would you say that it is? (It looks and reminds me of Minesweeper).
Do you have an idea of how long/how much effort it would take to land the 1 piece Mythic items?1 -
Ilsabet✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Yay a guide. People are going to need this.
You might want to mention in step 2 that you will only get the scry option if you are in the zone associated with a particular item.Ilsabet Menard - DC Breton Nightblade archer - Savior of Pretty Much Everything, Grand Overlord & Empress Nubcakes
Katarin Auclair - DC Breton Warden healer & ice mage
My characters and their overly elaborate backstories
Ilsabet's Headcanon
The Adventures of Torbyrn Windchaser - Breaking the Ice & Ashes to Ashes
PC NA0 -
Vaoh✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Ty for the guide! I was looking for something like this
How do Mythic Items drop? Is it an RNG chance when completing a digsite?0 -
tindomiel4✭✭✭Thanks for the great guide! This contains a lot of information that the game should probably include in the tutorial...
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Saucy_Jack✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭You might want to mention in step 2 that you will only get the scry option if you are in the zone associated with a particular item.
Done.ALL HAIL SNUGGLORR THE MAGNIFICENT, KING OF THE RNG AND NIRN'S ONE TRUE GOD! Also, become a Scrub-scriber! SJ Scrubs: Playing games badly to make you feel better about yourself.0 -
Saucy_Jack✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭GrumpyDuckling wrote: »Do you have an idea of how long/how much effort it would take to land the 1 piece Mythic items?
I currently have no idea, because rather than shotgunning antiquities to level those skills, I've been tirelessly hunting the pieces for the Greymoor version of the Southern Elsweyr mural collectible quest.ALL HAIL SNUGGLORR THE MAGNIFICENT, KING OF THE RNG AND NIRN'S ONE TRUE GOD! Also, become a Scrub-scriber! SJ Scrubs: Playing games badly to make you feel better about yourself.0 -
Dracane✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Font of Auri-El? *-* Give it baby, push it, push it, push it.Auri-El is my lord,
Trinimac is my shield,
Magnus is my mind.0 -
rpa✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭I've only done the antiquities intro quest this far (had several PTS rerolls happen while struggling with it and managed to get progress stuck about thrice) but in my impression it's glorified tresure maps &cet. If it gets a newbie friendly clear tutorial and bugs polished out, it is potentially much more fun than treasure maps.
Only problem I have is the minigame really feels like mobile minesweeper variant. Not necessarily bad for a scifi MMO but bit out of place in medieval theme.Edited by rpa on April 22, 2020 7:34AM3 -
wishlist14✭✭✭✭✭
✭Thank you kindly ..great guide from a great dude!!!
Love your polls too but nice to see you expanding onto making guides 😊❤0 -
Olauron✭✭✭✭✭
✭Thanks for digging it all! I want to add both awesome and insightful, but can't.
What happens if you fail to find or dig an item? Can you repeat the process from the start right away or there is some timer?
Edit:
P. S. Since you are getting other random items (and gold) is it possible to dig and scry after finding everything?Edited by Olauron on April 22, 2020 8:36AMThe Three Storm Sharks, episode 8 released on january the 8th.
One mer to rule them all,
one mer to find them,
One mer to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them.0 -
Saucy_Jack✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Note: as you level up scrying and excavating, you'll get extra abilities beyond the basic scry/excavate clicks. I'll add some of those in later today.ALL HAIL SNUGGLORR THE MAGNIFICENT, KING OF THE RNG AND NIRN'S ONE TRUE GOD! Also, become a Scrub-scriber! SJ Scrubs: Playing games badly to make you feel better about yourself.1 -
Lizzrdd✭✭✭THANK YOU SJ!!!!!Play how you want to, not how others tell you to! Live and let Play!0 -
KMarble✭✭✭✭✭Thanks for digging it all! I want to add both awesome and insightful, but can't.
What happens if you fail to find or dig an item? Can you repeat the process from the start right away or there is some timer?
Edit:
P. S. Since you are getting other random items (and gold) is it possible to dig and scry after finding everything?
I've dug one item so far, and failed on my first try. Once this happens a window pops up asking if you want to drop the quest. I didn't, immediately used the eye tool again, found another mound and got the item on the second try.
I did NOT have to do the scrying game again - the one with the hexagons.
As for your second question, I'm not sure. IIRC, someone said you get kicked out of the excavating interface once you find the antiquity and 3 "treasures".2 -
Olauron✭✭✭✭✭
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Thanks for the answer.Thanks for digging it all! I want to add both awesome and insightful, but can't.
What happens if you fail to find or dig an item? Can you repeat the process from the start right away or there is some timer?
Edit:
P. S. Since you are getting other random items (and gold) is it possible to dig and scry after finding everything?
I've dug one item so far, and failed on my first try. Once this happens a window pops up asking if you want to drop the quest. I didn't, immediately used the eye tool again, found another mound and got the item on the second try.
I did NOT have to do the scrying game again - the one with the hexagons.
As for your second question, I'm not sure. IIRC, someone said you get kicked out of the excavating interface once you find the antiquity and 3 "treasures".
Initially I thought that it is possible to scry an item and dig it only once so I was interested what happens when all the antiquities are obtained. Looks like it is possible to scry multiple times to get more than one item.The Three Storm Sharks, episode 8 released on january the 8th.
One mer to rule them all,
one mer to find them,
One mer to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them.0 -
Saucy_Jack✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭From what I can tell, there are only three bonus treasures per dig. So if you dig the item and three bonus items, the minigame will end automatically because there's nothing left to dig up.ALL HAIL SNUGGLORR THE MAGNIFICENT, KING OF THE RNG AND NIRN'S ONE TRUE GOD! Also, become a Scrub-scriber! SJ Scrubs: Playing games badly to make you feel better about yourself.1 -
BlueRaven✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭TY for the guide!
But I can't seem to get that "comet" to appear no matter how many times I restart.0 -
Olauron✭✭✭✭✭
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Double check that you are inside the blue area (your compass should glow blue instead of pointing in the direction of this area).But I can't seem to get that "comet" to appear no matter how many times I restart.The Three Storm Sharks, episode 8 released on january the 8th.
One mer to rule them all,
one mer to find them,
One mer to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them.0 -
BlueRaven✭✭✭✭✭
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Oh I was definitely in. I was right in the center of the blue search area, according to the mini map.
Logged in and did a full quit, 5-6 times. No “comet” each time.1 -
KMarble✭✭✭✭✭
Thanks for the answer.Thanks for digging it all! I want to add both awesome and insightful, but can't.
What happens if you fail to find or dig an item? Can you repeat the process from the start right away or there is some timer?
Edit:
P. S. Since you are getting other random items (and gold) is it possible to dig and scry after finding everything?
I've dug one item so far, and failed on my first try. Once this happens a window pops up asking if you want to drop the quest. I didn't, immediately used the eye tool again, found another mound and got the item on the second try.
I did NOT have to do the scrying game again - the one with the hexagons.
As for your second question, I'm not sure. IIRC, someone said you get kicked out of the excavating interface once you find the antiquity and 3 "treasures".
Initially I thought that it is possible to scry an item and dig it only once so I was interested what happens when all the antiquities are obtained. Looks like it is possible to scry multiple times to get more than one item.
I'm afraid I didn't express myself well enough, sorry. I didn't have to do the scrying mini-game again. Even after failing on the first dig mini-game, the area was still highlighted (like when we have to find an item, but the game only tells us the general location). So I used the tool that we can slot in the quick slots, got another ball of light that lead me to a second mound I could dig.
As far as the scrying mini-game goes, I'm not sure if you can play it again without acquiring the leads again - NOTE: the one I tried was one of the scryable ones atop the list. I suspect that if you do scry again (the mini-game) you might be given another area of the map to search.1 -
KMarble✭✭✭✭✭
Oh I was definitely in. I was right in the center of the blue search area, according to the mini map.
Logged in and did a full quit, 5-6 times. No “comet” each time.
I saw no "comet" either. It might have to do with the (lack) of quality of my graphic card and/or monitor.1 -
Taleof2Cities✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭As far as the scrying mini-game goes, I'm not sure if you can play it again without acquiring the leads again - NOTE: the one I tried was one of the scryable ones atop the list. I suspect that if you do scry again (the mini-game) you might be given another area of the map to search.
The Augurist's Patience passive (fully unlocked) allows up to three (3) tries to scry the same lead, @KMarble.
The location of the artifact won't change ... but those failed tries will just result in additional area maps for as many uncovered focus points on the augur.
I haven't failed more than three times yet, but will see what happens tonite when I'm on PTS when I try to fail that many times.
Here's what a Legendary scry looks like. I had to do this for one of the pieces of the Dwarven Ebon Wolf mount.
Edited by Taleof2Cities on April 23, 2020 9:41PM3 -
BlueRaven✭✭✭✭✭
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Just a follow up:
I am going to hide it behind a spoiler screen (hopefully) but here is where I am when trying to scry.
It may be the weather effects in this area causing interference, but I just tried it again without luck.
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wenchmore420b14_ESO✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭Thank you for this!
Well done!
Huzzah!Drakon Koryn~Oryndill, Rogue~Mage,- CP ~Doesn't matter any more
NA / PC Beta Member since Nov 2013
GM~Conclave-of-Shadows, EP Social Guild, ~Proud member of: The Wandering Merchants, Phoenix Rising, Imperial Trade Union & Celestials of Nirn
Sister Guilds with: Coroner's Report, Children of Skyrim, Sunshine Daydream, Tamriel Fisheries, Knights Arcanum and more
"Not All Who Wander are Lost"
#MOREHOUSINGSLOTS“When the people that can make the company more successful are sales and marketing people, they end up running the companies. The product people get driven out of the decision making forums, and the companies forget what it means to make great products.”
_Steve Jobs (The Lost Interview)0 -
Olauron✭✭✭✭✭
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Thanks for the answer.Thanks for digging it all! I want to add both awesome and insightful, but can't.
What happens if you fail to find or dig an item? Can you repeat the process from the start right away or there is some timer?
Edit:
P. S. Since you are getting other random items (and gold) is it possible to dig and scry after finding everything?
I've dug one item so far, and failed on my first try. Once this happens a window pops up asking if you want to drop the quest. I didn't, immediately used the eye tool again, found another mound and got the item on the second try.
I did NOT have to do the scrying game again - the one with the hexagons.
As for your second question, I'm not sure. IIRC, someone said you get kicked out of the excavating interface once you find the antiquity and 3 "treasures".
Initially I thought that it is possible to scry an item and dig it only once so I was interested what happens when all the antiquities are obtained. Looks like it is possible to scry multiple times to get more than one item.
I'm afraid I didn't express myself well enough, sorry. I didn't have to do the scrying mini-game again. Even after failing on the first dig mini-game, the area was still highlighted (like when we have to find an item, but the game only tells us the general location). So I used the tool that we can slot in the quick slots, got another ball of light that lead me to a second mound I could dig.
As far as the scrying mini-game goes, I'm not sure if you can play it again without acquiring the leads again - NOTE: the one I tried was one of the scryable ones atop the list. I suspect that if you do scry again (the mini-game) you might be given another area of the map to search.
Yes, thanks. It helped me when I tried the template character with levelled up scrying and excavation and everything became at Master difficulty. I have failed digging a few times as I thought that smoke areas are locations of bonus items shown by some passive. It seems smoke areas are land mines that destroy the antiquity.
Oh I was definitely in. I was right in the center of the blue search area, according to the mini map.
Logged in and did a full quit, 5-6 times. No “comet” each time.
That is some bug then and I don't know what caused it. I used the eye on both copied (with tutorial quest done) and template (without tutorial quest) and an arrow always appeared. Sometimes it was not clear enough what of the two ways should I choose but at least an arrow and excavation mound always existed.The Three Storm Sharks, episode 8 released on january the 8th.
One mer to rule them all,
one mer to find them,
One mer to bring them all
and in the darkness bind them.0 -
Saucy_Jack✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Oh I was definitely in. I was right in the center of the blue search area, according to the mini map. Logged in and did a full quit, 5-6 times. No “comet” each time.
It took some finagling for my comet to eventually appear as well. Try quitting; try reloading UI; try abandoning that scry and try again - throw spaghetti at the wall until it sticks. It wasn't working at all when I first started out, but once I got it working via the spaghetti method, it's been fine ever since.Edited by Saucy_Jack on April 23, 2020 10:29PMALL HAIL SNUGGLORR THE MAGNIFICENT, KING OF THE RNG AND NIRN'S ONE TRUE GOD! Also, become a Scrub-scriber! SJ Scrubs: Playing games badly to make you feel better about yourself.2 -
BlueRaven✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Saucy_Jack wrote: »Oh I was definitely in. I was right in the center of the blue search area, according to the mini map. Logged in and did a full quit, 5-6 times. No “comet” each time.
It took some finagling for my comet to eventually appear as well. Try quitting; try reloading UI; try abandoning that scry and try again - throw spaghetti at the wall until it sticks. It wasn't working at all when I first started out, but once I got it working via the spaghetti method, it's been fine ever since.
Thanks!
I tried it on another character, (I should note here that I am doing these both NOT on premade characters rather I am using pre existing max level ones) and it brought me to another location. I also did not get the pointer to appear either after many restarts, but after running around a bit I just happened to stumble across the dig site by chance.
At least that appears to be working normal.0
